THE MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE



Bedroom at Niles' Lakeside Cottage.

[Opening shot is a bedside table. There are 2 champagne flutes
and an empty champagne bottle on the table. Pan over to NILES face
on his pillow. He flutters his eyelids awake. Looks around, then looks
over to where DAPHNE is asleep next to him. He looks upward in a
"thank you" gesture, then leans over and kisses her tenderly.
She wakes up.]

NILES: Good morning.

DAPHNE: Ah. And good morning to you. [She pulls closer and initiates
a longer kiss, then rests her head on his shoulder and slides her
arm across his chest] I had a marvelous time last night.

NILES: Yeah, I kind of got that impression. [Running his fingers
through her hair] As did I.

DAPHNE: Just what time is it, anyway?

NILES: [Looking at the bedside clock] Ten.

DAPHNE: Oh, I never sleep this late. [Stretching] This is so luxurious.

NILES: We didn't exactly go to sleep early, if you remember . . .

DAPHNE: Mmmm. . .you know, if I'd had any notion it would be like that,
I'd have jumped your bones long ago.

NILES: As I recall, you almost did, once.

DAPHNE:[Sitting up a bit, looks at him startled] Oh, God, I'd quite
forgotten about that. My fight with Sherry. Oh, I was shameless . . .

NILES: Oh, come on, you can't be embarrassed about that now!
Not after last night.

DAPHNE: [Smiling] Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess it's a good
thing that we didn't follow through with that then, though.
It would have been purely physical, on my part, at least . . .
[Smiling sexily, looking intently at him] Then, again, perhaps it
wouldn't have.

NILES: Well, we're here now. And no medication can ever again come
between us.

DAPHNE: [Laughing] Yes. Oh, Niles, it's so nice to be . . in love
with such a good friend.

NILES: Ummmm. [Gently kisses her again]

DAPHNE: [Coy smile] Niles, this is kind of an awkward question, but
I am so curious. Back when you were, well, admiring of me, . . .
did you ever have a certain . . .physical reaction to cope with?

NILES:[Startled, then amused at the memory] Oh, Daphne, all the time.
It drove me crazy. I know Frasier could tell, but I did everything
I could to hide it from you. [Laughing]
Do you remember the time when Frasier was having that fling that
was purely physical, and he was bothered by it, and we were all
trying to tell him it was OK? And you told that story about you and
a man on a rooftop? It involved sunbathing and a skylight . . .

DAPHNE: [Snickering] Oh, God, it's coming back. I was quite graphic,
if I recall.

NILES: Do you remember what I did when you'd finished the story?

DAPHNE: [Now laughing hard enough to make talking difficult]
You just . . . got up . . .and walked out of the apartment.
Oh, now I understand. We were all stunned, but I was probably
the only one who didn't get it.

NILES: I couldn't talk, I couldn't do anything but get out of there.
And I had to walk verrry carefully.

DAPHNE: [Still laughing] Oh, Niles, I am so sorry.

NILES: No, Darling, I was the was the one who was so repressed.
You were just being you, someone who is so, well, comfortable with
herself. You could tell a raunchy story to a group of friends
with such ease. It's one of the things . . . the many things that
make you so endearing. These memories are fun, now that things have
turned out this way.

DAPHNE: They are. Look, I don't mean to belabor this, but bear with me.
Did that particular . . . reaction . . . continue to be a problem . . .
throughout?

NILES: [Amused] You're a bit fixated on this line of questioning,
aren't you?

DAPHNE: Oh, bloody psychiatrists . . .

NILES: Oh, come on, I'm teasing. But I do have a serious answer.
[She stops and pays attention] Over time, that reaction you speak
of ceased. And when I realized it had, it hit me. I no longer thought
of you as just a sexually desirable woman. It was then that I knew that
I loved you, as a woman and as a person.

DAPHNE: That's the most touching thing I've ever heard. Although
I am glad it didn't cease altogether! [She looks into his eyes.
He returns the look] Hungry.

NILES: What?

DAPHNE I'm hungry. [Putting on her bathrobe, tying the sash, and
getting out of her side of the bed] I'm suddenly famished! What do
you say to some breakfast?

NILES: [Putting on his and also getting up] You know, so am I.

DAPHNE: [Walking around the bed to him. Coy] So, perhaps you'd like
some . . . Eggs Benedict?

NILES:[Stunned] My God! Who told you . . . wait a minute.
[A bit panicky] How much of that story do you know?

DAPHNE: [Enjoying the upper hand] Well, I think, all of it.

NILES: No!

DAPHNE: [Now really teasing] As I think back, my psychic headache
was especially brutal that night.

NILES:[Pulling her toward him] You are just terrible. How did you
hear this? And, God, how much else have you heard over the years?

DAPHNE: Oh, well, your brother tells Roz, and she tells me, or else
I hear him talking to your dad. I don't think they realized I even
listened, they just talk and talk. It's OK, all of your secrets
have been safe with me.

NILES: Well, I guess by now on you know all the family secrets.
And if we keep up these strolls down memory lane, I may actually become comfortable with the feeling of embarrassment. [She laughs. He pulls
her into a hug with her head resting on his shoulder] Daphne, I
love you more than even I could have thought was possible.
Please say that, as difficult as it will be to sort all this out
with everyone . . . say that you will tough it out. Stick with me.

DAPHNE: I love you just as much, and I will, I promise. We will work
all this out. [Another deep kiss] OK, enough mush! Food and coffee!

NILES: Excellent! We can just do the eggs, without the Benedict.

[She playfully swats the side of his head, he hits her arm. They exit]

END SCENE