"Dr. Saroyan?" Camille looked up from the computer in her office and turned.
"Dr. Addy! You found cause of death?"
"Yes, the victim was bludgeoned with a baseball bat."
"Fantastic," Camille paused. "Well, not fantastic-fantastic," she gestured, trying to clarify. "Fantastic that you found it." Zack looked confused.
"Yes..." He trailed off. Camille nodded with an awkward smile and turned back to her work. She began tying again, but Zack never moved. With a sigh, she swivelled to face him.
"Anything else, Zack?" Her smile was growing strained. Sometimes he was hard to interact with.
"Not pertaining to the case, but yes. May I still tell you?"
"Of course... are you alright?"
"Actually, I'm gay." Camille's eyes widened. She nodded approvingly.
"Alright, that is good to know."
"It is?"
"If you didn't think it was, why did you tell me?"
"I thought that for the sake of full disclosure...You talk about your romantic life on the platform so often and so-"
"Whoa, I don't talk about it that often!" Camille interjected, but soon gave up. Zack stared. "Fine, continue."
"I thought this was one of those conventions where reciprocity was required."
"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your telling me, but I don't want you to feel obligated to divulge personal information." Zack considered her statement.
"That is useful information." Camille felt bad. She could see he wished he had known before. She hastily tried to make him more comfortable.
"Well your secret, if it is a secret-" Zack nodded "-is safe with me," Camille finished. Zack started to leave, but Camille stopped him. "Wait, I may have something for you." Camille turned back to her computer and started hastily typing. "Just wait one...second..." Zack shifted his weight. "Here, I got it." The printer suddenly revved up and started printing brightly colored pages. "I got this in my Jeffersonian monthly email. The museum has an LGBT support group. This could be really good for you if you want it." She pulled the pages out of the printer and handed them to Zack. "Here's the flyer."
Zack accepted the papers and scanned the first page. Camille watched his eyes run back and forth. He looked up.
"Thank you for your time, Dr. Saroyan," Zack said and walked out of the room. Camille sighed as soon as he left and sank back into her chair.
That was an unforeseen revelation with its fair share of awkwardness. She felt bad for him. He was obviously confused and that was not a normal feeling for him. Camille hoped he was in the process of accepting himself, but frankly, although she was completely accepting, had no experience with the matter. She made a note in her calendar to check up with him in a few weeks. She loved Zack - everyone loved Zack. She hoped he knew it. Chewing a nail, she unsuccessfully tried to refocus on the corpse on her screen.