"All right! The game is on!" Bulldog yelled when he and Daphne walked into The Scoreboard.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Wow, what a coincidence, considerin' we're in a sports bar!"
Bulldog turned and glared at her. "Hey babe, only I can make sarcastic comments, got it?"
Daphne sighed and looked around the crowded, noisy sports bar. Maybe having a drink with Bulldog wasn't such a good idea after all.
"Man, this is perfect!" Bulldog said as they slid into the booth. "So what'll you have?"
Daphne scanned the menu. "White wine, please."
"Wine? In a sports bar? What are you, English or somethin'?" He said with a laugh. When he noticed that she wasn't laughing, his smile disappeared. "Oh... yeah. I
guess you are, aren't you?"
To the waiter he said, "I'll have a pint of Rainier, and make it quick."
"You know... maybe we should go somewhere a little less crowded." Daphne said as she grabbed her purse from the seat.
"Nah, this is great!" Bulldog said, putting his hand on her arm to stop her. "Perfect view of the Sonics-Bulls game, right here!"
"Bulldog, this is hardly a quiet place in case you hadn't noticed!"
"If you think I'm leaving, you're crazy!" he replied.
"But I thought we were going to talk about me problem! This was your idea and-."
"Yeah, yeah. In a minute! The Sonics are about to score and-YES! Johnson does it again! Whoo Hoo!"
Daphne sunk down in her seat, praying that no one was watching them. She picked up a menu and pretended to read it, hoping Bulldog would get the hint. And to her
complete amazement, it appeared that he had.
"Okay, so what happened between you and the doc?" he was asking now.
A familiar ache settled into her chest. Bulldog was the last person she wanted to discuss her love life with; no matter how pathetic it was. But there was no one else to
talk to. Oh, she supposed she could have just gone home after the incident at Café Nervosa and poured out her heart to Martin. But she didn't want to cause a row
between him and his son. Besides, Niles was free to see whomever he wanted. After all, she and Niles had only had one dinner together. One lovely, romantic...
"Hey!"
She jumped when she felt someone punch her arm.
"What? What's wrong?" She asked, terrified that something had happened.
"Are you gonna tell me what happened or not?"
"Oh right... Well, I couldn't stop thinkin about him, you know?"
"Yeah..."
Daphne couldn't help but notice the dreamy look that came over Bulldog.
"You mean you felt this way about someone, too?" she asked as she took a sip of her wine.
"Oh yeah..." he said in the same wistful voice.
Daphne was amazed and gave him her full attention; grateful for the change in subject. "Who was she?"
"Lisa Mckowski." He sighed.
"This Lisa... what was she like?"
He took a sip of his beer and looked at her in disbelief.
"What's she like? Well how in the hell should I know?"
"Well, you just said-."
He gulped down the rest of his beer and motioned for the waiter to bring him another one.
"Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna date a Sea Gal!"
Daphne was appalled. "What?"
Bulldog tried unsuccessfully to hold in his hysterical laughter. "Wait, you actually thought that Lisa was a real person? She's a Sea Gal! A cheerleader for the
Seahawks! Oh man! I can't believe you fell for that! Are you crazy or something?"
"I'm beginning to think so." Daphne said.
"All right, so you have the hots for the doc. And then what happened?" Bulldog asked.
"You really want to know?"
"Yeah, yeah. But hurry up, would ya?"
"All right. Well... I just couldn't stop thinking about him and-."
"Come on! Come on!" Bulldog said, motioning for her to finish her story.
"I went to Café Nervosa to see if he was there."
"And was he?"
"Oh, he was there, all right."
"So what happened?"
"Oh God... I can hardly say the words. He was with this woman. It all seemed very innocent, but then as they were leaving, he-."
A lump formed in her throat and her eyes filled with tears, remembering that horrible moment.
"What? What?" Bulldog yelled. "For God's sake! What happened?"
Apparently he didn't notice that she was crying.
Her voice quivered when she spoke. "I still can't quite believe it. He-."
"Okay, shut up! Shut up! The second half is starting! Man, this game is getting good!" Bulldog yelled.
Just as she was about to give him a piece of her mind, the Sonics scored another basket. She winced as Bulldog and the rest of the bar patrons began cheering and
yelling; Bulldog drowning them all out with his annoying barking. It was a noise that made the sound of Eddie's bark seem like a lullaby.
This was turning out to be the worst mistake she'd ever made.
No, that was wrong.
Her worst mistake was believing that Niles really loved her. But she'd had no reason to doubt him.
It all seemed so sincere...