Chapter 49: Frasier
Frasier was feeling glum. It was a Saturday night, and, once again, he didn't have any romantic plans. Instead, Roz was coming over to run through the fall seasonal promotions for his show. He sighed.
Some Saturday night this will be.
Daphne was in her room, getting ready to go out with her mystery man. Though, not a mystery for much longer. She mentioned he was coming to pick her up here tonight. Martin was watching TV, and commenting on the weather, much to Frasier's annoyance. This was probably the fourth time today he'd heard the same report from his father.
"Looks like a cold front is coming in."
"That's nice, Dad."
"You know, with the heatwave we've had this past week, I'm looking forward to it.
"Yes, dad."
"Hey, you know, fall starts in two days. Gonna be nice, having some cooler weather."
Frasier rolled his eyes. The doorbell rang, and he walked over to answer it.
"Thank you, Marty Crane – resident weatherman."
Frasier opened the door. Roz stood there, with a stack of promo drafts.
"Hey Frasier."
"Hi Roz, come on in. Thanks for making time tonight to go over these promos."
"Well, it's not like I had a choice. They're due Monday, and you've been procrastinating for weeks."
Frasier felt attacked. It wasn't all his fault. Roz hadn't exactly reminded him about them sooner.
"Well, excuse me for not remembering it was promo time again."
"It's not that hard. Start of a new season equals new seasonal promos. Hey, Martin."
"Hey, Roz. Cold front coming in."
"Oh, that'll be nice. Give us a bit of relief from this heat."
Frasier rolled his eyes again.
It's gonna be a long night.
Roz put the paperwork on the table, and sat down. Frasier went and grabbed some snacks and some wine for the both of them from the kitchen, and joined her. They had barely started when Daphne came out in her dressing gown, still in the middle of getting ready. Roz greeted her.
"Hey, Daphne."
"Oh, hello, Roz. Actually, could you do me a favor? I've got a date tonight, and I need help picking a dress."
"Oooh, sure thing." Roz jumped up eagerly, and started to follow Daphne to her room.
Frasier couldn't believe he was being abandoned already.
"Roz! Aren't you forgetting something? We're supposed to be working on these promos!" Roz waved him off as she left.
"Yeah, yeah. You get a start on them, I'll be back in a minute."
The doorbell rang, and Daphne called over her shoulder.
"That'll be my date - can you let him in and tell him I won't be too much longer?"
Roz and Daphne disappeared to her room. Frasier got up and went to answer the door again. He was feeling a little put out, but truth be told, he was curious as to who Daphne's new beau was.
He opened the door to Niles.
Damn him.
Niles turning up when Daphne already had plans for a romantic evening was typical of his type of interference.
Freshly divorced; barely a month had passed since Niles had signed the paperwork. He had his old life mostly back, and now he was obviously here to try and see if he had a shot with Daphne. He was dressed nicely, more so than usual, which indicated that he was up to something. Frasier didn't want Niles to try and sabotage Daphne's relationship just because of some fantasy he'd dreamed up about the two of them. If Daphne was happy, Niles didn't have a right to interfere with that.
"Hello, Frasier." Niles grinned, looking far too pleased with himself.
"Niles, you can't stay. Go away."
Niles looked affronted.
"Well, that's no way to greet your brother."
"I know what you want to do, but you can't do it tonight. Daphne has a date."
Frasier looked pointedly at Niles, but he seemed willfully ignorant to Frasier's hints.
"Oh, I won't stay long then."
"You can't stay at all!"
Frasier moved to try and close the door on his brother, when his father called out from his chair.
"Hey, Niles. Come on in."
"Oh, thanks Dad." Niles pushed past Frasier and entered, taking Martin's invitation as permission.
Frasier threw his hands up, defeated for the moment, and closed the door. Martin continued with his weather updates.
"Fall starts on Monday. Looks like there's going to be a cold front hitting around then too."
"Oh, that'll be a nice break from the heat." Niles glanced about the apartment. "Is Daphne around?"
Frasier stomped back over to the table, exasperated.
"She's getting ready for her date, Niles. Her DATE." Niles still didn't seem to be getting the hint. Roz came back out to the living room.
"Hey, Niles."
"Hi, Roz. How's things?"
"Great. I was just helping Daphne pick out a dress for tonight. She thinks she'll be another 10 or so minutes."
Frasier glared at Niles again.
"Yes, she'll be leaving shortly, so you should be too."
Niles shrugged at his brother.
"Sounds like I've got time for a drink, then." He walked over and poured himself a sherry.
Roz sat back at the table, clearly amused at the bickering between the two brothers. Frasier sat down as well, thoroughly annoyed with Niles.
"Roz, no more distractions. Let's focus on these promos."
"Okay, okay. Geez."
They started, but Frasier couldn't concentrate. He kept shooting looks at Niles, who was sitting on the couch sipping his sherry, watching the news with his father.
Trust Niles to turn up on the same night Daphne had a date.
Frasier was happy his brother had gotten his divorce finalized, but he really had no shame. Frasier glanced at his watch. Daphne's date hadn't shown up yet. Unfortunately, that would make it harder to get rid of Niles. Just then, Daphne walked out, wearing a floor length forest green evening gown. Frasier shot a look at Niles, who had stood up and was staring at Daphne without even trying to hide his obvious attraction.
"Hello, Daphne. You look stunning."
"Oh, thank you." Daphne let out a small laugh, flattered by the praise.
Frasier stood up.
"Niles, don't you think you should be going?" He hinted once again to his brother that he wasn't welcome to interfere with Daphne's plans.
Niles turned to Frasier, and checked his watch.
"Oh, yes. I suppose you're right." Niles then turned to Daphne, and offered his arm. "Shall we?"
Frasier stared, irritated by his brother brazenness, which quickly turned to confusion as Daphne walked forward, kissed Niles, and slipped her arm into his.
"Have a good time, you two." Roz smirked at Frasier, clearly in on whatever was going on.
"Don't worry, we won't wait up. Oh, and take a coat, it might get cold. Fall's just 'round the corner." Martin was equally smug.
Frasier could only stare as Niles and Daphne said goodbye and left, arm in arm. The door clicked shut.
Frasier turned to Martin and Roz, apoplectic.
"What the hell was that? How long has that been going on? How did you all know, and didn't think to tell me?"
Roz and Martin just looked at him then burst out laughing.
"It's been going on all summer, Frasier." Roz grinned.
"Yeah, Fras. Anyone with eyes could see it." Martin was just as amused.
Frasier stalked over to the phone and dialed. He got Niles' answering machine at the Montana.
"Niles, it's Frasier. Very funny! I'm happy for you both, of course, but you own me an explanation!" He paused. "And dinner. Call me tomorrow."
He hung up, then walked back to the table and sat down. He started leafing through the promo paperwork, trying not to look at Martin or Roz, feeling very put upon to be the only one out of the loop.
"So, cold front you say, Dad?"
