"Oh, you've got to be...!"

Retsuko stood in front of the break room door, blocked by security tape and a memo reading something about construction work and safety of the employees.

"You didn't hear?"

Retsuko jumped and clutched her beating heart like it would have jumped out of her mouth if she didn't.

Behind her, she saw Fenneko staring at her as coldly as ever.

"Oh! Fenneko, hi! Wait, what didn't I hear about?"

"Ton trashed the break room."

"He did!?"

"Yup. Sometime around last night, he was fixing a lightbulb when he hit his head on the ceiling, fell flat on his ass, and all of the cupboards came crashing down. Now there's ten different things that need to be rebuilt and reinforced before it's even safe to go in. Ton send out a memo asking for who did it to come forth, but he's not fooling anyone. I think the huge, pig-shaped hole in the floor speaks for itself."

"How did you find out all this?"

"I have my sources."

"I don't doubt that."

Not one to stick around, Fenneko walked further down the hall towards the desk area, leaving Retsuko all by herself to stare at the sign on the break room door.

"Well," she sighed, "so much for morning coffee..."

Stepping into the desk area, Retsuko was greeted as she always was: with the sight of Isabelle, sitting at her desk facing the rest of the office, juggling phones between her head, shoulders, and paws to cover the receivers.

As busy as she was, Isabelle was able to pick Retsuko out of the corner of her vision. She smiled.

Retsuko smiled back. She waved politely. Isabelle waved back, inadverdently allowing the phone in that arm to slip out onto the floor. Panicked, she yelped, accidentally dropping the other set and letting it clatter to the ground, which, of course, only made her panic more. She dove for both phones, toppling her chair forwards. It was at this time Retsuko saw fit to hurry out while Isabelle still had her head screwed on.

Like everyday, Retsuko made her way over to her desk where, sure enough, Fenneko was already in the next seat over. Retsuko sat down and opened her laptop, booting it up to type away at the work she had to finish before the day was out.

"Hey, did you see someone left something for you?" said Fenneko.

"Huh?" Retsuko looked around at her workspace. Out of the corner of her eye, she finally spotted a plastic cylinder lined with paper and ink. It was only then she noted a trail of steam billowing off of it, carrying a nutty scent: coffee.

"Oh! I can't believe I didn't see that there before." She picked it up and turned it around to inspect it. Was it someone else's? She wanted coffee bad, but not bad enough to steal it. On one side was written in cursive with sharpie ink: "Just the way you like it! -I."

Retsuko eyed the receptionist desk. Isabelle was calmly clacking away at her computer with a bland expression on her face. Still, she looked strained, like she was holding something in.

"Who's it from?" asked Fenneko.

"Fenneko... you said you have your sources, right?"

"Depends. Who's asking?" Fenneko narrowed her eyes and leaned in close to Retsuko, who was starting to get a little creeped out.

"Uh... me?"

"Oh!" She backed away and nodded. "Then yes."

"What do you know about Isabelle?"

"The receptionist?" Her head made a sharp turn back to her computer screen. "Not much. Average height for a Shi Tzu, shoe size is six-and-a-half, used to own real estate in the South Pacific..."

"How do you know her shoe size?"

"...and she's a friend of Tsunoda's."

"Tsunoda?"

"That's what I said, yes."

Retsuko hummed. "How do they know each other?"

"Just friends, probably." She turned to look Retsuko in the eye again. "Why do you ask?"

"I, uh... I don't know. It's probably nothing..."

"But?"

"...but she's... oh, I don't know. She's not bad, if that's what you think I'm saying."

"So, she's too nice?"

"That's the thing: she isn't! Well, maybe a bit, but I don't think that's it eutger! I just can't put my finger on it. I don't know if there's even wrong with her at all, she's just... something."

Fenneko giggled, holding a paw up to cover her mouth as she convulsed.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing."

And just like that, Fenneko sat straight up and went right back to work.

Retsuko was ready to press further, but Fenneko wasn't the type to be pressed – if it was "nothing," that's all it was. Even if she was hiding something, she was often a steel trap when it came to that sort of stuff – it's just that Retsuko usually wasn't the one she hid it from.

She took a sip from her coffee.

The cup didn't lie – black, one sugar, and still warm. She sighed contentedly. Looking back at Isabelle, her eyes were still firmly set on her computer screen with that strained look on her face, only now, something was different:

The tiniest of smiles – barely noticeable if one wasn't focused on it – had graced her lips and wrapped itself neatly between her jowls, like some colorful ribbon wrapped into the smallest bow.

Retsuko couldn't help but stare.

"Tsunoda..."

Hours later, Retsuko was still thinking about Isabelle – not constantly, of course, being that there was work to be done and more important things than just one person; it was a little strange, however, to suddenly realize she was already thinking about her while looking into the bathroom mirror. She'd just washed her paws (like any civilized person – she wasn't an animal) and noticed a splash of coffee had made it onto the side if her snout. Wiping it off with a wet digit, her mind turned back to the conversation with Fenneko. She had laughed when Retsuko said there was something about Isabelle, but why? What did she know that she wouldn't say?

Turning around, she bumped into somebody.

"Oh, sorry!"

"It's okay," they said with a shrug. "See you later, Retsuko!"

"Uh, yeah, you... too..."

They were halfway through the door when Retsuko realized: it was Tsunoda.

"...uh, Tsunoda, wait!" Retsuko held her paw out, running

"Hm?" Tsunoda turned her doe-ish eyes to face right into Retsuko's, overwhelming the panda like headlights from an oncoming car. "Anything you need?"

"Oh, not much, just... do you know Isabelle?"

Tsunoda giggled. ('God, not her too,' thought Retsuko) "Of course I do! I got her this job in the first place!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! We've been friends for a while, and she needed a job, so, when I just so happened to overhear the boss say he needed a new secretary, I maaay have talked her up a little."

That seemed to settle one of her thing, at least. Retsuko wasn't sure how to frame her other questions in a way that didn't reflect badly on her.

"Well," said Retsuko, "maybe it doesn't matter as much coming from me, but I think you made the right call."

"Awww, thank yooou! Oh, and by the way, you were right!"

"About...?"

"It doesn't matter as much coming from you."

Retsuko frowned. Tsunoda burst out giggling.

"I'm just joking!" she added, giving Retsuko a pat on the shoulder.

"Oh. That's... pretty funny, haha..." She tried faking a smile – she wasn't sure it worked.

"Speaking of which, one more thing: Retsuko?"

"Yeah, Tsunoda?"

"If you break her heart, I WILL kill you."

The look in her eyes was so intense and so sudden, it had to be a joke – but then Tsunoda tilted her head, still smiling, and danced right down the hall to go back to work.

She turned the corner, and even then, Retsuko was left staring off into empty space, totally confused.

"...what?"