“You’re just going to leave me here? Alone? Do I need to lock up?”

“No, we keep it unlocked. Security comes by after we’re all through and closes up everything for the night, but that’s not till ten or eleven. Bye.” She winked at me.

“Okay, bye.”

I finally trudged back to my office. Azita had left me a note on my desk that my mom had called. I crumpled it into a ball and threw it in the trash.

Glaring at my computer screen, I tried to focus; there was still a lot of work to get done. The episode I was working on was entitled “Smells like Murder.” A man is found dead and all leads point to a disgruntled business partner, but during the autopsy Maggie discovers his entire body is covered in a milky residue. After evaluation and testing, she discovers that it’s antiperspirant. The victim had a problem with sweating through his clothes, and he knew he was going to a very volatile meeting with the business partner. He decided to cover his entire body with a thick coating of an antiperspirant and when he started to sweat, the toxins couldn’t escape and he literally poisoned himself to death. The episode had a hook, but the network usually liked a little more action. A memo had come down from upstairs asking for “a little more blood” in the show.

“Bad time?”

I looked up and saw Rich waiting in my doorway.

“No, just figuring out how to write about a guy’s BO,” I replied.

“What?” He looked confused.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just a little slappy from too much caffeine. What’s up?”

Rich seemed nonplussed; we’d been here before.

“You wanted to talk to me, remember? About the interrogation scene you’re working on.”

“Oh yeah,” I had forgotten. All the Chloe drama had made me space about everything. “Sorry, Rich, can we talk tomorrow? I’m just kind of slammed now.”

Rich held still in my doorway. He hadn’t actually stepped into my office, but I hadn’t invited him in either. “Sure, no problem, Dani.”

But he remained at the threshold, watching me. “Bye, Rich.” I said dismissively, turning back to my computer.

“Have a good night, Dani,” Rich said, not moving.

I didn’t know how long he stood there; I never glanced back to the doorway.

The light faded in my office, and the staff peeled away to go home to their families. I was fine staying late.