It was a cool, breezy night in the South of France. Diane was drifting into a peaceful sleep as she listened to the waves crashing to shore. The Meditteranean Sea was full of salt and it seemed to purify the enviornment around her as a sort of blessing. Hey, you threw salt of your shoulder for luck, right?
It wasn't long before she recognized herself in a familiar place. It was the Boston bar that she had left for a new life in Europe. Gone was the heavenly, sunny beaches of St. Tropez. In her mind, she was in a dim-lit bar in a literally and metaphorically cold city of Boston.
She was behind the bar. She wasn't serving anybody for the place was empty. It looks exactly the way it should when you close for the night. She was waiting for Sam or Carla to pop out any moment and tell her to go home now.
"Hey, honey," said a warm, friendly voice that Diane instantly recognized. It was her one, dear friend at the bar, Ernie "Coach" Pantusso.
"Coach!" she says leaping from behind the bar and into his open arms. She loved Coach's hugs. His warmth warmed you on the inside as if he lit a torch in your soul.
"What are you doing, here?" She asks him, still holding on to him.
"I came to say bye, Diane."
"Bye?" She asks letting him go and looking straight at him. His eyes were lit up like a childs and smile like one's too. There seemed to be a glow about him.
"Yes, I'm leaving. Don't feel bad, honey."
She takes a long pause. She's trying to figure this out. He has a glow, he's child-like in spirit and he's in a dream to tell her goodbye. He's dying.
"Why do you have to go?" She asks feeling the tears roll down her cheeks.
"It's just time for me to fly," he says putting his hands on her face and wiping her tears away and kissing her cheeks.
"I love you, Coach, know that I love you," she says wrapping her arms around him that she's sure will be the last time.
"I love you, too, Honey. I'll still be with you."
"How?"
"Diane," he says putting his index finger to her head. "You got to stop listening to this and start listening with this," he says moving from her head to her chest. "I know you know what I mean."
"Yeah," she nods. "I do. Thank you, Coach."
"Thank you, Honey. Remember what I told you."
"Yes, I will."
It was all over before she knew it. It was early morning when she woke up to Frasier nudging her with a sad look in his eyes. She knew exactly what he was going to say.
"Bad news from Boston, Sweetheart. Sam wrote and said..."
"Coach died," she ended the sentence for him.
"How'd you know darling?"
"He told me. He came to me in a dream," she said before breaking down and crying into Frasier's nearby shoulder. He wrapped his arms around his fiancee and kissed her hair. They both just couldn't believe it. Coach, Diane thought in her mind, give me a sign that what you said was true.
"Diane," Frasier says staring out the window.
"What," she says her face still buried in his shoulder.
"Look."
She turns her head to find a butterfly dancing around outside on the balcony. It was a magnificent monarch that just flew in out of nowhere. Diane smiled for she knew this was her sign from Coach.
"I'll still be with you."