"You are the closest thing to Heaven I will ever touch...and I wonder every single day why God sent an angel to a man like me."

Fawn's POV

I sat next to Alastor, scooting my chair a bit closer to him. The excitement and nervousness were mingling in my stomach, making my entire body feel like it was buzzing.

"You ready, darling?" He said to me, settling into his chair. With barely even a glance he flipped the proper switches and made the proper adjustments.

I took a deep breath, letting it out with a nod as I looked over at him. He gave me a warm smile, reaching over and discretely squeezing my leg under the table.

Then, without even looking towards the sound people he started mouthing the countdown as soon as it started.

"Three! Two!" Instead of saying "one" the man on the other side of the glass pointed towards Alastor, adjusting a few dials and giving a curt nod.

It only took a millisecond for Alastor to spin forward in his chair, snatching his microphone with a smooth grace as he began to speak.

"Good morning New Orleans! This is your host, Alastor, and I hope you're tuning in..."

His voice was like butter, that tone he takes when he's broadcasting flaring up immediately.

He can turn it on just as fast as one of these switches.

For some reason, this broadcast was particularly alluring to listen to. The way he moved, the way he spoke, I just couldn't take my eyes off him.

His segment was much longer than mine, taking up about the first thirty minutes of the live broadcast.

Then there's a small music break, and it's my turn.

Occasionally he would glance at me, and he'd even creep closer to me until our knees touched.

Before I knew it, his segment was drawing near to a close. The nerves I'd placed on a back burner moved to the front, causing me to wring my hands in my lap anxiously as Alastor said his parting words.

"Alrighty folks! Time for a brief break, we'll play a few tunes and then be right back here with an extra special segment delivered by a remarkably beautiful guest," he lowered his voice slightly and gave me a half lidded glance, causing my heart to do a backflip.

I rolled my eyes at him, smiling softly at his comment.

The moment he went off air he turned to me, "you ready? Got your script?" He said quietly, as if trying to keep his words secret from everyone else.

I giggled and nodded, holding up the pages.

He nodded, "wonderful, now just as we rehearsed...you can even look at me and pretend it's just you and I. I'll be right here the entire time...they'll love you," he said, his voice getting softer when he spoke those last three words.

I nodded again, "ok..." another deep breath, "ok, I got this...I got this right?" I looked at Al, a bit of my nerves showing through my confident facade.

He chuckled, reaching over and taking his microphone into his hand. Gently, he pushed it towards me and nodded.

"You do, mon faon," he reassured me, and those little words helped calm my nerves just enough.

The songs they played were all slow, jazzy songs. All seemingly calming songs, making me send a curious glance at Alastor.

He's the one who has control over the music...normally he plays swing songs.

But it seems I barely had time to contemplate that, the last song fading out. My heart started thumping hard in my chest, and I raised a slightly shaking hand up to the microphone.

My palms were sweaty, and I rubbed my free hand against my pants, picking at the fabric nervously.

Looking up, I saw all the sound people looking at me, probably eager to hear this person whom their host has entrusted a segment of his famous show.

Then, near the back of the room, I saw Mindy.

She had a scowl on her face, her arms crossed over her chest.

I smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes, turning to leave the room in a huff.

"Back on air in three!"

Oh boy.

"Two!"

Here we go...

The man pointed at me, adjusting the dials. I swallowed my fear and pressed the button at the base of the microphone.

Throwing on a large smile, I began to speak.

"Welcome back, New Orleans, to your favorite radio show! Now, I know I'm not your darling Alastor, but I surely hope I can do the job just as well..."

I changed my pitch, making it a bit higher like he does. I also projected my voice so it would carry properly.

The moment I started talking, the eyes on me widened and some people even smiled, turning to their neighbor to whisper something.

Looking out at everyone in the room wasn't helping my nerves, so quickly I looked to Alastor. He was already looking at me, his eyes soft and a genuine smile on his lips.

Even though I'd been delivering my lines well so far, my hands were still shaking, and I kept picking at my pant leg with the hand I wasn't using for the mic.

Just like he said, I pretended it was just him and I, going through my script like I had in the car.

Then he moved, reaching forward and grabbing my hand that was relentlessly picking at my pants. He picked it up and squeezed, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.

Just like that, my nerves almost disappeared. I held onto him and went through my story.

Slowly realizing I like doing this a lot more than I'd first anticipated.

**

Later in the break room, everyone was gathered around me, showering me with compliments and attention.

Alastor was, of course, right by my side. He was soaking up the attention just as much as I was, although, I was getting a bit uncomfortable with all the praise.

"You see, darling! I told you you'd do just swimmingly," Thomas said, laughing slightly as he took a sip of his coffee.

I nodded, smiling sheepishly before moving a bit closer to Al.

Niffty was next to speak, "yea! You did so great, it wasn't even obvious that you'd never done that before!" She chirped, looking up at Thomas with a smile.

He glanced down at her and I watched their silent interaction, sipping my coffee. A little smile quirked my lips and then the break room door opened.

Everyone looked up at who had entered, and immediately my smile fell, a sour feeling rising up inside me.

"Miss Mindy!" Thomas greeted her, "lovely of you to join us dear, would you care for a coffee?" He offered her.

She held up her hand as she approached us, her sugared smile obviously hiding her true feelings.

"No thank you, sir...I was actually just stopping by to congratulate Fawn, she did a wonderful job," she said sweetly, nodding towards me.

I narrowed my eyes on her, but returned her smile as best as I could.

"Thanks..." I responded, a bit suspicious of it all.

"Yes, thank you Mindy. That's very kind of you," Alastor joined in, his tone having a bit of a subtle bite behind it.

A warning.

She nodded slightly, something cracking behind her eyes at Al's clipped tone. Her smile faltered and for a second she looked so hurt I actually felt a little bad for her.

Sure, she's a bitch, but imagine a random stranger waltzed into your workplace and suddenly was elevated to a spot above you.

I'm sure that would make anyone just a little irate.

But the look was covered up in a split second, her bright smile returning.

"Indeed. Alastor, did you see your newest reports? I laid them on your desk this morning," she asked, and I glanced up at Al.

He nodded, "yes, dear, I saw."

Cold, and to the point.

There was a bit of an awkward silence between the group of us, that is until Niffty piped up.

"Well! I should go straighten up the...uh...the recording booth before the afternoon segment!" She chirped, and then grabbed Tom's hand.

"C'mon," she tugged him, and he nodded to us.

"Ah yes! Straightening the recording booth," he reiterated, making me raise an eyebrow and smile at the two of them before Niffty dragged him away.

After they'd gone, the three of us remained silent for a moment longer until Al gently wrapped a hand around my waist.

"Well, we should be going back as well, I suppose–" he started, but paused when I took his hand that was on my waist and removed it.

Looking up at him, I gave a soft smile. He returned it, although his eyes were confused.

"Actually, you can go ahead...I'll catch up with you," I said, glancing to Mindy. His eyes widened and he shook his head.

"I insist, my darling, I'd prefer—"

All it took was just the slightest hardening of my features to shut him up.

He paused and then sighed, "I want you in the booth in 10 minutes." He said, his tone sounding final. He then looked at Mindy, walking past her.

"Not a second longer." He hissed as he passed, and gave me one final, uncertain glance.

Then he was gone.

I let my smile fall, and turned my eyes over to Mindy. She had also let her mask fall, revealing a sour expression.

She opened her mouth to say something, probably something insulting if I had to guess.

But before she could, I spoke first.

"I'm sorry."

Her mouth shut, and she blinked.

"Pardon?" She said, confusion clearly on her face.

"I am sorry," I repeated, "for what I said the other day to you. That was rude of me, and I'm sorry."

She stood silently a couple feet away from me, those piercing eyes staring straight through me.

Then she rolled them and crossed her arms, "I suppose I can forgive you..." she grumbled, "but I still don't like you." She added, narrowing her eyes on me.

I shrugged, "likewise. Although, I don't understand what your deal with me is. I haven't done anything to you," I said casually, pouring myself a little more coffee.

She scoffed, "before you came along he actually talked to me! He treated me almost like I meant something to him, but now it's back to square one. I had to fight, and crawl, and work to get where I am today, and then you arrive," she spat at me, venom dripping from each and every word.

She threw her hands up, "suddenly he's giving you the world, he's giving you all of it. He gave you my spot in his show!"

I stood still and listened to her. Her words were hurt and angry.

A soft sigh passed my lips and I shook my head, "Mindy, I can't fix whatever beef you've created with me in your head. I can't fix the fact that his feelings have favored towards me. I can't fix that he wants me on the show with him. I have no control over any of this, because it's not me making the decisions," I said, looking up at her.

Her look was hardened on me, but I could see the gears turning behind her eyes.

"It's him," I continued, finishing my coffee before throwing my small cup away, "and there's nothing either of us can do about that. He's making his own choices because he's a grown man, and you need to learn to accept that whether you like his choices or not."

She stayed silent, and I took a step towards her and held out my hand, "and even though you and I don't exactly get along, can we please stop this immature feud sooner rather than later?" I asked, "we don't have to be enemies."

I gave her a small smile, and she glanced down at my hand before looking back to my eyes. Then, to my complete surprise, her sour expression lessened and she hesitated, but ended up taking my hand into hers.

"I suppose I should apologize as well," she said, shaking my hand.

The smile on my face turned genuine and I nodded, "I forgive you," I said, and with that we released each other.

"See you around," I waved as I left her there.

Walking back down the hall, I felt good about that. It went a lot better than I was expecting it to, honestly.

If I'm going to be spending more time here, and I just have a feeling that I'm going to be, I don't want to have someone here that absolutely hates my guts.

It's better to make amends, even if the person is insufferable.

The moment I entered the booth, Alastor looked up from whatever he was fiddling with. He smiled wider upon seeing me, tilting his head.

"You're not covered in blood, so I'm assuming whatever transpired wasn't too awful," he joked, and I chuckled.

"No, it wasn't...now let's finish up the day and get home," I said, sliding into my chair and scooting closer to him.

He nodded, "sure thing, darling."

Just then the sound guy put on his little headphones and started messing with the dials.

Then, the countdown.

Once again Alastor turned on the radio host character in a snap, putting on a show the same as he always does.

This afternoon's stories weren't all that interesting. Al hasn't killed anybody in a few days, so there isn't much in that area to report.

It stayed that way through most of the broadcast, but closer to the end someone suddenly entered the booth.

We both turned to face them, Alastor not even hiccuping in his speech through the distraction.

Thomas hurriedly approached, and bent down to whisper into Alastor's ear.

Al's eyes widened, and his smile broadened just slightly. Thomas handed Alastor a piece of paper and then left the booth as quickly as he'd entered.

"Well folks, I've just been informed of some breaking news!" He chuckled, looking over the paper in his hands.

Then he started to read.

"It seems that our axe man has stricken again! This time the untimely victim of the ruthless savage was—"

Al looked over the next line, and I watched his smile falter, his brows pulling together. The look in his eyes was befuddlement, and he was quiet for a moment, making me curious as to what he could be reading.

Didn't he do it? I didn't think he'd killed anyone recently, but it's not like I keep tabs on it. Why does he look so confused?

Finally he continued speaking, but I wasn't prepared for what he had to say.

"The victim was...none other than a local 19 year old girl named Tildred Fielders. The poor thing was found...bound and gagged...naked and thrown into a ditch with severe injuries to the head, stomach and...vagina."

His voice had grown solemn, his smile nearly not present at all anymore. I was completely shocked. A girl? And those injuries, did he...?

My brows furrowed and he shot me a glance.

"The young woman was known by most as Tilly...working a part time job down at LeBlanc's diner south of Royal Street..."

My blood ran cold.

Tilly? The sweet little waitress that took our order...? No, that can't be right...

Why would he do that to her...

Before I could even stop myself, I was out of my chair.

I turned and walked out of the booth, not even sparing him a glance as I left in a rush.