“So what brought you here?”“An ex-boyfriend. He asked me to meet him here.” And she practically spat the words out, so angry she was. I laughe..., and oddly enough a moment later she did too. “It may be I had it coming. We were lovers a couple of years ago, and it ended badly. My fault mostly. I sort of wanted to have a drink and bury the hatchet.”“Where did you want to bury it? You're not dressed for a drink, you're dressed for a night out. Which might end up as a night in.”She turned and give. ’ I switched the recorder back on. ‘I understand that you have been offered the opportunity of singing the Mimi role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in three month’s time, will you do it?’ ‘No I cannot, I have to return to my country, there is a presidential election coming up and part of my father’s campaign is that I am to be married to the son of his friend Juan Mendez, the joining of these two families will give a strong indication to the world of stability in my country.’ ‘You don’t.. “You’re getting stronger,” Rachel observed, sounding impressed as she ran her hands over Irillith’s blue flesh. “You healed that even faster than Sakura’s surgical wounds.”“That’s not all,” Alyssa murmured, taking the glistening white dagger from his hands, and looking at it with interest. “I quad-shaped the bed frame just to make sure it was nice and robust. You just quint-shaped that blade without any real effort.”John was surprised at that, and looked at her with a startled expression on his. Though he could at times scarce believe it, yet Petr was no fool and did not question his good fortune; rather, he thanked the gods and wooed her with an ardor which belied his youth and inexperience.And so it had come to pass that as Petr became accepted by Gwendolyn's mother and it became apparent to all that their betrothal was not far distant, the young woman was allowed to spend time alone with her suitor, out from under her mother's watchful eye. The two young lovers joyously reveled in.