They sat at the table holding hands, staring at one another. And then Daphne blushed and looked away. "Um… shall we get on with this letter?"
"What? Oh right, the letter." Niles stammered. "Yes, well…"
She picked up the paper. "May I see what you have so far?"
"Of course."
"Dear Mr. Houghton." She read. "It was such an honor to meet you at McGinty's and I know that you hear this all the time but your book changed my life. It sounds fabricated but it's true. Time Flies Tomorrow is a brilliant masterpiece; one that my brother Frasier and I have read countless times."
She moved the paper aside and smiled at him. "Oh Dr. Crane, this is lovely."
The compliment was unexpected and his cheeks flushed. "You think so?"
"Yes, but, there's nothing else written here."
"I know…." He sighed. "I Just don't know how to apologize."
"Just say 'Mr. Houghton, I'm very sorry that I went through your briefcase and read your manuscript. It was childish and horrible and I'll never do it again.'"
Niles thought for a moment. "That's nice Daphne, but I-."
"Oh you don't have to write it exactly like that. Just say it in your own words. What's that your brother is always saying? Speak from the heart?"
He smiled, falling in love with her all over again. "Thank you, Daphne. You're right."
"Well, I'll leave you to your letter. I'm going to get started on me chores."
"Thank you, Daphne." He said again. The words were trite, but he found that he couldn't stay them enough.
When she disappeared down the hallway, he set to work. He wrote furiously, unable to stop it was almost like magic, as though his pen was solely responsible for the words that he was writing on the pages. He wrote whatever came to mind, and quite honestly he wasn't sure exactly what he was writing. But still he continued, feeling as though he could write all day. Perhaps he was making up for all of the time he'd lost feeling frustrated on not knowing what to write.
Finally he reached the end and when he looked down at the words on the pages, he could hardly believe that they had come from his beloved Noel Coward pen.
"Oh, there you are Dr. Crane!"
The sound of her melodic voice brought him out of his thoughts and when he looked up, his heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. "Oh, hello, Daphne."
"It was so quiet in here that I thought you might have gone home."
"Um, no… I was… I just finished my letter."
"That's wonderful, Dr. Crane! May I see it?"
Feeling proud, he handed her the letter, studying her face carefully.
"Dear Mr. Houghton." She began. "It was my greatest honor meeting you at McGinty's and I have to say that I'm glad that you befriended my father. He's a wonderful man and he deserves to have a friend with whom he can talk about sports and other subjects of which Frasier and I know nothing about."
She laughed out loud, making his heart sing. "Oh Dr. Crane, you silly sausage!"
"I know that you hear this all the time…" She continued "but your book; Time Flies Tomorrow changed my life. My brother Frasier and I have read it countless times and it's absolutely brilliant."
She glanced at him and smiled. "That's very nice Dr. Crane."
His eyes never left hers, even when she returned her attention to the letter.
"When Frasier and I realized that you had rewritten another book, we were thrilled. But that's no excuse for what we did. Actually the fault is mine. I'm the one who saw your briefcase lying on the credenza and removed your manuscript."
To his dismay, she scowled at him and muttered his name. "Dr. Crane…"
"It was wrong to go through your briefcase and even more wrong to read your manuscript before you had a chance troy send it to your publisher." She continued. "When you asked for my opinion on your work, I'm afraid that I wasn't entirely truthful. Mr. Houghton, I can assure you that 'The Chameleon's Song' may very well be the most brilliant and wonderful piece of writing that I've ever read.
And I hope you don't mind my saying that 'Time Flies Tomorrow' pales in comparison to this masterpiece. I sincerely hope that you kept a hard copy on your computer because to have this work go unpublished would be tragic. I can tell that you worked hard on it and it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Likewise, Frasier and I deserve to be ashamed of our inexcusable behavior. I am deeply sorry and will do anything, anything at all to make it up to you. Sincerely, Niles Crane."
The silence that followed was eerie, for it was so quiet that he could hear the drone from a faraway airplane that passed outside of Frasier's window and disappeared into a cloud. But it was when his eyes met Daphne's that he realized that something was wrong.
Daphne was crying.