Entanglement

by Max Ellendale

  "Clever of them to use the serial as a cover though," offered Sorensen.

  "It was. But thanks to Olsen's contact, we were able to take on the cell. We seized thousands of pounds of ammunition, weapons, and bomb making equipment. Also, none of it was radioactive. At least yet." Donovan nodded in my direction. "Thank her for us."

  "I will."

  "So, you're all back to your regularly scheduled programming. The FBI appreciates your assistance on this case." Donovan stood which signaled the end of the meeting. We all joined her and just like that, we were back at our desks.

  "We don't have to write this up, do we, Moreno?" I asked.

  "Nope. They also get the grunt work," he said, then followed Walsh into his office.

  "Well, that was anticlimactic in the end." Sorensen dropped into his chair and sighed. "My ears are still ringing from that blast."

  "Mine, too. I'm getting out of here." I nodded to the door. "Gotta do my job."

  "What job?" Angelina scowled at me.

  "To thank the physicist who helped the FBI. Might take me all afternoon to find her and deliver this important message." I waved at them. "Bye."

  They laughed at me, but neither of them followed.

  Like before, I bullied my way onto campus using my law enforcement credentials, and settled myself in the back of Mira's classroom. We knew each other better now, and the idea of it tickled me. I'd never been to one of her afternoon lectures, and this one was the largest of them all. I climbed over the back row of chairs and helped myself to a lone empty seat in the middle.

  "Einstein disliked the idea of quantum entanglement at first," she said, as she scribbled away on the chalkboard. "He believed nothing could travel faster than the speed of light, so how could two particles behave in unison millions or billions of miles apart? Light-years even."

  No one answered her.

  "That's the quantum enigma, isn't it?" She turned to face the class, but in such a big room with so many students, she didn't seem to notice me. "What we've found is that measurements of physical properties of particles such as spin, position, and momentum are correlated for entangled particles. Eventually, experiments verified quantum mechanics so Einstein and some of his classical comrades came around to the idea."

  "Professor?" A girl raised her hand and Mira nodded to her. "What's to say of entanglement on a broader spectrum? Like for objects larger than subatomic particles." She paused, a small smile on her face. "Like people."

  Mira smirked and she glanced around the room. "The romanticized part of entanglement you mean?" I heard her mention this before, but I never sat for the explanation. "The idea that two people can become intimately entangled after meeting. That the connection changes them, and they become a part of each others' systems?"

  "Yeah." The girl perked up, and I noted a few other interested parties seemed to pay deeper attention as well.

  "Love on a subatomic scale." Mira moved in front of the desk and leaned against it, her heeled feet crossing at the ankles. In her slim-fitting navy slacks, and white blouse cuffed to the elbow, she appeared as the epitome of beauty and confidence. It was hard to imagine her running up and down a soccer field kicking ass.

  "I like the sound of that." The girl grinned and a few other students chuckled.

  "This is a science class, Miss Weiss. If you're interest in quantum physics lies only in the heartfelt theories of romance and love, you're in the wrong class. Creative Writing is classified as an art, not a science. So if you're going to interrupt my class to find out why your heart still beats for that ex-lover of yours, and you both seem to be turning up in the same places all the time, you can head right on out of here and down to the psychology department for that, too." She tucked her hands into her pockets. "I hear they care."

  "Burn," one of the guys near me whispered while chuckling.

  The student who asked the question nearly melted in her seat, her face beet red. Despite a few uncomfortable snickers or cleared throats, no one said a word.

  "Do we have any legitimate questions about quantum entanglement?" Mira glanced around the room, her brow narrowed and her crimson lips pursed. "No? Let's carry on then."

  For the next half an hour, I watched Mira write all sorts of crazy equations on the expanse of the blackboards. The class copied down everything she wrote. She spoke about Bell's theorem and Bell states, and by the time she ended the class, my head nearly spun like a top. I'd spent the last thirty minutes sitting in an alternative universe where I understood precisely nothing.

  When the classroom cleared out, I remained in my seat, and watched as Mira paced back and forth a few times, before running her fingers through her thick, perfectly straight mane of black. She was a different sight altogether than the woman soaked by the rain in a jersey.

  "Professor," I called out, startling her enough to jump. "I was wondering if monkeys experience quantum entanglement in their love lives."

  She laughed, her hands falling to her hips in a gesture of challenge. "Miss Olsen, you've interrupted my class enough for one lifetime. Please excuse yourself."

  "Okay." I hopped from the chair, leaping over the back of it before heading to the door.

  "No!" Mira cracked up and stomped her foot once, both sounds echoing in the empty lecture hall. "Don't."

  I grinned as I turned on my heel then sauntered down the stairs toward her. "Make up your mind, would you?"

  "Hi." Her laughter continued until I hopped up to sit on her desk.

  "Hi. I was here for almost the whole class and I think my brain melted from whatever those symbols are on the board. An alien language. Are you from Mars?"

  "Pluto, actually. Very cold there." She leaned her hip against the desk beside me, her hands resting on the spot between us.

  "You tore that kid down pretty good. Asking about feelings in a science class. Tsk." I clucked my tongue and she smirked.

  "This is an advanced class. She knows better."

  "All these little brats just want someone to validate their feelings of love and loss. Definitely not a science," I said, keeping my voice soft when I noticed how she toyed with the zipper at the edge of my jacket.

  "Definitely not." She hadn't yet looked at me, and I nudged her chin with my finger.

  "Feeling about ready to elbow someone on the opposing team?" I asked when she met my gaze.

  "A little." Her glossy lipstick shimmered in the fluorescent lights overhead. I couldn't remember ever being this close to her and only now did I notice the flawlessness of her skin. I tried hard not to pay too much attention to it, or how the heat of her made me feel. "Are you here for work again?"

  "I come bearing a message from the FBI, but mainly just to say hi."

  "Oh." Her brows lifted, though she still toyed with the hem of my jacket. "What message?"

  "They say thank you for your help. Your decoding methods were, in fact, coordinates that led us to some sort of domestic terrorist cell that has now been taken down. Good job, Doctor Lewis. You're a hero." I smiled at her as I leaned back on my hands.

  "Glad to be of service to the FBI." Again, her gaze dropped, and she shoved away from me, turning to face the empty chairs. Her hands slid back into her pockets and an air of frustration settled around her. "I'm happy to see you."

  "Are you?"

  She nodded and despite her efforts to keep a neutral expression, something resembling anger tightened her features.

  "Do you usually tell students off that hard? Because damn, I think I have scorch marks on my butt from that one."

  "Not usually…"

  "What's bugging you today?"

  "I don't know." She glanced at me. "It's complicated. I have another class in a few minutes."

  "Should I stay for it? I'm eager to see what happens. The suspense is killing me." I laughed at the look on her face that tangled amusement with annoyance. "What?"

  "Advanced nuclear physics. Think you can handle it?"

  "If I can handle you and your unstable reactor core tod
ay, I might be able to survive the class." I cracked up when she smacked my leg, then rubbed it as she struck me right where I landed on the rock during the shoot out. "Ow! I'm injured and you assaulted me."

  "That was a horrible thing to say." She laughed, however, but her brow wrinkled with concern. "What do you mean injured?"

  "Work was crazy and I hit the ground too hard. A nice shiner on my leg under these jeans."

  "I'm sorry," she said, still laughing though as she gave my knee a gentle pat. "You deserved it anyway. Unstable reactor core. Honestly. No more Chernobyl for you."

  "It was a good show." I grinned at her and we settled down after that. Like on Sunday, she stood unusually close to me, her gaze averted. I reached up to brush her hair away from her face so that I could see her better. "Maybe after work we can talk about what's bothering you."

  "Maybe." She glanced toward the door when a few students entered, then took a step away from me. It told me that she, indeed, knew that our proximity wasn't normal, so to speak. "Are you going to stay?"

  "Do you want me to?" Heat rushed my system suddenly, and I felt my cheeks burn along with the stirring in my belly. I'd managed to keep my feelings for her at bay, for the most part, or limited to my discussions with Angelina, but I feared they'd begun leaking out.

  A faint nod had her hair falling over her shoulder again, and we watched as students now flooded in.

  "Okay, Professor." I smiled as I slid from the desk. "I'll stay." Instead of taking up space in the back, I chose a front row seat and settled in to learning about how to calculate energetics of nuclear decay. A class in Russian would've been easier to follow.

  Mira was a spectacle, to say the least. She instructed the classroom and spoke so eloquently that her lips moved in a delicious dance. At one point, I became so distracted by her presence that I closed my eyes and listened to the lecture instead. How could I keep being her friend and feeling this way? In the end, it would end us and I would be out a friend. Again.

  Warmth pressed against my knees, and I opened my eyes to see Mira crouched in front of me. "Miss Olsen," she whispered, while the rest of the class listened to a video she projected on the digital screen above us. "Are you sleeping in my class?"

  "No." I scrunched my nose at her and she smiled, giving my knee a pat. "I'm listening."

  "Better be or I'll flunk you." A second pat followed before she rose to full height again. My cheeks burned when I noted how often she touched me today.

  Maybe staying through this class wasn't the greatest commitment to make considering the circumstances. I couldn't read into her behavior, couldn't take any of it personally. In the almost three months that I'd known her, she'd remained nothing but consistent. I had to remember that. As our friendship grew, of course our comfort in physical closeness would as well. It meant nothing more than that.

  At the end of her lecture, I watched as a few students hung back to ask some questions while Mira stood behind the desk. She explained a few things to them, and took the time to demonstrate an equation on the board. Her intellect was well-beyond mine, and yet, she still chose to hang out with me. I wondered why she didn't spend more time with her equally gifted colleagues.

  With the classroom empty, Mira gathered up her messenger bag while I watched her organize papers that the students handed in.

  "You're impressive, did you know?" I told her.

  "Not really. I'm sure if I listened to you talk about crime scene investigation and solving murders, you would seem just as impressive to me. It's just what we know." She tossed her bag over her shoulder, and gestured to the side exit of the classroom that none of the students used. "Any plans tonight?"

  "None. My siblings have apparently adopted lives of their own. We had breakfast together this morning though so that was nice."

  "Young adults tend to do that." She glanced over her shoulder at me as I followed her out of the room. "I'd like to meet them someday. They sound interesting."

  "Come for dinner on Sunday. We always have dinner together on Sundays."

  "Do you cook?"

  "I do."

  "Count me in."

  "Where are we going?" I followed her all the way down the sidewalk before her heated pace slowed.

  "I'm not sure." She smirked, gripping her bag tighter. "I walked to work today."

  "In heels?" I glanced down at the red pumps with a deadly heel. "Damn, girl. Do your feet hurt?"

  "Not yet." She laughed at me, and examined my heeled boots. "Those aren't much better."

  "They're much better. I can run in the grass. You'll sink."

  "True."

  "Also, I'm parked illegally on the sidewalk in front of this building. I can drive you." I gestured back to whence we came and we made an about face.

  "Perks of being a cop."

  "Oh yeah."

  We loaded into my SUV, and headed off into the evening. Halfway through the short drive, another storm approached the area, darkening the sky with gray clouds. Small raindrops smattered the windshield when we made it to her condo.

  "It's colder weather time. The rain tells us so," I said on our way inside.

  "Almost Halloween."

  "Best holiday there ever was. Candy everywhere. Good movies on television."

  Mira set her bag down by the front door, and slipped out of her shoes. "It can be fun. I'm not a fan of horror movies though."

  "We never trick-or-treated as kids. I think I might bully Eleanor in to some senseless begging for the fun of it. I made Robert go his first year here. It was a small thrill."

  "What's your favorite candy?" she asked while shrugging out of her blazer.

  "Chocolate. All the chocolate."

  "Do you mind if I have a quick shower?" She gestured down the hall. "I feel crappy."

  "I can self-entertain for a few minutes." I waved her off and she scurried down the hall.

  In the break of our conversation, I helped myself to her sofa and sent a check-in text to our sibling group chat. Robert said he would be working and Eleanor replied that she was home studying for midterms. Neither seemed to care that I was at Mira's again.

  Angelina shot me a text in between, and her picture popped up on my screen beside it, Where are you?

  Mira's. Everything okay?

  Yup. Headed to Jimmy's with Eve and a few others to drown our feelings.

  Maybe after I'll head over.

  All good there?

  Something is bothering her, but I don't know what. Otherwise fine, I said.

  Be careful, Billie. Straight girls and all.

  I'm aware. Thanks though.

  There's always Wildrose…

  Meh.

  See you later.

  Mira emerged from her room, clad in leggings, fluffy socks, and an oversized sweatshirt. Her damp hair hung to her shoulders, and her makeup now left only remainders, save for her ruby lips.

  "Coffee? Wine?"

  "What are you in the mood for?"

  "Both."

  "You can always do a nice Irish coffee." I laughed while watching her from over the back of the sofa.

  "You know, why the hell not. Care to indulge?"

  "I'm there." I gave her a thumbs up. "Can I help with anything?"

  She shook her head. "It'll just take a minute. I'll use the pod brewer."

  "Fancy. Want me to pick something to watch?" I started when a loud crack of thunder rattled the windows. "Shit."

  "You okay?"

  "Didn't expect that." I snatched the remotes from the table and turned on her television. "The weather is weird lately."

  She joined me a few minutes later with two steaming mugs of coffee, the wafting of whiskey tangled with the smell. Each cup held a dollop of whipped cream.

  "Thank you," I said, accepting her offering and taking a sip. "Yum. Good bartending."

  "Blame my Irish genes," she said. "I mean, they're tangled with all sorts of other ones, but tonight we're Irish. Sláinte." She held her mug out to me and I lifted mine to hers in a gent
le clink.

  Her mood remained unusual, and I noted she avoided eye contact like she had earlier today. Together, we decided on an old science-fiction show on Netflix, and settled in to watch the first episode. Like last time, she pulled the blanket across her lap.

  I nearly finished my coffee midway through the first episode, and my head buzzed with the beginnings of inebriation in just one drink.

  "How much alcohol did you put in here, Mira?" I chuckled as I set my mug on the coffee table.

  "Just enough." She snickered, her eyes a little droopy at the start of the second episode. "Want another?"

  "You want me to pass out on your carpet? I'm an awful drunk."

  "No," her word escaped on a laugh. "I prefer you conscious."

  "Same, girl. Same."

  The storm raged outside, coupling lightning and thunder in varied intervals. Loud storms weren't usual for Seattle. The two recent events brought a sense of foreboding to our day to day life. Wind whipped against the windows and the power flickered. I sent Eleanor and Robert a text, warning them about the potential for an outage.

  "Do you have a generator here?" I asked Mira.

  "We do, but it doesn't kick on unless the power is out for a while. What about your place?"

  "Yes. It kicks on immediately though. We lose cable and internet for sure, however, which will annoy the youngins," I said, pocketing my phone after Eleanor's reply. She didn't seem fazed by the news. Montana had bigger storms and snow that trapped us for days. Ellie was a professional at dealing with blackouts.

  "I have to pee," I said, after the second episode of the show. "Pause it."

  "You won't miss much I'm sure." She paused it anyway and I hurried off to the bathroom.

  In the mirror, my face appeared flushed as I washed my hands, then ran my damp fingers through my hair to smooth some of the fly-aways. For some reason, Mira's energy changed and I had a difficult time tolerating it. Her bathroom, like the rest of the house, held pristine white tiles with gray accents. Every bit of her place offered a coziness that I enjoyed. Our apartment, as nice as it was, had a more lived-in feel with three different people cohabitating.

  When I returned, Mira started a fire in the hearth and gestured to the television. "And down went the internet."