That afternoon in La Ardosa, Chloe met up with a few of her new female colleagues at Interpol for drinks with Rahkaze. The two of them were very cute, one being a high elf with blonde hair and powder blue eyes named Corey and a cat kemonomimi with black hair and light brown eyes named Drake.

Corey and Drake were very open to the fact that such a celebrity, like Rahkaze Zayne, wanted to hang out and have a few afternoon drinks.

Rahkaze himself didn’t waste no time turning on the old angelic charm, “Okay, lightning round! The topic is MCR!”

“MCR?” Corey wondered.

“My Chemical Romance,” Chloe answered.

“Okay, identify this song, ladies: ‘I miss you, I miss you so for the collision of your kiss that made so hard,’” Rahkaze recited.

Chloe rolled her eyes, knowing for a fact she already knew the answer, “That is so easy, Kaz! ‘Cemetery Drive,’ Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.”

Corey was amazed by Chloe’s knowledge of the band, “I didn’t know you were an MCR fan, Chloe!”

“My older brother used to listen to that all the time, and I just remembered all the lyrics,” Chloe reminisced.

“Well, in any case, loser’s drink,” Rahkaze smiled as he took a shot of rum.

“Fuck you, Rahkaze! I smell collusion at work!” Drake teased.

Rahkaze comically cocked an eyebrow, “Is that so?” He said with a grin.

“Yeah, a schoolteacher like Chloe knows more punk rock than Corey? Or you know Chloe would answer first,” Drake analyzed. “Trying to get us all drunk, Knowing Chloe’s too hard to get.”

Suddenly, Chloe’s smartphone rings, and she immediately answers it.

“Hey, I thought you left yours and the hotel,” Corey pointed out. But she couldn’t leave something this valuable in her hotel room. Corey is a bit drunk, and being snoopy looked at Chloe’s caller ID and was a bit shocked by who’s calling her, “R. Zayne? As in the Revan Zayne?”

“The one and only,” Rahkaze winks.

Chloe had to step away from the table and take the call privately, “Hello, Dr. Zayne,” Chloe answered.

“Congratulations, darling! I hope you are enjoying your present,” Revan responded.

“I will definitely use it, thank you,” Chloe happily praised.

Revan chuckled, “No problem at all. I’m here in New York City on a medical case. My husband tagged along.”

Chloe giggled, “He sure misses you.”

“I know, the poor baby. He doesn’t want to be away from me that long. But, duty calls,” Revan teases. “Speaking of which, you are at my favorite pub in Madrid, and my boy Rahkaze has made you the unofficial designated driver and wingman. Am I right?”

Chloe smirked at the idea, “Dr. Zayne, the only thing she is going to snuggle with that is warm tonight is a hot water bottle.”

Revan laughed, “That’s my girl, have fun. Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Chloe ends the call and makes her way back to the table but was suddenly approached by another man. He had short black hair with brown highlights with almond brown eyes. He was rather tall, middle-aged with a medium build wearing a dark green suit with a matching tie. He greeted Chloe with a smile, “Dr. Serpentine?”

Chloe turned around to see this man, but she was taken by surprise by somebody acknowledging her, “Oh, hello!”

“I didn’t want to startle you,” the man being sincere.

“Oh, not at all,” Chloe laughing off the nervousness.

Knowing she got her attention, he struck up a conversation, “I was at your presentation the other day about death drives? It was very fascinating…”

Chloe nodded in approval, “Well, thank you. Getting on stage was the hardest part.”

“It takes guts having that sense of humility. Not everyone can get up on stage and be open and receptive,” he commended.

His face looked utterly familiar. It was like she saw him before but couldn’t put her finger on it, “W-wait… Yeah, you were at the front row… I remember you now,” she guesses.

The man nodded, “I was. And I also heard, they made you a Detective Constable over at Interpol.”

Of course, she was a bit freaked out by that admission, but she tried to play it off as best she could, “I didn’t know where you heard that from, but I’m no George W. McClusky…”

The man chuckled at her modesty, “I think it’s well deserved that is going to more people like you under the Criminal Investigation branch.”

Out of embarrassment, Chloe shook her head, “No, sir, I’m not that special…”

“But you are. I do believe everyone is unique. With your set of skills of putting things into different perspectives, getting inside the minds of others is quite a marvel all in itself.”

Now the man’s general praise was on the verge of being flirtatious and unsettling. Chloe decided to end things quickly with this mysterious man who she felt was coming on to her a tad bit strong, “Um, sir? I… it was quite nice speaking to you, but I got to get back before my best friend gets all of my colleges drunk doing music trivia.”

“You start on Monday, but your rank is effective immediately, right?” He questioned.

“I… suppose it is…” Chloe being vague.

“I know this sounds weird and upfront, but I want to give you this case…” He offered.

She knew this was going to hit her like a ton of bricks, but she had to know, “Um, sir? Who are, by the way?”

“I’m Dolph Eichner, Grandmaster of the Oleander Syndicate, majority leader of the Dark Nebula Coalition.”

Chloe paused for a moment. She was not in any disbelief but was a skeptic by the fact that the Grandmaster of the Oleander Syndicate, majority leader of the Dark Nebula Coalition, would just so run into her at a bar and offer her some kind of position.

Yet, she had every right to be a skeptic as she laughed off, “You want to give me a case? That pick-up line is original…”

Then the supposed grandmaster pulls an envelope out of his jacket pocket, “I’ll give you a day or two to think it over. Call me when you’ve made your decision.” He then hands her the envelope and leaves the establishment. Chloe shrugs her shoulders and opens the letter. Skimming through the letter, she was stunned by the fact that he was indeed the Grandmaster, and what he gave her was an open invitation.

But he looked so different from yesterday. Was that really him on the podium? Who really knows? But it was something that she really must think about. For now, she had to help Corey and Drake with some punk rock music trivia.