2025, Paris

Cooper and Jordan were in France, staying at a terrible hotel; the Marmont Hotel, the best the FBI could afford for agents of the counterterrorism unit.

Cooper was a single man, sure, he had... intimacy with his partner, Jordan, but that was all. He had dates on Tinder or Grindr, all a disaster with superficial women, with zero interest in his stories, and zero chemistry. With Jordan, he had it, of course, only intimately. Each went out with whomever they wanted; they weren't involved.

That night, Jordan tried to cheer them both up, and they left the room where they were both sleeping and went to a nightclub. After getting a couple of shots of vodka, which Jordan downed immediately, he turned around and saw her flirting and dancing with a guy. He stared. Damn it, weren't they supposed to be together? As the music played, he felt a touch on his shoulder.