A/N: Hi guys! Thank you so much for your kind reviews, and I'm so sorry it took me this long to post another chapter. Things have been difficult in real life and I haven't had nearly enough time on the internet. But here I am, with the 3rd day. Still not sure if I'll go after all days. Hope you enjoy it, and hopefully I'll be quicker with the next chapter.
DAY 3
"Okay", she said, putting her glass of wine on the coffee table and passing her hands through her hair. "Let's do this."
"We might as well get comfortable," Frasier said, taking off his shoes, "cause it's gonna be a long night."
She laughed, passing him a pen and paper. "Sexy, right?", Roz jokingly said, putting her tongue out.
"Let's get it on, honey."
As an exercise, Niles had made them both agree to go over their romantic past, making lists of what went wrong, how long it lasted, and other specifics. They agreed to write them in Roz's apartment, as their second date of the week.
"So, are we talking exact figures?", Frasier asked carefully. As her friend, he knew about her vast list of dates. She even had a black notebook with names and phone numbers, which he realized it was standing next to her glass, in the table. Truth was, Frasier was a little uncomfortable to explain how little experience he had next to Roz.
"Do you really want to spew numbers?". She wasn't sure she even knew exactly, so she played along.
"We could say only... digits. How about that?" At least it wouldn't give too much away, he thought.
"Okay, fine. What are we talking about? Relationships, sex, or just dates?"
"Let's put on count all sorts of dates."
"Oh, god, let me think. This may take a while." She had a quick look into her notebook, thinking of how much she'd have to tell that night. "Let's say I'm in the triple digits area. Is that all right with you?"
He gasped. "Good god, Roz." He makes a small mental calculation, and finally says "I'm in the double digits area."
"See? Talking like this, we're not so far behind!" She smiles, taking a sip.
"There can be at least 900 people between us, Roz.", he commented with a smirk. "But we're not going to list them all, right? I mean, it's too much for me and certainly way too much for you to even remember positive and negative points. Let alone names. Let's stick to the meaninful ones, shall we? I think I should go first..."
"I'm just waiting to see the list of Doctor Frasier Crane's not-so-famous sexual escapades", she says, snapping her teeth.
"Well, there's obviously Lilith. From '86 to '92." He smiles, thinking about it. "I'd say we had great chemistry, and great conversations. We were, intellectually, a great match."
"Okay, that's a positive.", she says, studying his face.
"But you know Lilith... she's very analytical." He took a sip of his wine, musing about it. "Also, she cheated on me. So, this one was not my fault." He added, quickly.
"You never thought about reconciling?"
Roz had never asked much about the end of Frasier's marriage. It was one of those subjects that never seemed to fit their conversations. She was afraid to hurt him by talking about the cheating.
"We tried, yes. For Frederick, mostly. There were also guns involved." He laughed, thinking about the incident at Cheers. "But I couldn't forgive her in the end, and she wasn't interested in me anymore. So, we peacefully agreed to a divorce."
"Do you miss her?"
"I miss the conversations, sometimes. She is a brilliant woman, with brilliant ideas and opinions. She just doesn't know how to deal with other people and their feelings, that's all."
Roz watched as Frasier doodled some quick words onto the paper, in his fine calligraphy.
"Fras, can I ask you something? Where did you learn to do... this type of thing?", she pointed at the words. "The calligraphy, is very unlikely of a man. Even more unlikely of a doctor."
"Oh, this? I took Caligraphy on high school. I don't know why I thought it would be a great way to meet women." He finished the writing, finally looking at Roz, who had a funny look on her face. "Needless to say, it didn't turn out great."
"Yeah, I thought so." She takes some of the fancy cheese Frasier had brought with him, chewing slowly, trying to think of a relationship as meaningful to her as Lilith had been for Frasier. "So, is it my turn now?"
"Let the parade begin!", he said, mocking her in his deep voice. She rolled her eyes, but the commentary didn't stop her from
"Not nearly as impactful as your first, but there was my first boyfriend. Ned. We were together for all of high school. He was... my first." She blushed, which Frasier took notice; it wasn't common to see her like that, specially talking about sex. "We were rebellious, stealing beer from his dad and going on crazy adventures on his truck."
"Somehow, that isn't very surprising", Frasier said. He looked amused to finally hear more about the adventures of Roz's vast past.
"He left me when he got into college. Boston. I hear he's a famous lawyer now. The one who got away, I guess." She smiled, sadly. "I was stupid enough to think that we would last forever. I think it was one of the few men I really loved, looking back."
She doodled her high school sweetheart's name and other informations. He noticed her handwriting, sharp and quick, without the flourishes he wore so much. He must have seen her written messages dozens of times at KACL, but this was the first time he really took the time to watch her writing. If he was in one of his classes, analyzing her notes, he'd say she's affirmative, with clear ideas. Independent. Fierce. As was she. He smiled, quietly, at his own musings.
"Okay... There was Diane. '84 to '85, I guess. You know the story, so let's move this one fast. We were engaged, she was never in love with me. She left me for Sam. On our wedding day. In France." He wrote it down.
"I've already told you about the Ted and Derek situation... it ended because, well, one found out about the other. At different times. That was too much for them, I guess. '88 to '92, all together." She quickly wrote their names.
"I dated that model for a couple of days." Roz looked at him, incredule. "I did!"
"Okay, I believe you." She said, in a very skeptical tone. "Oh, I know. Nick. A few months in '91. Great sex, great face... not so great roommate."
"Why is that?"
"Let's just say that the roommate was his mother, and she didn't like the noises we made. Deal breaker for me." She shrugged, writing it down.
Frasier laughed, delighted. He thought this was going to be more awkward than funny. He was happy that the evening had taken the latter course.
"Kate Costas... or may I say, Dirty Girl."
"Oh my God. I remember listening to that. Gave me nightmares."
"Oh, c'mon Roz. She was great. Had she not left Seattle, I could've had a future with her."
"I never liked her. Too bossy. She was weird, Frasier."
"Oh, and you never had a weird sex history, huh?"
"I had a fling with a congressman once." She confessed, with a naughty face. Frasier's mouth fell open, and before he could ask her, she continued. "Cannot tell you the name -really, there are papers prohibiting me to say it. Let's just say, it lasted two months, and it had a lot of... polemic circunstances around it."
"Oh, Roz! Just tell me. Is this the time you woke up with cops around?"
She crossed her legs, getting more comfortable. Raising her hand, already tipsy, she said "I'll plead the fifth."
"Ok, ok. Did I tell you about my first marriage? With Nanny-G?"
This time, it was her mouth that fell open. "The children's entertainer? No way!"
"Yeah, we were young and naive, I was an undergraduate. It didn't work out, and we both moved on."
"I'll never watch her show the same way again. Alice loves her! Ew Frasier, now I'm thinking of her saying those stupid little words to you in bed."
As they were wroting down names and dates, they finished the bottle of wine. Laughs were louder, cheeks were pinkier, secret affairs were easier to be out.
"Oh, there's Donnie! How could I forget?", Roz said giving herself a slap in the forehead. "So ironic that he wanted kids and I didn't at the time, and years later here we are, I with a kid but without a ring on my finger, and he's marrying my best friend."
"Do you feel weird about their marriage?"
"No, not really." She stopped for a minute, thinking about the best way to say it. "It's just that I'm sitting here, pointing flaws about every man that has been slightly significant for me, and most of them wanted the whole thing: a house, kids, a wife." She exhaled. "I used to be repelled by the word 'wife'. I didn't want this, so I turn them down, I ran away from every one. I'm 34, with a kid, in the same job, but I keep thinking that if I were smarter in the past... I'd have the whole thing. The thing I never wanted, but that I now crave."
Frasier studied her face. "Well, that's why we're here, right? To prevent us from falling into the same mistake. You've found your constant for the failed relationships, at least. I look at my list and I see nothing."
"Are you serious?" She took his paper, reading out loud. "Lilith walked away. Diane abandoned you at the altar. Nanny G, Kate, Carrie, Sharon, Maureen.. all of these women left you at some point."
The realization hit him hard.
"You never put an end in your relations, Fras.. you let them drag on and on, don't matter how absurd they are. You're afraid to be the one who stops."
He took the paper again, looking at it, reading his own words. "You're right. I never broke up with anyone significant! Never in my life!", he pronounces every syllable at time in the last sentence. "What a breakthrough."
They both kept silent for a minute.
"What a great pair we make, huh? 'Break-up Girl' and 'Fear-of-Abandonment Boy'", Frasier finally said. Both started to laugh, a semi-drunk self-deprecating laughter that was louder and louder. Suddenly, she stopped.
"We're such losers, Fras." She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment.
"You still haven't answered my question... are you bothered by Daphne and Donnie's marriage?"
She looked at him. "I just don't think they're right for each other", she said, with a dry mouth. "Not that I was ever right for Donnie, either. I just feel like Daphne is settling down too easily. I don't see passion there. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I do. I feel the same." He looks at his watch, and realizes it's almost 3AM. "I should go, it's late."
She opens the door for him. "This ended up being really fun, Fras. Our best date yet.", she winked. "Goodnight."
Leaning her back against the door, she caughts herself thinking, for a moment only, that she didn't want him gone so soon. Maybe she didn't want him gone at all.
