AN – once again, sorry for the mistakes. English is not my first language. Hope you like it :)
Niles Crane took a deep breath before setting his foot into the Elliot Bay Towers elevator and, as the doors closed and the cacophony and distant chatter from the street began to fade, he exhaled slowly and let the weight of the day sink in.
Until that moment, there had been nothing but detachment within him,;a self-created armor of denial where he was just a mere spectator of the play of his own life. But now that the last act had ended and the curtains had dropped with no applauses or cheers for him, everything shifted abruptly.
He had foreseen the downfall, of course. That's why he went there; to Green Lake Park, to be at peace with his thoughts and try to regain balance with the world around him.
And to be with her.
"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another"
His dear mother always loved quoting the fathers of psychology and never missed and opportunity to apply the wisdom of Wundt, Freud, Jung and specially William James to her family everyday life.
His father didn't understand most of her life saving quotes.
Frasier used to dismiss anything that hadn't come out of Freud's mouth.
But he loved each and every one of them.
Because he loved her.
And he would have gladly sold his soul to be able to have her by his side the day his marriage was over.
He shuddered at the memory of Hester Crane being replaced by the face of his now ex-wife and how much she had enjoyed every second of the meeting downtown. Despite everything he had endured and the solid proof of infidelity on her part, his attorney didn't have much leeway against Maris' legal team.
And she knew it.
It made him sick the power she still had over him. Her nasty smirk had told him all he needed to know; that she owned him, now, then and forever; that he would get nothing out of this; that she had already won.
The ding of the elevator stopping at the nineteen floor brought him back to reality and suddenly he felt raw, vulnerable and tired. All he wanted was to crash and sleep off the stress and sadness pent up inside him. But he new his brother wouldn't leave him in peace until he made sure he talked everything out.
"Maybe he won't hear me coming" he thought briefly as he got his keys out. A small spark of hope ignited in his chest as he remembered that he had been planning to catalog again all the tapes of his show.
Maybe he was doing it now. In his own room. With the headphones on.
"Dum spiro spero*" he muttered to himself while turning the key on the right to open the door.
"Niles! Thank God!"
All desire to run away vanished as soon as his brother rushed from the kitchen towards him and enveloped him in a tight, warm hug and, for the brief seconds that it lasted, he felt safe for the first time in weeks. Over his brother's shoulder he spotted his father approach them, a worried, sad look imprinted on his face.
"I'm so sorry I worried you. I just… I just needed a bit of time" Niles explained, his voice muffled against his brother's jacket "It's been quite a day"
Frasier nodded and after releasing him, guided him towards the sofa.
"How about I pour you some sherry and you tell us everything"
"Sounds good. Thanks Frasier"
"If we're gonna talk about Maris, you better offer him something stronger than sherry" his father grumbled as he marched back into the kitchen "I'm going to open that whiskey bottle Duke brought me from his Alaska trip"
"I thought you were saving it for a special occasion" Frasier observed.
"The Guinness six pack Duke brought me from Baltimore is for special occasions. You know grandchildren, birthdays, the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl...
"Ok ok Dad! We get it!" the man snapped in exasperation.
As they kept bickering, Niles watched them from the couch with a tired smile on his face. There had been times when he just couldn't cope with their frequently strained relationship. But right now, the familiarity of the quarreling brought a sense of peace he had been missing. They were his family. And always would be.
Maris had almost taken that away from him. In the early years she had almost convinced him to cut all contact with them, the insufferable older brother and the blue-collar father. When she realized she wasn't going to win that battle, she was the one who cut contact and stopped accompany him when he visited.
"How was it?" his brother asked handing him a glass of the dark amber drink and sitting next to him.
"As expected" he sighed before taking a sip "She's getting everything; the house, the Mercedes, the majority of our shareholding…"
"What?" His brother gasped out in shock "How is that possible? She cheated on you with your marriage counselor!"
"I knew we should have hired that shark" his father muttered behind his own glass, earning him a glare from Frasier "What? He said he was specialized in dirty laundry and skeletons in the closet"
"It would have led to the same outcome" Niles sentenced darkly "She had the upper hand since the beginning. I didn't stand a chance. I… I've lost… everything"
As silence fell over the room, he felt the last part of his small, well-kept world crumbling into dust and fear and fear began to settle in his already broken heart. Dropping his chin to his chest he asked with the voice of a small, scared child.
"What am I going to do Frasier?"
His brother, for the first time, found himself lost for words, his almost two-decade experience in counseling useless against his little brother's pain. Tentatively, he took him in his arms and held him as he sobbed.
"It's alright son" his father whispered, his voice quiet and ragged as he sat on the coffee table in front of him and held Niles's hand "We got you"
We got you
Those three words engulfed him like a weighted blanket, his mind repeating them over and over again until they lulled him into a much-needed sleep.
The beginning of his new life would have to wait until tomorrow. Now Niles Crane would rest with his father and brother guarding his peace.
"So after trying to ditch him, he decided it would be a great idea to set me up with his second cousin, a complete deadbeat. Luckily the woman who manages his schedule had exactly what we needed. So the social media is covered. She's just perfect for this occasion. I just… Are you even listening Daphne?" Daph!
"What? Yes I'm listening. You've met an instagrammer"
Roz Doyle eyed her from her kitchen door and approached her, calmly removing the spoon she was holding.
"You know… bringing the spoon closer to her is what makes her eat. And Marcy's not an 'instagrammer' She's a community manager"
Alice, Roz's 14 month baby girl, squeaked as the food approached her mouth, her tiny hands moving frantically towards it. For a few moments, both women focused on her, watching how she relished the greenish mash.
When she had been fed and cleaned, her mother put her back on the playpen. It was still early and letting her play before bedtime would wind her down and help her sleep. With her child occupied with her stuffed animals, wooden blocks and dolls, she could turn her attention on her absent friend.
"Is everything ok Daph?"
The woman, unable to meet her gaze, decided to focus on the creases of the tablecloth as she struggled for words to come out.
"It's just… Do you think this is a good idea?" she asked in a tiny, fearful voice.
"Of course it is! Listen, I know you're not a fan but trust me; social media is essential for…"
"I'm not talking about that Roz. I'm talking about the whole thing."
"What do you mean?"
Daphne looked back at her, tears shining in the corner of her eyes. She hated herself for being so weak.
"The cafe wasn't only my dream. It was ours; Joe's and mine. What if it's not the same anymore? What if… what if it becomes a nightmare?" A sob rose in her throat, pain burning in her chest. "Don't you see it Roz?" she wept desolately "Everything will remind me of him. I can't do it"
From the corner of her eyes Roz noticed Alice had curled herself into a ball, her eyes fluttering close and rose to take her to the nursery, silently giving her friend time to calm herself. After a couple of minutes of letting her pain roam free again, relief flooded over her as two arms surrounded her shoulders from behind.
"I know you are scared" Roz whispered into her hair "I was too. Weeks before having Alice all I could think was that I wouldn't be able to enjoy life as I knew; that every time I looked at her, she would remind me of what I had lost… that I would resent her"
"Oh Roz…"
"I'm not saying it wasn't hard. It was… but I never let those thoughts grow in my head and control my life. My heart already knew the truth; that I wanted her"
"But this is not…"
"I know it's not the same… but in a way… it could be. Listen I've known you long before you met that asshole and you've always wanted to open a café. Since you were a little girl. Didn't you tell your grandma about it when you were a little girl?"
Daphne smiled fondly at the memory of Grammy Moon. She had been the only person she could trust as a girl and in her rebellious teenage years. The only person who never brought her down. The only person who truly knew her.
"See? It was your dream. Joe just tagged along because he had no aspirations other than watching sports all day. That's why he wanted that particular venue in Freemont; to use the the big area at the back as a sports bar"
Daphne flinched as she remembered her ex-fiance plans and ideas for the place and how little she liked them.
"Now that he's out of the picture you could use it for… I don't know. Something will come up. There's lots of possibilities. And since we are not opening the entirety of it yet, just the front part and the side patio, we don't need to worry about it now"
But Daphne didn't -and couldn't- share her bubbly enthusiasm.
"Roz, I've just bought a huge old warehouse and turned into a cafe" she grumbled, her frustration rising with every word "I haven't the slightest idea what to do with half of it. What if I can't find uses for it? I invested all my savings and Grammy Moon's inheritance on it. I need to have a plan, I need to think about…"
"Wow wow, calm down Daph" Roz held her hands and waited until her friend's breathing steadied "I told you. You don't need to think about it now. Look, a lot of people are coming to the opening night. The venue is perfect and you are offering something different from the other places in the area. You, Daphne Moon, are one of the most intelligent women I have ever meet; capable, resilient, resourceful. If there's someone that can do this… It's you"
Overwhelmed with emotions, she hugged her friend tightly. She wasn't as confident as her but at that particular moment she was granting her the greatest gift of all; hope.
And she loved her for it.
"Besides" she carried on "Whatever you do with the empty space… It doesn't have to be something grand or elaborated. It can be something simple. Simple things sometimes bring people joy"
"That's why I always tell myself 'When life beats you, hold on to the simpler things that bring you joy'"
The memory of the man from the lake came back in a blinding flash, and somehow the smile he wore when he uttered those words brought a strong wave of comfort that washed over her, her body relaxing instantly.
On the same day, two people in her life told her about happiness in simplicity and she couldn't help but smile. She was too broken to rely on her "psychic powers" anymore but this… this coincidence was simply a precious gift.
Knowing Roz, she should have kept it to herself, but the words came tumbling out before she could do anything about it
"I met a man this afternoon"
For a few seconds, Roz Doyle remained silent, processing the information she had been given. Then, the foodgates opened.
"A man? Did you meet a man? And we've been here talking about work all evening instead of that? What is wrong with you Daphne Moon!? Ok ok, tell me everything. Where did you meet? Was he hot? Did he give you his number?"
She had to grab her friend's hand to halt the torrent of questions spilling from her.
"It wasn't like that. It was a casual encounter at the park. Nothing else"
"But you are telling me about it" Roz pointed out knowingly "So it was something. Was he good looking?"
"He was… kind"
"So he wasn't good looking"
Daphne rolled her eyes "I was sitting by the lake having a terrible time and he approached me and handed me a tissue"
"So that's it? He gave you a tissue?"
"Actually we talked for a while and then…" she paused chuckling lightly at the memory "he asked me if I wanted to feed the ducks from the lake"
"You fed the ducks" Roz repeated slowly as if trying to unveil a deeper meaning in those words. "So no number then"
"For God's sake Roz. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe he didn't want me to ask me out?"
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I just thought it could have been good for you if someone…"
"I didn't want him to ask me out" she clarified "I haven't gotten over Joe and what he did to me"
"I know"
"He wasn't having a good time either" she added, regretting the harshness of her previous words. "I could… sense that he was suffering too and he was there to find some peace of mind"
It was late; too late and both women had too wake up early the next day so they began to clean the table and wash the plates they had used for dinner in companionable silence.
"Everything will be alright Daphne" Roz assured her, their footsteps stopping at the door of the guest room "I have the feeling that 'Moon over Seattle' is going to bring wonderful things into your life"
Daphne twitched a smile and wrapped her arms around her, silently thanking her for everything she had done; helping her with the opening, letting her stay at her place, being the best of friends.
"By the way. I'm thinking about inviting my boss to the opening"
"Isn't he an arrogant snob?" Daphne asked.
"Oh definitely" she confirmed and then added with a sly wink "But he has contacts"
*"While I breathe, I hope"