QED

Chapter 7 - Phoebe

Phoebe had almost expected that. Okay, not even almost. She had already been prepared for that. She knew that Charlotte became concerned easily... but didn't know that she would actually scold her.

Phoebe played it down. Charlotte screamed at her.

"What on earth took you five hours? Have you been in L.A.?!" Charlotte crossed her arms and approached her. She cupped Phoebe's face, tilted it to each side and touched her forehead. The latter faced the ground.

"Closely?" she mumbled and looked at her with puppy eyes. Unfortunately, Charlotte didn't react.

"Closely? Phoebe, tell me everything. Now!" She flinched. Charlotte grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the couch in the living room. Before that, Phoebe took off her jacket and left it on the table. The she sat down beside Charlotte.

"I went to Manhattan."

"You did what?!"

"I took the subway and visited Manhattan."

"At ten o'clock? Are you crazy?" Charlotte covered her mouth and touched Phoebe's forehead another time. She stayed silent, eyeing a glass of water in front of her. Her flat-mate shook her head.

"You could have been raped. Or kidnapped. Aren't you aware of that? I would have never let you go if you had told me!"

"That's why I haven't told you." She fidgeted with her fingers, then glanced at Charlotte innocently. Finally, her expression softened.

"So, what have you done there?" Charlotte moved closer and nudged her. Phoebe wrapped her arms around her dark pocket and bit her lip. Now, the worst part came.

"I have applied for a new profession and had a job interview," she answered in record speed. Then, she pressed her eyes together. Silence appeared.

"You are kidding, right?"

Phoebe shook her head. Then, she took out the working contract Ms. Parks has just given her. Of course, it was top-secret, but still, the front page showed the logo of Yoour Security. Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her dumbfoundedly.

"This is hilarious..."

"It's not!"

"That's a fucking security company. What are you, as a biology student, doing there?" Charlotte crossed her arms. Her eyes felt like diggers on Phoebe.

"It was a nice offer. I just have to manage some things. Nothing complex, you know," Phoebe argued.

"No, I don't know," Charlotte replied. She grabbed the glass of water and took a sip. Her eyes not leaving Phoebe and the contract on her lap. She could see Charlotte's mistrust reflecting in her gaze. To be honest, Phoebe could relate. She wasn't convinced neither.

"So, do you sign it?"

"Probably..." Phoebe admitted. In reality, she was still struggling. All this new information had been too much for her. Charlotte nodded and stood up. She grabbed her jacket and put it into the cupboard in the hallway. It would take some time to really convince the girl.

"Could I at least help with my account data?"

Phoebe nodded. "I found the footages I have been looking for."

"Something interesting there?" Charlotte continued. Phoebe eagerly shook her head. She hated lying in front of her best and only friend. But it was necessary to avoid any further conversation. Charlotte apparently understood and left the room without asking any more questions. Phoebe felt terribly.

"What the hell?" she whispered and ruffled through her velvet hair. She felt the greasy texture between her fingers. She definitely had to shower tomorrow.

The night was a nightmare itself. She rolled from side to side, tried every sleeping position she knew, she even read a few pages of some random book, but nothing sent her into dreamland.

She had superpowers. Or at least Ms. Yoo claimed that. Superpowers that came from an experiment that had been performed years ago. Shouldn't she have at least noticed her gift once? Or was it something you had to recognize consciously to actually use?

Questions over questions towered in Phoebe's head. Of course, her curiosity told her to sign the contract as fast as possible. But her anxious self still showed a red light.

For a biology student, it was also pretty hard to accept that these powers even exist. A mutation of some cells due to radioactive radiation had never caused some paranormal powers. It was maybe related to some anti-matter things and physics stuff she didn't know much about. Furthermore, she couldn't tell if Ms. Parks knew more about the experiment. In fact, she was dying to get further information about the performance.

And for that, she needed to sign that contract.

She stretched out her arms and focused on her fingers. The control over the laws of physics. That was indeed something to admire. It could help thousands of people... but it could also destroy. Was she ready to face her own powers?

She cupped her cheeks and squinted her eyes together. How could Freya just sign this contract so easily? Wasn't she afraid of the consequences her decision brought along? Or was it just intuition?

Sometimes, she wished to have the same attitude as people like Freya, Charlotte or even Keira. To be open-minded, optimistic and not so over-cautiously. It would definitely facilitate her life....

Couldn't life be more easily? She huffed exasperatedly and got rid of her blanket. The air was too moisty and hot today. Everything sucked right now.

'I hope you think about it. Working for a security agency is way better than faking a lawyer-position. Trust me'.

Freya was definitely not a reason to join Ms. Yoo's weird organization. This girl did everything to tease Phoebe. Admittedly, she overreacted when the girl joked about her, but still - she was an introverted woman who couldn't handle casual conversations with strangers. This girl made her uncomfortable. And she didn't like that.

On the other hand, Keira seemed to be okay. She couldn't really get a proper impression of her but she could tell that Keira was protected by her sarcasm. Ms. Yoo obviously didn't like that.

Meanwhile, the only sympathetic person - at least for Phoebe - in QED was Ms. Parks. But she knew that this woman bore more secrets than she could imagine. Trusting her would be a risk... God, why was this so fricking difficult?

At 4:30 a.m., Phoebe ended up signing the contract. It had maybe been tiredness or the sudden boost of motivation to change her priorities. She just couldn't stand the thought of never getting to know her claimed powers.

She at least had to try. Even if she might get in trouble for that.