Love Letters Part 2

Niles looked at his watch as he rode up in the elevator toward his office. Yawning he thought back to the awkward conversation he'd had with Donny the night before and the irony of it made him laugh . Apparently he'd ha a fight with Daphne and he phoned Niles looking for someone to sympathise with him and agree that she was being unreasonable . It was still a mystery to him why Donny had suddenly decided he was his best friend , but after half an hour of listening to him ramble Niles was ready to commit murder or suicide or both. Didn't he realise how lucky he was to have Daphne at all ! The doors opened and he made his way down the hall , he was 5 minutes late for his first appointment and he hoped she wasn't there already . One thing he'd decided during the sleepless hours of the night before was that he wasn't going to be helped by silly un-mailed letters and he was determined to dispose of the one he'd written before it caused any problems. As he rounded the corner into his waiting area he saw he wasn't going to have a good start to the day , his fist appointment wasn't there but Donny was .

"Donny" he said surprised "What are you doing here?"

"Hi Niles" the Lawyer replied with a weak smile "I was wondering if you could spare me a few minutes"

"Well my first client will be here any minute as a matter of fact she'd late"

Donny was about to respond when Niles secretary spoke from behind him "oh Dr Crane she cancelled , she has flu"

"Well then it looks like I do , go on into the office" Niles said silently cursing his clients and his staff , when his secretary spoke again

"I mailed those letters , one had fallen on the floor under your desk but luckily I caught it . I managed to catch the last collection so they should get there this morning"

"Thank you" Niles said closing the door. For a fleeting moment he wondered about the letter on the floor then he remembered he wasn't alone and turned his attention back to Donny

"So , How can I help?"he asked hanging up his coat

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daphne's morning wasn't going much better. Martin had refused to do his exercises , Frasier had complained about everything from the strength of his coffee to the organisation of his sock drawer and Eddie had trampled mud all over the couch . To top it all she'd spent most of the night contemplating whether she was being unreasonable and if Donny was right and if not what she was going to do about it . She pottered about the kitchen putting away the breakfast dishes as the TV blared in the sitting room

"Daph!" martin shouted "any chance of a coffee?"

She sighed . All she seemed to do was run around after people and right now Donny was beginning to feel like just another person to add to the list . She poured the coffee adding Milk and Sugar and taking it into the other room ,

"Do you have to have that so loud ?" She asked shortly

"Yes ! Otherwise it's not so much fun" Martin replied turning his attention back to the pro wrestling"

"Oh yeah , two grown men beating the pulp out of each other , great fun"

Martin took his eyes momentarily from the screen "Fighting with Donny are we?" he asked grinning

Daphne was livid "None of your bloody business!" she said louder than she'd intended , then "oh what's the point I' going to get the mail" she stormed out slamming the door .

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Niles looked across the table at the man who for a fleeting moment months before he had felt had finally given him the courage to go after the one thing he could ever remember truly wanting, only to discover that his temporary saviour had stolen that thing from under his nose . Now looking at him again across the desk he wondered for the thousandth time what Daphne could possibly see in him , and now here he was expecting advice , help , even sympathy because he'd been insensitive and hurt her.

"So you see my position" he was saying "I mean I'm planning to invite some pretty important people to this party , I want daphne to make a good impression , I mean in this business a man is judged by how his wife comes across"

"And you told her this ?" Niles Asked

"Well , yeah of course , then she flew right off the handle and said if that was how I felt maybe I should find myself someone a little more socially acceptable." Donny's face was a mass of confusion , Nile couldn't help but think how pitiful it was that this man couldn't see why that would have up set any woman not just Daphne

"So basically you said 'yes I love you and I want to marry you because you are wonderful , and yes I want to show you off to all my friends by having a party but while they're around would you mind not actually being you .' That's what you are telling me mad her mad"

"But I didn't mean it like that . Oh god I've got to fix this . Now . And you've got to come with me!"

"I can't I have patients" Niles said . He was sure he wasn't doing anything to help Donny keep her , that was for definite

"Please Niles" Donny asked turning swiftly back into a lawyer again "Remember the urinal cakes ?"

Niles looked at his appointment book and sighed "Oh alright but we better be quick I can reschedule my 10 o'clock but I have to be back by 11"

Donny whisked him out of the office before he had time to change his mind and riding down in the elevator toward the parking lot a voice somewhere in Niles head taunted him . Donny had stolen daphne and now he was going to help him hold on to her . At this point he didn't feel his life could get any worse .

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Daphne closed the mail box and headed back toward the elevator . As the doors closed she flicked through the letters and plastic covered journals. Just when she thought that there was , as usual , nothing for her she came to the crisp white envelope neatly inscribed in black ink. She reached in and pulling it from the pile sent the others scattering to the floor, bending she picked them up just as the doors chimed and opened at the apartment . When she went into the sitting room Martin was no where to be seen , but then neither was Eddie and it didn't take a genius to work out that he had gotten tired of her bad mood and they had sneaked out using the service elevator. She placed the pile of mail on the shelf by the door and turned her attention back to her letter, she'd almost gotten it open when the phone rang .

"Damn" she said out loud then picking it up "Crane Residence" Donny's voice filled her ear and he had just managed to get out "Don't hang" up when she promptly hung up. Leaning with her back to the phone she finally took out the letter and began to read ;

My Dearest Daphne

For the longest time your face has filled my head . You have been my image of perfection , a perfection I never knew existed until you glided into my life with the breath taking strength of a winters wind and the calming serenity of a summers day . I have , over the past years stood by helplessly as my feelings for you have grown and everyday the desire to be near you , to simply be in your presence has become more compelling. The idea that you might one day love me as I do you has been my strength in hard times and the stuff of my dreams .

The times we have spent together , at the snow ball when for an fleeting moment I thought you loved me too and just last year when we shared a meal in so perfect a candle lit atmosphere , have been snap shots of the life I'd hoped we'd one day share . You see with all my heart I wanted to be the person who shared not just your best times but all times . The person who dried your tears , made you mad, cared for you when you were sick and was always around to laugh at your jokes and share your memories . In your eyes I saw our children and in my imagination I saw us growing old in each other's arms .

I have tried so often to tell you that I have long since given up counting. Somehow , however it always seemed easier to live with my hopes , for had I told you and you rejected me I would surly have died of a broken heart. Now the decision is out of my hands . Someone has come along and seen in you all the things I always knew existed and they had stolen your heart . It is he to whom you will dedicate your life , his children you will have and he who will spend the rest of his days thankful that you are his . Seeing you together , that he has done what I tried so often to do , is agony to me and yet a situation completely of my own making .

So it seems the story of the life we may have shared is destined to go forever unwritten. I can only pray that he will make you as happy as I know I could have done had I only trusted both of us enough to try . I will always love you and I will always want your profoundest happiness. I suppose this is a good bye of sorts , a good bye to delusion , to hope , but never think that I will ever say good bye to my love for you . If he ever fails you , if he ever turns your smiles to frowns or your laughter to tears , know that I will am always here , always loving and primarily always your friend

NILES

Daphne reached for the bookshelf for support as tears rolled down her cheeks. The door handle turned and as she tried to compose herself Donny marched into the apartment closely followed by Niles . He was talking , rambling , but she wasn't listening . Niles looked at the piece of paper in her hand and at the familiar hand writing and as there eyes met there was a fleeting moment of acknowledgment . He knew now what the letter on the floor had been , he knew that she'd read it and most importantly she knew he knew.