Between Friends part 2

As Roz pushed Donny away her mind spun , this couldn’t be happening , how could he be doing this to her ? How could he be doing it to Daphne.

“Get out !” she said as forcefully as she could

“Roz please” Donny said gripping her arm “I love you !”

“Haven’t you forgotten something ? You’re engaged. How could you do this to Daphne ?”

“I know , I know I don’t want to hurt her but I just can’t get you out of my head. Please Roz.”

“Well if you love me” Roz continued the words sticking in her throat “Why haven’t you broken things off with Daphne, why ask her to marry you”

“I .... I ..... I don’t know .... I guess I didn’t know if you’d want me back”

Roz spun round and stared at him , she couldn’t believe what he was saying. How could he use Daphne like that , she was filled with anger on her friends behalf. She couldn’t help but think of the night earlier in the week and how upset Daphne was about the fact she might have feelings for Niles because of what it would do to Donny and all the time he was just using her as a fall back. She lifted her hand bringing it down hard on his face.

“You bastard !” she shouted “I can’t believe you , Daph is worth 100 of you and mark my words if you hurt her I’ll never forgive you !”

Donny lifted his jacket and headed for the door “Please reconsider !” he said in one last attempt as his hand rested on the handle

“Just get out !” Roz said feeling tears stinging the backs of her eyes. As the door closed she sank into the chair curling her legs up to her chest as tears rolled down her face. She was still in shock haunted by thoughts of Daphne , she would be crushed if she knew what had just happened. As she stared at the phone on the table beside her she was struck by the irony ‘who do you call’ she thought to herself ‘when the person you trust most is the one person you can’t tell?’ She rested her head back on the chair and sighed as the options flashed through her mind.

********************

The next day as she sat in the booth looking at Frasier she was obviously off her game and he kept looking at her suspiciously. When the show was finished he put his head round the door and scowled.

“Roz what’s the problem ?” He asked

“It’s nothing” she said looking up at him ,”I just didn’t get much sleep last night that’s all”

“Oh ! I see so the date went well ?”

“No Actually I got stood up ...... Now I’d really rather not talk about this if you don’t mind.”

Frasier was about to object when Daphne appeared at the door “Hi guys” she said cheerily

“Daphne !” Roz replied feeling her stomach turn “What are you doing here ?”

“Have you forgotten ? We have a shopping date we arranged it the other night.”

“Oh yeah right” Roz said lifting her bag and heading out the door

“Good luck Daphne” Frasier shouted after them “I hope you can get more sence out of her than I have all day”

Daphne suggested that they stop for coffee before getting started and 20 minutes later they were sitting in cafe nervosa.

“So tell me about your date” Daphne said her voice still croaky

Roz felt herself freeze “Haven’t you spoken to Donny ?” she asked finally

“No he’s been in court all morning . Come on spill was he as horrible as you expected ?”

Roz laughed in spite of herself “He was worse ! He stood me up”

“No ! Oh god Roz do you think it was payback for you’re compliments comment ?”

“I don’t know but what ever it was I was left sitting there for a half an hour waiting for a guy I didn’t want to see in the first place.”

“So what’d you do ?”

“I went home”

“Oh well I guess Donny will have had the extra time to work on his case he’ll have been pleased.”

“Yeah” Roz said shifting in her seat

“So did he hang around ? Did he say anything about the wedding plans so far ? He’s so busy most of the time I’m sure he just agrees to keep me happy when I’m putting ideas to him.”

“No he didn’t mention the wedding plans. “ Roz could feel her cheeks begin to flush she knew she had to change the subject “So have you thought anymore about what you were saying the other night ?” she asked “About Niles I mean”

Daphne set down her coffee cup and sat back in the seat. “Yep” she answered “And I’ve come to a decision . I’m engaged Roz and I know it’s not fashionable but that means something to me. I may have feelings for Niles but he’s with someone else and happy. We had our time I just never knew it. Donny loves me and I’ve made a commitment to him I don’t intend to hurt him now on a whim. I’m getting married that’s my decision and I’m content with it. Donny will be good to me , he loves me I feel comfortable with him and most of all I trust him. I’m sure it’s the right choice.”

Roz felt herself well up , she hated Donny for the position he had put her in and she hated him for what he was prepared to do to Daphne . She took a deep breath “Daph” she said as she exhaled “There’s something you should know.”