Author Note: You may recognise a tiny bit of the dialogue in this chapter. And if you don't, you probably should. I borrowed a line or two from the first episode of S11, No Sex Please, We're Skittish.
Chapter Two
Coming To Realisations
When Frasier stepped into Café Nervosa the next day, he expected to have to be drinking his usual afternoon coffee alone; Niles had told him that he was to be spending the day out with Daphne. So he was surprised when he looked at the table in the far corner and saw his younger brother sat at it, sipping on his half-caf latte in silence.
He made his way over to the table. "Hello Niles, I didn't expect to see you here today," he said, managing a small smile as Niles looked up at him.
Niles gently put his half-full coffee cup back down onto it's saucer and smiled back at his older brother.
"Hey Frasier," he said cheerfully, "Ah, yes, Daphne decided to spend the day with her mother instead."
Frasier nodded knowingly, and grinned. "Mind if I join you?"
"No, sit down," Niles replied, and he looked over at the counter, raising his hand slightly to get the waiter's attention. The waiter nodded and came over to their table, notepad in hand. "What can I get you?"
Niles pointed to Frasier, and the waiter looked in his direction.
"A non-fat latte, please," he said casually, and the waiter notes it down on his pad before walking off.
Frasier turned his attention back to Niles, a solemn expression on his face. "I spoke to Roz last night."
Niles' eyes widened, and he stared at Frasier in absolute disbelief. "You did? What did you say?"
"I couldn't get too many words in. She kept going on about how I'm pushing away everybody I care about so I can be with Julia. And then..." Frasier sighed, not able to finish his sentence.
Niles shot his brother a sympathetic look. "Let me guess, she hung up on you?"
Frasier looked down at the ground for a second, shifting in his seat a little. "Actually..." he began, and then he looked back up, "...I hung up on her."
Niles was suddenly confused. "Why?"
The conversation stopped for a moment as the waiter came over and put Frasier's coffee down on their table. "There you go Sir, your non-fat latte," he said, before walking off again. Frasier watched the waiter, making sure he was out of earshot before responding to his brother's one-word question.
"I don't know. I didn't know what else to do... I couldn't think of anything to say that would have possibly helped the situation in any way."
Niles nodded slightly, picking up his coffee cup to take another sip before speaking again. "Well... is it possible that maybe you were just trying to avoid saying what you really wanted to say?"
Frasier frowned, not liking what his brother seemed to be implying. "What are you trying to say, Niles?"
"I think you're just avoiding having to tell her that you miss her." Niles smirked, a confident smirk that meant he was sure he was right.
"Niles, that's crazy!"
"Well, do you miss her?"
"Of course I miss her, she's been my producer for nearly ten years, and more importantly, she's also been my friend. But I like Julia. Don't I deserve to see if me and Julia could have a future together?"
Niles raised his hand in defense. "I know, I know, you're right, you do deserve that. But clearly you hurt her by giving her the cold shoulder like you did. She must have been really hurt, because she took that new job, didn't she? She's obviously trying to get away from you because she feels betrayed by who she considered to be her closest friend. That's how I see all this."
"Well, I think you're wrong, Niles. I can clearly see what the problem is. She's in love with me, and she just doesn't want to see me with anybody else."
Niles cocked an eyebrow, looking slightly unconvinced by what Frasier had just said. "I wouldn't necessarily jump to that conclusion, Frasier."
"That's because you don't know all the facts, Niles. I never told you this before, but..." Frasier leaned forward, his voice lowering to a whisper. "...two years ago, Roz and I slept together."
Niles' eyes opened so wide that Frasier was sure that his eyeballs were going to pop out and fall onto the coffee table. "Woah, you what?!" he exclaimed, "When exactly did this happen?!"
"That doesn't matter. Look, it's obvious now what happened. After our night together, I must have kindled some kind of spark in her. That lit the torch she carries to this day."
"Well... what about you?"
Frasier didn't quite understand the question. "What about me?"
"You say you believe she's in love with you. Is it possible that the feeling could be mutual?"
Frasier sat up quickly, and laughed incredulously. "Niles, that's ridiculous."
As if on cue, Niles' phone began to ring. "Excuse me," he said to Frasier, before taking the phone out of his pocket, flipping it open and placing it to his ear. "Hello?... oh, hey Daphne... sure, that's fine... okay, see you soon... love you too." Niles flipped the phone top back down and put it back in his pocket. "I'm sorry Frasier, but I have to go. Daphne just got home and she needs to see me."
Frasier nodded. "That's fine. I'll see you later, then."
"Yes, of course." Niles stood up from his seat, reached into his jacket pocket once more to get out his wallet, and dropped a $10 onto the table next to his coffee cup. Placing his wallet back into his pocket, he turned his attention back to Frasier. "And remember what I said. It makes sense, you know." Before Frasier could respond, Niles was gone.
Frasier picked up a spoon that was on the table, and put it into his coffee cup, stirring it round and round just for the hell of it. He let out a long, loud sigh as he began to mull over his younger brother's words. Was it possible that Niles could be right?
It wasn't that he didn't find Roz attractive, or fun to be around. She certainly was a beautiful woman. And whenever they were together, they always had tons of fun. That's what made them such close friends. But was it more than friendship? Was it possible that somewhere in the past two years, since their night together, that their friendship had become something more? Not just to Roz, but to himself also?
Was that why none of his relationships with other women seemed to work? Because deep down inside, subconsciously, he knew that the right woman for him had been staring him in the face all this time?
There were so many questions racing around in Frasier's mind that he was beginning to get a headache. He moved his hand up to rub the side of his head slightly. Shutting his eyes, he tried for a moment to clear his mind, to calm himself. But he couldn't.
This was a difficult situation to be in, he knew that. He needed to decide what he wanted to do to try to fix it.
I could try calling Roz again, but she probably daren't answer anymore, not after I hung up on her last night.
So what do I do?
Well... I could try the direct approach. Maybe talking to her face to face would be the best way to solve our conflict.
I think it's time to pay a visit to KPXY...
