While driving to work Lassiter was cut off by a feisty blonde in a red convertible and, although extremely miffed and tempted to pull her over, he found her rudeness reassuring after the uncharacteristic attention from the female patrons of the coffee shop. The world was officially back to normal. Or so he thought.

There was a spring in his step as he walked from his personal parking space, up the steps, and through the front doors of the SBPD. He sipped his coffee and nodded to Officer McNab.

"Good morning, Detective." the receptionist greeted cheerfully. Lassiter was thrown off guard for a moment but he dismissed it quickly.

"Nice tie, Detective." a female coworker commented. Well, Lassiter rationalized, it was a new tie and it was nice. Women usually noticed that kind of thing. It wasn't out of the ordinary.

"Good morning, Detective Lassiter." said another woman as he passed. "Lookin' sharp."

That did it. Lassiter stopped and looked after her suspiciously. Something was off. Not once in his eleven and a half years at the SBPD had he received so much attention just walking to his desk.

"Morning Carlton!" said a cheerful voice behind him. He turned to see O'Hara skipping toward him. Finally! A sane female.

As she came closer, her facial expression changed slightly and she looked Lassiter up and down with admiration. "Wow! You look great!"

Lassiter glanced at himself in the reflection from the glass around the Chief's office. He was wearing an old suit and his hair was the same as it always was. He knew he always looked great but why was suddenly everyone noticing?

"Did Spencer put you up to this?" Lassiter asked, turning back to Juliet. Her smile widened.

"What do you mean?" she asked dreamily. He glared.

"Fine. Keep playing your little game." He pushed passed her and draped his suit jacket on the back of his chair and rolled up his sleeves. There was a stack of files waiting for him on his desk and sighed angrily.

"O'Hara!" he shouted, turning. He was startled to discover that she had followed him and was standing at his elbow, a step or two closer that was necessary. He moved away and she moved closer.

"Yes, Carlton?" she asked, smiling. Lassiter had forgotten what he was upset about.

"Could you… move away please?" he said, leaning away from her. She grinned and took a step back. Lassiter shook his head to refocus and it must've jarred his memory as well because he suddenly remembered why he had wanted her in the first place. "I need you to file these." He said, picking up the stack of files from his desk and pushing them into her arms. Then he watched for her reaction with narrowed eyes.

"Sure thing!"

Something was seriously wrong. O'Hara hated doing paperwork, especially for Lassiter. Spencer must've bribed her and every other female in the department to be extra nice to him just to mess with his mind. Well, Lassiter wasn't going to let Shawn Spencer, Psychic Dork, get to him. And if it meant that Juliet had to do his paperwork, he was going to take advantage of it.

"Well, go do it." Lassiter said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. He turned back to his desk, sifting through the remaining papers. There were several notices. Nothing exciting. A little old lady who claimed her cat had been kidnapped by Al Capone and such. He made an executive decision to file them away in the garbage can.

"Lassiter!" the chief's voice echoed through the police station. Carlton looked up as she appeared in the doorway of her office. She did not look pleased. "In here, now." She commanded. Lassiter sighed and dutifully followed her into the room.

"Close the door." She ordered, sitting stiffly at her desk. She looked at him with a glower.

"Is something wrong?" Lassiter asked, crossing his arms across his chest stubbornly and stepping forward. The chief opened her mouth to speak but stopped. Then she closed her mouth and smiled at him. Lassiter would have preferred it if she had yelled.

"When's the last time I gave you a bonus?" she asked sweetly.

"Uh, that would be never." Lassiter replied bluntly. This was very odd behavior from the chief and it increased his suspicion of all women in general.

"Well, then! I think it's about time I gave you one!" she said. She pulled a pen and a check from her desk and scribbled for a few moments. She handed Lassiter the slip when it was complete. "For all your hard work. It's long overdue." She said cheerfully. Lassiter looked at the amount.

"Five hundred dollars?" he asked incredulously. "Chief, this is—"

"A fair amount for all you do for the SBPD." She finished for him with that unnerving, Stepford-esque air that all the women in the world seemed to have adopted lately.

"I was going to say inappropriate but I like your way better." Lassiter replied, folding the check and tucking it away in his pocket. Not to say that he wasn't disturbed by the chief's sudden kindness. He was. But he wasn't going to turn down a check for five hundred dollars either. Besides, the chief was right. It was long overdue.