Daphne is almost regretting her impulse. It looks terribly insane right this moment, with her finger ready to ring the doorbell.
Sherry's rude meddling, added to her indiscretion hitting a very sensitive nerve (how dares the busybody woman tell strangers so blithely to contact Daphne through Frasier's phone as if she were a call girl? It's so humiliating and infuriating!), not to mention that everything Sherry has said about her lack of a sex life for the last months... Everything Sherry has thrown on her face that morning has hit the nail straight on the head and Daphne feels like she is suffocating, quite literally. The current heat wave that is burning Seattle doesn't help with her predicament in the slightest.
Either way, she had to get the hell out of the condo before things went even further south, so she threw a change of clothes haphazardly in her overnight bag and stormed out.
Now she's completely and disgustingly damp with sweat at the youngest Dr. Crane's door, and she's struggling not to dwell on why she's ended up precisely here. One of her friends isn't home today, another one lives with her boyfriend and Daphne hates to intrude, and a third one has recently returned to her parents' house after separating from her husband. Daphne has been left with only one alternative, and it disturbs her as much as it thrills her.
Dr. Niles Crane has been separated from Mrs. Maris Crane for more than a year and has moved to the Montana building a few months ago. She knows that he feels lonely. A woman can perceive that in a man, and his loneliness is calling to her own strongly. Daphne is aware that this is terribly wrong. He hasn't gotten over his love for his wife yet, for God's sake. A marriage of ten years doesn't vanish in a blink.
But he's always so kind to her, such a gentleman, and she always feels beautiful and valued when he's around, no matter what she wears or her current mood. Even the rare occasions they've had rows, he's always been quick to apologize and make sure that things are back to friendliness between them.
All that, in addition to his eyes whenever he looks at her, is what has drawn her to his door now. She's always denied it to herself, because it's so absurd, the possibility that he finds her desirable. It most probably is all an illusion, the illusion that he harbours a secret desire toward her, which she deems as impossible because she's so different from the women he's used to deal with in his select circles.
Whatever it is, Daphne feels a strong pull toward him today after that horrible fight with Sherry, though what it is exactly what she's looking for, she has no clue.
Liar. Of course you have a clue why you're here.
The truth is that she's discovered in herself a budding attraction toward him as of late, and that terrifies her. She ignores if it's all a consequence of this heat wave, her dry spell which has been lasting for too long, or the fact that she finds him so appealing...
She should turn around before it's too late. Yes, I'm going to do just that. Go back all the way to the car and search for a cold shower somewhere.
But her feet seem to be glued together, unwilling to move away, and her forefinger rings the doorbell before she's aware of what she's truly doing. She hardly has time to react before she hears light footsteps and the door is opened to reveal Dr. Niles Crane, so attractive all clad in white, looking as overheated as herself and shockingly surprised by her unexpected presence.
When he faints and drops in front of her, her quick reflexes kick in and with a loud gasp she catches his dead weight before he reaches the floor.