"JACKPOT!"

The loud cheers and shouting startled Daphne out of her thoughts and she was suddenly reminded of the man sitting next to her. It was hard not to notice him, for his voice was so loud that she was certain that he could be heard all the way to Manchester. Why did Roz always manage to pick the dullest and most unattractive men to be Daphne's companion for the evening?

And he was not only dull, he was downright rude, insisting that she buy him drinks. She stupidly obliged and quickly found that alcohol only made him louder, a trait that she didn't think was possible. Mervin Burdett, or "The Merv" as he'd insisted that she call him, was by far the most annoying man that Daphne had ever met. She would have gratefully gone home, as Roz was so tipsy, or drunk as it were, that Daphne doubted Roz would even notice her absence.
Some birthday this had turned out to be.

Mervin had stuck to her side all night, barely even allowing her to go to the loo without asking a hundred questions about where she was going and how long she'd be gone. But ironically she realized that as much as the alcohol affected him, it at least kept him occupied while she was gone. She had gone to the loo so many times in the past hour that he was threatening to call her an ambulance, for surely something horrible must be wrong for someone to have to go to the loo so many times.

The sad truth of it was that she stormed off to the loo simply to get away from him. It was a lot easier than listening to him complain about his ex-wife and how his kids never want to see him. She was finding it harder and hard to hold her tongue in telling him exactly why his kids were so aloof.

Now that he'd had more than the legal limit of drinks, he'd backed off some but the annoyance was still there. And now he'd joined the others in enthusiastically congratulating Roz on another "monumental" win.

Ironic, since Daphne had practically gone into debt, buying this jerk drinks and loaning Roz money for "one more round" of whatever ridiculous game she was playing at that moment. With Roz's winnings, she had more than enough money to repay Daphne for Mervin's drinks as well as the money she'd so shamelessly borrowed from her that evening.

Daphne loved Roz, but sometimes she could be too much. What kind of friend practically ignores someone on their birthday in favor of "the hottest guy she'd ever seen."? If that were true then there was a twenty-way tie for "Hottest guy" in this casino alone. And sadly none of them were even remotely attractive.

She watched Roz, happily spinning away at the Roulette table and then at the slot machines, her friend's eyes widening with delight when the bells and chimes indicated that she'd won yet again.

"Great party, ain't it Darlene?" Mervin's slurred voice yelled.
"It's Daphne." She corrected, not bothering to hide her annoyance. The man might be a little drunk but even when he was sober, she'd had to correct him at least ten times. She was getting tired of saying her own name, which she found incredibly strange.

"Hey Daph-ne! Come here!" Roz yelled, her voice indicating that she'd had way too much to drink. "I need to go to the ladies room! I can't…"
When Roz nearly fell out of her chair, Daphne rushed over to help her friend.

"Thanks Daph. You're all right!" Roz slurred, staring at Daphne as though the two women had never met before. And thankfully the loo was empty when they'd finally arrived. But the journey was not easy as Daphne tried to steady her friend, steering her in the right direction.

"Oh, he's cute!" Roz yelled, stopping them in their tracks.
Daphne sighed with annoyance. "Come on Roz; let's go before I regret this."

As she waited for Roz, Daphne looked into the mirror, shocked at how awful she looked. Her hair was a mess and her makeup was practically non-existent. No wonder she was having trouble garnering the attention of attractive men. Not that she minded in the least. She wanted no reminders whatsoever of this birthday.

She was grateful to Roz for the gesture of treating her to an outing on her birthday, but now Daphne wished that she had taken Frasier up on his offer to throw her a lavish party, settling instead for an impromptu birthday bash. Somehow even that didn't seem complete without Niles there.

She hated leaving the condo so soon after he had arrived but she was so excited about spending her birthday in popular and lively casino. The prospect of an evening out with Roz sounded so exciting that she couldn't wait to arrive.

And now she couldn't wait to get home.