Love Letters pt 3

The tension in the room was palatable . Niles could feel his heart beating so fast he thought he might pass out . Donny's voice was still rambling in the background as tears ran down Daphne's face and she turned and ran toward her bed room .

"Oh God , now I've gone and upset her again" Donny said "Talk to her Niles , please"

Niles looked at him , how could he face her , he had to leave . But Donny wasn't taking no for an answer"Now Niles quickly!" he repeated . Niles felt himself begin to walk toward Daphne's room , somehow his feet were moving but his brain was still saying "get out of here". He was in front of the door now and he saw his hand reach up and knock.

"Daphne it's Niles , an we talk please?" There was no reply and he could hear her crying on the other side of the door . He reached for the handle and opening the door he quietly went inside. She was lying face down on the bed the letter still clutched tightly in her hand . He walked toward her and gently touched her back

"I'm so sorry ," he said feeling tears well in his own eyes "I never meant to hurt you , you were never meant to see that"

Daphne turned to look at him her eyes were full of anger "How can you do this to me ?" she asked "now of all times ! You had years to tell me this and you wait until I'm engaged to someone else !"

"I..... I..... I don't know what I can say to make it better except that it's all true , but like I said I only want you to be happy and if Donny makes you happy then I respect that."

She was standing facing him no and for an instant he thought he saw her look soften "you really think it's that simple ? I just put this in the bin and carry on as if nothing ever happened ? God , I never had you down for being so naive. Do you realise I was happy , al I ever wanted all my life was to be married , to be Mrs Whoever , to have a couple of kids and a nice home and I finally thought I was going to have it . You could have stoped this months ago when that witch you were married to tried to drag me into your divorce , hey there's irony for you I guess she was right all along . And you could have stopped it when I asked your advice before I said yes to Donny but instead you as good as told me to marry him ! Now .... I mean now you've clouded everything . Even if I don't want to be with you how can I in all conscience marry him?! I loved him that much this shouldn't have been an issue , I should even have thought about it for 1 second. But now you've made me doubt myself and I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that ." She turned away and stared out the window

Niles looked at the floor , he didn't have anything to say in his own defence , he wished he did. He was about to leave when she began talking again

"You told me my visions were a sign of my fear of commitment ! You said I was using them because I was frightened , and all the time you must have been thinking ...... I don't know what you must have been thinking . Do you realise that everything that's ever happened between us over the last 7 years , everything I've ever told you because I thought you were my friend is changed . What was it , was all your interest simply because one day you were hoping to get me into bed ?I thought I'd finally found a man who could be my best friend , who cared for me because he ....... Oh what's the use it's all changed anyway . Anyway if this is all true" she said waving the letter in front of him "Why did you let me come this far and then let this happen?"

Niles felt like he was being stabbed , how could she believe he had only been her friend because he was attracted to her "Daphne no please believe me I never want to loose your friendship and I would never pretend to be your friend , it's not possible no one could spend time with you and pretend you are much to wonderful a person. As for the letter I told you I didn't mean for it to get mailed , my secretary found it on the floor and she put it with some others , I didn't even realise it was gone until I came in and saw you reading it."

"And that's another thing what exactly are you doing here ? What's going on ?"

"Donny asked me to help he realised he'd hurt you and he wanted to make it better , he thought I could help . He called me last night and then when I got to the office this morning he was waiting . He told me about your argument and when I pointed out that I thought he was being insensitive he insisted on coming over here and me coming too."

"Oh so you thought you'd help ?" Daphne's eyes flashed with a mixture of pain and anger "I just can't believe you've done this I can't believe this is happening"

"It was an accident , please believe me you were never meant to read it" Niles voice was pleading his eyes were filled with tears

She stared at him , she could hear footsteps in the corridor reaching down she put the letter in the drawer in her night stand . The foot steps came closer

"What is it you and your brother are always saying ? There's no such thing as an accident ?"

Niles was dumb founded . He was about to answer when Donny put his head tentatively round the door "Daph I'm so sorry" he said ,"has this man convinced you to forgive me yet?"

Daphne looked between the two men , her mind was spinning . Donny was standing beside Niles and she felt like she might scream from the frustration of it all . Niles was completely silent he stared at the floor

"Daph. Please." Donny said again

Once again she looked from one to the other . Niles looked up and for a fleeting second their eyes met and she decided she was going to have her dream and no one was going to stop it . It may not be perfect , and it may not be exactly what she hoped for but she was getting married and she wasn't going to let doubts stop her now . It was fear , she told her self , she wasn't in love with Niles , it was just another clever way to avoid commitment . She should have thrown the letter away immediately and saved all this hassle. She wasn't going to let any silly commitment phobia ruin what had every chance of being a perfectly acceptable marriage. Taking her eyes from Niles she looked at Donny

"Of course he has ." she said standing between him and Niles "Now lets not fight anymore . We have a party and a wedding to plan" she looked at Niles still consumed by anger and pain at the lose of what she thought her life had been since she'd met him . Niles felt the crushing sensation that only comes when your world crumbles around you burying you in the rubble .