The Scientist's Cultist

xvii. - situationship.

- - - - - - SEPTEMBER 2, 2023 - - - - -

St. Petersburg, Florida 6:30 p.m.

"AM I... INTERRUPTING something or can I come in?" Ivan asked.

"No," blurted Theo and June together.

"You can come in," June clarified.

"Coming in," said Ivan, making a show of peeking around the door before opening it all the way. "A little birdie warned me the two of you might have a bit of a situationship."

"What?" Theo asked.

"We don't have much of an anything-ship," said June, "unless you count when we pretend." The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them, like the fizz on a shaken can of soda. Theo winced like he'd been burned.

"Ooookay," said Ivan, leaning against the door frame. "I'm getting the vibe that I shouldn't have said anything, so I'll get to the point. With the help of my," he coughed, "good friend Bethany, the two of you will be able to enter headquarters."

"When is our meeting?" Theo's voice was hollow.

"That's the thing," said Ivan. "You don't exactly have one."

"Uh, what?" June asked. "I thought that was the whole purpose of getting us in."

"It is, which is why we'll just have to get creative," Ivan explained. "Bethany said she can get you as high up as possible, but her clearance only goes so far. Once you're in, you'll have to figure out the rest yourselves."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Theo asked.

"From what I heard from the others, the two of you supposedly have good chemistry. Use it." June suddenly became laser-focused on digging a line in the carpet with her toe to avoid the feel of Theo's gaze on her. They may have had chemistry until she'd gone and opened her big mouth. "Your flight leaves tomorrow morning."

June didn't move until long after Ivan and Theo left the room and the sun started to set. The sound of her stomach grumbling shook her out of her thoughts long enough for her to stand, though she paused again with a hand on the doorknob. She needed to face Theo and what she'd said, but how? And how on earth were they supposed to make their situation seem important enough to earn 10 minutes with the head of the FBI?

Finally, she found the strength to push down on the door handle and make her way into the kitchen. It was connected to the living room, but the only sign that Theo had been there was a tousled blanket and a half-empty glass of water. Judging by the light shining underneath an adjacent door, Theo was freshening up. June released a small sigh of relief and tugged on the door to the fridge. She wasn't sure she'd ever be ready to face him again.

Ivan's fridge looked about how June expected it to. She imagined it looked much better when Corinna and Knight were around, but unless their dinners usually consisted of several boxes of pizza, Ivan was clearly living the bachelor pad lifestyle while they were away.

June pulled a piece of pizza out of one of the boxes and was nibbling on it when she caught a glimpse of a landline phone sitting on the kitchen island.

At AIMA, all personal cell phones were confiscated to protect the security of the school. All parents and students knew this rule, and not having a phone didn't make too much of a difference when time travel was part of your curriculum and both of your parents were dead. Nevertheless, standing alone in Ivan's kitchen with nothing but her thoughts, she'd never felt more homesick.

June slowly walked over to the phone like it would jump out and attack her at any moment. Part of her wondered if it even worked. She hadn't seen a landline phone like this in years. Why did Ivan have one?