Daphne was filled with relief by the time she reached the Seven Seas Buffet. She was hungrier than ever and at that moment the only thing she wanted to do was to indulge in comfort foods like pasta with rich, creamy sauces, thick soups accompanied by flavorful breads, and deserts…. Sweets made with every type of chocolate imaginable that tasted like heaven.
As quickly as possible she entered the restaurant, which was the most enormous restaurant she'd ever seen, and grabbed a tray. As she moved down the long line she grabbed every dish she could pile onto her tray, feeling self-conscious about the amount of food she had. But she didn't care. It was always said that it was bad to eat when upset (emotional eating they called it in magazines like Glamour and Marie Claire) but it was the only thing that would make her feel better. If nothing else, she could eat herself silly and then get back to her stateroom with a huge stomach ache and then fall into bed in the hopes of sleeping away this miserable cruise.
She was so deep in thought that she didn't realize how fast she was moving her tray across the metal bars until she was jolted into reality.
"Hey! What in the hell do you think you're doing? Look what you did! You spilled my mashed potatoes all over the place!"
Embarrassed beyond belief, she wanted to hide when she realized she'd become so preoccupied that she had crashed into someone. "I'm so sorry, sir, I don't know what I was-."
The man turned around causing her to gasp in sheer disbelief. Of all the people to run into (literally)… this was her worst nightmare. She swallowed hard, staring at the angry face. "M-Mr. Crane?"
Her heart was pounding so fast that she could hardly breathe and she was torn between hugging him and running away. "Mr. Crane…"
She moved to hug him but he simply glared at her. "Daphne, what in the hell are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be with John!"
She swallowed had once more, her heart clinching at the name that she never wanted to hear again. "Well I was, but-."
"What in the hell are you doing here?" He snapped again.
"What are you doing here?" she snapped back.
"I'm here with Fras and Niles, but that doesn't explain… Oh the hell with why I'm here! And since you won't tell me why you're here you can tell me something else! I need a word with you, Daphne!"
"It sounds like you have plenty of them already, the way you're making a total fool of yourself in here!" Daphne shouted. She tried to lower her voice when she noticed people staring at her, but her anxiety was working overtime.
"Damn it, Daphne what is wrong with you?"
"Me? You're the one throwing a bloody fit in the middle of a huge restaurant on a cruise ship!"
"Well can you blame me? This is your damn fault!"
"My fault? How can it be my fault when I have no idea what in the bloody hell you're talking about!"
"Oh really? Well let me refresh your memory… Two days ago you promised that you'd meet me at exactly four o'clock at the corner of Second and Bell in downtown Seattle!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I just told you! How could you forget? Oh, I get it! You were two in love to bother with me! And I guess you won't care that I was standing in the rain for forty five minutes looking like a drowned rat and had to walk all the way home because I couldn't find a damn cab!"
The memory hit her hard and she was filled with shame. "Mr. Crane, I'm so-."
"Don't bother apologizing because it won't do any good! And on second thought maybe I shouldn't bother with you anymore either!"
Her mouth fell open in disbelief and her eyes filled with tears. "What are you saying? I-I mean how can you say that to me? You don't have the right-."
"The hell I don't! I have every right! If it weren't for me, Frasier would never have hired you, remember? And I'm starting to wish that he hadn't !"
She felt her body begin to tremble and the tears were hot as they blurred her vision. She only had mere seconds to turn away and run before the pain and humiliation became unbearable.