Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rather than starting at the clinic, Romane had decided to head to the next available building for two reasons - one, the agency may know something that she could utilize to locate the woman more efficiently, and, second, she didn't like the clinic. It was a place of discord and irrational acts that she would much rather not get into, even mentally, for sake of the job. She had to remain focused on what she was doing and she knew that there was something completely absurd happening there that would distract her from Mei being missing, so she didn't risk it. Instead, she entered the door to the detective agency with her newest recruit - or.. she tried to. The door was locked. She raised a brow and checked her wristwatch. It wasn't too early for the place to be open. Either Zelynity was very, very late to opening her own business or she was out on a job. Ah, well, she would just have to continue the search without the detective's aid. "The Salon owner is a valuable source of information. We will question Mr. Waldroup on Ms. Li's whereabouts." She stated as she turned to leave with her officer in tow.

~Exit Anneliese/Romane to the Salon~

She could remember it like it was just yesterday. When she had been young and idealistic, her ideal job would have been active and fast-paced, action around every corner. Honestly, that's what she had imagined when she applied to work at the detective agency all those years ago. At first, she may have been a little bored, sure, but then she discovered the desk. That wonderful desk, so smooth, so warm, so perfect for napping. After that initial discovery, Natalia preferred to spend every day at work face down on her desk, fast asleep. She had had other secretarial jobs after this one, but none of them had desks as good for napping.

Because she had been zonked out at her desk all morning, it took Natalia a moment to respond to Angela's entrance. Usually she was pretty good at waking up at the first sound, but she was still readjusting to this lifestyle again. This style of cat-like napping didn't just come naturally to her brain! Anyway, after a brief moment, Natalia stirred. She stretched her arms out in front of her on the desk before sitting up, wiping the drool from her chin and patting down her ponytail. Perhaps other middle aged women would be more embarrassed to be caught sleeping on the job, but Natalia hadn't quite noticed that she was no longer twenty. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff," she mumbled under her breath as she flexed her spin and rolled her neck. Some of the best sleep of her life was had at this desk.

"Oh, whoa," she finally reacted to Angela standing there once she was conscious enough to see through the darkness of the office. "When did you get here? You're like a ghost. Can ghosts turn doorknobs? You're a pretty talented ghost, then." She squinted at the new arrival, trying to remember what the protocol was for clients. It had been so long...! "Anyway, ghostie, whaddya want? Looking for the Chief?" Why had Zelynity given Natalia her old job back again?

Another day's work was slowly winding on, and Zelynity was hard at work in her office.There was so much digging around that needed to be done. Surely she would be able to find something good to investigate if only she read through all of these files. She was flipping through paper after paper, occasionally pulling off her reading glasses so she could wipe at her eyes. It was so tiring to continuously flip through such large amounts of nonsense, but she was certain there was a gem hidden in here somewhere. She had just finished one file and walked over to the cabinet to grab another when she heard voices coming from the reception area. She felt her heart speed up as she thought about what this person could want. Maybe there was some deep mystery that she would have to investigate. It had been quite some time since she had last gone out on a decent investigation. She closed the cabinet and started for the door. She patted her hair and her clothes to make sure she was presentable before turning the knob.

Disappointment wasn't exactly the word that she felt upon opening the door, but it was certainly the first that came to mind. She remembered Angela from the New Year's Festival, and had expected to see her at some point. The girl had seemingly shown a lot of interest in the junior position, so it was only a matter of time. Zelynity really looked forward to having a full crew again! It had been quite some time since she had a partner to go out with. In fact, she had been the junior the last time. She was lucky enough to step out of her office just in time to hear this girl's name. It had been the better part of a year, but she still felt a little guilty at not instantly remembering her name. "Angela! It's great to see you." She approached the petite woman with a smile and extended her hand towards her. "I hope that you are here for the position we spoke of before. I also hope that Natalia isn't giving you any trouble." She looked over at Natalia and smiled. It was really nice to have that familiar face back at the office.

"Yes to the first, no to the second," Angela said, smiling as she took Zelynity's hand. She was relieved the woman remembered her. "Sorry I didn't stop by sooner." She glanced around the place carefully, for the first time. It really seemed, well, quiet. She didn't mind though. Anything was better than working with her father.

"Lovely office you have. Is it just the two of you?" She didn't really mind one way or the other. The fewer people she had to work, the better. Not that she hated people or anything, it was just really hard to find people who didn't completely drive her up the wall. But these two seemed more or less okay. (Well, Natalia seemed a little weird, but not necessarily in an annoying way.) Besides, even if the island was tiny and they never had anything that interesting to do, being a detective was still a hell of a lot more exciting that fermenting bloody grapes and being all snobby about it.

"I'm really looking forward to working with the two of you," she finally added. This is really the sort of work I've always wanted to do." Now they just needed something awesome to happen so they could run around being badass while doing their jobs and bullying people!

Natalia only half-listened to the exchange once she was no longer being directly addressed. This was boring boss stuff, it didn't concern her. She did raise an eyebrow at Angela's assumption that she'd be working with them -- just because they hadn't kicked her out on her tiny little butt didn't mean that she got the job! Young people nowadays. Zelynity was a professional, she wouldn't just hire anybody. She looked for quality. Sniffing disdainfully, she rested her forehead on the desk and prepared for another power nap.

...That power nap would have to wait, though. "Paperwork?" she raised her head and squinted at Zell suspiciously. "...Sure thing, boss," she added after a moment, as if she almost didn't believe that she was being asked to do work. With a small grunt, she rose from her chair and shuffled over to the stack of papers. She didn't really know what new employee paperwork looked like, so it was a slow process of lifting each individual paper from the stack and glancing it over. "Hah! Got it! Little b*****d thought he could run, but he couldn't hide!" Yanking the paperwork from the stack, she stomped over to Angela and slapped the paper into the girl's hand. "Need a pen? There should be one around here..." She looked a little bit like a dog chasing its own tail as she rotated where she stood, glancing around the room and wondering where she would be if she were a pen...

It was practically impossible to keep any air of professionalism in this place. Zelynity was squealing and Natalia was calling papers a b*****d. It would truly be a surprise if Angela still wanted to work here after this meeting. Perhaps that would say more about her character than any of the lame questions. Maybe the simple fact that she wanted to work in a place with crazy people was enough to disqualify her. Zelynity decided it best to just chuckle at Natalia. It wouldn't do any good to offend her, after all. She was a lovely assistant and was practically the prodigal daughter of the firm. There were probably benefits to humor in a business where things could get dreary. At the mention of a pen, she began to turn and look for one herself when Angela spoke up. "Don't worry, Nat. " She smiled over at the girl, secretly hoping that she'd just go back to sleep.

Her attention was quickly drawn back to Angela as she began to explain her qualifications. She nodded her head, pleased to hear that they would not have to deal with the hassle of getting her licensed. That was definitely a plus, as if she didn't already have the position in the bag. "Oh no, don't worry about any references, I feel like I have adequately gauged your character from our talks." She nodded again and clasped her hands behind her back. "Oh, definitely! You can try out your potential desk. See how well it suits you." She smiled and stepped aside. "I'll just go back into my office. Call me if you have any questions or ask Natalia I guess. Either way, whenever you're done. I'll be back there." She smiled and walked back to her own desk. This was so exciting! The office was going to be full again!