When Daphne arrives home, she's exhausted. The relief of having done the right thing hasn't erased her guilt yet. Donny has taken the breakup better than she expected. He's even admitted that deep inside he knew that their relationship wasn't working, but he didn't want to give up on her because he loved her very much. He wasn't really susprised at her admission that she wasn't in love with him. She felt a deep affection for him, but her feelings weren't the sort that a woman must feel for the man she wishes to spend her life with. She had been lying to herself for weeks, probably for months, too coward to see the truth. She told him that she knew about the engagement ring and that had been what had made the veil fall from her eyes. She'd omitted the part where she'd gone to Dr. Crane's office, because that was something private between her and the doctor and it hadn't changed the inevitable outcome anyway, it had only sped it up.
Donny tried to downplay her guilt about the ring he'd bought for nothing, but Daphne saw the hurt he was trying to hide. At last, they had cried and laughed together, remembering the good times they had spent together. They'd always have and cherish those good memories and nothing could take that from them. Finally the time to say goodbye came and they stood up from their seats at Donny's apartment and got ready to go their separate ways. Donny said that he'd prefer not to see her for now. Maybe one day they might be friends again, but he would need time to move on from her, and it would be easier if they didn't see each other. She agreed. She'd do anything in her hand to help him.
The day has been very trying and she opens the door to Frasier's apartment with a long sigh, glad to be back home, but bone tired. She's not truly ready yet to talk about her breakup with Donny, or about anything for that matter, but she knows that Frasier and Martin are going to notice that she isn't well, so she'd better brace herself for their worry over her.
They never disappoint, she thinks with a fond smile. As soon as they see her, they start to fuss over her, especially Frasier, true to his over-the-top nature.
"What's happened, Daphne? You look horrible," he blurts out. For being such a cultivated man, he can also be quite impulsive and tactless sometimes. Daphne is so used to his often irritating behavior that she doesn't take offense, because she internally agrees with him. She must look as if a freight train has run over her, and doesn't feel much better. The proof is that she isn't inclined in the slightest to retort with a witty and sarcastic remark, what she would have enjoyed any other time.
"I've broken up with Donny," she declares flatly, hanging her coat.
"Oh, Daphne... How sorry I am," Frasier says.
"Me too, Daph," Martin echoes.
The two men are staring at her with sympathetic looks, and though she's grateful for their concern, right now she only has enough energy left to walk to her bedroom, lie down on the bed and cry herself to sleep.
"I... I think I'm going to bed early. I'm worn out. Would you mind handling dinner by yourselves? I really need to be alone," she asks. Frasier often is a demanding ass, but he's also an understanding friend.
"Of course, of course, Daphne. Take rest. I hope that tomorrow you'll feel better," he tries to encourage.
"Thanks, Dr. Crane. Good night. And good night to you too, Mr. Crane," she adds.
"Goodnight, Daphne," both men utter in return.
She makes a beeline for her bedroom and when she closes the door behind her, she drops her purse on the floor and crumbles, crying silently and dropping on the bed without even undressing. True to her previous wishes, she falls asleep bailing her eyes out and grieving a period of her life that has just ended forever. Maybe Donny hasn't been the man of her dreams, but she's going to miss him either way.
Daphne wakes up in the middle of the night, disoriented, her mouth tasting sour and her eyes puffy. She still has her dayly wear on and her face must be a wreck, with the unremoved makeup probably all smudged. She makes the effort to get up, undress, put on her nightgown and step into the bathroom to relieve herself, clean her face and brush her teeth, all of it almost on autopilot.
But her mind is clearer now and the guilt she carries has partly made way for acceptance and a feeling of rightfulness. Yes, her gut instinct is telling her that she's done the only thing she might have done to prevent the worst mistake in her and Donny's lives from happening.
She wasn't meant to be Mrs. Donny Douglas, period.
Then, Dr. Crane's handsome face, well, Niles's face and soothing presence pops up into her mind, and her heart gives a slight lurch. God, he had admitted to his feelings for her! And he, like the true gentleman he is, hasn't pressured or coaxed her in any way, putting her before his own needs and desires. She suspects that he's been bottling up all that since years back. Now many small details make much more sense. His furtive stares, double takes, compliments, offerings to help her with her chores as well as his eagerness to often include her in the family's outings to have dinner in restaurants and even to accompany them to trips; and also in parties and social events, and she senses that those were excuses to have her close to him for longer, or that she's thrilled to believe.
The Snow Ball more than three years ago, dancing together all night, their bodies fitting together perfectly like pieces of a puzzle, and they letting themselves be carried away by the heat of the moment, putting a show for his wife's snob friends, shouting to the rooftops a fake mutual adoration... But had it been truly fake, especially in his case? Now, looking back from a new perspective, she is pleasantly flattered, but also ashamed, to discover that he'd spilled the truth and she'd discarded it lightly, praising his acting skills. Now, reflecting on his reaction (which she'd hardly payed any attention to right then, too distracted by the glamour of their surroundings and the euphoria and adrenaline of dancing), she realized that he'd just poured his heart out to her only to be crushed by an unintentionally cruel choice of words on her part. Oh, hell. No wonder he was so eager to leave the party afterwards, rebuffed and heartbroken.
And a few other moments when she inadvertently had cut off any chance for him to express his feelings. Had it be so inadvertent on her part? Now she is seriously doubting that she had done it so thoughtlessly.
The attraction for him had been there from the very start, and at last she doesn't have any doubts in that regard. She now sees it for what it really is. But she's suppressed it firmly, mostly in an unconscious level, because Niles had been married (for a great part of their acquaintance) and she's always discarded married or recently separated men due to their complicated baggage. In addition, he's rich, vastly educated, a snob and has a hunger for social climbing and rubbing elbows with Seattle's elite. But he is also very handsome, brilliantly smart, kind, tender, compassionate, considerate, attentive, funny and an inveterate romantic. A true gentleman like the ones she likes so much in her novels. She had assumed that he would never set his sights on an ordinary, poor, mouthy, cheeky working-class foreign girl. That at most, he'd just harbor physical desire for her and not more. But apparently she'd been wrong the whole time. She'd undervalued both Niles and herself in the process. Niles because she'd believed him incapable of falling in love with a woman beneath his station; and herself because she hadn't considered herself to be enough for him.
Well, she isn't sure yet if she loves him, but she is certain that she is getting there. And the thought of letting him go without having experienced how romance with him might be makes her insides hurt and twist.
She's reached a decision, and that soothes her to the point of lulling her back to sleep, with an excited and content shiver of anticipation running down her spine.
She's going to take the leap and ask him to go out on a date, even if at first they should be discreet, for Donny's sake. She's not a cold-hearted bitch, or that she'd like to believe.
It's time to put to sleep the fears and objections that have been hindering their chances at exploring a love relationship between them for years.
They both had put it off for too long. But enough of delays and of allowing obstacles to stop them.