The door was open when Adrian tried the doorknob, walking in before Celeste's tired call of 'Come in.' The scene in front of her was lit dimly by the desk light illuminating Celeste's paperwork and the white glow from the digital clock reading 4 in the morning. "I brought you coffee, Ms. Inpax. You've been up for the whole night, you must be exhausted, I...I thought it would help a little."

Celeste looked up from what she was typing, her features somehow looking older than they really were. "Don't 'Ms. Inpax' me, Adrian. We've been friends for longer than that, haven't we?" Adrian noticed the bottle of Bud Light sitting on her desk. "I don't need it, anyways. You seem to be forgetting that you're also up at this hour. Drink it yourself."

Adrian felt her face turning somewhat red. "I didn't know you liked alcohol, Ms In-Celeste."

"How else do you think I keep myself awake this long?" Her tone was joking, but Celeste's eyes were downcast, and the dark circles underneath her eyes were enough to make Adrian's heart ache. "Don't just stand there. You know what else would help me stay awake? Some company."

Adrian sat down on the couch next to Celeste's desk, staring down at the paper cup of coffee. She took a sip, listening to the sound of the other woman's fingers on her keyboard and the occasional scratch of her pen on her notepad. "What is it you're working so hard on?"

"This and that, you know." Celeste responded, then sighed loudly. "Oh, forget it, what good will it do to lie to you? I'm writing a letter of request to the head of Global Studios." She looked at Adrian, as though waiting for her to ask a question. "You're so quiet, Adrian. You're the perfect secretary; you never ask any questions even when there are clearly questions to be asked."

"I-I'm sorry."

"No, that's nothing to be sorry about." Celeste smiled at her. "Come a little closer. I can't see your face."

"Would you like me to turn on a light?"

"No. I only want to see your face, not the rest of the room." Adrian felt her heart rising in her throat, then put her coffee down and got up to stand next to Celeste at the desk. She noticed that Celeste's pink lipstick was smeared around the edges. She looked like someone's abandoned porcelain doll. "Adrian."

"Yes?" Adrian clasped her hands together, trying to hide the fact that her tiny frame was shaking as though her heart was a timebomb that would destroy it when Celeste spoke her next word.

"Tomorrow." There was a sudden sadness in Celeste's voice. "Could you do something for me? Book a dinner for Matt and Juan. I don't care where, just keep them out of here for the morning. Try the steakhouse. Juan loves that place."

"W-Why?" Adrian tried to keep the disappointment out of her tone. Of course it wouldn't have been a fairytale love confession. It was only business. It was only ever business. "I...I mean, of course I'll do it, but why?"

Celeste laughed. The sound was empty and mirthless. "One more thing, Adrian."

"Ye-" Adrian's mechanical reply was cut off by Celeste standing up and gently kissing her. The manager's hands rested on her shoulders as though she was afraid she would accidentally break her if she held her too hard. "C-Celeste…you're getting married…to…"

Celeste raised a finger to Adrian's lips. "No. I'm not. He called the marriage off." Celeste's voice was barely a whisper, and it cracked with every word she spoke.

"But why would he do something like that?!" Adrian felt a sudden rush of anger.

"Ask Matt. He knows." Celeste was smiling all of the sudden, but tears were running down her cheeks, making streaks in her perfect foundation. Adrian couldn't help thinking to herself that she looked like an angel.

"It's so late, Celeste...I'll give you a ride home, come on..." She tugged on her manager's arm, but Celeste refused to move.

Celeste looked up at her with her tear-filled eyes, her smile not wavering a bit. "No, Adrian. You go home. Book that restaurant appointment. I'll see you tomorrow." Adrian reluctantly let go of Celeste and drove home with a tight feeling in her chest that didn't even dissipate when she finally fell asleep.

She hadn't remembered booking the restaurant appointment, but apparently she'd done it because Matt had called her and complained that he hated steak, so she'd have to change the restaurant, which sparked a whole argument over which man's needs she was more willing to cater to. At times Adrian felt like a babysitter instead of a manager.

Just as she was going to call Juan to ask if he was willing to sacrifice steak for something else, her phone began to vibrate. The name on the screen made her suddenly remember the events of the night before, and she swallowed hard. Celeste Inpax.

"Hello?"

The voice that responded was most certainly not Celeste, but the husky, masculine tone of Juan Corrida. "Adrian...I…Celeste is…I'm so sorry, Adrian…"

"W-what happened?!"

"She's...dead."

Years later, Adrian was never able to recall what happened after that. She may have fainted, or she may have simply sat down on her bed and bit down on her lower lip and told herself what Celeste had said to her: Quiet. The perfect secretary. Not questioning. Perfect.

Juan had come over to tell her that they were investigating her death and it looked like suicide-what an ugly word, what an ugly word to use for a beautiful woman. Juan sat down next to her on the unmade bed of her two-room studio apartment and asked her if she was alright, and the next few hours felt as though she was in a waking dream. She would have preferred for it to be a waking nightmare and not reality.

He asked her if she wanted to see the body. She said no. He asked her if she wanted to attend the funeral later that week. She said no. He asked her, again, if she was alright. She said no.

So he wordlessly got up and left, but not before placing a manila folder with the scribbled word 'Autopsy report' in her lap. All the papers looked like they'd been through the copy machine a couple times, and she thought about sticking them in the gigantic green recycling bin and then letting them be wheeled away to go be turned into more paper and never be known as an 'autopsy report' again.

Cause of death: strangulation and hanging.

No evidence of alcohol or drugs of any kind found in the body, although there were two (2) bottles of Bud Lite filled with water on the deceased's desk.

No suicide note found. Further investigation required.

The first thing Adrian did after putting down the folder was find a magenta-colored scarf Celeste had given her for her birthday and a hook meant for a light fixture hanging from her plaster ceiling.

this was an unfinished piece that i rediscovered this morning. adrian was in love with celeste and that's final.