May 27, 2000 - 17:00
Coralis had a home game in the afternoon against India. She was supposed to go to Victoria's after the game so they could get ready together for her semester party, but she was sent on an emergency mission in West Island right after it.
She found out through her mentor that since Lord Meozo's horrendous years, the EBEE has been collaborating with the CMMA more often, sometimes pairing up a CMMA agent with an EBEE one just in case the suspects were involved in both territories. Considering that Coralis had to spend a lot of time in Montreal because of her contract with The Northerners, she shouldn't be surprised that their superiors took advantage of it to send her on missions there.
She warned Victoria that she might arrive late but that she would be there. However, she didn't tell Frank. She saw him once after that night they kissed, but they didn't talk much: she had to stop at Victoria to drop money to cover the first rent and moving expenses, but couldn't stay.
She saw him as she was walking out of the elevator, but she didn't want to be late for her flyball practice, so she was in a rush. Hoping to spend time with her again when she was available, Frank gave her his phone number before she left the building, and she hoped that he wouldn't think she was ignoring him on purpose.
When Frank noticed that she still wasn't there an hour after they arrived at the party, he asked Victoria about it. He knew she was probably busy at work, but he was interested in getting to know her more and asking her out on a date when she was available. Victoria asked him for his phone so that she could send a ping to Coralis' pager.
Maribel was there and noticed that Frank was getting anxious and nervous over it.
"Is there anything going on between the two of you?" said Maribel, looking at Frank.
"I kept wondering about that, you've been talking a hell of a lot about her for the past few weeks," said Mark.
Frank wasn't sure what to answer them because he didn't know what there was between him and her. He felt his phone vibrating in his back pocket and pulled it out to look at it. He looked at the phone number, but he didn't recognize it and decided to ignore it. Victoria's pager beeped just as he was about to admit that he liked her.
"Coralis is on her way. She will be here in about 15 minutes."
Maribel sipped her drink quietly, unfazed, while the others gave her an odd look.
"How could you tell all that from a pager ping?" said Carlos.
"Let's just say that we have been talking in codes for about 10 years," said Victoria, then turned her attention to Frank. "She also said she called you first but that you didn't answer. She has your phone number?"
Frank nodded as he looked at his phone, checking for a voicemail notification.
When Coralis arrived, she spotted her friends. Maribel saw her and waved. Coralis waved back and headed to the bar. She needed a drink. Victoria and Mark looked in the direction Mirabel had just waved, and saw Coralis, wearing a knee-length dark blue dress with spaghetti straps and white flops.
"Coralis finally made it," said Victoria, smiling. "She's at the bar."
Frank's eyes went wide for a second. He chugged his drink and got up.
"Anyone needs a drink?" he said.
"Another pint for me," said Mark, pulling his wallet out.
Frank grabbed his money and headed to the bar. He'd been debating about asking the group if they wanted another drink: he was tight on cash and wanted to make sure he'd had enough to buy her a drink. He still hadn't admitted to his friends that he liked her and he wasn't sure if it was mutual. Seeing that none of his friends had empty drinks, he decided to play it safe and ask them if they needed another drink so it wouldn't raise suspicions.
"Yup, something going on between these two," said Maribel.
"I think that you might be right about that, but I never got anything out of her," said Victoria.
"So you've had suspicions."
"Yeah, when she got to my place 5 hours after she told me that she was at his dorm… she did quickly change the topic."
Frank got to the bar just as she was placing her order. The bartender nodded. Before the bartender could turn around to prepare her drink, Frank passed his order. The bartender nodded.
"You finally made it," he said.
"Yes, finally! Did I tell you about my work liking me more than I like them?"
The bartender came back with the drinks, two pints of beer for Frank and a double scotch for Coralis. She paid for them before he could.
"Well Vic, if it can make you feel better," said Mark, watching the scene from afar, "he never said anything to me as well, and I am supposed to be his homie and roommate. He did talk a lot about her, though."
"They do make a cute couple. Honestly, I'm hoping that there is indeed something between them. I don't know much about him, but I think he's a nice guy. Coralis, she needs a good man," said Maribel.
"I second that. Same Maribel, same," said Victoria.
Coralis chugged her drink on her way to her friends' table, deposited her empty glass on the table and dragged Victoria and Maribel on the dancefloor.
"Come on girls, the night is ours, and I don't know for how long I'll be here."