TEXT: Scene 1 - A Furniture Store [Fade in. Niles and Frasier are walking around the showroom, looking at couches.] Niles: Oh, now look at that couch. Now this is something you might want to consider for your new office. Although, I'm not sure how well that, what is that, sort of linen, is going to wear. Oh, you know what I'm going to wear at the opera fund raiser on Friday night? Or is it Saturday? I'll check my book. A lovely linen shirt with my new Zegnia suit. [He lays down on the couch.] Niles: That's a funny word, "Zegnia". The "g" is silent. Silent "g" like lasagna. Frasier: Niles? Niles: Yes? Frasier: Do you notice that you've been awfully chatty lately? Niles: No, but Daphne mentioned it to me this morning. [He gets up.] Niles: Oh, what about this one? Frasier, you really must make a decision. We've been to six stores already, and oh, that reminds me, I must cancel our squash game tomorrow... Frasier: Don't you hear that? Niles: Yes, now that you mention it, I do. It's sort of like a nervous tic of some kind. I wonder what could be causing it. Frasier: Well, let's see: you do have a baby on the way. Perhaps your incessant jabbering is just a way of distracting yourself from this life changing event. Niles: How could I have missed something so obvious? Frasier: Well, it's not so hard to believe. You were fifteen before you discovered there was a correlation between being beaten up every day and going to school in a Panama hat. [Niles takes out his handkerchief and dusts off a couch, then sits down. Frasier stares at a woman across the showroom.] Frasier: Niles! Niles: Hmm? Frasier: Does that woman look familiar to you? Niles: No, but do you know what does? This couch. We
SUMMARY:
While out shopping for a couch, Frasier and Niles encounter Ronee Lawrence ( Wendie Malick ), a former babysitter from years ago who turned down Frasier's affections and used to tell Niles scary bedtime stories . They learn that she is now working as a singer and pianist at a local hotel. Having established also that she is divorced, Frasier takes the opportunity of inviting her round to his house for cocktails that evening. Martin is delighted to see Ronee, and soon both he and Frasier are flirting with her. They both pursue her to the Wellington Hotel to see her play, and continue competing for her attention. Frasier persuades her to duet with him, but is disappointed when she sings directly to Martin - and his mood is reflected in his playing. As Ronee and Martin grow closer, Frasier goes through a spell of depression , and since he is due to start private psychiatry again soon, Niles becomes worried.