Clarissa Vaughan Timeline and Summary

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• On a bright June morning, Clarissa Vaughan heads out to buy flowers for a party.
• At the flower shop, Clarissa's attention is drawn to an outdoor movie set nearby.
• When she leaves the shop with her flowers, Clarissa stops by the movie set to see if she can catch another glimpse of the celebrity she thinks she saw.
• When the mysterious movie star fails to reappear, Clarissa goes on her way.
• Clarissa heads to Richard Brown's apartment to make her daily visit.
• At Richard's place, Clarissa can see that her friend is having one of his bad days. She tries to reassure him, and she promises to come back later that afternoon to help him get dressed for the party.
• As she returns to her apartment, Clarissa catches her partner, Sally, just as Sally is leaving to meet some mutual acquaintances for lunch.
• Feeling left out and slightly snubbed, Clarissa heads in and starts to arrange her flowers.
• When the door buzzer buzzes unexpectedly, Clarissa discovers that her old friend Louis Waters has come to pay her a visit. Louis comes in, and they catch up.
• The visit has Louis feeling a little melancholy, and he eventually starts to cry. Just as he does, he and Clarissa hear a key in the lock.
• Clarissa's daughter, Julia, has popped in to collect a forgotten backpack. Embarrassed to be caught crying, Louis hurries away, and Julia tells Clarissa that Mary Krull—one of her instructors at NYU—is waiting outside.
• Clarissa suggests that Mary should come up to say hello, and Julia goes and gets her. Soon, Mary herself appears, and leaves Clarissa feeling angry and unsettled when she goes.
• When Sally returns from lunch, she brings a bouquet of yellow roses for Clarissa, and the two of them sit together happily.
• Later that afternoon, Clarissa returns to Richard's apartment to help him get dressed for the party. She arrives just in time to witness his death, as he says a few parting words to her and then slides himself out of a fifth-story window.
• Clarissa runs downstairs to find Richard's body and sits quietly with him until she figures out what to do.
• Later that evening, Clarissa returns to her apartment with Richard's elderly mother, Laura Brown.
• Clarissa sits with Laura as Sally and Julia put out some tea and food in the kitchen.
• Clarissa goes in to check on Laura and Sally, and, when she sees that the meal is ready, she returns to invite Laura in.