She sits at her desk quietly, staring at the phone, for no reason. She chews on her pen cap nervously. She doesn't hear Marc come into her offices.
"Why are you chewing on your pen?" he questions.
She quickly removes the pen from her mouth and tosses it in the trash can next to her desk.
"What do you need?" she questions looking up at him.
"Have you found a new assistant yet?"
"I've been too busy," she admits.
"You need to make time."
"Marc I appreciate your concern, but I'm busy."
"I set up interviews tomorrow."
"You'll have to cancel them. I'm off tomorrow."
"You're off?"
"Yes," she answers.
"Ok," he relents.
Marc stops off in Daniel's office to talk to him.
"I set up interviews for you to find a new assistant."
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
"Good."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Do you know that Wilhelmina is taking the day off tomorrow?"
"What is tomorrow?
"January 26th."
"Yes,"he answers.
"You're pretty busy right now. Can you really afford to have her take any time off?"
"You've been her assistant for a long time I can't believe that you've never noticed."
"Noticed what?"
"She's taken that day off every year for the past four years."
"It's not her birthday."
"To be honest, I don't know why she takes it off, but she does."
"Just one day?"
"The twenty sixth of January, every year for the past four years."
"I wonder why?"
"Then you should ask her," Daniel suggests.
"No. I thought that you would know."
"I don't."
"You don't have any clue?"
"We both that Wilhelmina never asks for time off. Four years ago when she came to me and asked I was shocked. It was very short notice and..."
"What was the reason?"
"She just told me that it was for personal reasons."
"That was good enough?"
"For Wilhelmina? Yeah."
"How much noticed did she give you?"
"None. Four years ago she came in on the twenty sixth and asked for four days off. I didn't question it. She used her emergency vacation days."
"Interesting."
Marc returns to Willie's office to confront her. The door is open, but he hears her from on the phone and listens from outside.
"Yes I'm calling to confirm my flight for tomorrow," she pauses, "The seven fifteen to Dulles International Airport. Wilhelmina Slater. Yes," she pauses again, listening to the voice on the other end, "Thank you. Goodbye," she hangs up the phone.
Marc then enters her office.
"Do you need something?" she raises an eyebrow.
"Do you want lunch?"
"I'm fine."
"I was just wondering, because you were eating your ink pen."
"Not because I'm hungry."
"So why then?"
"I don't know," she shrugs.
"So do you have big plans for your day off?"
"No," she answers.
"You're not going anywhere, or doing anything?"
"No," she answers.
After she leaves that night Marc gets onto her computer and searches her history for the day. He meticulously goes through the list.
Wilhelmina sits in her bed with the lamp on. She flips through the pages of a book. She reaches the last page and stares at the picture for a very long time. She chokes back her emotions, and returns the book to the drawer of her bedside stand.
Marc clicks on one of the links. The page loads and he finds an obituary.
"What are you doing in Wilhelmina's office?" Betty asks.
"I'm up to no good," he admits.
"So did you find anything incriminating?"
"I'm just going through the history on her computer."
"Did you find anything?"
"I found an obituary."
"Wilhelmina's?"
"No. It's for a soldier."
"A soldier?" she questions.
"Gabe Edward Cooper, nineteen killed in the line of duty."
"Does it list who he was survived by?"
"No," he answers.
"Do you think that she knew him?"
"Hard to tell."
"Why are you on her computer anyway?"
"Because I was curious."
"About what?"
"She's taking tomorrow off."
"So?"
Marc continues reading, "He's buried in D.C."
"What's your point?"
"I overheard Wilhelmina on the phone today. She was confirming a flight to Dulles, tomorrow. Which happens to be the same day that Gabe Cooper died."
"Maybe he's a friend, or a relative. A nephew maybe?"
"Maybe," he shrugs.