Liam Harding pushed back his sleek waved head of blonde hair as the Channel 4 news chopper hovered over Palm Creek, the wind from the blades messing up his neatly quiffed look on a cloudless morning.

“ You sure about this Liam?” his gray haired cameraman Warren Bishop asked.

 “Dead sure. She’s the only thing any news outlet worth its salt is even discussing. Jessica in morning, Jessica in the afternoon and Jessica in the evening before you rinse and repeat,” Liam replied with a broad grin and a smattering of overconfidence.

  “ And I’ve got the exclusive rights to interview her,” He announced proudly while adjusting her tie in front of a handheld mirror.

 Warren’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, impressed by his claim.

 “ Wow, you got her to agree to an interview?”

Liam winked naughtily, “ Not quite. I made a few calls but I never got an answer.”

“ You could wait,” Warren suggested hopefully.

Liam shrugged, an impish grin on his generically attractive face.

“ Well not the answer I was looking for…”

 He had made his career in getting what he needed from some of the most difficult people out there. Celebrities hiding an affair, politicians masking corruption and even serial killers fresh off an arrest. Only thirty one, a very youthful number for the industry and with all of that behind him, what was a giant woman? He had survived dancing with other devils under the pale moonlight, she ought to be no different. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Warren was mortified and Liam could tell his colleague wasn’t keen on the trip.

 “Fear not Warren, Jessica wouldn’t hurt a fly so we’re in good hands,” Liam yelled over the din of the engine.

 Warren shook his head, his esteemed co-worker had the kind of confidence in himself that bosses loved but made peers anxious.

 “ Well she isn’t violent. Take her closer,”He said to their pilot who turned his cyclic stick( resembling a joystick in appearance) to the left, the pilot himself feeling uneasy over the whole thing. True, she hadn’t attacked any journalists but then no one had tried to approach for comments or interviews lately so it was unfamiliar territory.

 Liam watched as they flew over Palm Creek, passing the shophouses in the main town and as they left, the sprawling manors of the rich and famous. He didn’t need a lot of smarts to tell which one belonged to Jack Erikson, just look for the giant woman sunbathing or the big green tent that had sprouted up over the last few days. All of which were in Jack’s sprawling estate, her tent actually taking up more space his house did; at least three times the area of his house and at least twice the height.

There at last, sprawled on the ground like a big kid napping amongst her dollhouse, he spotted Palm Creek's  newest attraction: Jessica the giantess.

  He smiled down at her, like a hunter viewing his prey through the scope of his rifle, Liam’s rifle would be the power of words and Warren’s own camera.

 From what he could tell, she was just lying flat on the ground, still in the makeshift attire she picked up in Miami, eyes shut and enjoying herself.

‘

  After today, he thought to himself , he would be famous, the first ever interview with a giantess! The last three days had been a whirlwind of information from the government, the reveal that she was a superweapon designed by them, that she was a daughter of one of the lead scientists working on the project was a scandal in itself. There were other little tidbits like her age and name, Liam liked the name Jessica although it didn’t attach itself well when the woman in question stood nearly seventy metres tall- Jessica was the name of the sweet girl in your math class or next door neighbor, not the world's biggest (literal) shocker since the OJ trial.

 However no one had thought to ask Jessica about her thoughts on the issue , how she felt about it. There were plenty of news segments dedicated to discussing every aspect of her. From her looks, to her character and intentions to her personal life. Liam reasoned none of them had the cojones to try, that they didn’t dare venture into the belly of the beast to claim the prize. He had no qualms about that, the girl was harmless. Sure there were a few incidents but those people were foolish, not expecting her to lash out. He knew what to expect and he’d react accordingly.

 Liam vowed to shed some light on this and with his prize waiting below, he wasted no time in giving the orders.

 “Lower us, we’re going in.”

*******

 Jessica wanted alone time- no - she needed alone time, time away from the world. It was all she wanted after being shot at by men and machines but when she heard the steady thumping of helicopter rotors spinning, her heart sank. She had seen them hovering over her and she guessed they were probably recording footage of her for their news shows. She didn’t see the point in all this,.

As the sound got louder, her heart plummeted. She wasn’t going to get a harassment free day after all. Her nose wrinkled as the chopper sent a whirlwind down at her, her eyes pressed themselves closer as she did her best to continue her post workout nap. She had to admit though, this was the first one that descended. None of the others had even dared to come close.

 “Jessica, this is Liam Harding from Channel 4 News and we’re here for an interview,”

 Damn, she thought. This one wanted an interview and it was just her luck to face  a group with even less morals than the military.

 Her eyes opened as the chopper cast a shadow over taut stomach, annoyance written all over her face in the form a scowl.

 “ No comment,” she grunted as she  waved them away.

  God, why can’t they just leave me alone?

Jessica shut her eyes again, expecting the annoying buzzing to disappear but as the noise did not soften after several seconds, she sighed and opened her eyes, this time spotting a guy leaning out of the aircraft with a megaphone in his phone.

  “ No comment? What about the rumours about Penthouse offering you a million dollars to do a full page spread?” Liam asked as he grasped the megaphone tightly.

 “Ugh…” Jessica sat up, increasingly miffed with Liam, even more so when spotted Warren’s camera filming her.

“Maybe you’d comment on your relationship with Jack. Are you guys close friends? How long have you known him? How much does it cost to even feed and clothe you?” Liam threw a barrage of questions at a very unamused Jessica, scowling at him.

“ I don’t want to talk to you or any inflated reporter. I’ve never even seen your stupid news show anyway.”

 This time she didn’t bother to lie back down but remained in a sitting position. She would give them a little more time before she made her move. The chopper still hovered above her but she knew this time, it wasn’t out of reach. Her fingers twitched just a little, not enough for Liam to notice as she thought of pulling it down to Earth, give that smug little man a reason to leave her alone.

 Up in the chopper, Warren grew uncomfortable with the smirk on Jessica’s face, he had seen that look on his seven year old daughter and that look preceded something bad.

 “ We might want to leave her alone, she’s not like the others you interviewed. She could pluck us out of the sky,” he whispered.

 Liam shot him a glare, “ No we won’t. Which is why as journalists we must push the boundaries. I want to be the guy whom future generations of reporters will idolise and want to emulate. The Cronkite of my generation, the Hunter S.Thompson of the new millennium.”

He tapped his chin gently as he pondered over the stubborn subject he had in front of him.

“ Jessica, you want to be left alone and I want a great interview from you. I want to give you a  chance to tell your side of the story. Nobody wants to be thought of as a monster, which is what they’re saying. I can promise you that. Mothers are hiding their kids from you, worried you’ll step on them or even eat them. ” He laid on as much charm as he could; past experiences told him he had plenty to lay on.

  Jessica chuckled, “ I’m not a celebrity who needs approval. Like you said I’m a weapon,  It doesn’t matter if you hate an AK-47 or you love it, it doesn’t make it any less lethal. Now go away before things get ugly.  ”

 “ I understand,” Liam said but he had one last plan up his sleeve.

 “ I guess I’ll look for your pal Jack, maybe even talk to his girlfriend-”

“ Don’t you dare,” Jessica growled, almost shouting at them. Liam grinned, more than he ought to in such a dangerous situation. She had inadvertently revealed a soft spot and past events dictated he exploit this chink in her armour.

“ Why not? You don’t own them do you? I can ask them any-”

Jessica’s hand shot out and gripped the helicopter’s base tighter than any of the men were comfortable with. Instinctively the pilot had attempted a rise to get away from the titaness but Jessica’s hand held fast against the mechanical might of the chopper.

Liam and Warren both grabbed the sturdiest solid object they could find, in anticipation of the bumpy ride Jessica would dish out. Was this the moment, Liam thought, when he could say he had gone too far? In over his head and this was it for him?

“Relax people, I’m not going to squash you or anything. You wanted an interview, you’ll get one,” she smiled mischievously. Evidently not Liam’s demise, today was not that day.

 “Wonderful,” Liam straightened his tie and put on his best attempt at a calm demeanour, even if that was the most terrifying helicopter ride of his life.

“Lets get the interview started then.”

 Liam quickly took control of the situation, haughtily instructing Jessica to let go of the vehicle where they made an impromptu and not totally legal landing in the field Jessica was lounging in; Liam assumed no one would go after him for that. Not when they literally had bigger problems to deal with than a illegal landing.

 Only Liam and Warren exited, the pilot electing to remain behind in the aircraft while the two men exited for their interview.

 Jessica sat herself right in front of the chopper, legs crossed and once  she saw Liam and Warren, her hand fell upon them. She chuckled as she heard Liam’s scream in fearful surprise, engulfing both of them in her hand. By now she knew Lauren’s first attack had led to a substantial growth spurt but thankfully she didn’t need to adjust much. Still, it was a little jarring to see that even her thumb was bigger than most people, they used to be finger sized; the new adjustment in scale wasn’t something she needed, much less wanted.

 “Sorry about that,” Jessica apologized to them after she opened her palm at chest level, her tarp covered bosom staring both men straight in the face. Liam couldn’t help but stare, at least until Jessica cleared her throat loudly.

 “Eyes up here little man,” she smiled down at him.

 “I thought we could do the interview on the ground,” he adjusted his tie while peering over the edge of her palm. He was way off the ground, at least seven stories by his estimates.

 “No,I like this,” Jessica shook her head. If they wanted to barge in and ask her questions, they were going to do it on her terms.

 “ It helps me remember things better.”

 Liam looked back at Warren who had gotten into position, the latter shooting him a look that said ‘ you got us into this, now deal with it.’

 “It's not really professional to do this in the palm of another person,” Liam reasoned with her.

 “ Well that’s because it would be really painful for most people if you stood on their hands. Luckily I don’t have that problem, I’m much too big for that to be a problem but if you don’t like it you can leave,” she flashed an impish grin at him. He was trapped, between a rock and a hard place and she knew it.

 “ Alright,” Liam conceded, seeing there was no other way around this.

 “We’ll do it your way.”

“Good, I thought you’d see it my way.”

That was to be the start of Liam’s bad day although at least the camera worked fine as Warren had no problem starting it.

 “ Okay Jessica, let's start with how you became a government fugitive; the public would love to about that.”

 “Hmmm..” Jessica tapped her chin with her other hand, her prodigious chest wobbling with each tap.

  “I guess it all started when….”

That was last thing he ever got out of her because what followed felt like having his brain dragged through a meat grinder.

 Had he known this would happen, Liam would have stopped himself from even conceiving the idea. He would not even have considered asking Jessica for an interview if he was are of Jessica’s exceptional filibustering skills; which she proceeded to give a live demonstration of.

  “ I was always the most standout girl, being the only asian in my class. Not that I ever got picked, maybe once or was it twice? Maybe thrice?” Jessica shrugged her shoulders.

 That was just a hint of what she did, Jessica saying a lot but not saying anything at all when it came to her life.

 “Perhaps we could move to a more relevant period of your-” Jessica titled her hand, throwing Liam and Warren off balance. They waved their arms around as they futilely attempted to regain composure, until Jessica moved her hand backed to a less inclined position.

 “ Sorry,” Jessica said to them. That was not the last time.Every time he voiced his displeasure she’d casually remind him who was in charge by tilting her hand.

Liam would panic, scream at her not to do it again and Jessica would brush it off like a ditz. After a while, he let her prattle on uninterrupted, resigned to getting plenty of footage but ultimately nothing worth making the news.

 If he weren’t in his spot, he might have applauded Jessica for her exceptional interview skills; no one ever took control of one like she did. Then again no one had the advantage of being as statuesque as she did,you can’t really put together a convincing rebuttal when your opponent can look the Statue of Liberty in the eye can you?

  Warren’s shoulders began to ache, the base of the camera digging into his shoulders as Jessica’s interview dragged beyond the two hour mark. The worse part? She didn’t look like she was slowing as she described her meal choices during her first week on the island.

 “ I’m not really a beef person but I have to admit frozen beef cooked on an open flame is really good. Sometimes they give me chicken, it's really small but I appreciate them trying to add more diversity into my foods. Occasionally I get fish-”

“You guys still talking?”

 All three looked in the direction of the voice, spotting Jack coming on to the grass, arm still in a sling. He was wearing shorts and a simple white fitting white shirt.

Jack didn’t want to interfere but his attention had long been held once Jessica’s interview exceeded an hour. Plus it was being done on his property so it was only right he get involved.

 “ Ah Mr. Erikson, this is Liam Har-DIIINNNNGGG!” Jessica closed her hand around the two, giggling at Liam’s reaction. She set her hand on the ground before opening it, the two men getting quickly.

 “ You two look really tired,” Jack commented, noticing Liam’s heavy eyelids.

 “Yeah, it was a long slog but now that you’re here, I have a few quest-”

 “That,” Jack pointed at the helicopter, “ Is not supposed to be on my property. You two are trespassing and that means calling the police.”

He reached for his pocket but Liam immediately panicked ,changing tact.

 “ No no, don’t call the police!” Liam pleaded, he didn’t need another one of those.

 “ Oh really? You were very mean to me,” Jessica spoke up. She glared at them, her brown eyes shooting daggers at the two. Warren was quietly terrified, while Liam couldn’t hide his; he may have had a good poker face but that was nothing against giantess might.

“ I wasn’t,” he said to Jack who looked him with a bemused smirk on his lips.

 “ I’ll let that go if you get off my property, right now,” he jerked his thumb at the front door.

 “ Right, it's time go Warren,” Liam ordered him. Warren didn’t need to be told twice, he lifted the camera off his shoulder and made off to the the chopper.

 “ See you around Liam,” Jessica waved at him.

 Liam didn’t return it, he wasn’t in the mood for that as he went back in the chopper. He didn’t say anything until they landed, fifty miles away from the town.

 “You really know how to talk don’t you?” Jack looked up at Jessica who shrugged her shoulders.

 “He wanted my life story so I gave it to him,” Jessica replied.

 “Yeah well you made up a lot of stuff didn’t you?”

“No I didn’t,” Jessica defended herself.

 “ What? You actually remember what you did, every day of the week?”

 Jessica nodded, of course she did. She could even recall the colour of her poo , how each meal tasted and the names of the guards accompanying her father for every visit he made.

“ I have a photographic memory.”

“ Part of that serum I suppose? Super sized you and now you can’t forget anything? That’s going to be a nightmare for your future boyfriend, you’ll never let him forget about the birthdays he forgot.”

“Boyfriend? Hah!” Jessica snorted.

“ I doubt I’ll need to worry about that, not when I still dress like the fifty foot woman.”

 

 

Caitlin glanced disapprovingly out of the window, four panes held together by a cast iron cross in the middle. Her brow creased downwards at the vulgar sight before her. The enormous green tentage rose up from the formerly spacious back yard, most of it was grass regularly mowed by the help. It wasn’t much but still a lot better than the current occupant of the site. Caitlin spotted Jessica’s limo length feet sticking out from the tent flap, her left foot peeking out from inside, she was just able to make out the silhouette of the giantess from what light came through the tent.

 

 

The mere thought of her made Caitlin grind her teeth, to her Jessica was nothing but two hundred feet and thirty  one feet of problems moulded into the shape of a very young and distracting woman.

 

  She wasn’t alone, as several pages of angry emails printed out detailed what seemed to be everyone’s problems with her.

 

A sudden twitch of her feet made Caitlin flinch, the same reaction occurred  as Jack’s concerned voice came through, having finished with his morning business.

 

 “ You need to stop watching her through the tent like a stalker. If you want to say hi, just go down when she wakes up,” Jack chuckled with a wide grin.

 

Caitlin was hardly amused, scowling at him as she waved the pages upon pages of emails at him.

 

 Jack found her scowl to be on the adorable side, her thick eyebrows at a steep incline.

 

“What’s that?” Jack asked as he picked up his phone, it was time to update his  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts while reading on the latest happenings around the world. That last part he did less these days since half of the articles were either about Jessica or connected to her. Few were pleasant reads, some calling her the first sign of the apocalypse, that was always an amusing read. Some wondered how long before she decided to overthrow the government and install herself as world leader. The rest were just parroting, plenty of fear mongering with little substance. Still, the public lapped it up. Jack remembered a petition being share on Facebook calling for the President to authorise a nuclear strike against her, it almost made him deactivate his Facebook account.

 

 “ Complaints! From almost everyone in Palm Creek, Harold sent a four page essay about her!” Caitlin tossed the emails onto the bed where they landed with a flutter. Jack picked a random page  to read.

 

 “ Oh, this is a bill for the road . Was wondering when that would show up. Fifty grand is on the cheap side for that blackened mess,” Jack hardly smiling. Harold had no legal power to make him pay for public damages, just a gift at being a nuisance.

 

 “ One week in and she has already set you back hundreds of thousands of dollars. That thing doesn’t even make any of her own money. She’s a leech, the worst kind of leech!”

 

Jack motioned for her to come closer, Caitlin stomping over with pouty lips on her tanned face. He kissed the top of her lavender scented head.

 

 “I get why you’re mad  but it's not easy to go from tropical island to the home of the rich and fabulous. Plus they’ve been rude to her. Even you Caitlin. It hasn’t been the smoothest transition so let's not kick up a fuss here. We’re all she has. ”

 

 “You’re the only person in the world who wants her here. I heard she was all ready to go back to whichever hole she crawled out from until you stepped in!” She jabbed a finger into his Jack’s chest, the impact reddening the area of contact. Jack rubbed it, uneasy but annoyed by her newest rant.

 

“ You stepped in and took her in like some mongrel. Jack, can’t you see that she is far from helpless!”

 

 “ Size isn’t everything Caitlin. She’s not a soldier anymore, she’s a homeless civilian and you know what she did for me. I can’t leave her just like that. You could try and and be friends? Not saying you need to tattoo her name onto your arm or anything like that, at least be acquaintances?”

 

Caitlin groaned, rolling her eyes at that. “ I would love to be friends with her but all she does is annoy and antagonise our neighbours. You weren’t there in Miami, she probably would have swallowed me whole. We don’t matter to her and I swear she is using you for food and a roof over her head. We’ll be dead if she ever decides we’re expendable.”

 Jack patted her head sympathetically, “ That was an accident, she already apologised for it didn’t she? Publicly in front of everyone just as you asked, so move on from it. She’s a-”

 

 Caitlin raised her head to stop Jack, knowing very well what he was going to say. He said it every time as if he had a recording of it.

 

 “ A giant super soldier created by her scientist father who just wanted to save her from cancer. Then the government came in and took her away to be this reluctant weapon. Okay, I get it. She comes with her own sob story. No, it's not that. She has no manners, not like us! She just does things because she knows we’re all too small to really fight back.”

 

 “Since when?” Jack got a little agitated by her latest accusation.

 

 “Two days ago Evelyn had her car destroyed by Shezilla over a few insults,” Caitlin said with an air of victory about her. The kind you got when your friends argued over a random fact and Google backed your facts up. Caitlin was on that high.

 

 “ Evelyn is a crappy driver, you and I both know that. I heard she drove into a pothole because she was texting and driving again ; and can’t bear to admit she wasn’t watching the road so she blames Jessica for it,” Jack pleaded his case as much as he could but his words bounced off Caitlin’s steely resolve.

 

 He knew that look, brows sloped downwards and that scowl on her mug, she wasn’t going to stop if he didn’t. An immovable object against a not so unstoppable force.

 

 “ Because Jessica made the hole! She stomped them into the road to get back at Evelyn for calling her a Babylonian whore!” Caitlin smacked him on his good arm for that turning of the cheek.

 

 Jack shrugged it off, “ Our roads aren’t made for it and I can say with certainty Jessica didn’t stomp it in. She’s too heavy for it and we can’t blame her for that.”

 

A little voice in his head said Caitlin would probably demand Jessica lose some weight if she could. Not that Jessica could ever be light enough to not crack asphalt, a person her size just wasn’t capable of that.

 

 “Then she shouldn’t be wandering around and destroying everything around her! ”

   “I’ll talk to her I about staying away from the ro-” Jack’s serious reply was cut off by a booming female voice blowing in from the window.

 

  ‘Morning guys!” Jessica’s thunderous greeting rattling the window frame.

 

  Caitlin jumped back in shock, Jessica’s brown eye staring at them through the window, Jack waving and chuckling over his girlfriend’s shock. Every day Jessica did it and every time it would have Caitlin falling over from the surprise of it all. He could have sworn she did it to wind up Caitlin, which was working since Caitlin never seemed to learn.

 

Caitlin, having recovered from the initial surprise ran up to the window, livid at what Jessica did. Jack thought if she were any angrier she’d be shaking her fist and then punching Jessica right in the eye.

 

 “Stop doing that, it's scary!”

 

Jessica’s eye pulled back as she herself moved several tens of feet from the window, having been on all fours before that ; arms bent and in the backyard while her knees were behind the hedge.

 

  “ Sorry but at least this time I didn’t do it while you were sleeping,” Jessica chuckled to herself. Jack looked at her, keeping his laughter down lest he risk coming under fire from Caitlin.

 

  “ Just don’t do it at all, you scare people easily.”

  “Alright I won’t but promise me you won’t be so jumpy.”

 

  “I make no guarantees,” Caitlin folded her arms, Jessica’s exuberance grating on her nerves. Worse still was how Jessica had already succeeded in souring her mood before lunch time.

 

“ Okay. Well I’m off for my morning run, see you guys around.” Jessica rose and ever briefly, her green skirt made of tentage material stretched tightly around her waist before riding up slightly to give Caitlin and Jack a peek at her buttcheeks, firm and well shaped from years of healthy living.

 

 Caitlin turned her back, sighing.

 

“ You better not be aroused by this. This is everything that is wrong with her. A freak of nature with no sense of dressing and a devil may care attitude.”

 

 “ Okay we got to stop this crusade against Jessica. She isn’t moving for a while okay? Let's talk about something else.”

 

 Jack grasped Caitlin's shoulder lightly while giving a hopeful toothless smile.

 

 “Well Harold is coming over.”

 

 “Oh again? You know I can’t stand the guy. Should ban him from the premises.”

 

 Jack considered calling in sick, telling Harold he caught some virulent and lethal strain of flu from the island and that he wouldn’t be available for the foreseeable future. But then he’d have to play sick until Harold stopped noticing and he actually wanted to go out and enjoy his life.

 

 “ I know but he had another run in with our large friend and he wants to talk to you about it.”

“Oh poo, can’t he just play nice?” Jack joked but not even getting a cricket chirp from his audience of one.

 

 “ Yeah I don’t like him either but we can’t just ignore him. He lives right next to us and you know he travels in the same circles as you.”

 

 “Plus he’s one persistent bugger, just won’t quit. Like he was a leech in his past life or something, just clinging on to someone and sucking the joy out of everything. No wait, he’s not a leech; he is a dementor. My personal dementor.”

 

Seeing Jack talk about Harold with disdain was an amusing sight for Caitlin but nevertheless, she knew his pain. Understanding it though was another matter entirely.

 

 “ Your parents seem to be okay with him. He gets invited whenever there’s a party here.”

 

 Jack snorted and laughed haughtily, “ The man invites himself. Neither my mother nor my father have the decency to throw trash like that out of the house. I hope Jessica will be like some  anti-Harold scarecrow to him, keep him away from us.”

 

  A loud ringing came from the bedside antique looking phone, Caitlin sauntering over to pick it up in her manicured hands. When she did, she heard the baritone voice of a man she recognised all too well.

 

  “ I’m outside, could you get Jeeves to open the door?”

 

   “Alright.”

 

  Jack sighed, it looked like he would have to waste his morning listening to Harold embark on another rant against his newest friend. He’d rather have his teeth plucked out one by one with pliers than listen to his latest tirade against Jessica.

 

 “ I’ll be heading downstairs. Don’t suppose you want to join me?” He looked hopefully, eyes begging her to join him. Caitlin shook her head and waved her hands , declining his offer.

 

 “This is your battle. I’ll be up here, making no noise and pretending I don’t exist.”

 

  Jack rolled his eyes, shaking his own head after being deserted by his girlfriend.

 

 “You do that while I let that bastard ruin my day.”

“Bye.”

 

 Caitlin waved to him as Jack trudged downstairs, stomping down as he let vented his anger on the floorboards, the parquet flooring offering no resistance against this sort of thing.

 

*********

 

Downstairs, Harold waited impatiently for Jack or someone to at least open the door. He wore his ubiquitous teal ascot and shades despite being indoors, he completed his look with a pair of khaki shorts and a plain white V-necked shirt.His gelled brown head of hair with a little Superman curl flopping on top of his forehead and large beak of a nose attached to what passed for a face.

 

 There was a click as the door unlocked, a petite middle aged Hispanic woman opening it. Her hair was tied up in a bun, hair net included. Normally she was in an amiable mood but seeing Harold, hers dropped like Jack’s. She eyed him up with her dark brown eyes, Harold towering above her by a good foot or so but he looked at her as if she were a hobo, a snobbish look upon his face.

 

“Ah Consuela, what took you so long? The tacos were getting burnt?” He asked, sneering down at her.

 

“My name is-”

 

“I don’t care.”

 

Harold brushed past her, not even waiting for her to move out of the door. Rosalyn was pushed back by the force, nearly losing her balance but she managed to catch herself.  He knew the interior well and he had to give props for the very classical Edwardian look, Jack knew how to decorate a house after all. Rosalyn shuffled towards him, directing him to the living room and pulling a chair for him.

 

“May I get you something sir?” She asked as nicely as she could. Most guests left the racism at the door but Harold seemed to ignore that piece.

 

“ Just get me something, other than tequila or that ale crap from England. Probably dumbed your master down that he’s adopting freaks. Get me something an American would drink,” he ordered to Rosalyn.

 

“Of course sir,” she answered with a sigh. She knew why he was here, even the help knew what Jessica got up to and despite all that, she had found the young giantess to be a very blunt but lovely girl. The incident was clear to her, why Harold was here and she only wished Jessica had somehow shut the man-child’s mouth.

 

 A thump from the stair got his attention, as did the next thump and then another as Jack emerged, looking weary despite only being awake for an hour. He muttered something unintelligible but if Harold had heard it, there would be hell to pay.

 

 

 “ Jack, it’s a pleasure to meet you. This is what, the third time this week?” Harold rose from his seat, smug grin on him as he shook Jack’s good hand.

 

 “ You too Harold. Yes it is, glad you can count.” He allowed himself the tiniest sliver of a smile as Harold winced at the little barb.  

 

 Both men sat at the table as Rosalyn brought them a pot of freshly brewed tea, Earl Grey being today’s tea of choice.

 

 “ Ah...tea,” Harold looked with disapproval.

 

 “ So...what brings you here on this fine sunny day? You look like you’ve got to be somewhere soon.”

 

Harold chuckled, Jack wished he had earplugs to block out every word he said. Alas, he didn’t although he’d settle for balls of cotton or anything to jam in inside his precious ear canal.

 

 “ You know why Jack, your guest is making trouble for all of us. Me in particular…”

 He gritted his teeth as unpleasant memories came to the fore, sipping from his tea. He almost gagged, there wasn’t even a grain of sugar there.

 

 “ You guys aren’t making it easy for her either. Give her time, she isn’t used to living among people again. You gotta understand that.”

 Harold chuckled again, this time it was pointed straight at Jack. Jack hated that.

 

 “ I understand her very well. She’s a bully Jack and you’re enabling here when you sit here without telling her off. Want to know what that thing did to me?”

 

He whipped off his glasses in a melodramatic fashion, folding the frame and slotting it against the neck of his shirt whilst glaring at Jack.

 

 “I don’t suppose I could say no?”

 

“It all started a couple of days ago…”

 

Jack slumped back against his chair, head resting lazily on his hand while Harold recounted his experience. He made a note to ask Rosalyn to spike his tea with vodka or whatever hard liquor they had next time Harold was around. Alcohol was his only escape right now.

 

 

 

Harold sat in his little boat of about seven feet in length, hull painted white with a polished interior made of the highest quality cedar wood. To him, time spent in the boat was time away from the humdrum of the world; the still blue waters of  Palmer’s Lake never failed to calm him down after a distressful day.

It was  miles away from most of the residential parts of Palm Creek , away from the noise and bustle of civilization;  one would require a forty minute drive just to get to the lake.

The lake had a tranquil feel to it, extending for at least a mile or two in all directions and going down to a depth of approximately one hundred and fifty feet.  It was foreboding yet calming all at once.

With a fishing rod in his hand,the end of which was submerged into the water, he could spend the entire day out here. Right now, he needed it.

 He glanced briefly at the river that fed it,  it's name unknown to him;  he didn’t bother with learning it,  it served no purpose in his life.  

A soft click of disapproval escaped Harold’s lips when his mind drifted to current affairs. He remembered the day she showed up, with Jack on her shoulders like something out of a B-grade monster movie. The next day, he saw the damage she had wrought. An entire road destroyed thanks to the imprints left by her feet, a shophouse having part of it's roof damaged due to a stray swing of her broad hips. What vexed him most was her apathy towards all of this. That carefree smile as she and Jack joked about something likely to be trivial irked him even more.

 “ Freak,” he muttered. She didn’t belong here, that he knew. He couldn’t understand why the government hadn’t arrested her and Jack yet, letting her go was a definite fubar on their part.

His rod started to jerk in the water , once forward and then twice back . Harold gripped it tightly with both hands to steady it but the waters around him started to churn violently and this made him lose balance .He would have gone overboard but thankfully managed to steady himself by holding onto the edge of the boat.

 He scanned the water, spotting a dark shape in the water; and it was approaching him with great haste.. Whatever it was, it was easily the size of a whale, perhaps larger. He turned on the motor, roaring into life and sped away from it.

Seconds after he heard a huge crash as a large humanoid broke the surface, throwing up a white mist of foam and water. Harold’s heart was in his mouth when he thought of how he had just been under there, a moment too late and he would be smashed to bits. As the waters calmed, it revealed the identity of the leviathan and  he knew who it was and she very nearly killed him. Her skin was more tanned than it had been a week ago but her bare breasts, topped by brown nipples stiff from the cold water glistened under the afternoon sun.

 She let out a sigh of immense satisfaction before shaking her entire torso, the water falling off her as her hair flailed about. Harold could not but stare at her breasts, two globes wobbling due to the momentum Jessica had imparted.  The fact that her physical body had a very pleasing aesthetic was just about the only thing he’d accept about her.

  When she did stop, her hair fell back down, the water gluing them to her breasts. Harold resolved to confront her about the whole near death incident.He set the boat in reverse as the motor tutted itself, something which Jessica had heard and seen.

She wasn’t pleased with another intruder at her bathing site. It wasn’t even easy finding a body of water to bathe in, the water either smelled like manure or was too murky. Despite the greenish colouration, this stretch of river was clean enough and also deep enough for her to use.

“ I thought I told everyone not to come here, especially during my baths,” Jessica hissed at him. She waded through the waist high water, stopping when she felt Harold’s boat bump against her stomach. She chuckled when the impact sent him flat on to his back. She knew him as an annoying twerp who made daily complaints about her so seeing him like this didn’t get any sympathy from her.

 “ This is public space, anyone can come here and use it. You don’t get to play bouncer.”

 Ticked off by his answer, Jessica folded her arms across her chest, “ I held a meeting in town on my first day here. We discussed it, you guys agreed to let me have access to this stretch as a place to clean myself; or would you rather I smell like really old cheese?”

“I’d rather you go back to the lab you were made in,” Harold said, he wasn’t going to hold back when dealing with a bully like her.

 Jessica giggled, he may have been a little pest but sometimes he was fun to have around when he tried to throw savage insults. Like Jack was, but not nearly as attractive or kind.

 “ I wasn’t made in a lab, I was born to parents like you. The only difference is my parents are proud of me.”

 “ Well no one here is so we’d love it if you leave and went back to wherever it is you came from.”

 Jessica snorted, the blast of air from her nostrils slamming into Harold, eliciting a grunt as he endured the hit.

“That was deliberate,” he accused her.

“ Well I definitely intended to keep breathing, it's not my fault if you’re too light to stand up against a breeze.”

 She bent over, her pendulous breasts swaying as her shadow covered Harold and his boat. He watched as she lowered herself until her hair was nearly touching the boat. Harold began to shiver, his natural instinct taking over with the

 “ That’s a really nice boat,” Jessica complimented him. She reached over with a hand only to see Harold try to push it back; it didn’t do anything.

 “Don’t you touch it! This thing is worth more than you’ll ever make in your life!”He beat on her log sized finger with his fists but like his earlier effort, it didn’t anything except further irritate the giantess.

 “ Oh come on, I’m not going to break it,” she huffed. She considered puffing but somehow that would lead to more complaints directed at Jack.

“ Yes you will, your godzilla hands wreck everything they touch!” He reached into his pouch and pulled out a can of Mace, holding it in front of him like a gun.

 “ I’ve got protection and I’m not afraid to use it!” He waved the can around franticly. Jessica sighed, her attempt at niceties didn’t work out well. She assumed he loved his boat and a conversation over it should have put him at ease.

 “ My skin stops bullets, I can lift a tank with one hand and throw it like a shotput and I run faster than a train. A little can of pepper isn’t going to affect me; which shouldn’t scare you because I’m not here to hurt you. So put it away,” she asked Harold nicely.

 Harold didn’t listen, he still held the can in front of him, intent on protecting himself, the can itself just feet away from her face.  

 “ You.Touch.The.Boat.You.Get.It,” he uttered through gritted teeth, anger surging through his body.

  Jessica shook her head, disappointed in his idiocy.

 “ I got to finish my bath, you need to be somewhere else so I’m going to move this boat.”

 

 She placed her hand under the boat,Harold’s whole body shaking with fear as she prepared to lift it.

 “ Back off!” He shouted but Jessica responded with a derisive rolls of her eyes, clicking her tongue in further disapproval.

 “ Whatever, as if that thing will hurt me,” Jessica called his bluff.

  Jessica pulled the boat up but as she did, Harold pressed down on the can and a fine spray filled the air in front of her; Jessica inhaled the entire spray but Harold did not stop and let off a few more.

 “ I told you-” Jessica dropped the boat back into the water, the few feet it fell managed to leave Harold flat on his ass.

 “ What...the...hell…” Jessica’s nose itched and tickled as the spray filled her airways. She felt the heat, no worse than mild itch but enough to affect her. Her breathing grew laboured, breaths coming in short intervals.

 Harold watched , surprised it worked but as her head leaned back, mouth gaping and nose wrinkling, he began to recognise what it was leading up to: Jessica was going to sneeze. Instinctively he backed away but there was only so far he could retreat on a seven foot long boat.

“ Oh GOODNE-AHHHHH CHOO!” Jessica sneezed right in front of Harold, sending forth winds on par with a tropical storm right at him.Harold was pelted with saliva and mucus, the experience similar to being trapped in a wind tunnel; a wind tunnel full of saliva and other bodily fluids.  His body was thrown overboard with the boat which itself was overturned.

 Jessica sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her finger.

“Oh my god!” she cried out at the sight of Harold’s overturned boat, sans Harold himself.

Below, Harold struggled in the greenish waters, narrowly avoiding the boat.

What kind of power is that, he thought to himself. A mild sneeze had nearly destroyed him. He looked around, spotting a pair of tanned pillars as thick as redwoods to his left and a dark triangular patch where they met.

Nope, just nope,he thought to himself. It was just another freakish part of a woman who didn’t deserve to live among the rest of society. His thoughts were broken by something large grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and yanking him up. Harold screamed, his baritone cry for help ignored by Jessica who silently held him up in the air. She dropped him into her hand, Harold coughing up greenish water. He stood up, expecting to see Jessica’s furious visage staring down at him.

 He didn’t get that, Jessica’s face had worry written all over it. Her brow furrowed and she appeared to sigh, relieved by the lack of physical trauma on him.

“ Lets get you back,” Jessica spoke calmly. Harold found it unsettling, was she planning something else.

 “You nearly killed me!”

 “ Only after you sent that spray up my nose!” Jessica protested, offended by his lack of gratitude.

 “ I don’t know what you thought you would achieve but I’m taking you back home. If you’ve broken something,I don’t want you blaming me for not getting you help.”

 Jessica looked down at her bare body, nearly forgetting about the fact that she was stark naked. She turned to the little twit in her hand, he would probably try to run if she ever put him back in the boat. Where he would run to wasn’t known to her but if he behaved like Jack, then she had a problem.

 “ You wait here while I put on my clothes,” Jessica instructed him. Harold grunted, folding his arms in frustration.

 Jessica waded closer to shore,  the gradual incline of the lake pushing her body up as the depth diminished with each earth shattering step.  

There,  on the grassy shoreline were her clothes, dark green tarps she had fashioned into a makeshift bra and panties.  Jessica’s gut churned at the thought of letting him watch her change but given how he had seen every inch of her now,  it didn’t matter as much.

 Harold felt her arm move and he looked around , spotting a nearby tree with thick branches and trunk coming up on his view. Jessica’s equally thick fingers prodded and pushed through a few thin ones before pushing him on to a branch.

“Are you leaving me here? Right now, after you nearly killed me,” Harold accused her. Jessica turned her back to him, her toned shoulders rolling down as she bent over, her shapely buttocks coming into view.  Harold shut his mouth briefly to enjoy the view,  that wasn’t something he saw everyday.

 “ Dayum.” That was all Harold could say.

*********

“I presume you’re fine,” Jack commented. He didn’t want to hear the story but he had to give Harold credit, it seemed grounded in reality and less fantasy than he expected. He thought it’d start with Jessica breathing fire and eating a small village; that was Harold’s style of storytelling: A lot of fiction and little facts.

“I will be when you deal with her,” Harold replied.

“ It seems to me you’re the one who intruded on her privacy, you then tried to pepper spray. I’m glad Jessica wasn’t hurt by it. You’re fine as it is.”

 “Could have been worse.” Harold’s eyes narrowed, he felt nothing but disdain for Jack, the man stood by Jessica for every single mistake she made. What did see in her? She wasn’t worth defending at all; unless….

 “ You’re fucking her aren’t you?”

Jack slammed his fist on the table, rattling their mugs and anything not firmly nailed down to the table.

 “ Get out,” he pointed at the door.

“Hang on now, I’m the victim here…”

“I heard your sob story now get the hell out of here before I actually make you a victim.”

Harold stood up, eyes shooting daggers at Jack.

“Alright, I guess I hit a nerve there. Does Caitlin know?”

 “ I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”

  Harold shrugged his shoulders, a smug grin on him.

“Whatever works for you,” he turned and left.

Jack didn’t wait long before going back upstairs where Caitlin lay in bed reading her phone.

“ Harold’s gone. I’m going to see Jessica about it. Want to come?”

 Caitlin smiled sweetly before shaking her head, she had no wish to interact with Jessica unless necessary.

 

“ Nope, you wanted her here, you clean up her mess.”

 Jack nodded, it would be worse to persuade her otherwise.

“ I’ll be back soon,” he replied before trudging down the stairs. Maybe Jessica would at least make him feel welcome in his own house.

 

Everything’s too small , Jessica thought to herself. Over a week into her stay and she had came to that obvious but uncomfortable conclusion. She could sit up in the tent but had to move around on all fours like a baby or on her belly, that one was closer to a snake.

Right now, lying down in her tent, she could feel her toes being chilled by a late morning breeze. She would have preferred to have them in the tent but that would mean sticking her head out of it, a prospect she deemed worse.

 At this point, she was cooling off after her run, staring at the dull green canvas. There wasn’t much to do, apart from eating, sleeping , exercising and socialising with Jack and whoever was brave enough to talk to her; most people had a tendency to be overwhelmed by the concept of a giantess before running away from her. Correction, there wasn’t much she could do without drawing the ire of everyone but Jack; probably the servants but Jessica hadn’t heard anything from them.

 “ You awake?” Jessica heard a voice and sat up to see Jack poking his head into the tent. He looked positively miniscule in it, the structure was actually taller than his house, making him appear no longer than a dormouse to the average person.

“ I am,” Jessica replied.

 “ We need to talk about your incident. Your incident with Harold,” Jack said pensively.

 “Ah,” Jessica sighed. Harold turning up only meant another complaint and after yesterday, she expected another one from him.

“ I should apologise, right?” Jessica offered, it was all she could do now.

 “ I would rather you not, no one should be blamed for that.”

“I’d blame Harold, that prick thinks he can just drive his teensy toy boat while I’m bathing. I swear, he has no sense of boundaries at all,” Jessica huffed.

 Jack chuckled, she had a point. Then again, so did Harold. He was the one on the receiving end of a hurricane of a sneeze, not Jessica.

 “ He’s not hurt too much right? He didn’t arm or a leg or did I chip his nails?” Jessica inquired.

Jack shook his head, much to the relief of Jessica.

“He’s fine, maybe his ego’s bruised but he still struts around like a proud peacock,” he added.

“ So he’s fine then but it's shocking, not even a month and I’ve pissed off the whole town. So much for me being a well behaved guest.”

 Jack moved closer, Jessica’s eyes tracking his movement until he paused just in front of her thigh.

“ Like I said, not your fault. These people need to get used to you,” he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, Jessica chuckling.

 “ Maybe I should do to them, what I did to you after I caught you sneaking out of my house,” Jessica playfully suggested.

“ Hey,” Jack protested, “Dying, or rather coming close tends to change a man.You see things differently. Harold hasn’t had that luxury like I did.”

“I could arrange that. Maybe pretend to step on him, it would scare him enough to stop the complaints.”

“You know I can’t agree to that right?” Jack looked serious as he answered, eliciting a titter from Jessica.

“I know, I’m just joking. I’m not THAT kind of giant. I’m the polite kind, the one that doesn’t grind people’s bones to make bread.”

“We’re getting off topic and as much as it pains me to say this, I do need you to apologise to Harold.”

He felt a blast of warm air as Jessica sighed deeply, he had expected resistance from her. She’d probably argue against that, make some valid points. Either way, he found it nearly impossible to convince the titaness of doing something she did not want to do.

“ You said you didn’t want me to,” Jessica stated flatly.

There we go, Jack thought.

“ We both don’t like him but Harold could make our lives really difficult if you don’t at least say you are sorry. He’s well connected with a lot of people here.”

“Aren’t you well connected too? A rich guy like you should have no problem bending their minds like a Jedi,” Jessica waved her hand like Obi Wan..

“ I don’t, this is kind of a summer home for me. We have servants to keep the place clean for when we need to stay here but that’s it. Most of the time we’re hardly here, although I might be here on a more permanent basis. Depending on how work goes…” Jack’s voice trailed off into the distance before he remembered what he wanted to say.

“ So the point is, I need you to make a symbolic apology.”

Jessica thought about it, her nose scrunched up as she was in thought.She came to a decision sooner than expected.

“Okay, I will.”

Jack took out a slip of paper from his pant pocket and proceeded to read off it.

“We’re also getting complaints about your lack of modesty.”

Jessica rolled her eyes hard, of course they would say that.

“Do they know how hard it is to get clothes in my size?” Jessica tugged up at her top, conscious of how much titty flesh was being exposed, the inadequate cloth exposing a hint of underboob. She knew she was busty, it ran in her family and the top she was using didn’t cover enough. With a knot at the back, it enveloped her chest but left an eye popping amount of cleavage on display.

 

“Don’t tug, it's not helping,” Jack looked down.

“ I know….” Jessica conceded.

“I can’t help being so curvy, it runs in the family! Unless they are going to buy me some clothes, I can only wear this or go my birthday suit and I don’t think anyone would want that.”

 “ I’ll see if I can do something about clothes, maybe get something in your size,” Jack suggested. He looked her up and down before whistling softly, but loud enough for Jessica’s elephant sized ears to pick up.

“ I heard that, and saw that. I’m not that big,” she assured him.

“From where I’m standing, you are.”

“Okay fine, you have a point. There isn’t anyone bigger than me out there. What else is on that list? Let me take a look in case they’re complaining about the size of my ass or how loud my footsteps are.”

For the record, Jack thought her ass wasn’t worth complaining about, it was one of those apple shaped bottoms and it wasn’t obscenely huge, it fit her really well. He wouldn’t ever say that out loud, for fear of rousing an angry girlfriend and that was enough to keep his mouth shut.

“ How? It's too small for you.”

“Of course I can read it. If I can see your fly is down, I can read the list.”

Jack looked down, only to realise he’d been fooled. His pyjama bottoms didn’t even have a zipper but this was greatly amusing to Jessica, her booming feminine laughter filling up the tent.

“ Made you look,” she dragged out her tease.

“ Yeah alright, you can read it,”Jack smiled sheepishly. He held the list up in front of her while she squinted, seemingly reading the words.

Jack wasn’t sure if she was bluffing because at her size, those words should have been like grains of sand to her.

“I am so glad these are typed out because if it was chicken scratch, I wouldn’t be able to read a thing. So far it's the usual. Not wearing enough clothes, too fat for the roads to handle, too much of an eyesore and I am SO thrilled Harold says poor folk like me don’t deserve to live here. Which kind of makes your fights with Caitlin even worse,” she mused.

“How do you know-”

“I can hear everything going on in there but it's not something I want, not right now,” Jessica admitted.

“It wasn’t an issue when I was staying on the island, all there was to listen to were animals and that’s it. Tell Caitlin for me would you? That I don’t mean to stir up so much trouble. I can’t talk to her without her insulting me,” she groused.

“ It's just words, she can’t hurt you.”

“It's not just words, they do hurt. I may look like a big girl who wouldn’t let a few remarks get me down but I have limits too. It’s not pleasant at all, whether I’m seven feet or two hundred feet.”

Jack saw a glimmer in her eye, something deep within her seemed to reveal itself but before he could be sure, it was gone and all she saw was the familiar look she had.

“I-I’ll tell her. You’re a guest here and you will be treated as such. No guest of mine is going to feel unwelcome.”

“Thanks,” Jessica chuckled mirthfully. “You’ve been a more gracious host than I have been a guest. Anyway you better go now before Caitlin thinks we’re making out or I’m letting you get to second base.”

“Y-you have a point,” Jack conceded, wishing Jessica actually had one.

“Hey, um…”  Jack turned back to see a smirk plastered on Jessica’s face.

“Want to try something new? You wouldn’t need to walk up every time you came down to see me.”

“Uh..sure,” Jack replied.

Jessica picked up Jack, wrapping her fingers around him; gently, she did not want to aggravate his injuries or risk a lashing from you know who.

Caitlin wasn’t aware of Jessica’s plan but she would, when she heard something a knock on the window. At first she brushed it off as her mind playing tricks on her but then it came again, a light rap. When she ignored that again, what came next nearly gave her a heart attack.

“Open up!” Jack’s voice called out. Caitlin rushed to the window to find Jack sitting in Jessica’s hand, waiting right outside the window. She didn’t waste any time in getting him in, opening the window to let Jack climb in, assisted by Caitlin as she did so.

“You’re right,” Jack turned back to Jessica.

“ It's a lot faster. Remind me to keep the window open for this,” Jack praised Jessica.

“I will.”

Once Jessica left, Jack was left with just a ticked off Caitlin who glared at him with an intensity capable of melting steel beams. Suddenly Jessica’s brilliant idea seemed more foolish than intelligent.

“ You know what, I’m not going to tell you how stupid it was of you to even try that. How stupid it would be if you were to fall from the third floor and die. No, this is between you and that...thing.”

“She can hear us, do you know that?” Jack bluntly shot back, wishing she would at least show some decorum with Jessica. So far she had given the same reaction most Batman fans would give to someone who said George Clooney was their favourite movie Batman.

 “ Good, she should know she’s putting you through hell. She’s not even family…” Caitlin grumbled as she pressed herself into Jack’s chest.

 “ Three times she saved my life. I would be really ungrateful if I didn’t at least offer her some refuge at her lowest. I think it's partly my fault she’s even homeless, if I didn’t get thrown overboard, if I didn’t get stuck on that island then she’d still be there. It's not the perfect life but it's a life.”

Caitlin looked up into Jack’s blue eyes, hers were a shade darker.

“ That’s sweet but she’s not just a person. She’s not Superman or some other superhero , she’s a freaking lab experiment who could kill us in our sleep. Tell me that doesn’t keep you awake at night.Because it does for me,”

“Trust me Cait, Jessica is not like that. She won’t do that. I may only have known her for a few days before this but she knows what’s right. She will not kill us,” he assured her.

“ Do you know any good clothing brands? I think we should get Jessica some clothes,” Jack asked.

 “Try Goodyear, she could be their blimp,” Caitlin joked. She laughed mirthfully, perhaps a bit more than the joke deserved.

 “ Oh come on, be serious.”

“I am but if you want something classier, maybe you should email Victoria’s Secret , Kmart, Walmart. Maybe they’ll do it for free.”

“You know…” Jack rubbed his chin, “ That’s not the worst idea.”

All of this wasn’t missed by Jessica who wished those walls were just a little bit thicker, then she wouldn’t have to listen to all of this.

“How did it all go so wrong.To think it started so well, everyone was so nice at the town meeting….” Jessica said out loud to herself, her mind drifting back to her first ever meeting with the townspeople.

 

“No one’s coming,” Jessica looked around with a worried look written on her face. She had only been at Palm Creek for a little over a couple of days before the first complaints came in; mostly from angry neighbours and citizens concerned about their own well being with her around. Caitlin couldn’t stand it, Jack was more diplomatic about the whole thing and even suggested this meeting with the townspeople.

 He put up a notice in a few of the cafes around town, told his neighbours and hopefully they passed it on to bring a sizable crowd to this event. Right now it was just Jack, Caitlin and one statuesque giantess in the middle of town. Most of the shops were still open, there even people inside but none appeared to be interested in coming out for this.

“Remember what we talked about, be tactful. Don’t be yourself,” Caitlin bluntly reminded her, her blue eyes meeting Jessica’s dark brown ones.

“ I can be tactful,” Jessica replied.

“Not enough, you’re too much like Godzilla at the moment. Don’t raise your voice, frown or do anything to frighten people,” Caitlin advised her in a harsh tone.

“ Easy for you to say, people already run when they look at me,” Jessica shot back, immediately regretting it because any sarcastic retort from her led to make foot stomping and wailing from Caitlin.

“ And that mouth of yours, tone down on the sass and sarcasm when you talk to these people. You’re trying to get along, not make enemies. Got it?”

“She means well , Jessica, she really does,” Jack said. He didn’t want the two of them being at loggerheads, seeing as they would be living together for the foreseeable future. He also didn’t want Caitlin’s sour mood to rub off on to him and for Jessica not to squish her out of anger. That last bit was unlikely, or so Jack told himself.

 Jessica was understandably irritated, scowling at Caitlin over her micromanagement. She also disliked how Caitlin made it seem she was the victim here. Didn’t Caitlin realise she had it a lot better than she did? Apart from her regenerative powers and enhanced senses, a lot of it hindered her ability to live out here with people.

 She wanted to pick her up, shout some sense into her empty head but that would likely result in even more stress on Jack. She looked briefly at Jack, feeling pity at how he had become a conduit for the outside world’s grievances at her. From Caitlin to Harold and to the faceless neighbours who lodged complaint after complaint

“ Alright, I understand,” Jessica answered Caitlin.

Jessica elected to keep her thoughts to herself, just thinking about addressing a crowd was enough to put butterflies in her stomach. The trio waited with bated breath, the only significant action came from Jessica adjusting her bottom to avoid any re enactments of Basic Instinct and also her top, not wishing to follow in the footsteps of Janet Jackson. She shifted about to find the least threatening sitting position, much to the chagrin of Caitlin but the giantess persisted until settling for sitting on her calves, knees facing the crowd.

To their relief, a crowd made up of residents and non-residents alike did come, along with a small contingent of reporters who snapped pictures of Jessica.

“Um...good…” Jessica squinted at the skyline, noticing the orange hues painted by the setting sun.

“...evening. Good evening everyone. I am Jessica Chen, no wait...you probably know who I am already. I mean you saw the news…” Jessica stopped herself, realising the redundancy of saying her name. Of course they knew who she was, every newspaper, channel and radio station would have been talking about her. She tapped her chin while in thought, unsure of where to go.

“Okay erm...I um...need to oh yes...I will be staying here in this town. On Jack’s house, no I mean around his house. I can’t actually fit inside it,” Jessica stumbled in her words, mentally cursing herself for this slip. She stopped to piece together the words wanted to say, aware of the crowd’s mutterings. They didn’t know but her hearing was acute to the point of being able to pick out a little of their hushed words. She heard some lewd remarks concerning her cleavage, some nervous chatter about her intentions and the rest was just indecipherable gibberish.

“Ok lets start from scratch. I will be staying with Jack and Caitlin, who have agreed to house me until I can stand on my own out here.” She glanced at Jack, his tight shirt revealing arms sculpted at a gym. She stared a second longer than she ought to,was he always this muscular?

 Jessica quickly pulled herself away from those thoughts, there would be plenty of time to do that in her tent.

“ I understand you’re afraid and it's not illogical to be scared of me. You’ve never seen a girl like me before. I assure all of you I don’t mean you any harm, I am not going to step on you or hurt you if you anger me. Think of me as someone like you, just many, many times taller.”

Jessica stopped to let that sink in. Well, she assumed it would be understood. They look well educated so their thought processes should be up to scratch. She wasn’t asking for much, just a place to stay.

“ Excuse me,” Jessica spotted a hand pop up from the crowd.

“Yes?” Jessica replied, totally surprised by an actual response from them.

She saw movement within the crowd, people giving way to reveal a tall well dressed man.

“Harold, Harold Barnes.I’m your neighbour and I have a question or two about your um….stopover here,” he said while flashing a snooty smile.

“ Don’t you think it's dangerous for you to be here? You wrecked an entire street when you passed through on your way to Jack’s house. It will take weeks to repair the damage,” he shot each word at Jessica, hitting hard.

“ And you haven’t taken responsibility for it. Don’t say it's an accident, you planned to walk there.”

“ I didn’t expect the roads to be so weak. I don’t get out much but I will refrain from using them in the future. Not until it's meant to take my weight,” Jessica answered. He said was her neighbour , it was unlikely to be the last time she heard from him.

 “ Anything else?” Jessica added , suspect he did have more grouses to air.

“ Yes there is. You better not stink, this is  a clean community where hygiene is close to godliness. Since you’re about fifty feet tall,the smell will get around.”

Pfft, fifty feet, Jessica thought to herself. She was big enough to put Nancy Archer on her lap and spank her like an errant child if she wished. Harold clearly needed glasses if he couldn’t even make a reasonable estimate of her height.

 “ I understand, no one likes a smelly girl. I’ll be using the lake for my showers. It's big enough but I know it's public property and I would like your permission. If any of you have any objections, please raise them now or I will assume your silence is consent.”

Jessica waited for anyone to speak up, letting a good number of minutes pass in total silence. She looked back at Jack who gave her an encouraging thumbs up.

“ Okay,” she spoke again to the crowd.

“I take it you consent to me using the lake for my baths. Any more questions?”

There were a few more questions raised, some were expected(‘ I know my outfit is skimpy, I don’t enjoy flashing my goodies to the world) while a few were an unwelcome surprise(‘ Yes I’m single. No I’m not looking for a relationship right now.’) Then, Jessica saw a reporter step forward. She looked like a bundle of nerves, the petite Asian woman shaking as she approached her.

“ Miss Chen, this is Angela Chan from The Washington Post,” she introduced herself.

“ I would like to ask: Have you been in contact with the US government lately?”

Jessica shook her head,  neither Zoltan or anyone purportedly claiming to represent him had contacted her.

“No, no government rep has approached me since I got out,” she said confidently. However, a part of her could not help but wonder what was Zoltan’s plan for her?  

***********

“Hey Jessica,” Jack’s voice rang out, snapping Jessica out of her flashback.

She sat up, looking past her bountiful bosom and truck sized feet to see Jack standing just inside the tent.

“Caitlin pissed at you again?”  She asked, hoping there wasn’t a big fight. Judging from the sunlight filtering through the gap in the tent flap, it was unlikely the two could have had a nuclear level fallout in such a short time without her eyes even picking up on it.

“ No, I just thought we could head over to Harold’s and apologise to him. Probably best to get it over and done with.”

Jessica sighed, he did have a point. Better to just rip the bandaid off than to slowly pull it off.

“ Okay but stand aside.I don’t want to crush you by accident, Caitlin will never let me live it down if you get squished under my boob,” Jessica said; it got a chuckle from Jack who duly obeyed.

“ Of course, getting crushed by your wrecking balls would really ruin my day.”

Once she was clear of the tent, Jack climbed on to Jessica’s hand before being carried over to Harold’s place. Although he claimed to be Jack’s neighbour, their properties weren’t adjacent to each other as one would expect. Instead, Jessica had to walk about half a mile to find his house, a single storey modern villa painted white.

At her height, Jessica could spot a pool in the backyard, likely to be about a hundred and twenty feet in length, very ostentatious from the palms trees lining a white stone path that led to the gate, running parallel to a gravel road which presumably led to the garage. The entire compound was sprawling, enough to require

“ Did you call Harold? I don’t want to miss lunch, my stomach’s starting to growl.”

“ Don’t worry I did; and you won’t miss lunch either. Five food trucks aren’t going anywhere until you gorge yourself silly on tonnes of food. Literal tons mind you, you are the only person on Earth I’d believe if you said you could eat a whole whale.”

Jessica chuckled, she had never tried that, given her disdain for eating endangered animals but yes, she thought she could eat an orca, maybe a dolphin. A sperm whale would probably cover for more than one meal.

“Yes, yes I could,” Jessica admitted as she placed Jack on the floor. Both were standing outside the gates,  Jessica remembering to keep off the road although damage had been done on the side, her footprints creating potholes.

 “ Should we press a button or something?” Jessica asked, looking down at the gate. Harold’s property had a brick wall encircling it with spikes resembling arrowheads on top.

“ If he hasn’t seen the giant lady outside then he’s blind.”

 Harold did actually see her, as evidenced by the car pulling up at the gate.

“ Don’t take too long, every second you’re here makes my house depreciate.” Harold moved to them but he did not go beyond the gate, enjoying the belief of the security it provided to him.

“ You know that gate isn’t going to protect you from me right?” Jessica raised her leg but Harold shouted loudly, insisting she keep it off his land.

“ I see you’re still not wearing any underwear,” Harold’s remark turning Jessica’s face beet red.

“ I can’t believe I am apologising to you,” Jessica exclaimed. She had half a mind to turn around and go back to her tent but Jack had worked hard to arrange a man with this pompous windbag.

“ Yet here you are,” Harold rubbed it in, arms spread out.

“ I’m waiting.”

“ Okay,” Jessica fired back. If only he weren’t so keen on rubbing salt into the wound.

 “I...I am sorry Harold.”

“Sorry for?”

Her fists clenched at those words, Harold really intended to milk this for what it's worth.

“ Sorry for knocking you off your boat after you sprayed pepper spray on my face.”

“I’ll take it, consider this practice for your future mistakes.” Harold waved back at them, grinning broadly as he climbed back into the car.

“Let's go,” Jessica grunted as she grasped Jack, putting him safely in the centre of her palm. For additional security she held it against abdomen, under her bust.

“ You did well. Thanks for going along with this.”

“You’re welcome, let's not make this a regular thing okay?”

 

The next few days passed by without any major incidents, apart from a few rehashed complaints concerning Jessica’s dressing. Jack didn’t appear to be fazed by them and neither did Caitlin although Jessica did chalk it up to them adjusting to the new climate.

   It did bring her some comfort not to have to eavesdrop on another couple fight while lying in her tent. That was a relief since all the fights always involved her , she could hear her name come up frequently and always coupled with a few disparaging terms each time.

 Jessica thought it was best to keep away from Caitlin and mind her business, something Jack didn’t resist. Which was way she was shocked when Jack asked her to go and have a chat with Caitlin in town. Jessica had refused(“No Jack, I do not have a death wish”) and urged Jack to reconsider but Jack had insisted she go see Caitlin, who already agreed to it.

 Which is how Jessica found herself in the town square, it's tiles cracked and crumbling, having a chat with Caitlin who sat outside a cafe with a latte for company. She wore a stunning blue dress, Jessica guessing it was an expensive gift from Jack. In contrast, Jessica stuck to the same canvas she had worn two days ago, alternating between different sets to avoid raising a stink.

 “ I-I’m surprised you wanted to hang out with me,” Jessica smiled warmly at Caitlin.

  Caitlin sighed, looking apprehensively at the giantess. Even sitting she still towered over most of the buildings. Jessica was literally head and shoulders over most of the roofs.

“I didn’t, Jack thought if I got to know you better, I’d be more accepting of you. What do you think?” Caitlin was practically sneering at Jessica, the latter could feel the awkwardness.

“ I think it's a good idea. We got off on the wrong foot. I wasn’t trying to eat you in Miami, I was aiming for the vegetables.” Jessica hoped a change in topic would break the ice with her.

 “ Lets not talk about that. I don’t need you reminding me about that. Bad enough you nearly ate me as it is…” Caitlin sipped from her cup, her mood growing more morose with each moment.

 “ Sorry. I just wanted to clear it up with you.You didn’t really let me…” Jessica looked about, she was getting stares from the others in the cafe. One young couple even snapped pictures of her, Jessica smiled at them. They immediately looked away, spooked by her action.

“ Anyway your drink smells good. This whole cafe does.” She took a breath, her nose detecting the rich aroma of the various caffeinated beverages.

“ You can smell my latte?” Caitlin didn’t believe it, Jessica’s manhole sized nostrils should have excelled at taking in all the smells but was it good enough to discern each aroma and odour?

“I can, my sense of smell is much more sensitive compared to a normal person. All my senses are. If it weren’t, you’d have to shout to talk to me.”

“ I feel like doing that most of the time,” Caitlin chuckled to herself.

“ I know it's difficult for you to live with me, I’m not going to pretend it's easy. I’m still getting used to living out here. On that island , things were much simpler.”

“ I agree, you could whatever you wanted right?”

“Not everything,” Jessica admitted.

“I got enough to survive. A roof over my head, fortnightly visits from my father and other people from Leighton , clothes and food.” Jessica felt a tinge of regret, she hadn’t seen her dear father for some time now. Wallace had informed her of his decision to lay low for now, he feared reprisals from Zoltan. Jessica didn’t fight that, she was aware of the fallout from Lauren’s plans.

 “ What clothes did they give you?” Caitlin didn’t like her but Jessica had piqued her curiosity about her previous life as a military experiment.

 “ Oh,” Jessica giggled.

“Nothing fancy, mostly shirts and shorts. I think there were a few tank tops in there but I never wore them when the soldiers came over, got too much attention. I got underwear too, great because my um...my chest needs support.” Jessica pointed at the generous swells bestowed upon her by the family genepool.

“ Yeah…” Caitlin didn’t want  to look at Jessica’s bust, guessing Jessica was at least a large C cup if she were normal sized but at over two hundred feet, those fun bags weighed tonnes. Her cleavage line could fit a bus if Jessica were into that sort of thing. It was just obscene and Jessica had the gall to dress so provocatively around Jack.

“ You need to be more aware of what’s going on around you. If you say your five senses are so attuned then you have zero excuses.”

“ Oh? What I did miss?”

“ Let's start with Jack’s parents wanting to throw you out. He had a big fight when they found out he wanted to keep you,” Caitlin hardly skipped a beat as she announced this. In fact, she rather enjoyed seeing the guilt etched on Jessica’s forlorn face.

“ I-I didn’t know. How bad is it?” Jessica felt her mouth run dry at the bad news, how much was Jack not telling her?

Caitlin smirked but quickly switched to a less gloating expression.

“ Bad enough when he told them. A lot of shouting and he only got them to agree because you saved him once. They aren’t thrilled to have you staying with him, even less thrilled they are paying for your mistakes. You need to contribute or you’ll be less useful than Kim Kardashian,” Caitlin bluntly stated the facts. Jessica looked hurt but she didn’t care, Caitlin thought she brought it all on herself.

“ He never mentioned it…” Jessica struggled for words, was he really doing so much to keep her here? It would be easier if she just left.

“ Telling you wouldn’t have helped. Not to mention all the angry emails and complaints he’s getting. Did you really need to upset Harold like that?”

“They got what deserved, Caitlin. I don’t bully people because I’m bored. Harold’s a jerk who intruded on my bath. I wouldn’t have done any of those things if he didn’t do that. Also, he pepper sprayed me.”

“You have to be above that,” Caitlin chided her.

“The Erikson name will be dragged through the mud. You may not understand it but in these upper class communities, your name means a lot.”

“ I know that, I’m half-Chinese. Reputation means a lot to us too. You’re like Jack huh? Rich?” Jessica attempted another move to shift the conversation elsewhere. She was disheartened to learn of even more struggles he was going through. Paying for her expenses but fighting with his parents just to keep her there. It was both touching and heartbreaking at the same time. Jessica didn’t tell Caitlin about that, she would probably just think she was trying to steal Jack from her.

“ Upper middle class. We were well off enough to not worry about putting food on the table, own two cars, didn’t need to stretch the family finances too much for college. I studied to be a vet and right now, I’m an intern at a small clinic. It pays decently but I do it for the experience.”

“ Any siblings?” Jessica asked further, Caitlin didn’t look irritated by it so she reasoned it was a good path to go down.

“I have a sister, still in college. You?” Caitlin returned it more amicably than she had been for most of her interactions with Jessica.

“ Only child,” Jessica licked her lips without much thought.

“My parents wanted a kid for years but my mom who is a lawyer and you know my dad the scientist, they didn’t exactly get much time. Dad also said they had bad luck when it came to getting that bun in the oven. When they had me, they were so happy…” Jessica sniffled loudly, surprising Caitlin with her emotional display.

“ Congratulations to them. They probably weren’t the most fertile people, it happens. I learned a bit of that in college. It's good to see they managed to have a kid. So I’m guessing they had high expectations? Asian scientist father has to expect all As for you right?”

Jessica chuckled, her laughter heard by all in the town square; as expected when a giant laughs in an open area.

“ I never finished high school, they took me away when I was thirteen. I spent a lot of time in hospitals because of my leukaemia and while my grades weren’t the best, I think my mom and dad were just happy to see me in school instead of a hospital.”

“ And how are they now?”

“My father’s been taking care of me since then, he’s spent his whole life looking out for me. As for my mom...I wish I could say the same,” Jessica felt uneasy as she remembered a particularly dark moment from her past.

“Oh? What happened to her?” Caitlin sat up from her seat, hooked on what appeared to be some startling revelation from Jessica.

“ I’d rather not say, she’s not with me anymore…” Jessica rubbed her forearm, this was bringing up a lot of unpleasant memories she had buried underneath layers of sweeter ones.

“ It's um...it is sad to lose a parent at so young an age? She died when you were still little?” Caitlin treaded carefully, getting too personal was often an unwise move.

“ Yeah...you could say that. Anyway, enough about my family. It's just been me and my dad for the last half of my life,” Jessica flashed a mildly unconvincing smile.

“ Okay noted. Have you um...thought about what you’d like to do now that you’re out? Jack’s spending six figures just feeding you. You’re whale sized but I think you eat enough for an entire city,”

“Oh...I,” Jessica had not given it too much thought. What jobs would she able to do? Office work was out at this point , as was any indoor job. She glanced down at her bicep, flexing it just a bit. It popped just enough to imply she worked out frequently and sufficiently.

“ I would probably need to do something with my muscles. Maybe I could work for Jack’s company, move containers for him and help him increase profits or something like that. I don’t who would be interested in hiring a giant woman right now. It’s not like there’s a job only I can do,” Jessica was ticked by how limited her options were right now. In this climate of fear, most employers would shun her , regardless if she even qualified for the job.

 “ And if there was, they’d have to pay me millions just to even make it worthwhile. I can’t even afford to feed myself on minimum wage. It would be crumbs compared to me.”

 “ Which means you’ll still be indebted to Jack…” Caitlin concluded. She was right and Jessica knew she was right. If not for him, she’d be homeless and foraging for scraps. Worse, she would have to go right back to the government.

 A pop tone rang out, it's bubble gum pop tone clear to Jessica. It seemed to come from Caitlin and true enough, Caitlin took out her phone and slid her finger up to answer.

“Jack? I thought you were busy with work,” Caitlin was flummoxed by the call and Jessica could tell.

“ That’s not exactly work but what’s this about getting Jessica over right now?”

Jessica listened in, her ears could make out Jack’s voice but the static and lower volume meant she only heard fragments of Jack’s sentences. From what she pieced together, it sounded really urgent and he insisted both of them be there in person for this. He was speaking faster than usual , his excitement barely contained.

“ I don’t believe you ACTUALLY got her over. Next you’ll tell me Johnny Depp is going to be hosting your next birthday party!” Caitlin chuckled at her joke but further eavesdropping revealed Jack appeared to be serious. She couldn’t make up the name, it just sounded like a normal German woman’s name.

 This back and forth between the two of them continued , ebbing away at Caitlin’s patience until she appeared to snap at Jack.

“ Okay fine! I’ll get her over, if that’ll make you happy…” she grumbled before hanging up.

She looked back up at her giant house guest, skeptical but not entirely upset over the whole issue.

“Jack wants you back at house. Both of us, because it seems there’s someone there he wants you to meet,”

“O...kay?” Jessica was equally confused by all this. Who was the german woman he wanted to introduce her to?

“ I’ll get a cab and you-” Caitlin was cut off by Jessica wrapping her solid trunk sized fingers around her, like a python gripping it's prey.

“ No don’t carry me!” She protested loudly, drawing the attention of the others around them.

“It will be faster this way, I can outrun any cab without breaking a sweat,” Jessica insisted. She raised her hands upwards before opening her palm, giving Caitlin a platform to stand on.

“ Now lets go, if it's that important we shouldn’t be late,” Jessica insisted.

She ignored the cursing from Caitlin as she stood up and walked back to the house, most of the male members of the cafegoers and shoppers stopping to stare at her hips as they swayed with each step, her truck sized buttcheeks pushing against the canvas skirt she wore, jiggling with each step.

 

 

“ I’m surprised you decided to show up. No call or anything but it's one of the nicer surprises I’ve had in my life,” Jack smiled contentedly. Seated across from him was the reason of his current source of joy. A tall, round faced slim blonde woman in her mid forties with green eyes, the wrinkles and laugh lines on her face failing to mask the fact she was and still considered a great beauty.

“ No Jack, the pleasure is all mine,” she grinned as she sipped hot tea from a white porcelain cup. Her german accent was still detectable, betraying her non-American roots.

“ Never would I have thought of ever having the amazing Eva Schneider in my house! You  were my first crush,the first celebrity I thought of marrying. Honest, you can ask my folks, I had one of your posters on my wall, ” Jack chuckled.

“ Oh stop it, those days are behind me. Now I run my own clothing brand, I’m a business woman. I haven’t modelled since I turned thirty five.”

Eva was still proud of her time as a model, commanding a seven figure salary from her numerous endorsements and modelling gigs. It was said the only people who hadn’t heard of her were either dead or members of a tribe untouched by modern civilization.

“ Which is why you’re here...for business. About the business offer I made you,” Jack’s smile grew even larger and more confident.

 Eva chuckled and put down the cup, Jack was really straight to the point.

“ Yes, you sent an email which I found to be really interesting. Did you think it through?” Eva asked him, more curious than the proverbial cat.

“ When it comes to Jessica, I think she could have potential. She has the height for it…”

 Eva chuckled, “ She does. Perhaps too much but having her enter the modelling industry when she has zero experience and training, that is risky.”

 A sudden wave of uncertainty washed over Jack, caught by Eva who chuckled.

“But if I weren’t even willing to take a risk, why would I be here sharing this cup of English tea with you? Certainly not to make small talk, I took a late night flight just to be here. I won’t lie when I say there are others out there thinking the same thing as you.”

Jack heaved a relieved sigh, “ I can see why. Jessica has um...the right talents for the job. She has the right appeal which should lend itself well to the product you’re selling.”

He noticed a nervousness as he described Jessica, he wanted to say look but found it hard to actually put it into real words. Why though, he asked himself. He thought she looked good, based on their first meeting and even now when she bathed in lake water and wore makeshift clothes, there was a One Million BC appeal to her.

“ Speaking of Jessica, where is she?” Eva calmly asked, rather keen on seeing the giantess in person. It was one of her reasons in showing up in person, rather than send a messenger to handle affairs. She kept that to herself, there was no reason to let them know that little factoid.

“ On her way, you didn’t spot her on the way in?”

Eva shook her head, clearly having missed the obvious giantess in the room.

“ I slept in the cab, a late flight is not the most conducive to staying awake,” Eva yawned, cupping her mouth.

 Slight tremor rumbled through the house, growing steadily stronger.

“That should be her now,” Jack tittered.

“We’ll need to be outside for the rest, this place is a little cramped for her,” Jack directed Eva to the yard. Eva followed him outside to the back where a little round two seater table awaited them.

“So when-” Eva gasped as Jessica came into view, the former’s mouth hanging wide open at the sheer scale of the mountainous woman in front of her. She also spied a woman in Jessica’s hand, roughly thumb sized to the giantess.

“Mein Gott…” Eva was speechless. She had seen the news coverage of her in Miami but to see her in person, the news reports didn’t do her justice when it came to scale

“ It’s like Jurassic Park isn’t it? Seeing the dinosaurs for the very first time?” Jack whispered to her.

“I heard that!” Jessica chimed in before cracking a amused smile at Jack.

“I’m not even sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.”

“ Hello Jack,” Jessica turned to Eva, whom she did not recognise.

“And you...I guess you must be the person I’m supposed to meet?”

“ Y-yes, I’m Elsa-I mean Eva Schneider and I’m the CEO of Luxom; a medium but growing company that specialises in women’s apparel,” Eva replied.

Jessica whistled, mightily impressed by this.

“Wow, I’m not even dressed to meet a CEO,” she chuckled.

Eva laughed too, “  I think given your circumstances, your dressing is adequate. My  company got an email about hiring you as a model.”

“Me, a model?” Jessica threw her head back in laughter, spooking Caitlin who was still perched in her hand.

“ I don’t think I could ever do that!”

“ You could at least put me down first,” Caitlin piped up.

“Oh right, sorry…” Jessica blushed as she set the irate woman down next to Jack.

“ Why not?” Caitlin asked her, miffed at Jessica ignoring her advice.

“ Well I was never a girly girl, I never wore makeup or even one high heel in my life. I liked to play sports, be outdoors. I never even applied to be one!”

“That’ll be me,” Jack raised his hand, one finger pointed towards the heavens.

“I sent Eva an email but it's really Caitlin, she gave me the idea.”

“When?!” Caitlin asked, incredulous at being credited for this scheme. When did she suggest Jessica go model?

“ You weren’t being serious about it but it's a brilliant idea. Does being sporty hurt her chances?” Jack asked Eva.

Eva chuckled, “Half the girls we scout are like that.”

“But I’m not even thin enough, like those girls in Milan,”Jessica pointed at her bare stomach. While not morbidly obese, Jessica was definitely shapely.

Eva shook her head, amused by the giantess’ view on modelling.

“ No no,” she laughed mirthfully.

“You are certainly not going to be that type of model. My company doesn’t do that but we sell to the average Jane. With your figure you would fill out swimsuits, lingerie, shirts, shorts, skirts and normal clothes well. Look at the girls in Sports Illustrated, so many have that curvy healthy look. Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen...the list is endless! ”

“I-I would?” Jessica frowned, unsure of what to think of those words.

“ Now I hate to be the wet blanket here but aren’t you really here because Jessica is a giant news magnet and having your brand on her is going to get you lots of free publicity?” Caitlin butted in,scowling at Jack who had been mute in this conversation.

“ Ah…” Eva replied, tapping her nose and winking at Caitlin.

“Very clever. I’ll be honest, that’s one reason but you have the look we need.” Eva chuckled before assuming a more business tone.

“You have potential to influence society, more than you think  and I don’t mean with your beauty.”

“And signing with your company will help me do that?” Jessica asked. What exactly was Eva hinting at?

“ It won’t get you all the way but it's a stepping stone.”

She got up, nodding at Jack.

“ If you need time to think, just say so. I won’t take my offer off the table until you give me an answer.”

Eva extended her hand out to Jack,who grasped it firmly and they shook. She knew Jessica wouldn’t make up her mind today, there were too many niggling doubts on her brain.

“ My driver will take you back to your hotel. Will you be staying long?”

Eva looked up at Jessica, flashing her an assuring smile.

“As long as I need. One of the perks being a CEO is you can always delegate.”

Jack chuckled, “My father always mentioned that.”

“ He’s right of course. It's good to be the king,”Eva replied. She followed Jack to the car, leaving Caitlin with Jessica again when the former would rather have dined with Donald Trump instead of Jessica.

Caitlin stewed in silence, occasionally meeting Jessica’s gaze to shoot daggers at her. Jessica, to her credit actually did manage to sense the palpable level of tension and remained as quiet as she could. She could sense a verbal shellacking coming from the little woman.

Which it did, once Jack returned from seeing off Eva.

“When are you going to stop being a leech? When you eat Jack into bankruptcy? When someone puts a gun next to you big empty head? ‘Work or you’ll die’?” Caitlin wailed and pumped her fists in the air, bristling with rage and irritation.

“ I...I need time to think-to just consider the offer. I cannot just accept a job without knowing what all of it is. I might end up making porn or something if I don’t consider my options!”

“Right,” Caitlin snorted.

“But at least you’ll be contributing with porn. Right now you’re just a breathing liability, one lawsuit away . Which wouldn’t hurt if you  were the one paying for it but no, it seems you either have no money or you prefer to see Jack bleed for you. Let me share with you the bitter truth of your circumstances: you don’t get to be picky over what job you do. Pick the ones you can get and do it before we’re all in the same shithole you’re in.”

She turned to Jack, not exactly very pleased with his conduct either. Jack gulped, swallowing the anxiety building up within. Caitlin losing her cool was like getting first row seats to watch Krakatoa.

“Cait,” Jack started but Caitlin stopped him.

“And you are enabling her, Jack Erikson! You clean up for her, you coddle her at every chance you get! You’re making it worse! Just so you know, it's not your money. Your parents still foot the bill so technically they are paying for Jessica. So what if she saved your life? She’s not worth that much?”

She shoved Jack aside, he stumbled bit, almost falling save for Jessica catching his fall with a finger supporting his back.Caitlin stomped off, neither man nor giantess daring to say a word to her.

“ Sorry about that,” Jessica finally said.

“It’s fine but Caitlin has a point. Could we talk somewhere private?” Jack asked.

Jessica nodded, picking him up gently. She walked away from the estate, from Palm Creek. Open fields and houses diminished in numbers as she walked, the land being filled with thick forest and natural vegetation. Finally, Jessica stopped at a lake, Palmer’s Lake to be exact. Jessica sat in front of the lake, Jack sitting on her knee.

“ This is like talking in the bathroom for you,” Jack said wryly.

Jessica chuckled, she hadn’t thought of it that way.

“So it is,” she laughed again. It was a relief Jack wasn’t angry with her. Odd, given how quick to anger he was on the island but here, you could probably insult his mother’s chastity and get away with it.

“ What’s bugging you about modelling?” Jack asked, cutting straight to the point.

“ I don’t know if I can even do it well. Am I that qualified for it?”

“Are you asking if you’re pretty enough?”

Jessica thought about it, what exactly did one need to be a model? Looks were part of the criteria but what else? Bitchiness? She remembered a lot of the pretty girls in grade school were practically divas.

“ Maybe,” she looked away from Jack. She looked at her own body, on the scale of a Greek Titan.

Jack chuckled, amused by all this. Slowly it grew into loud, slapstick laughter.

“You can’t be serious! Jessica, you cannot be actually asking me to tell you you are pretty!”

Jessica’s cheeks grew a deep shade of red, did he mean it?

“You are not fishing for compliments are you?” Jack asked, this was not the high self esteem giant he knew.

 “I am not,” Jessica replied firmly, wondering how they got to this.

“I-well, Jack it's not like I can tell. I don’t want to think I look like Helen of Troy but then it turns out I look like a hag,” she explained but Jack was not buying it.

“ So no one ever told you and you think you are some hideous beast?” Jack put his hands on his hips, facing the monumental task in front of him.

Jessica shook her head, “No, no one ever did say ‘Oh my god Jessica, you look fabulous today!’ It’s usually just the usual hellos and goodbyes, maybe a few question if I feel well or any changes to my body.”

“ Okay, I guess those eggheads at Leighton wouldn’t know a beautiful woman even if she danced naked in front of them. Two reasons why you are beautiful enough, ” Jack assured her.

He raised his index finger up , “The CEO of a major clothing brand just came down to personally talk you into signing a modelling contract. You don’t get that very often. Eva wants you and she is willing to wait. You heard her; and don’t tell me it's because you are a giant. You wouldn’t get the job if you looked like King Kong.”

Jessica’s blush only grew in intensity, her smile grew too as she flashed her pearly white teeth.

“ Now, take a look at your reflection,” Jack instructed her.

“What for?”

“Just look, it’ll be clear soon,”Jack explained.

Jessica looked into the clear waters of the water, her own reflection as clear as if she were staring into a mirror. She saw herself, full of uncertainty and fear. She was afraid, afraid of this fragile world with no space for someone like her. Was that it? She was afraid to reach out , scared everything she touched would crumble to dust?

“ Your cheek bones, they’re so sculpted like the models you see in ads. You have that exotic look, the best of both worlds with your tanned complexion.

 You have legs that go on for miles, or as close as you can get. You have curves, you’re no beanpole ! There’s meat in all the right places! Those arms, toned and fit from all those exercises you’ve been doing!”

Jessica’s smile grew wider as he praised every inch of her but he didn’t stop there, where he should have but didn’t realise until it was too late.

“That abdomen of yours,taut! Your chest is huge! If you were Caitlin’s size, it would still be enormous! You have boobs, Jessica! Big, round, enticing-”

Jack stopped, aware of what he had said, where he had gone and now it was his turn to blush and feel the awkwardness in the air. Here he was, an attached man telling a girl how great her mammaries were.

“Are you going to finish?”Jessica whispered, she would be swooning if she were crushing on Jack.

Jack stared at her, noticing something about her. She had all that he mentioned and there wasn’t much exaggeration. Jessica was quite the specimen, everything about her in the right proportion. Her bosom was indeed huge and he looked down, spotting her manhole sized cleavage and noting how right he was. What hadn’t noticed until now, was how damn attractive she really was. It was like had placed a mental block on himself and with those words, lifted the damn thing.

“ I-I think I made my point. I will  not discuss how good your arse is,” Jack said.

“ Yes...let's not do that…let's agree it's a really good butt” Jessica agreed, reminding herself this was a man with a girlfriend. He was off limits and she should respect that.

“So you’ll do it?” Jack asked her.

“Let me think about it, about the terms and things like that. Apparently I’m the modern day Aphrodite, going by your appraisal. Maybe now I’m too good for it, the camera might not capture my beauty right.”

“Woah woah!” Jack mock protested her claim.

“ Your head is big enough as it is, let's not make it any bigger!”

 

Leighton’s offices were usually more organised, silent save for the sound of papers rustling, keys on a keyboard being pressed repeatedly and rapidly with the occasional clicking of shoes and heels across the floor. Now, Zoltan noted a large increase in the office’s entropy. The silence was still there but under an air of tension, desks were empty and messy.

He had to walk five floors up after the lift was too packed to accommodate the colonel; a mistake on his part after he got off at the wrong floor for the meeting. Nevertheless, he wasn’t late owing to his need for punctuality; you were either early or late, coming on time was a sign you weren’t managing your time well and thus, you were late.

 Zoltan arrived twenty minutes early to an empty meeting room, it's black swivel chairs feeling more uncomfortable than when he sat in them ten  years ago. He chose Lauren’s, she definitely didn’t need to use hers at the moment. In fact, she wouldn’t ever be using one for the rest of her life.

 Still, it was good for his feet which demanded some sort of respite from standing, following climbing up five floors in a suit; he wasn’t young anymore and it was starting to show.

When the rest of the board members did arrive, most of them seemed intimidated by the sight of him in the chair. No doubt the rumours of government intervention had put them on edge; some of them remembered when heads rolled the last time Zoltan had to pay them a visit.

 “ Is everyone here?” Zoltan asked, ticked by their tardiness. He didn’t want to spend too much time here, he had other pressing issues that needed settling.

“ I believe so,” a tall African-American man spoke up. He was dressed in a tailored suit, likely from some high end establishment and from the sheen of the suit, Zoltan guessed it to be cashmere; too expensive for his tastes.

“ Bradford is it?” Zoltan inquired, he remembered him being slimmer; his cheeks were puffier and a paunch had grown on his stomach , where his shirt buttons engaged in a strenuous battle against the ghastly gut. .

“ Oh you still remember me, General?” Bradford remarked, a grating smirk on his lips.

“ I do, I definitely remember people who get on my nerves and I see that hasn’t changed about you.

“Now,” he barked, turning his eyes to the rest of the gathered.

“ You all know why I’m here,” Zoltan flashed a smile which added to the unease felt by all the board members.

“ Your boss, Lauren authorized an attack on Jessica and because of that, it led to Miami. I’m sure all of you must have been surprised to see your project out there, running wild and causing panic,”Zoltan said, his displeasure growing steadily more evident in his voice.

“ The public reaction to her has been...mixed, to say the least.”

Zoltan stood up and paced around the room while he continued to speak.

“ Either way, the people in power have decided to let her be for the moment. You lot on the other hand,” Zoltan jabbed his thumb at the group.

“I can’t leave you alone,” he slammed his hands hard against the oak table, causing any knick knacks on it to jump a little into the air. So did everyone in the room, scared by the sudden movement.

“ Since Lauren’s committed treason, the government is launching a full investigation into Leighton. A top down investigation so expect a call from us in the coming days. I’d keep my schedule open and avoid any sudden trips out of the country. You wouldn’t want to give the wrong impression would you?”

There were whispers as the group reacted to his words, some with concern and fear, Bradford wasn’t one of them.

“I see what you’re doing, General. You want Lauren’s job, don’t you?” He accused him, convinced in his hypothesis.

An asymmetrical  smirk creeped across Zoltan’s face, the general very much amused by the accusation.

“ I don’t, I get better benefits with the USAF than I do as a company man. Plus, why do I want to be the captain of a sinking ship? Your stock is plummeting faster than a lead balloon, and that’s what you think?”

He chuckled mirthfully, genuinely tickled by the thought.

“ I’d rather play Russian roulette with a fully loaded revolver than do that.”

“Now I also need all the files you have on Jessica, hopefully you do actually have those files and didn’t put them in the shredder. Also, I’ll need someone to get in contact with Dr. Chen, the big girl’s father. He hasn’t been seen since the Miami Incident and it's very important I speak with him.”

“We already tried that,” a petite chubby woman in her forties at the far end of the room spoke up.

“ You did?” Zoltan replied.

She nodded her head, “ He hasn’t shown up for work for about two weeks now. Even Dr. Ravi can’t find him and they’re best friends.”

“ Really?” Zoltan approached her, even his best friend? He didn’t know Wallace very well, he was distant but exuded a paternal aura. Zoltan was thankful, at times he seemed to be the only person Jessica would listen to.

 “ Get Dr. Ravi up here; the rest of you may leave. Just remember, we’ll be in touch.”

No one in the room felt like staying, as evidenced by the quick shuffling of feet and general uneasiness in the air.

Six minutes passed before a sleep deprived Dr. Ravi emerged, a ubiquitous lab coat on his shoulders. His curly dark hair was a mess and upon seeing Zoltan, he froze on the spot. His pupils dilated, heart flushed with adrenaline.

“ Calm down Ravi, you’re not in trouble. I just want to ask you a few questions before I send you on your way. Have a seat, or stand if you like. Either way suits me,” he spoke gruffly to him. Ravi chose to sit in a chair facing Zoltan ,separated by the table.It felt more assuring if there were some sort of barrier between them.

“ What do you want to know?” His voice carried a telltale trace of an Indian accent, a vestigial link to his South Asian roots; if the earthy brown skin wasn’t a big enough hint of it.

Zoltan leaned in just a bit, the hairs on Ravi’s neck standing tall.

“ A few things. First, where is Wallace?”

“I-I don’t know,” Ravi stuttered.

“ Wallace didn’t call me, he didn’t even tell me anything before he disappeared. I thought he was with your guys. You know, since Jessica got out you’re probably rounding up everyone involved. Am I right?”

Zoltan leaned back, snorting amusingly at the question.

“I can tell you that’s not happening. However, I do want you and all the other Project Hercules eggheads to get me all the files you have on Jessica.”

Ravi breathed a sigh of relief, the knot in his stomach feeling a lot less Gordian.

“Everything?”

Zoltan nodded, “Everything. Even if it's just a folder with a diner napkin with some math equation on it, I want it. You have twenty four hours to give them to me, be it hard or soft copy.”

“Is that all?”

“I do have a question, a hypothetical one. Has Jessica ever been trained? Anything really, obedience, cognitive tasks, anything of that sort.”

The knot in Ravi’s stomach unravelled a little, less than when he found out Zoltan was not having hauled off to some secret government facility but enough for him to notice.

“ That’s not my area, training of any kind was left to the military. I recall being told that, by you of course. Why are you asking?”

“Classified, it's classified,” Zoltan answered.

“ If you’re worried you wasted billions of government cash, don’t. Jessica is the biggest achievement since Dolly.”

“She’s certainly stronger than Dolly,” Zoltan replied before getting up.

“ Now, I have to be somewhere else. You have my number and if you do not have the files or at least call me to explain your failure to complete the task, you’ll be paying me a visit.”

***************

 “ Enjoying the life of a free man?”

 Michael wiped his wet, messy hair with a military green towel , glancing at Zoltan who had dropped by unannounced.

“ I am, thanks for asking.”

“Remember, you’re only free because you’re still useful . If you weren’t, you would be in jail with Lauren.”

 Michael’s shoulders jumped at the mention of her name, the few days he spent in a cell next to hers weren’t exactly the best of times.

“ I’d rather go to Guantanamo than be neighbours with her. Did you know she doesn’t shut up? Not even after lights out.”

Michael leaned back into a hardwood chair as Zoltan spoke.

“ I have a job for you, make sure you do it right or you might be moving back in.”

Zoltan took out his wallet and pulled out a dog eared, yellowing business card.He passed it to Michael who read it, puzzled by what he saw.

“Kevin Crowley. Never heard of him or any reporter who has a business card but hey, what do you need him for?”

He crossed his arms, the bottom corner of the card clasped between his second and third fingers.

“ Collecting a debt he owes me. Go to his office and tell him to call me. I need him to dig up some dirt for me.”

“Oh, something to use against the big girl huh?” Michael smirked, the gears in his mind turning and forming theories about Zoltan’s plan.

“ You going to sue her or something? Maybe blackmail her?Might work,” he commented.

“Everything I need to say, is in here,” Zoltan pulled out a folded piece of A4 paper from his wallet and passed it to Michael who immediately opened it.

“ A bit low tech don’t you think? I kinda figured with the whole mad science thing going, you would at least have given me a flash drive. This is-” Michael was cut off by a ticked off Zoltan.

“I’m not going to say too much , everything you need is in it and you’ll do everything in your power to get the message across. Just,” Zoltan raised his finger up.

“ No violence because the nature of this task is-”

“Classified. I get it, but for how long? Jessica used to be classified but then she showed up like Godzilla in Tokyo and now the whole world knows about her!” Michael tittered at his own sense of humour, a feeling not shared by Zoltan who glowered at him.

“ Just get the message to him,” Zoltan shot back.

************

 “ So, how does this go?” Jessica asked, looking pensively at Jack. She had weighed up the pros and cons of the modelling job, spending hours after Eva left lying in her tent and giving it some serious thought.

 Jack sat in her palm, Jessica adopting an Indian style sitting position.

“ We’ll go out there, listen to Eva’s offer and you decide if you want to take it. We can always negotiate.”

 “ I’m a little nervous, I’ve never done this before,” she chuckled nervously. She forced a smile but Jack could see the tension bubbling beneath the surface.

“ What, getting a job? I can imagine, there aren’t many openings in the 200 foot girl category.”

“Yeah. Well, let's go out and hear her offer.”

The pair emerged from her tent, going to Jack’s backyard where Jessica placed him on the floor to join Eva and a jumpy looking bald lawyer; jumpy because Jessica noted he seemed to jump when he saw her. She had to remind herself it was not polite to laugh at his reaction, that would have been rude.

 “ Hello again Eva,” Jessica flashed her friendliest smile at the former model.

 “ And hello to you too, Jessica. I hope you considered my offer, I was not exaggerating when I said you could go far, and that is not just in modelling.”

“I believe you,” Jessica sat just beyond the hedge, or she would have risked cratering the courtyard with her feet.

“ But I just want to work out the details of my er...contract,” Jessica said.

“ Of course, Brian here will help with us that,” Eva referred to the man beside her who immediately took out a soft cover file and handed it to Jack. Jack opened it and perused through the contract , it was only about ten pages, hardly anything when he remembered the mountain of terms and conditions his father used to go through whenever contracts were being drawn up.

 “Well, it looks like it's set at about half a million for her first ever job,” Jack spoke out loud, for the benefit of Jessica.

“ How long is the contract?”

“A year,” Jack replied, it was good for any model but from the look of indifference of Jessica’s face, it seemed she wasn’t too keen.

 “ Five hundred thousand dollars spread over a year, I don’t think that really covers my expenses. I could hardly afford any clothes for myself and I will be wearing real clothes, not this tarp I ‘borrowed’ in Miami.”

Jessica could only imagine the look on the owner’s face when returned and found it missing, only to find out she was wearing it.

“ That’s a lot for a first time model, especially for a client who has zero training in modelling,” Brian answered.

 “ I agree,” Eva added on. “ However, we can always negotiate. I pride myself on being flexible.”

“ I want two million, that should cover expenses.”

Her offer was met with stunned silence, even from Jack who was looking over his shoulder, mouth hanging at the figure she just quoted.

 Eva didn’t seem to know if Jessica was being serious at all.

“I-um...that is a lot. I’m going to be honest here, it is a very big sum to ask for. I….”

She leaned in, whispering to Brian ear while covering her mouth. Brian nodded.

“We could afford that but it's risky for me to accept. How about we meet in the middle? One million, you’ll be in the same league as Adriana, Gisele and Kate. They get seven figure sums even if it's only for a few days.”

 Jessica grinned, even if she did not really know those names.

“I assume they’re at the top of their game.”

“They are and what we’re offering is what they get. I honestly believe it's a good deal. You should take it,” Brian insisted curtly.

“ It is if I were as small as them. I’m not, I eat as much as an entire military base, maybe two if I’m really hungry. I cannot live on that amount. You wouldn’t pay Adrian minimum wage would you?”

“ I see your point there. I wouldn’t pay Adriana peanuts,” Eva chuckled at Jessica’s mistake.

“ You weren’t joking when you said you knew nothing. If we do work this out, remind me to tell who Adriana is. You might even meet her.”

“ Maybe, I could do with more friends,” Jessica smiled down at Jack, noting how he looked extra handsome today; that thought made the butterflies in her stomach flutter.

A thought came into her head, something she had not considered.

“Is it normal for models to keep the clothes they model?”

“Usually no but-oh I see what you mean,” answered Eva, having her own eureka moment.

“ You want them don’t you? The clothes, to keep and wear everyday?”

Jessica nodded, her heart pumping with excitement. It would definitely get her out of the rags she was in now and it wasn’t as if there was another giantess around to sell them to. Yes, she would wear them.

 “ I have to tell you though, for now it's mostly bikinis and lingerie-”

“I want them, it wouldn’t cover a lot but it is a start. Maybe in the future if I do get to wear a nice dress or even a T-shirt and shorts,” Jessica insisted. She leaned in a little, feeling this would be the deal she wanted.

“A million dollars and I get to keep whatever I wear on these shoots.”

“Deal,” Eva immediately answered.

“Oh and um…” Jessica suddenly thought of something.

“Jack gets to come to my photoshoots, if he wants to,” she shot a hopeful look at him. Jack chuckled, it was a nice gesture.

“ Oh? Sure, we’ll formalise it in a few days, need to get something a girl like you can actually sign,” Eva said, much to the amusement of Jessica who chuckled at thought of signing a piece of paper the size of a house.

“ It was a pleasure doing business with you,” Jessica extended her hand into the yard, her index finger hovering a few feet from them. Both Eva and Brian held it lightly and shook, the tree sized appendage swaying from the little movement Jessica imparted.

“We’ll be in touch,”Eva gave Jack a warm hug before leaving. Brian did not do the same but Jack wasn’t offended by it.

“ Well,” Jack smiled up at her, hands on his hips.

“That was pretty good, you have a knack for this kind of thing.”

 “Oh please,” Jessica guffawed.

“It was nothing, I think Eva was playing nice. She really couldn’t pass up a chance to get me in one of her swimsuits.”

“Not that you’ll fit into one of hers,” Jack joked.

“HEY!”

 

 

The signing of the contract was largely hitch free and everyone got to witness the surreal sight of Jessica using her thumbprint to sign on a piece of paper the size of a helipad .. The only sour note predictably came when Caitlin found out Jack at the shoot.

“ I am not letting you be surrounded by women with air for brains , strutting about in flimsy bikinis with all of their assets flopping about!” She had made that point clear, Jack had argued it was all in support of Jessica. That point didn’t sit well with Caitlin who insisted that Jessica was a big girl( not just in the literal sense) and could very well manage on her own.

In the end, fearing a lengthy argument and over the top backlash,  Jack agreed to a compromise: she could come along. Despite hoping she’d say no, Caitlin said yes, knowing he’d go anyway and if she were at least there, then she could keep an eye on him.

The actual shoot was about a week after, Jessica as excited as a grade school girl going on her first field trip and even offering to carry both Jack and Caitlin to the place, a beach about thirty miles from the house.

Caitlin refused, insisting on driving with Jack tow because there was nothing that required Jack to actually to be near her all the time. Despite Jessica insisting she’d get there sooner, Caitlin refused to entertain any further requests from her.

 When they did get there, they found the beach was cordoned off by Luxom with at least thirty personnel dedicated to making sure all those not involved in the shoot today didn’t get involved; and there was a crowd gathered to watch the show.

 A large white cloth screen, blocking off the front and sides had been erected to provide Jessica with a changing room.  It was a patchwork of fabrics connected to bamboo poles which had been tied together in the manner of scaffolding. Caitlin found another reason to grouse as Jessica’s curvy silhouette was visible thanks to the rising Sun. She spent a good minute or so pointing out how stupid they were not to plan that.

“ Like that actually keeps everyone from seeing her goodies,” Caitlin complained as she exited the car. She had driven as Jack still had a few more days to go before the cast could be removed.

“ It's the best they can do , not like they are going to build a giant changing room for her.”

“Maybe she could have changed before she left?” Caitlin led Jack, who had nearly tripped on a small rock his eyes were fixated on Jessica’s silhouette, noting she did have a very enticing side profile.  

Her toned legs, a rack that didn’t seem to sag even without support and Jack knew she didn’t because her movement told him she was putting her bikini top on and the curvature of her butt, conditioned by years of healthy eating and exercise was enough to make even the most devout of monks  turn their head.

 Fortunately, Caitlin had not caught him ogling her or there would have been another verbal assault coming. Eva was on site, a fact that surprised the pair.

“ I thought you would be in an office,” Jack commented.

Eva chuckled, “ My office isn’t just four walls and a table. In this line of work, an office can be a runway or even a beach.  Right now, I need to be here to see my biggest client in action. She’s expensive but…” She shot Jack a knowing look, Jack smiled back.  

“ I think she’ll be worth it in the long run. Did you know my company’s shares went up five percent the moment I announced the deal?” Eva clicked her fingers.

 “Just like that,” she said proudly.

“She certainly knows how to negotiate, I wonder she gets that from?”

Jack chuckled, Caitlin looking bewildered as the pair referenced the negotiations she had been absent from.

“ Not me, I didn’t teach her that.”

****************

Jessica peeked over the the screen bending her back to avoid revealing too much, looking at the scene before her. She could spot tonnes of security, as well as a small crowd forming beyond the police line like barrier.

She hadn’t expected a crowd to come, she was expecting to show up for a quiet job , take pictures and then head back.

 Her eyes scanned the crowd,people of all ages and sizes. None of course were on the same scale as her but that many eyeballs concentrated on her did make her feel small. Some had their smartphones, recording the scene.

Jessica hoped they wouldn’t record anything ugly or unwanted.

 She took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly and looked, grasping the lime green bikini top in her hand. She liked this one, the material felt smooth yet when she pulled on it, it did not give way. The circular cups would cover her chest well enough, but she guessed Caitlin would find something wrong with that. She chuckled to herself, Caitlin would definitely do that.

  Jessica slipped it on, feeling the cups caress and support her mounds. She looked down, checking for any potential nip slips, there was little chance of that but she did engage in shifting her boobs into a comfortable position. Turning around, she prepared to step out into the show. Before she did though, she stopped and looked down at her body.

Was it good enough, she thought to herself. She ran her hands over the bikini, looking for some place where it rode up or revealed more than it ought to.

Of course she was, a voice in her head scolded her in a maternal tone. She just got Eva to pay her a million dollars plus free clothes thrown in! A noob in modelling had made the CEO of a big company do it, that was impressive all on it's own.

Why would Eva do that if she didn’t believe Jessica would net her some solid returns in the process.

“ Yeah, it's stupid to think otherwise,” Jessica reminded herself before taking one confident step out from the screen.

**************

Jack and Caitlin were led to a waiting area where Eva was sitting, the pair each having been give one plastic to sit on. Nothing fancy but enough to get by.

“ Are you nervous?” Caitlin asked Eva.

Eva nodded, “ Always. You can never be sure if it is going to go well. Maybe it will rain, maybe a bikini strap breaks or a photographer forgot to put in film. I don’t like to count chickens until they’ve left the egg.”

A nip slip would be good, Caitlin thought. It would shove some much needed humility down that stuck up bitch’s throat. Oh, how good it would be to see her fall.

“ You seem happy to hear that,” Eva commented on the thin smile on Caitlin’s lips.

Caitlin’s complexion paled slightly, her tanned visage turning more beige.

“ Oh no, it's funny. I mean, a giant nipple being exposed, I don’t know if anyone would be excited to see that. It's what, the size of a chair?” Caitlin tittered, awkwardly with Eva confounded by the young woman’s mirth.

 “ Yes, you have a point. We’ll see, once we start marketing we’ll see what’s the public response to this.”

The earth shook slightly, startling Caitlin as the towering form of Jessica stepped out from behind, wearing a string bikini. There were catcalls from the crowd, drawing the giantess’ attention to them. She waved apprehensively, smiling to them.

Wow, Jack thought. She’s beautiful, his inner voice told him. For his own safety, he didn’t vocalise those thoughts. He looked her up and down, her wonderfully flat stomach, with just a little fat on it undulated as Jessica turned in his direction. She was cute in her makeshift clothes but now with some actual article made for humans, she looked gorgeous.

Her head turned as she watched the crowd and spotted some of the crowd snapping pictures of her.  Jessica struck a profile, showing the side of her pert buttcheek to Jack, who wasn’t displeased although the loud and snort of disapproval from Caitlin suggested she was already pissed. The crowd cheered her, Jessica grinning impishly at their approval.

Far away , she almost looked normal and Jack thought if she were, she’d probably be one of those incredibly curvy and healthy surfer girls. He could see her on the beach, riding the waves and turning the head of every man she walked by. He wondered, if he were single and she were of the right scale, would he dare to chat her up? She seemed out of his league and rightly so.

 He was snapped out of his thoughts when Jessica’s eyes met his. Her smile grow wider as she spotted the trio, her sculpted cheekbones prominently displayed.

“ Hello Eva, Jack and Caitlin,” Jessica bent over to talk to them, her hands resting on her knees. She had chosen that position, knowing how much cleavage she had put on display and the offense Caitlin would take if her boobs even jiggled.

“ You look divine, I can see why I paid you a million dollars,” Eva praised her.

“Thank you, your bikini feels comfortable. It's really good the um…..support up top, Leighton’s were never as good as this.”

Eva chuckled, “ Great, I didn’t know if it could handle a big girl like you. Let me know if it breaks, we’ll replace it at no cost.”

 “It's perfect, just perfect. I don’t know what to say, I mean I know this is a job but having something to wear for once, it's…” Jessica gushed.

“It’s amazing.”

Eva didn’t have time to reply to Jessica’s thanks as the shoot’s official photographer, a shirtless slim guy in Billabongs named Derek approached her and directed her away from her boss and friends. He had a coffee brown beard, wild but short as it extended barely an inch below his chin.

“ So um, how does this work?” Jessica asked him as they walked over. Derek kept to the sides of Jessica’s feet, her footfalls leaving bus sized craters in the sands. He looked up at her, her head seemingly high enough to brush against the thin streaks of clouds in the sky.

“ We’ll do a few shots of you in this bikini, some test ones to decide on your best angle and then we’ll get to the real thing. When that’s done, you’ll change into another outfit and we’ll repeat until we’re done. Nothing to worry about, we’ll guide you along since it's your first time,” Derek assured her.

“Thank you,” Jessica replied, grateful for his seemingly patient approach with her.

 When they were at the location, a spot relatively close to the sea, Derek had Jessica lie on her stomach with her feet in the water. The waves lapped at her butt, tickling it.

 Jessica was surprised to see a portly shirting wearing man step forward, a large black device in his hands. She could make out the littlest details, knobs and buttons which could be pushed or pressed. A light buzzing sound by her head made her turn in it's direction and her eyes widened when saw a bug like machine, with 4 propellers hovering in front of her.

“Don’t swat that, it's our drone camera. You’re a special client and I can’t GET  all the shots I want from down here so Robert here is going to help me with more full body shots.”

“ I must say, you look good,” Robert commented.

“I guess that’s why I’m here,” Jessica replied earnestly.

“ Alright, put your elbows in the er...sand and prop your hand against your knuckles. Make a really pouty face, like your boyfriend just said no to taking you shopping and now you’re going to use your feminine charms to make him change his mind.”

 

 Jessica giggled, it was a very specific yet imaginative scenario for her to draw from.

Despite not actually having a boyfriend to curl around her finger, Jessica did her best. She look at Caitlin, imagining how she’d do it. Her head was filled with mortar like blasts as she pictured Caitlin shouting at Jack, throwing a hissy fit. Yes, that was how she’d do it. However, she’d probably spook everyone by putting her sedan sized vocal chords on full blast. Putting that thought at the back of her head, she tried making a face.

“ Um...not quite. You’re not angry at him. Maybe you are but you’re feeling playful, imagine you’re trying to entice the camera into giving what you want. You look big enough to get it by force but now you want to use your feminine wiles,” Derek corrected her.

“ Oh sorry, I don’t have a boyfriend to try that on. Island living,” Jessica joked.

She lay on her stomach, thinking about how she could draw from her non-existent experiences. She wondered what it would be like to try that move.

Then she remembered how some of the girls at school would try it on boys. Oh, she remembered the nauseating levels of sweetness they laid on. That was probably what they wanted.

So, Jessica tilted her head down just a smidge before trying her best pout. There was a satisfied smile from Derek as he snapped away, Robert doing the same.

“ Were you thinking about trying that on your boyfriend over there?” Derek casually asked.

Jessica chuckled, glancing at Jack.

 “We’re not dating, we’re friends. At least I think we are, he wouldn’t have let me move in if we weren’t. Why do you say that?”

Derek shrugged his shoulders, “ Oh you read plenty of things on the Internet. That’s not even the craziest thing I’ve read , other than the rumours of your paycheck. Is it as big as they say?”

“That’s private but it isn’t a small amount.”

They switched to a new pose, one of Jessica standing. She had her right arm raised overhead relaxed with her left hand on her right elbow. She maintained it while Robert got pictures, Derek continuing his conversation.

“ It wouldn’t be. Anyway, you and Jack together...it feels natural. I don’t know if you read the gossip rags but that’s one of the things they talk about.”

“Oh,” Jessica exclaimed as she turned to a profile shot.

“ How much am I in the news?”

“Oh,” Derek chuckled, “ You are everywhere!”

“ Must be the whole ‘giant woman’ angle I have, that’s got everyone so curious. I don’t mind, if they don’t invade my privacy,” Jessica answered.

“Yeah,” Derek snapped a picture, the sharp short click of the shutter audible to Jessica.

“I can see how that would be a problem. I heard about the interview,you really gave Liam Harding a hard time. No pun intended,”

Jessica chuckled, the remembering the incident clearly.

“ I just gave him what he wanted, it's not like I was rude or anything.”

 “ You certainly did.Now, time for a change of outfits,” Derek instructed.

 Far away, well not too far for Jessica to be a speck on the horizon, Jack and Caitlin watched the whole scene.

“ You know...I was offered a chance at modelling too,” Caitlin’s spoke sweetly to Jack, trying her best impression at being sweet as honey when only moments before, her demeanour was closer to vinegar.

 “Yeah I know,”  Jack smiled assuringly at her. He had no reason not to believe her. Caitlin was tall, had a healthy tan thanks to her Brazilian mother, inviting cerulean eyes, slim enough to make any outfit look divine. She kept in shape with a regime of pilates and toning exercises so it was all practically there.

“I could see you as a model,” Eva interjected, scrutinising her. However, she had something else on the tip of her tongue.

“If I may be blunt, you do lack a certain something, an X factor to really cut it at the top. You could be one of those girls in a catalogue or magazine but I’m not sure if you could be on the cover.”

“And she does?” Caitlin pointed at Jessica, a little miffed at being brought back down to Earth.

“ I think she does , she’s special enough to get the eyes of the world on her. A model needs to stand out, a great model can practically sell the clothes for you.”

“I don’t know, Jessica is just big. That’s all there is to her,” Caitlin protested. Just as she did, Jessica did a rollover, her bulging buttcheeks impacting the ground as she splayed out on the ground.

Caitlin’s chair jumped at the moment of impact, thrown up a few inches. So did Jack and Eva’s chairs, the crowd reminded of how massive she was.

“ Goodness, she probably weighs as much as all the other models combined,” Caitlin sat up, shaken by the sudden tremor.

Eva tittered, “ Curvy is in these days, I’m certain she’ll appeal to the average woman if she doesn’t weigh less than a feather.”

 Jack wasn’t really listening, not that Caitlin noticed it as she tried to put down Jessica.

What had Jack’s attention was Jessica, her frolicking on the beach in skimpy swimwear requiring all of it.

Her movement was growing more natural and oh she was a natural at this. He couldn’t quite believe she had even expressed doubts about her suitability for the job, it was like she had been doing it her whole life!

He watched her grow from strength to strength and thought for once she seemed happy. He knew Jessica wasn’t happy, the look in her eyes whenever they spoke hinted at a sadness she barely touched on. He didn’t fault her for it, what with the constant invasions of privacy, Caitlin’s jibes at every aspect of Jessica could not lead to a happy well adjusted giantess.

“Jack, are you listening?” Caitlin drawled.

Jack nearly jumped, turning around faster than a merry go round at maximum speed.

“ Yeah I am.” He didn’t remember anything, only Jessica’s warm smile. His heart was banging on his chest as he prayed Caitlin wouldn’t ask him what they just talked about.

“ Good,”Caitlin leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Whew, Jack thought, crisis averted.

**********

“Hey Derek,” Jessica said as she came out of the tent, holding a container the size of her thigh. Inside were the clothes for the day, all bikinis and neatly folded , in accordance with the manner she was raised.

 

Derek turned, now wearing a simple grey T-shirt that blended into the grey sky above. He was chuffed at the early wrap of the shoot, especially with rain lying in wait.

“Yes?” He didn’t expect Jessica to approach him, she had seemed intent on heading over to Jack once she was done. She was still in her bikini, looking like she had just stepped out of an ad meant for the side of a building.

“ You didn’t seem...scared. Why? Most people when they see me, they either run or wet their pants. Why didn’t you?”

Derek chuckled, ruffling his beard with his fingers.

“ I was but you know...you’re not so monstrous in person. You’re pretty easy to talk to ,to work with in this line of work,” Derek answered. Jessica didn’t seem to believe it, the scrunched up look on her face as she thought about his answer.

 “ You must be the only one who feels that way,” Jessica glanced over at Caitlin. Derek noticed her ‘subtle’ movement as if he were reading a book.

“Oh I think Jack’s fine with you, he did invite you to stay with him.”

“Okay, that’s knowing too much about my life already. These gossip magazines are too good at their jobs,” Jessica commented.

 She turned to her landlord and his girlfriend, waving goodbye to Derek before setting off to them. As she approached Jack, Jessica realised she could see the exact moment the happiness left Caitlin’s face.

Her smile sank under the weight of her grouchiness, replaced by a disapproving sneer by the time Jessica had cast her shadow on both of them.

“That was fun,” Jessica focused on Jack. Maybe if she devoted less time to Caitlin, she might not mind.

“Yeah I guess so, we’ll see you back at home,” Caitlin pushed herself off the chair with arms and went in the direction of the car without saying another word.

Drat, Jessica thought. Just being near her was enough to set her off faster than a mousetrap.

Jack turned to follow but first, he went to Jessica who bent over. He turned his head up, past the distraction of her mountains and into her inviting eyes.

“You were great, it was amazing seeing you um...work.”

“Thanks,” Jessica blushed as she put a lock behind her ear.She could feel her cheeks warming up as blood rushed to them. Why was she getting all hot over a compliment like this?

“ It was fun doing it,” Jessica looked away to compose herself. She pretended to notice something in the crowd but Eva’s voice forced her to look back again.

“ I agree, you’re really justifying that paycheck. Keep it up and you’ll be getting more jobs, “ Eva bid them goodbye , leaving only the two young adults by themselves.

“I um...better be getting to the car. Caitlin will get mad if I stay here too long with you.”

“Sorry,” Jack apologised.

“Alright, I’ll see you back at the house. I hope she um...doesn’t get mad.”

Jessica watched him head over, a part of her wanting to pick up the car and drag Caitlin out. She was a virgin when it came to relationships but seeing Caitlin mistreat Jack like that made her feel uneasy.

Odd, she thought, didn’t she once tear Jack down for being an insufferable prick? Now she was sympathising with him.

Stupid girl, a voice in her head reprimanded her. He gave you a place to stay and became less of a prick ,of course you’d hate him less.

“ Oh Jack,” Jessica lamented to no one, she wanted to help but she didn’t feel right interfering in his personal life. That was up to him, not her. After all, she was his tenant and perhaps friends but Caitlin was girlfriend and in that respect, Jessica was smaller.

“If he asks for help, I’ll give it,”Jessica told herself.

She heard the grunt as Caitlin’s Ford Mustang started up, reversing out of the carpark before driving back to Palm Creek. Jessica watched it shrink into the distance and when it was barely a pinprick on the horizon, she set off on the journey home, satisfied with her resolution to Jack’s problem.

 

 

 

 

The Sunshine Animal Clinic was quiet at lunch time, given it closed for lunch. The reception area had it's lights switched off, it's all white walls and flooring dulled by the darkness save for light shining through the clear glass doors.

Caitlin ate at the back, away from the eyes of pet owners  so she could enjoy the privacy of her lunch hour.

“Are you okay?”

Caitlin put down her BLT sandwich to see her boss, Helen Turner poke her head into the break area.

 She was in her forties, Caitlin remembered something about a husband and a son . She exercised frequently, not enough to stave off the crow’s feet around her eyes but enough to get a surprised look whenever people did learn about her real age.

Even then, her sun kissed skin, emerald green eyes and raven hair ought to have gotten people’s attention.

“ I am,” Caitlin answered quickly before picking up the half eaten bread again.

“ Are you sure? Because you nearly stabbed yourself with a syringe earlier, lucky that chihuahua didn’t struggle.”

Caitlin chuckled, she remembered it. While the syringe was clean, it would still have been a massive gaffe on her part. Thankfully Helen had been quick to stop her before she did.

“ Well…”

 Helen walked in and seated herself next to her, sensing rightly there was indeed something on her mind. Something large and female.

“ It's just that giant freak who moved in. You know, Jessica?”

“I do, your new tenant makes is a headline act. I dare say I’ve enjoyed reading about her but hearing it from you makes it much better…”

 “Oh,” Caitlin said, surprised by her boss’ interest in her personal life. Lunch lacked the same appeal as it did seconds ago.

“ Okay…” Caitlin deftly rubbed her hands clean before she carried on.

 “ I can’t stand how she’s turned our lives into a big circus. Ever since she came , we’re just some piece of gossip for the media to use. You know many columns have been dedicated to Jack and Jessica having a secret relationship?” Caitlin’s eyes watered. She had told herself to avoid reading anything Jessica related but her curiosity always won out and she peeked.

 “ I don’t know if they are but I don’t think Jack can be around her without at least thinking about it.”

  The thought of Jessica doing that scared her more but what really gave her the creeps was the power she possessed. Caitlin often wondered what went through Jessica’s vacuous skull, as she lay in her tent. Had she considered just taking over the place? She could see Jessica one day getting rid of her, fake an accident and then use all of her wiles on Jack. That had to be why she invited Jack to her photoshoot, so she could strut about with her goodies hanging out for him to see.

“Has he ever strayed?” Stephanie quietly asked.

“I think he did...caught him texting a girl in the middle of the night and when I grabbed his phone, I saw it had been going on for a few days. I made Jack stop, he’d probably have met her and did the thing if I hadn’t caught him.”

“Right,” Stephanie nodded, not quite sure what to make of it but she moved past that and into her next question.

“ Doesn’t seem like he did anything, could be a cousin?”

“No, she could not have been! She’s too pretty for that!” Caitlin was flabbergasted by Stephanie skepticism .

“I didn’t mean that but she might not have been interested in Jack that way. I don’t know Jessica well enough to judge her but how well do you know her?”

Caitlin seemed to sneer back at Stephanie when she heard the question, as if she were being asked to have dinner with Donald Trump.

 “ I don’t hang out with her, I prefer to let Jack handle things. It's better that way, seeing her just makes me so damn mad!” Caitlin huffed.

“ Well,” Stephanie said diplomatically, “ You could consider trying to be nicer to Jessica. A little bit of kindness never hurt.”

“What if she sees it as weakness? We’re all toys to her as it is.”

“I don’t know what Jessica’s character is like but it wouldn’t hurt to know more about her. Who knows, you might find yourself surprised, like I was with my own Jessica.”

“Who?” Caitlin’s brow arched up, her curiosity piqued.

“ Oh,” Stephanie chuckled, “It’s hilarious now but back then, I thought I’d lose my husband.”

“What happened? Some slut tried to hit on him?”

“Oh,I thought she was. No, she was a fitness instructor by the name of Desiree and my husband’s best friend. He was the type of guy whose friends were mostly of the female sex and it was quite intimidating to see him surrounded by at least four girls, some of whom were even more attractive than I was. I always thought he was screwing one of them but…”

Stephanie paused as past memories came flowing back into her mind. She seemed to regret something but composed herself well enough to continue with the retelling.

 “ She was a guy’s girl, the one who was always more comfortable with men than women. She was outgoing, flirtatious and at the time I thought she was trying to steal Darren from me. He was always hanging out with her.

‘Seeing him with a 5’ 10” girl with sun kissed skin, washboard abs and emerald eyes gave me so very poisonous thoughts. I thought he might leave me for her and he nearly did, although not in the way I imagined it,” Stephanie could still remember the incident as if it were yesterday.

Catilin’s mouth ran dry with anticipation, this was a very riveting story.

“ You confronted him about her? You made him choose?”

Stephanie shook her head, it was close but not quite.

“I went straight to Desiree when I found out he wanted her to be at our wedding. I basically told her to stay away and I knew what she was up to, she wanted to steal Darren from me.”

Stephanie paused, the memory still smarted despite the passage of time.

“And?” Caitlin asked.

“And I saw my beloved Darren, one of the most mild mannered men I ever knew, explode like a volcano. He said I was being paranoid, possessive, controlling and then he left, saying he needed to reflect on his life choices.”

She looked at Caitlin with hope in her eyes, the hope she would learn from her mistake.

“ I managed to make amends and thankfully, we got married.” A renewed smile slid across her lips, Caitlin caught notice of it.

“ You’re saying I should let it be? The big difference is Desiree is not a giant. A giant who could take everything she wants if she wanted. I have to do something,”

Stephanie placed a hand on Caitlin’s shoulder, offering some comfort to her.

“For now, let that something be nothing; but I can see you’re not totally convinced so if you are going to do something, just keep the two of them close to you. You might as well be aware of what they are doing, it might just put your mind at ease.”

“I’ll….keep that in mind,” Caitlin answered, still unsure if that was the right course of action. She needed more than just a lunch break to think about this.

***********

“ Hey Jessica!” Jack shouted to her, waving both of his arms, finally glad to have both arms for use again. He had just gotten the cast removed after his family physician deemed it no longer required and he was relieved to at least be able to scratch any itches on that part of his body.

“Oh hey Jack, I didn’t expect you to be home so early,” Jessica flashed a toothy grin as she returned from a swim in the lake, wearing one of the bikinis Eva had given her as part of the contract. Her hair was still wet , clumped together and sticking to her back.

 She had spent some time choosing her first proper outfit since leaving the island and opted for a leopard print bikini with triangular cups, the outfit calling out to her.   

Jack found it...very appropriate for a someone built like Jessica. She looked sexy yet girlish

“ That bikini suits you,” Jack said as he imagined her moving through the jungles in it, like a female Tarzan or something of that sort. The jaguars fleeing from feet that trampled the dark undergrowth, her chest pushing aside any branches that blocked her way, it was quite the image.

“ Oh it does huh?” Jessica blushed, her grin even wider.

“ Yeah, the whole island girl thing you have. Anyway, I got my cast taken off so I got both my hands back now. I probably wouldn’t have them if you hadn’t gotten there in time.”

“Don’t sweat it, it was a long time ago and I’m just glad I got to you before those mutts turned you into a chew toy. Come on, let's talk in my tent, it's a bit more private than the two of us standing out in the open.”

Jack let Jessica go first and as a result of his chivalry,  caught a glimpse of her butt, pushed up by the regular rhythm of her footsteps, thighs rippling with power as she moved inwards.

 “ So...you like this? What you’re wearing?” Jack asked, his eyes being drawn to her chest, well exposed since Jessica was sitting Indian style. She seemed oblivious to it, more content to have someone to talk to.

 “It's better than the tent and this one actually feels like a person is supposed to wear it. I can’t thank you enough for this,” Jessica gushed again. She could not say it enough, her grateful she was to be taken in by Jack, at her lowest moment when all hoped had abandoned her.

“ As someone once told me a moment ago, don’t sweat it.”

Jessica chuckled, “ I guess I did say that. Anyway, thanks for coming along. I hope Caitlin didn’t chew you out too much in the car.”

 She couldn’t help but feel guilty, like she were at school and her friend got in trouble for helping her with something less than legal.

“ Oh that,” Jack laughed, “ She didn’t really and it seemed like you didn’t need me. You were so natural.”

“ Oh, you noticed?” Jessica stopped briefly to tuck some wet hair back against her ear.

“ I couldn’t miss it, Eva said you were good value for money,”

“Oh her….I could hear that too.”

“Oh right, your super ears. Do you pick up tv signals with them?”  Jack quipped.

Jessica smiled cheekily before poking him with her finger, a little harder than she intended. Jack stumbled back but she caught him in time with her middle finger. She was relieved to have done so, if he had gotten hurt because of her, it would have been awful; not due to Caitlin, she was at worst a buzzing gnat.

 “ Sorry,” Jessica brought him closer to her face, letting him sit in the palm of her hand.

“You got a real grip there, you can’t have been using your full strength, were you?”

Jessica shook her head, “ Not even close. I’d probably crush your ribs if I used more than I needed.”

“ You aren’t hurt are you?”

Jack shook his head, more amused than wounded. He wasn’t bothered by that, he was more focused on Jessica’s radiant smile. She had a wonderful smile on a pair of full lips, not like Angelina Jolie but he supposed any type of lip on her would qualify as full.

“ I’m fine and I trust you with my life, given how you kept me alive.”

“Only because you were being a jerk. You’d be safe if you listened to me,” Jessica responded.

“ I wouldn’t have needed that damned cast too if I had just-” Jack stopped himself , feeling it wasn’t necessary to continue.

“ You were a huge jerk, but now you’re some gentleman. It’s like a total-” Jessica couldn’t continue because she had realised she never asked or knew why Jack had become so nice to her. It was something she had overlooked since she moved in here.

“Jack, why did you take me in ?” Jessica asked.

“Gratitude, paying the debt I owe,” Jack apprehensively answered.

“No...I don’t think so. There’s something else, I think there is something you aren’t telling me.”

“There’s nothing else,” Jack insisted. What else was there to talk about?

“ There can’t be nothing. You’re not doing this for free,” Jessica pushed him further. A twitch of her hand reminded Jack of who had the upper hand, something he was quick to realise.

“ I’m not expecting you to owe me for this, I have enough money as it is to last several generations if I don’t squander it. I just thought...you wouldn’t be homeless if I had listened to you; if I had listened to you, you would be in your giant house watching tv with your father and not having to live in some shit tent,” Jack admitted it.

He felt a twang of shame, a black bile which seemed to sit on his tongue and force him into a grimace.

“ Oh,” Jessica gasped, feeling bad for Jack. His baby blue eyes bore the guilt he had expressed, only this stayed even after the sound of his voice had faded into the ether.

“ I-I don’t think that would have happened. Either way, I’d have been bombed and shot. We’d still have met in that plane, Lauren would use you for something sooner or later. I hear she’s facing life without parole.”

“She deserved it but then it comes down to me being a fool on that yacht, me thinking I could fix it all on my own and nearly drowning. If I hadn’t done that, you would be safe.”

Jessica raised Jack up to her face, both of her gargantuan hands cupping him.It seemed to provide some comfort to him.

“ A part of me knows that’s true but I don’t know if I would be happy. Out here, everyone keeps their distance. Before that, I was at least on first name basis with the guards and my dad’s colleagues.

‘ I don’t think I was free but I was secure in that everything I needed would be provided. Now that I’m out here, I feel it's not as great as I thought it was, it's...hard to say I wanna return to that.”

“It sounds...more like prison,” Jack’s heart started to beat faster as Jessica leaned in.

“ I think so too. At least here, I have a friend in you. My dad would be happy to at least know that. Growing up, I didn’t get a lot of chances to make friends.”

“But after you got better, you didn’t become Godzilla immediately so what about those years you had as a normal girl?”

Jessica appeared to remember something, Jack caught a hint of her wincing but given her body’s resistance to pain, he suspected it was a memory of something traumatic.

“  I don’t know if they still remember me. I just left one day and I know they paid all of them to keep quiet,” Jessica’s eyes watered and at this, she shifted to her knees and free hand, crawling far enough to push her hand through the tent flap and deposit Jack just outside.

“It was great talking to you Jack, I’ll see you later. Right now, I just need to be by myself,” Jessica lamented.

Jack thought of bursting in and telling her she ought not to feel so blue but his rational side held him back, telling him it would not be wise to do so.

“ If you want to talk about it, I’m fine with it. Just know that you’re not alone and you have a friend right here. I like having you around and I think sooner or later, Caitlin will grow to like you too.”

Jack paused, waiting for Jessica’s hand to burst through the flap and pick him up but no such thing happened; instead he heard a muffled sound coming from within the tent.

Jack moved closer , close enough to make out what seemed to be sobs coming from inside.  His hand reached out, gripping the thick flap but he decided against going inside, opting to head back into the house. He’d come back around dinner or later in the afternoon, hoping Jessica would be in the mood to at least talk. 

 

TIME magazine’s office was a bit too transparent for Michael’s liking, he didn’t like the overuse of glass. The walls were made of glass and the multitude of cubicles didn’t have any physical demarcations to really block off one’s co-workers.

As he waited for the pretty blonde receptionist to process his request, he noted with great disapproval where glass walls separated a superior’s office from subordinates. It all seemed so naked, so out there and despite once having to share a bunk with 9 other men, Michael thought there was more privacy than there was here.

  “Oh, you aren’t?” she drawled, sounding as air headed as she was attractive.

  Michael turned to the receptionist, frowning at what he thought must have been Kevin trying to delay it. He allowed himself a little smile, he didn’t mind when his quarry put up a fight. It made the mission more exciting and he was the type of man to enjoy a thrilling hunt.

 “ Sorry Mister….” She squinted slightly as she waited for Michael’s answer, he had not introduced himself just yet.

 “ Vito. Vito Corleone,” Michael answered her politely. Her vacant stare suggested she bought the alias.

“Mr. Corleone, Kevin says he isn’t available right now ,  he has-”

“Tell him Zoltan sent me, tell him Zoltan needs help. Just repeat that to him, it should get to him,” Michael ordered her with the same authority a drill sergeant used on a private.  

 “ Got it,” the woman answered and repeated it to Kevin.

 “He’ll see you now, just go right in and turn to the left, Mr. Crowley’s office is the first door right at the end.”

“Thank you,” Michael drummed his fingers against the desk as he walked past.

No one inside noticed him enter, Michael didn’t bother to draw attention to himself as he strode past a cubicle where an overworked man in his late thirties seemed to be frantically typing away at the keyboard like his life depended on it.

  Kevin’s office was cut off from the rest but it still had the glass wall feature Michael was uneasy about.

 He didn’t bother to knock, walking in and locking the door, startling Kevin immediately. He nearly puked at the sight of Kevin, to see a former military man in his state was an insult to all the training and hardship soldiers went through.

Kevin was a short man, barely five and a half feet but Michael was fine with that since he wasn’t going to blame a person for his own lack of height. What did disgust him was how he had succumbed to obesity so easily.

 

He had a paunch a kangaroo would be jealous of and  it was currently jutting out from his gut like some obscene growth.

His beady eyes were shifting about nervously, sweat dripping down his forehead and he quickly applied a handkerchief to his hair where it was clear he’d be bald in a few years. Michael almost thought Zoltan was pulling his leg when he said Kevin from Operation Desert Eagle but then he remembered jokes were to Zoltan what snow was to an Arab.

 “ Kevin Crowley, I-”

 “I don’t want to hear it!” Kevin squeaked, more like a mouse than a man.

 “ You haven’t even heard me yet and you want out. What did Zoltan do to you?” Michael smirked, there was more to this than Zoltan let on.

“It's not what he did...and if he’s coming here to claim a favour then, I can’t imagine what he wants.”

 “Oh come now, it's just a simple request. You won’t even need to deviate from your schedule too much,” Michael assured him. Kevin moved slowly and warily to his seat, eyeing Michael like he was a gazelle facing a lion.

Kevin collapsed in his seat and slouched, his gut growing even more pronounced.

“ What does he want?” He hoped it wouldn’t be illegal.

 Michael strode over to a free chair, pulled it towards Kevin’s table which the latter had sat behind. Kevin winced as the chair’s legs screeched against the marble tiles, Michael not caring about the horrendous sound or damage done.

 When he felt it close enough, Michael sat down.

 “ He just wants you to dig up some dirt on Jessica. That is all, then maybe...you write a story about it and then publish it in your magazine.”

 “Can’t,” Kevin threw his hands up in nonchalantly.

  “We already have a reporter covering Jessica. Besides, it's all tabloids and sensationalistic crap when it comes to her. She’s a science experiment, her very existence raises so many questions!

‘So her father created her, should he have done it? Did she want this? How did he do it? Are there others like her, maybe housed in Area 51? Did the government plan to use her in an actual war? What does she plan to do now that’s she a free woman? Come on, dig up dirt,” Kevin scoffed at Michael like he were a 3 star Michelin chef who had just been asked to make toast using Wonderbread.

“ I want to sit down with her for eight hours and find out her life story, not find out who she’s dating. There’s so much that could be done and all you want is for me to be a stupid tabloid reporter.”

 “For the record, we keep the aliens at Area 51. We keep Bigfoot and the others in the Bermuda Triangle, along with Elvis, Hoffa and Amelia Earhart. They play poker together every other Thursday,” Michael said condescendingly.

“ Please….” Kevin snorted.

 “Look, either you do this or Zoltan is going to release some very dirty laundry you own.”

 “He wouldn’t dare!” Kevin answered, very much emboldened by his sudden burst of anger.

 “Blackmail would hardly give any congressional oversight committees any substantial ammo. I mean, he did create a living, thinking, D-cup WMD, after all,” Michael stated without skipping a beat.

“ H-he,” Kevin stammered.

“He would do it, just do what he wants and you can go back to being whatever you are right now,” Michael glanced around the office. There were some personal journalistic accolades on a shelf behind him.

 “ I do have a blog….I could release it there, it could do with the extra traffic,” Kevin said to himself.

“Excellent, you’ll commence your work immediately. Just tell your boss , you want to work. I am sure he’ll listen to some with all those prizes behind you,” Michael got up and so did Kevin although he seemed less energetic than before.

 “ I’ll….get to it.”

*********************

 Jessica sat by herself under the reddened sky, massive containers of food in front of her. The menu changed daily, she had everything from soups, stews to what must have been a family of cattle roasted and packed into shipping containers. What could feed a village was merely a meal for the titanic woman.

 She smiled as dipped her finger into mash potato, deftly licking it off her finger. She did it slowly, savouring the taste of the mashed spuds, the smoothness of it was simply divine. It certainly beat the food she got on her little island, the food was likely brought in by the military and mess hall chow couldn’t come close to whoever made this.

 “ Good God that’s a lot of food,” a familiar voice commented. Jessica looked up, no longer eating as she stared straight at Caitlin. She may have been thumb sized but the woman knew how to kill her appetite.

 Jessica pulled her legs closer to her chest, her bikini was probably going to trigger some sort of diatribe from Caitlin given her foul mood at the photoshoot. The cups tended to make her already well-endowed chest look even bigger and Caitlin would probably find it offensive.

 “ What can I say? I’m a big girl,” Jessica forced a smile, hoping Caitlin would do the same. Maybe she’d leave after that too, alone time was preferable to conversations with Caitlin.

 “You definitely are a big one,” Caitlin said. She came closer , as if she meant to talk to Jessica like a friend but took slow, tentative steps that hinted at hesitance.

“ I think we should hang out more,” Caitlin stated.

  Jessica’s jaw would have fallen off if it were not for it being tightly attached to her skull, she couldn’t believe her ears.

 “ Are you sure? We kind of argue a lot when we’re together. I wouldn’t like it if things got ugly.”

 “I’ll be on my best behaviour , as will you. You definitely need some friends and I know you won’t go out into town, they hate you all there.”

Jessica winced, as if being stung by a bee when Caitlin announced the last fact like it was an achievement.

“ Yeah, they hate me. Most of them,I think some people like me but  I guess I do need a friend,” Jessica stated it. It seemed almost pitiful she was turning to a person whose words were acid to her ears.

 “ This is not going turn into you insulting me is it? Because if it is, I’d prefer being alone,” Jessica said brusquely, she didn’t even want to think of what would happen if she lost her temper. No matter what, she’d probably lose the most.

“Oh definitely not,” Caitlin’s mouth was in an O shape but Jessica doubted she was shocked by the allegation. She still didn’t know what Caitlin was playing at either, but she certainly didn’t want to push her luck.

“ I don’t want to make life hell. You’re a girl like me, hell you’re going to be a model-”

 “It’s just a job, I’m no model. Models are bimbos with big fake breasts and empty heads. I’m the type of girl who prefers the outdoors, playing sports and getting a good workout. Nothing beats that,” Jessica corrected Caitlin. The job was what it was, a path to which she could help offset the expenses Jack was incurring on her behalf.

 “ So… a tomboy?”

  Jessica shrugged her plateau-sized shoulders, “ I guess so.”

“Cait, your food’s getting cold.”  Both women turned to see Jack approaching them, Jessica’s stomach fluttered, he was wearing a body hugging shirt today.

She breathed a sigh of relief, Jack was here to save her from his sinister girlfriend.

“ Oh Jack, I was just about done. Jessica, consider hanging out. You need it,” Caitlin gladly reminded her before sauntering out of the tent. She stopped at Jack, planting a kiss on his cheek before ‘bumping’ her hip against him.

  “ What was that about?” Jessica asked inquisitively, Jack’s cheeks were tad redder than they were and he smiled sheepishly at Jessica for noticing.

  “Oh, that’s something I’ll deal with late. Right now, are you okay? You seemed troubled.”

  “That wasn’t anything much, it's just a lot of um…” Jessica rotated her hand  as if trying to prompt herself to say the right words.

 “...A lot of past emotions. Thanks for asking, you’re a really good friend,” Jessica said sweetly. Definitely better than Caitlin.

 Jack moved closer, past the open containers of food, the aroma of the cooling food hitting his nose. It twitched as the scent of steaks flooded his olfactory sensors.

 “ This is good stuff,” Jack stood on his tiptoes and peered into one. He whistled, the sight of a mountain of steaks was deeply impressive.

 “ This is dinner but thanks for actually ordering something edible. I thought I might have to eat a whole forest,” Jessica plucked a handful of steaks and brought it to her mouth, where she pushed the clump into her mouth.

 She wasn’t done, her fingers were coated in a thin sheen of meat juice and  Jessica was not one to let even the smallest piece of food go to waste. Each finger ventured beyond her lips, the juice sucked clean as she enjoyed what was effectively dinner for a village.

“ Oh I care too much about the environment to let you do that.”

Jack paused before he remembered something, “ So I heard what you said about models. Are you telling me yours are real?”

 “W-what’s real? Oh-oh you didn’t!” Jessica grabbed Jack with her clean hand and pulled him close to her face , her other hand pointed straight at her chest.

Jack  looked down, her bikini didn’t leave a lot to the imagination. From above, her breasts jutted out like a feminine ridge , the swells almost seductive; her cleavage, goodness it was wide enough to accept a man. Jack felt a hardening between his legs, he crossed them and hoped Jessica wouldn’t notice the sudden appearance of a small hard bump against her fingers.

 “I can assure you this is one hundred percent real. They were already big in the sixth grade , so big I had to wear a sports bra or the  boys would have drowned me in their drool.

‘ Mum was kind of proud I was following in the family tradition of being so bosomy and I guess it helps in my modelling work.”

 “Weird,” Jack commented, “I don’t think that’s how most mothers would react if their daughter had a chest like yours. You could lose your keys in there.”

 “ I could lose the keys, the car and the whole house too!” Jessica guffawed, her mounds wobbling with each laugh. Her breath hit Jack in waves, Jack detecting hints of the foods she had just consumed.

 Jack joined in too, “ Oh boy I would love to meet your parents, they seem like interesting people.”

 “ Oh they are!” Jessica squealed, flashing a wide toothy grin.

 “ I think you’d like them. My dad made me the way I am after all and he’s a smart guy.”

Jessica set Jack in her hand, feeling all gooey on the inside. He was more of a friend than Caitlin had ever been, or likely would be. Caitlin seemed iffy anyway and Jessica preferred Jack’s company as it was. He was much easier on the eyes and ears than the banshee he called a girlfriend.

  “ So um….” Jack paused for thought, he had something on his mind.

 “ I think smart is an understatement. You’re like a rather big breakthrough in science, he should get a Noble Prize.”

“Nobel,” Jessica corrected.

“Ah sorry, I got distracted,” Jack admitted innocently. Jessica’s smile grew wider, her cheeks felt hot right now and she suspected there was a rosier colour about them right now.

 “ Oh is that so? What is it that’s so distracting?” Jessica jabbed at him, she couldn’t resist taking aim at Jack.

 “ I think it's obvious what could distract me?”

  “Got it,” Jessica tittered.

 “Moving on to something less distracting, I heard you like sports. I played football too. It's called football by the way, not soccer.”

 “I agree,” Jessica said between mouthfuls of food.

 “ I could probably play better than you, they used to call me the Jess Express  back in grade school because I never got tired. Plus I was a head taller than the other girls,”

 “ They didn’t have a nickname for me,” Jack said nonchalantly.

  “ But did they know you were on steroids?”

 “Hah,” Jessica said sarcastically, though she couldn’t help but think it was a good joke.

 “No, they never did but lets not get into that.It's a little sensitive,” Jessica reminded Jack.

 “Sorry, I forgot. Anyway, you should smile more. Like at the shoot, you’re way more beautiful with a smile than a frown,” Jack patted her finger tenderly as Jessica lowered him to the ground. He got off, smiling at Jessica.

  Her beauty seemed to grow exponentially as the days went by and Jack’s eyes were drawn to her colossal body , an incident that grow in tandem with Jessica’s apparent beauty.

 Her bronzed stomached undulated with each breath and further above, the eye popping mounds that could turn even Freddie Mercury.

  “Hey, you better go up. Caitlin will be waiting,” Jessica reminded him. She sighed, disappointed this conversation had ended. He was her only means of having a conversation and as he returned to a woman Jessica could barely stand, her heart told her to fix that problem but Jessica knew better than to act on emotion; at her scale, it would be catastrophic.

 Better a small storm than a humongous hurricane, Jessica reminded herself as she heard Caitlin’s screech again.   

 

“ Hey Jessica!”

 

Caitlin’s eyes narrowed at the lack of response from the giantess. She knew Jessica was in the tent and since Jessica’s ears were purportedly able to detect a whisper from a hundred yards away, she had to have heard her.

 

“ Jessica!” Despite the bark, there was nothing, no response from her.

 

“Ugh,” Caitlin grunted as she folded her arms across her chest indignantly, the newspaper in her hand pressed against her modest chest. She couldn’t stand the defiance she showed, the lack of respect she showed towards her and Jack. To her, Jessica acted with an air of arrogance that wasn’t suited to a guest of hers.

 

“JESSICA!” Caitlin called out, using all of the air in her lungs, her voice cracking from strain.

 

The ground began to rumble as deep within the tent, tonnes of human flesh stirred and shifted about.

 

Finally, Caitlin thought to herself.

 

Caitlin spotted Jessica’s head rise up above the tent, followed by the ascent of her shoulders, her smooth tanned back facing her. She was wearing the tentage she ‘borrowed’ in Miami again, getting a roll of the eyes from Caitlin for that.

 

Jessica took a couple of steps forward, her hundred and twenty foot strides easily closing the gap between her and Caitlin. Unlike other times, she didn’t kneel when talking to Caitlin but maintained a standing position over her. She allowed her shadow to fall over Caitlin, who had to crane her neck all the way up.

 

“What is it?” Jessica snapped, her huge eyes burrowing into Caitlin’s own.

 

For a moment, Caitlin lost her train of thought, shocked by the look on Jessica’s face. It was like staring into the eye of a tornado, a force of nature unmatched by any human being. It took her a few seconds before she could recall exactly why she called for her.

 

“ You made the news again,” Caitlin announced , Jessica remaining unimpressed or moved by it.

 

   “ I am in the news everyday, whether I choose it or not,” Jessica growled while tapping her foot on the ground.

 

 “ I bet I could pick my nose and they’ll put it on the front page. Giant woman picks nose, where does she put the booger?” Jessica said sarcastically. She snorted at her joke, smirking at the time Caitlin had just wasted.

 

 “ I don’t disagree with you but this should interest you more.”

 

 Caitlin opened up the paper and turned to page three where she proceeded to read the story to her.

 

 “ Harold Barnes, a neighbour and victim of Jessica, the rogue giantess terrorising the upper class town of Palm Creek revealed the nightmare of living so close to the monstrous girl….”

 

 “ So what? Harold’s an ass, always has been and I don’t care what he says to anyone. They’ll print that because they think it’ll sell papers.”

 

 “ I agree, you’re not that interesting but he’s mentioned other stuff too. Like your father….”

 

  At the mere mention of him, Caitlin felt something triggered within Jessica. Like a dam bursting or a uranium core undergoing fission, the thought jolted her.

 

 Her eyes narrowed, “ Tell me what he said .” It was so much of a request as it was a command and every nerve in Caitlin’s body twitched, compelled to obey the larger force.

 

 “ I-I don’t think that’s a good idea, you might do something-”

 

 “Something I’ll regret? That depends on what he said, Caitlin. Now tell me, read it out to me,” she insisted.

 

  “ You really shouldn’t-”

 

   “Just do it, I’m not going to sit back and let him shoot his mouth off.”

  

    “Now, read it.” Jessica ordered.

 

   Caitlin was tempted to take a step back, walk away but she couldn’t bring herself to move away from the giant angry woman in front of her.

 

  “ Alright...don’t step on me if you get mad at what he said okay?” Her hand trembled as she started to read from the paper.

 

 *****************

 

 Antonio’s Cafe was a little cafe in Palm Creek, it's liberal use of mosaic tiles and frescoes invoking an Italian feel to the place. It was patronized largely by the town’s denizens or hipsters looking to add more photos to their Instagram accounts.

 

Jack was the former, seated in a corner tucked inside the cafe where no one would notice him and his best friend, Miles Marston.

 

 “ Jack, I envy you. Jessica may be a science experiment gone wrong but she’s has quite the body,” Miles said as he sipped from his espresso, the strong flavours rolling across his tongue. His sepia skin contrasted with the lightly tanned complexion of Jack.

 

Miles hair was gelled back, normally an unruly mess but tamed with a combination of gel and thorough combing. As Jack’s former college room mate, he had been through the thick and thin of campus life and the two regularly confided in each other.

 

 Jack hadn’t seen Miles for a while now, even more so after his time with Jessica. Between having to manage Jessica’s logistical needs and keeping Caitlin from going after her, Jack had little time left to do his own things.

 

 “ She is, but it's difficult having her and Caitlin under one roof,” Jack replied.

 

  “ So what, I mean it's not like Jessica has other friends you could drop her off at.  You got to do the right thing, am I right?” Miles suggested.

 

  Jack nodded, softly as he listened to his friend. No one paid him or Miles any attention, not like they did when Jessica visited the town. Despite the fact he was on the news almost every day, his face still didn’t elicit any stops by people in Palm Creek, something which gave him relief.

 

  “ She’s never mentioned friends and family. Her dad works for the government so that’s out,”

 

  “ Wow, that’s sad,” Miles commented.

 

   “ Really sad. I guess you’re stuck with her, until she can get on her feet,” Miles added.

 

   Jack nodded, even if he didn’t know the timeframe for that; if there were even one.

 

 “ Until she’s on her feet, I uh...I actually don’t mind having her around,” Jack scratched the back of his ear with a finger as he fidgeted about.

 

  Miles’ face seemed to light up as he smirked mischievously , “ You have a thing for her don’t you?”

 

Jack shook his head, his mind telling him that it would be unwise to go there.

“No, i’m just being a good samaritan, nothing else. She sa-”

 

“Saved your life three times, I know. I bet the whole town knows about it too,” Miles chuckled. Jack was always fond of reminding people of that.

 

“And the fact that she’s a hottie just happened to a coincidence?” Miles shot Jack a knowing look, Jack rolling his eyes at what he was implying. He shook his head and threw a punch at Miles’ right bicep. It elicited a yelp, although it wasn’t loud enough to turn heads.

 

 “ Okay, point taken,” Miles groaned as he rubbed the impact area.

 

 “But even so, you’re one lucky bastard. All the babes lining up to get into your pants.”

 

“It’s not as fun as you say it is” Jack replied.

 

“ Really? I’d gladly take it all off those tired shoulders, I’ll carry that burden for you,” Miles said in jest.

 

“I remember how awful it was to date the volleyball team captain, or the hot girl from engineering. Woe is you for having to go through so much suffering. Now you’re stuck at me with a hot animal doctor and Queen Kong.”

 

Jack tittered lightly at the jest, finishing the last of his coffee.

 

“ I really wish Caitlin would get along with her, Jessica’s wouldn’t hurt a fly. Stepped on a few dogs but they were trying to kill me. Other than that, she’s a really pleasant girl and friend. She’s nothing like what the media says.”

 

Miles smiled warmly at Jack, “ Maybe I could visit her, see what she’s really like. I hear she’s single.”

 

“I’ll ask her, she could do with the company, can’t guarantee she’ll say yes if you ask her out,” Jack replied, not taking Miles’ last statement seriously.

 

“Right now it's just me and Cait-” Jack stopped as his phone rang and buzzed. He took it out , the caller ID revealing it was Caitlin who was calling him. Jack answered it, hoping it wasn’t more trouble from her.

 

“Hello Cait, what’s up?” Jack asked.

 

“Hold on, slow down. I can’t understand you,”Jack scratched his head as Caitlin just unloaded a barrage of words , like machine gun fire. At least she was not angry at him, he thought. That was a relief.

Caitlin did slow down and on the other end, spoke calmly and clearly into it. Jack nearly dropped the phone.

 

“I’ll be right over, just make sure Harold doesn’t say anything stupid before I get there. See you soon,” Jack wished her as he stood up.

 

Miles followed suit, knowing just about enough to deduce it involved Jessica.

 

“ We’ll catch up some other time,” Miles extended his hand , Jack giving it a firm shake.

 

“Sorry about that, we’ll definitely be continuing this,” Jack replied.

 

**************

 

The ground quaked with each step Jessica took, her feet churning the soil as they pressed down into it, leaving footprints large enough to startle a T-Rex.

 

She did not care to look down or exercise any caution, her mind was focused on one thing: get Harold. When she heard the words, those words he used to describe her and her father. She could not let him get away with that, her father deserved better.

 

Caitlin had tried to talk her out of it, pleading with her not to go over but she was not having any of it.

 

“What, he thinks he can just say whatever he wants?” Jessica snapped at Caitlin for defending the troglodyte.  For the first time, she saw fear etched all over Caitlin’s face; her eyes wide, body trembling as if her life had just flashed before her eyes.

 

Jessica couldn’t care less, it did shut her up and a quiet Caitlin was a good Caitlin.

 

With her only obstacle out of the way, getting there was easy. Harold’s house was separated from her tent by several miles of green fields. Grass and other short low lying plants ran wild across the state land, now marked by Jessica’s colossal footprints which exposed the soft mud underneath the greenery.

 

It didn’t take her very long, merely six minutes thanks to legs the length of a construction crane.

Jessica found herself at the outskirts of his house, scanning the opulent estate for any signs of the little twerp. The gates were shut but they were hardly an obstacle when they only came up to the height of her shin.

 

“ Harold!” Her booming voice rolled through his property like thunder in the clouds, rattling windows.

 

“ I know you’re in there! Don’t try to hide from me!” Jessica huffed as he did not show himself. Her tombstone sized teeth ground against each other as she thought of his cowardice.

 

Of course he wouldn’t show himself, she thought to herself.

 

“I am going to count to five, and if I don’t even hear from you, I’m coming in and I promise you will regret it,” Jessica threatened, glaring at the villa.

 

“1…..” She started. Harold remained out of sight.

 

“2…..” Jessica’s lips pursed at the lack of Harold.

 

“3….” Her ears twitched as she heard the sound of hurried footsteps, was it him?

 

“4….” Her eyes spotted a human figure moving towards, in a hurry too.

 

“STOP!” The figure cried out. Jessica smiled as she spotted it run down the driveway and towards, it was indeed Harold. He was dressed rather sloppily, a pair of boxer shorts and wife beater. To be fair, she wasn’t exactly dressed like Cinderella at the ball, wearing the tarp she appropriated in Miami. Okay, maybe after the ball.

 

“ Finally, I thought I was going to have smash your toys before you would come out.”

 

***************

 

“ N-no,”Harold answered, his legs shaking like the jello in Jurassic Park. Hindsight is 20/20 but Harold wished foresight was just as sharp, his pointed words biting back hard. He hadn’t realised it until now but, Jessica was fucking huge.

 

She was massive, in every sense of the word but standing at ground level just metres away from her, he realised he could not see her face. He craned his neck up, looking past the tanned pillars there were her legs , past her wide womanly hips and flat stomach but her breasts stopped all attempts to view her face. The top of her head seemed to touch the heavens, Harold could not fathom how large she actually was.

 

“ I kind of wished you didn’t come out, smashing your house would have felt soooo good,”

 

Jessica’s words sent an icy chill down his spine, not because she had voiced it out, but pleasure she felt just by doing so.

 

The titaness bent forward, her voluptuous chest jiggling within the tight confines of her top as gravity pulled down.

 

Her hand descended on him, fingers outstretched. Harold didn’t move, he feared the consequences of doing so. Her hand closed around him like an octopus enveloping it's prey, before shooting up like a rocket, with him as the unlucky passenger.

 

Harold felt heavy as Jessica’s hand shot up, feeling g forces not unlike those of the astronauts from NASA. His trip came to a stop, the hand opening up like an umbrella. Harold didn’t have time to scream before her other hand cushioned his fall.

 

“ What are you-”

 

Jessica’s hand closed on him, squeezing him tightly as it formed a fist around him. Harold was cut off, feeling the pressure on his chest. He looked up, struggling to breathe as Jessica viewed with a sneer on her lips.

 

“ You’re a coward, running from me the moment you saw me. You hide behind your walls where you think it's safe to shoot at me with your insults,” Jessica sneered at him.

 

She released the pressure on him, allowing air to flow into his lungs. Harold wheezed as fresh oxygen flooded his body, his eyes wide with horror at the ease of which she overpowered him.

 

“ I know you’ve been against me, from the day I came to Palm Creek; people talk and my ears pick up words like radar. You didn’t respect the agreement I made about the lake, that’s just one of many things but the worst of it, is you dragging my dear old father into this.”

She squeezed again, her fingers constricting Harold’s body like a boa constrictor. It would be so easy, she thought. A little more force and Harold breaks his ribs, increase it a little more and his legs go. Do it long enough and he passes out, possibly passing on. Jessica knew it was easy, she wasn’t even applying one percent of her strength into this and Harold was struggling.

 

Harold squirmed like a worm, trying his best but failing to break free of her grip. Jessica chuckled at his weak effort, he would never get out. She opened up her grip, Harold stumbling about in her open palm. He was also shivering, and as Jessica noticed, there was a wet spot on his boxers.

 

 They were a mix of red and white, in a plaid style but now there was a faint yellow colour. Jessica also detected a hint of ammonia in the air, her crinkling in response.

 

 “ Ewww, did you just piss yourself?” She couldn’t believe it but she actually respected him even less now.

 

“N-no, it's j-just…” Harold crossed his legs to cover his mistake but the damage was already done.

 

“Just embarrassing,that is what it is,” Jessica said before switching back to the words she had originally intended to say.

 

 “ I want you to remember this feeling, Harold. I want you to remember how weak you are, how easy it is for me to pin you down. You-”

 

“JESSICA! PUT HIM DOWN!”

 

Harold felt Jessica relax her grip, as he tried to look over her for the source of the voice.

 

*************

 

Holy fuck she’s tall, Jack thought to himself.

He had made his driver floor it all the way back to his house, thinking he could catch Jessica before she went to Harold’s place but seeing her walking over, growing smaller as she receded into the distance put paid to that plan.

 

Seeing her with Harold, the man who had spent the past month or so antagonising now being squeezed and tormented by Jessica made his legs go weak. He ran the distance between his limo and Jessica, the giantess looking over her shoulder.

 

 

“ Put Harold down, you don’t need to do it,” Jack breathed heavily as he grew more nervous with each passing second.

 

Jessica turned, her steps smaller and daintier than before when she carved out new potholes  on the way over. The light thump as each foot hit the ground was unavoidable given her weight but it was not what bothered Jack most.

 

“ Come on Jack, you know he deserves it,” she replied in a serious tone.

 

“ I know Harold is a hundred shades of no good but think about it, killing him isn’t worth it. He’s annoying and that is it, like a buzzing fly you can’t wait to swat,” Jack advised. His heart was rattling against his ribs, wondering if behind those sweet brown eyes of hers, would she actually take a life like that?

“ I heard that you know-” Harold was unceremoniously yanked up to Jessica’s face, her eyes glaring at him.

 

“ One more word from you and I’ll piss in your pool. Then I’ll drop you in it, bet that will make her day huh?”

 

Harold shut his mouth after that, Jessica smirking at how effective it had been to silence him.

 

“ Don’t do that either,” Jack chimed in.

 

Jessica sighed, she knew what to do from here. So, it was with a heavy heart she let Harold go. She wasn’t as gentle with him as she was with Jack, letting him fall from five feet up in the air. Harold landed in a crumpled heap but otherwise none the worse.

 

“ Damn you…” he groaned, getting up and running back into the house.

 

“ Let's go,” Jack said to Jessica.

 

“You aren’t going to chew me out?” Jessica replied, incredulous at this..

 

“Oh, that’ll be later. Right now, I just want to get home.”

 

*******************

 

Jessica sat by the lake, her legs pulled tight against her chest. In front of her, Jack paced around and despite only being the size of her thumb, his admonishment carrying a surprising amount of weight against a giant like her.

 

“That was stupid, so what if Harold said something about you?”

 

“He dared to insult my dad,” Jessica explained but Jack was having none of it.

 

“ And you could not let it slide? What happened to words will never hurt me?” Jack asked rhetorically but Jessica answered it, regardless of that fact.

 

“ Words do, sticks and stones don’t even scratch me but words hurt, no matter how big or small you are.

 

‘Once, yes. Twice, maybe not. Do it enough times, and anyone will break. Even a big person has her limits, today I found my mine.”

 

Jack stopped, looking up at the massive woman who had pressed her face against her knees, leaving only her eyes visible.

 

Her eyes, the windows to her soul bore the hallmarks of a woman hurt by the events preceding this. There was a subdued feeling to them, Jack even noting a hint of remorse.

 

 “ I just wanted to scare him, it's easy for me. He even wet his pants.”

 

A smirk snuck itself on to Jack’s face but he quickly did away with it once he realised Jessica could see it.

 

“ Really? He did? No wonder he was so quick to get inside,” Jack remarked.

 

She stuck her head up, a sliver of a smile on her lips but she made no attempt to hide it.

 

“ Oh yes, I could smell it too.”

 

“Still doesn’t change the fact you shouldn’t have done it,” Jack added.

 

“ I won’t , I think I made my point. Sorry, Jack. I’m just glad he won’t be making trouble again, all thanks to Caitlin for telling me about it. I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” Jessica said ,a smile on her lips.

 

“ Hold on, Caitlin told you?” The gears in Jack’s head were starting to turn, as he pieced the information together. He reminded himself to have a word with her about that.

 

“Yes, she did. I feel bad though, I kind of lost my temper with her. Would you tell her I’m sorry? Better yet, why don’t I tell her in person over some girl time in town? Our last one didn’t go too well.”

 

“Yeah….sure. I’ll tell her that,” Jack said as Jessica’s hand descended.

 

“I’ll take the limo home.”

 

“Suit yourself, you’re missing out on the best ride in town,” Jessica teased.

 

Jessica retracted her hand before standing up to her full height. She stepped over him,  and the limo. Jack watched her walk, her firm buttcheeks moving up and down like pistons with each step.

 

“ What a girl,” he said to himself. He wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or warning, a thought that kept repeating itself in his head.

 

 

"We hope to see you again Ms. Jensen,” the blonde salesgirl said as she returned Caitlin’s credit card to her. It was really Jack’s but she never let that stop from racking up a five figure bill, a perk she enjoyed to the fullest.

 

A low tremor from outside drew her attention, Caitlin snorting as she saw the source of it: Jessica. She wasn’t sure how long she had kept the asiatic titaness waiting but from the amount of boob sweat she spied on her top, it was likely an hour or so.

 

“ She’s been ou-outside for two hours, what does she want,” she scoffed at Jessica.

 

 “ Well,” Caitlin paused for a half second as she looked out at Jessica. She appeared to notice Caitlin looking at her and offered a strained smile. Caitlin hadn’t expected the heat to get to her, it may have been ninety in the shade but she assumed Jessica’s superhuman abilities came with better heat regulating. Serves her right for wanting to hang out, Caitlin thought.

 

 “She’s my plus one for today, my boyfriend thinks he has to take her in because she saved his life or something,” she said as if it were a chore. The salesgirl looked over Caitlin’s shoulder, noticing Jessica’s breathing grow slightly laboured. Caitlin noticed the look of concern flash across her face, almost sympathetic to Jessica.

 

“ But don’t worry, we’re going to have lunch. She’ll probably order everything on the menu and I mean everything.”

 

 Caitlin laughed haughtily at her own joke, the salesgirl tittering for the sake of being polite.

 

**********

 

“Alright, we’re done here!” Caitlin yelled to Jessica.

 

 Jessica flashed a look of relief, glad Caitlin’s two and a half hour session of retail therapy was done. She had been a spectator the entire time , watching from outside under the scorching late morning sun’s cancerous rays with Caitlin having the time of her life. Superhuman or not, the Florida sun showed no mercy.

 

At times she had felt light headed , almost in need of a lie down but in this town, the only place she could get shade would be in the comfort of her tent. Thankfully, she had not passed out  but she guessed that would have come further down the line if Caitlin hadn’t come out.

 

   Jessica wondered if that was what the conventional habit a woman her age ought to have engaged in; going on shopping sprees and looking all pretty. Was that what Jack wanted in a woman, she thought to herself. Was that all men wanted?

 

 “ We can go now, hope you weren’t bored or anything,” Caitlin’s voice broke Jessica’s train of thought, forcing her back to reality.

 

 “Awesome, if you stayed in there any longer I would have thought you moved in,” Jessica joked.

 

 Caitlin flashed her best smile, despite how much it pained her to do so. She had set aside this day to do some much needed retail therapy, all funded by Jack of course. It had all gone so smoothly too, setting Jessica off like a stick of dynamite with the story to show Jack the truth about Jessica; the truth that she lacked the self-restraint necessary to live amongst normal people.

 

  She had a devious smirk on her lips as Jack gave her the details of the whole fiasco, how Jessica had made serious threats against Harold which should have seen her expelled from Palm Creek. That didn’t materialise as Jack had then told her she would be spending time with Jessica. Caitlin had tried her best to weasel out of this but Jack had put his foot down over it. .Not wishing to spoil the mood ahead of her shopping trip, Caitlin acquiesced.

 

“ I saw a really great blouse, then I needed a pants to go with it. After that I needed shoes, you know how it is, being a model,” Caitlin explained although Jessica didn’t like the patronising tone she took.

 

 “ I’m not really a model, not yet. I wouldn’t know a cardigan from a blouse,” Jessica shrugged sheepishly. Her clothes were made for comfort, not for flaunting and her father was equally clueless about .

 

 “ You’ll learn, you’ll have to if you want to live like the rest of us,” Caitlin reminded her. Jessica resisted the urge to squash Caitlin like a cherry tomato, the woman was making that seem really appealing at the moment.

 

“ Shall we have lunch? Jack said you would want-”

 

 Caitlin shook her head, waving away Jessica’s words like one of those people who accosted you on the streets to take surveys.

 

 “ I told Bernard to prepare lunch for me. I am definitely in the mood to eat at home. It’s better that way,” Caitlin glanced at Jessica and at the people gawking at her. Always the attention seeker, she thought. She couldn’t go anywhere without people gluing their eyeballs to her vile body.

 

 “Oh, that works too.”

 

   Caitlin took out her phone and quick dialled a number, waiting no more than mere seconds before she got through.

 

 “ Gustave, I’m done with shopping. Be here in five minutes,” she instructed him.

 

 “ I could get us there in half the time,” Jessica extended her hand to Caitlin. It would have seemed like a handshake, if not for the difference in scale.

 

 “ No,” Caitlin shot Jessica a peeved look for even suggesting it.

 

 “ Come on, you’re not afraid of heights are you?”

 

  Caitlin glowered in silence, not saying a word until the limo arrived where she extended the silence by getting into the car.

 

  When she got back, she found Jessica sitting in her usual spot waiting for Caitlin. She watched and smiled as the driver, a balding obese Hispanic man cautioned her about the container’s temperature.

 

 “ Careful now, that thing is hot!”

 

 “ I’m not too bothered by a little heat,” Jessica chuckled. Indeed, she had noted hot food didn’t roast her tongue much these days.

 

    “ Suit yourself senorita,” he smiled before departing in his truck.

 

  Lunch for Jessica was a mountain of chickens, mashed potatoes and greens in separate containers, but that changed as Jessica combined all of it into one mushy pile. Seeing the pile of pig slop and all of it made Caitlin’s stomach churn. In contrast, Caitlin’s was seared salmon , boiled broccoli and chunks of potato with truffle oil drizzled on top.

 

 “ That’s what you eat?” she asked, not for the first time but definitely not for the last either. She had seen Jessica eat and it was like watching a zoo animal eat, that was the only thing which sprang to her mind.

 

 “ It is what it is,” Jessica shrugged it off.

 

  “ You don’t care about the food you eat? You would eat slop and be happy with it?”

 

 “ I don’t think I would go that far,” Jessica guffawed.

 

 “ I’m just happy to have something to eat. In fact, it’s really cool to be out here, experiencing the sights and sounds of the world. Even if the world tends to run and scream because you’re the size of a dinosaur to them but you can’t have everything can you?” Jessica said in between bites.

 

 “ No you can’t,” Caitlin shot back without a second thought, her pale blue eyes filled with petulance for the mountainous girl.

 

 “ But…” she said, almost like a stern parent to a wayward child, “ you must have had life goals. What did you want to be?”

 

“Oooh…” Jessica pondered, her lush velvet lips moulded into an ‘O’ shape. She halted eating and leaned back, her arms supporting her body.

 

“ I never really thought about that, not since I qualified for the WNBA. What did I want to do?” She thought long and hard while Caitlin ate.

 

 “ I did want to be an athlete, back when I thought my skill was all natural. I don’t think I could compete, wouldn’t be fair to everyone when I’d win in one step,” she laughed one of her mirthful laughs.

 

 “ Maybe a soccer player , I loved having the ball at my feet, running up and down the field for ninety minutes, the sun on my back and wind in my hair. I loved the outdoors, probably because I was in bed so much. You kind of want the opposite of that experience,” Jessica flashed her wide pearly smile down at Caitlin.

 

 “ But I had to stop after my body decided it should make me big enough to pick up a T-Rex. Although how I would run with these,” Jessica pointed at her chest which got Caitlin’s attention.

 

Despite hating her Caitlin couldn’t help but agree with Jessica; her breasts, even accounting for the difference in size would actually inhibit her in sports.

 

 “ Well shit like that happens, you may have left the team but you probably became really popular,” Caitlin added with a shrug of her shoulders.

 

“ Ah...I was flat as a board until I hit fourteen; then it's like boom!” She mimed an explosion coming from her chest.

 

 “ These girls came out. That must be why Eva wanted me as a model, for my boobs. If they can make a bra which can contain these, then the littler women like you shouldn’t have a problem,” she chuckled. The rib tickling caused the very objects she had just discussed to jiggle like a water bed.

 

 Caitlin laughed along, finding the giantess’ sense of humour rather apt for this, maybe she was actually wrong about Jessica after all.

 

 “  Shame, you would have no problem getting any man you want with those,” she pointed at her chest.

 

 “ If they want to go out with me. I used to think I’d meet my favourite celebrity and he’d sweep me off my feet.”

 

“Who?” Caitlin asked, prodding her for answers.

 

“Johnny Depp, he’s such a dishy pirate.”

 

  She looked into the distance, almost floating on a cloud as she imagined herself, average sized  standing next to the mercurial actor. His toasted brown skin against hers, her head resting on his chest. Alas, it would not happen.

 

 “ Still, it is just a fantasy,” Jessica paused as she realised her current circumstances would actually have qualified as the fantastical. That little eureka moment made her chuckle although she was more  reserved in that expression of emotion.

 “ Nothing like Jack then?”

 

 “ I guess not, Jack’s handsome in his own way. I assume he is, or else he wouldn’t have gotten you.”   

 

 Caitlin felt her cheeks flush with warmth and colour, the compliment catching her by her surprise.

 

  “ He is definitely handsome. Rich, very generous as you saw just now. All those clothes, all paid for by Jack,” Caitlin cooed. She chuckled and took another bite of her salmon, it's paper thin skin crunching with each bite.

 

  “ He’s really generous….” Jessica commented, wondering how many zeroes Jack would see on his credit card bill. It was surreal to see such money thrown around but now that she thought about it, she hadn’t really seen Jack’s lifestyle much; at least not from the confines of her tent.

 

 Caitlin nodded, flushed with pride.

 

  “ I try not to brag but he’s really the type of guy you do your best to hang on to. My girlfriends get so jealous whenever I tell them about the latest gift he got; did you know for our six month anniversary he took me to Aspen?”

 

   “Oh...he uh did...did he?” Jessica blinked, uncertain if that was a big deal at all.

 

   “ Oh yes!” Caitlin beamed, her eyes sparkling.

 

    “ We skied for a week , while wining and dining at restaurants you wouldn’t know unless you had at least a million to your name.”

 

“ I think the only million I have would be in my weight,” Jessica tittered delightfully at her own stab at humour.

 

  “ How much do you weigh? Like seriously, it never occurred to me how heavy you are. You look kinda healthy, not really obese or anything but still…. ” Caitlin’s nose scrunched up, pushing her cheeks up and to the side as she pondered that.

 

“ Oh probably a few million pounds but let’s not talk about my weight, just know that you’re probably a goner if I sit on you,” Jessica teased.

 

“ I won’t actually do that, I’m not into sitting on people; I haven’t been into it since I hit fifteen feet.”

 

Jessica laughed awkwardly, Caitlin returning to her food as she pondered what was being implied in it. Did she crush someone or was it just a joke? She had to find out more, her desire to know grew as her appetite diminished.

 

 “ That’s really specific, did you like sit on a guy or something? Found out the hard way,”

 

Jessica shook her head assuredly, her hair flowing from side to side.

 

 “ No no, but I uh did punch a girl once.” No sooner had she said it did she regret it. She bit her lip as and looked back to Caitlin, awaiting her reaction. She watched her chew her food, almost as if she were savouring it before swallowing.

 

“ Is she still alive? I don’t know whether to imagine you smearing her across your knuckles or not.”

 

 “Oh yes definitely, she’s alive from what I heard! I don’t think she died, but when they wheeled her away they said she’d probably live,” Jessica rushed through her words, fumbling them like an incompetent juggler.

 

“ Hold on ,you crippled a girl? Oh man, I totally didn’t expect that from you.” Jack would probably want to hear this, she thought to herself. Jessica the hooligan, it would certainly help him see the ugly truth about her.

 

 Jessica smiled, shrugging her SUV sized shoulders.

 

 “ Oh you know, everyone’s full of surprises.Just like you having lunch with me, I thought you hated me,” Jessica said frankly.

 

 Caitlin appeared caught off guard by the statement, the tip of her tongue pressed against the floor of her mouth.

 

 “ I don’t h-hate you,Jessica. Where did you get that silly idea from?”

 

  “You’re right,it’s a silly idea. Let’s forget I ever said it,” Jessica smiled as she extended her finger to Caitlin.

 

 “Friends?”

 

 Caitlin grasped the tip of the finger, easily longer than a python and as thick as a log.

 

 “ Friends,” she chuckled.

 

  “You don’t think you’re a bit old to even be doing this kind of handshake, ‘let’s be friends thing’?”

 

   “I never had much of a childhood as it is.”

 

“ I never understood Twitter. 140 words and less, that’s hardly enough to tell a story,” Zoltan griped as he poured himself a glass of whiskey. Opposite him was Kevin, his forehead glistening with perspiration despite the frosty air-conditioning settings, growing more uncomfortable with with the ever foreboding presence Zoltan was.

 “Yet,” Zoltan took a swig of the brown soothing liquid. It flowed down his throat, eliciting a contented sigh.

“ It works so well. They tweet about her, they share their opinions like it matters. Your piece,” Zoltan pointed at Kevin with his pointer finger, the rest of them wrapped around the glass.

 “Your piece was really good. It’s a real fear monger but…” He smiled like the Cheshire cat.

  “ It’s exactly the thing we need.”

  “G-glad you like it,” Kevin smiled apprehensively. He couldn’t believe he had written that crap about Jessica. Even an intern could have done better than him.

 “If there’s anything el-”

 “As a matter of fact there is,” Zoltan interjected. He set the glass on the table, forgoing the use of a coaster which Kevin had conspicuously placed on the table. Kevin looked uneasily as droplets of waters skied down the side of the glass and onto the teak table.

 “ I want more of this, give them a reason to be afraid of her.”

 “ She’s already bigger than King Kong, you don’t need me to do it. What are you afraid of? You think she’ll run for President?” Kevin tittered at that thought, the image of Jessica sitting on the White House tickling him.

 “ I’m more afraid of what the current guy thinks. I have one job: get her back into military hands but I can’t do it without making his poll numbers worse. He’s up for re-election and well, he doesn’t want to be seen as a bully,” Zoltan gulped down the rest of the glass in shot, looking dejected at his circumstances.

 “ Well that explains it,” Kevin said as he refilled his glass with more whiskey to calm his nerves.

 “ I cannot make her look like the victim, which is a lot easier than you think.”

 "Blow it up," he said, then with a smile, "just like she did."

“That’s the problem!” Zoltan exclaimed as he slammed his fist down on the table. He turned to Kevin, shaken by the sudden outburst before continuing although he was more measured.

“ She’s not doing anything! She sits there, lazing around like a bear in hibernation.”

“ Eventually she’ll do something, like maybe if her modelling career takes off, she’ll have to get out and see the world. Trust me Zoltan.”

 He stood up, legs numb from being crossed. He ambled over, feeling the pins and needles in his his thighs and calves to pour himself a drink, which he downed in one shot. It was bitter, and it remained in the back of his throat before dissipating, sending a shiver throughout his body.

 “ Once she has something to fight for, she’ll make mistakes trying to defend whatever she thinks she’s protecting. She’ll make them, she’s a sheltered girl who has never known much about the world outside the four walls she calls a home.

Sooner or later she’ll screw up and you can use that to put her back where she belongs.”

 He downed another glass, his head feeling light as he ambled back to his chair, guilt weighing on his mind despite the advice he had so freely offered.

“Insightful, although time isn’t something I have plenty of at the moment. He thinks if he does it now, people will forget but his rivals will not never let the voters forget.

‘That’s awfully naive, we all know what happened to that former Secretary of State who tried for run for President , without understanding how thirty years of smear campaigns could make her unelectable.

Her career is over now, as far as she’s concerned. ”

************

“ Why hello Jack!”

 Jack had only just planted his feet on to the soft gravel which paved the driveway when Jessica had greeted him.

 He looked up, the only direction one would normally look when addressing her and towering above his house was her, both of her legs slightly spread apart. Jack stopped in his tracks although the servants continued to bring his luggage in without any delay.

 Her megawatt smile was evident but Jack wasn’t focused on that, he soon noticed she was dressed decently. Her tent tarps had been discarded in favour of a proper top, baby blue and sleeveless; she also wore a green pair of shorts. All of it fit her well, showing off her curvy physique.

 “Uh, Earth to Jack? Hi, welcome back from your trip.” Jessica repeated herself, laughing at his inaction.

 “ Pardon me, sorry but I didn’t you know you got clothes, real clothes.”

  “ Yeah,” Jessica nodded enthusiastically. Jack walked through the doors of his house and into the backyard, beyond which Jessica sat.

 “ Who sent them?” Jack asked, quite certain he did not order them and Caitlin didn’t. She didn’t have access to the funds and Jack was sure she wouldn’t help Jessica on her own volition.

  “Eva did, a big truck came the day after you flew off. The delivery guy said it was a bonus, for being such a good employee.”

 “ Probably means you made her look in front of her boss,” Jack explained half-jokingly.

  “ Caitlin was so great, she got a laundromat to clean my clothes so-”

  “I called them because I don’t want  the place to  smell of stale sweat,” Caitlin finished Jessica’s sentence, stepping out from the house. Jack turned around to see her although she moved to position herself between Jessica and him before stopping. Jack turned to her again, a little bemused by her.

Before he could go further, Caitlin hugged him tightly, planting a kiss on his lips.

“ Welcome back , handsome,” she purred.

“ It’s good to be back.”

“I know, which is why I told James to go all fast and furious when we were leaving the airport.”

“ Let's take this upstairs,” she said with a naughty glint in her azure eyes.

“Lets,” Jack said with a cheeky cock of his head.

Jack looked over at Jessica, sniggering at the couple’s display of affections.  

“ Well I’ll-” Jack felt Caitlin yank on his hand, pulling him towards the house with a great deal of impatience.

 “-see you later,” Jack said as he disappeared into the house, going along with Caitlin’s antics.

 After placing his fuschia luggage at the corner, Caitlin brought Jack down to the dining room where rose infused tea awaited them.

“So, your parents...what did they about the…” Caitlin  jerked her head in the direction of the backyard.

 “ Oh…” Jack blew gently as he drank the tea, looking out where the edge of Jessica’s sole could be spotted.

 “The elephant in the room,”he answered flatly. Caitlin nodded.

 “ What did they say? When do you have to evict her?”

 Jack chuckled, “Not for now, and thank God for that.Just thinking about it is enough to make you reach for the whiskey.”

  The fragrant aroma of the tea danced across his tongue, eliciting a contenting pur from his throat.

 “  No evictions or giving Jessica the boot, just concern. They’re still coming over, for the uh….Florida Derby so that is still good to go. They’ll probably want to see Jessica; or not, maybe they won’t. Dad was really ambiguous on it. They might stay at a hotel, nothing’s been confirmed at the moment.”

He took another sip of his tea, the light flavours being a temporary distraction from his current problem.

“ I’ll deal with it when I get to it. Right now...I just want to be with my favourite girl,” Jack leaned in and gave Caitlin a peck on the cheek.

“ Yeah, let’s ignore the problem,” Caitlin smiled cheekily as she sat in his lap and planted a kiss on his lips.

“ You ever talk to them about say, getting Jessica a place of her own? We could have a little privacy that way, no big eye in the sky looking in.”

Jack nodded, “ I haven’t, but good idea though. Who would pay for it?”

Caitlin shrugged her shoulders, the idea being just that: an idea.

“ Whoever has the money. Maybe the government will, they want her back. Maybe she could make a deal with them.”

“ I don’t think she would do that, she seemed adamant about never going back to island living. She said she wanted to experience the world,” Jack stated but Caitlin was not believing that.

“She can’t, she can’t even go into town without her feet ripping up the pavement. Oh wait, she can’t even do that because her feet are too big. Face it, she’s a liability to everyone.”

Jack shook his head, no way could she ever be one. She was a scientific marvel, an accidental one but still a breakthrough.

“ She just needs to find her place. We all have to at some point. Jessica has to do that now.”

“I don’t disagree but do we have to do it for her?” Caitlin asked.She wrapped an arm Jack, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“ She’ll bleed you dry. You’re paying for damages, both intended and unintended. She needs to start pulling her weight or we’ll have to get her to do it,” Caitlin  pleaded. She looked into Jack’s eyes, seemingly empathetic to her argument.

“ She already has a job, pays seven figures in annual salary,” Jack reminded her. His eyes lit up as he suddenly remembered something important.

“Oh yes, I need to tell Jessica about her next shoot. It's in two days, Eva called when I was at the airport,” Jack stood up too fast for Caitlin to sit up. She slipped but steadied herself before she really lost balance. She shot Jack an angry look but he was already heading out the door to the backyard to even notice.

******

When Jack got to Jessica, he found her sprawled out on the grass, soaking up the sun’s rays in her neon bikini which she had changed into moments after Jack and Caitlin had gone into the house. Her enormous chest rose and fell with each breath, her eyes shut as she squeezed an afternoon nap in.

“ You’re settling into the high life really well,” he commented.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she turned her head in his direction. Jack’s heart began to pound just a little faster, the blissful and peaceful look on her made her seem almost princess-like.

“Just five more minutes, please…” She slowly stretched her mile long legs, the crack of her joints audible.

“I was having such a good dream too. You were in it…” She giggled to herself.

“ Any dream I’m in is a good dream.”

He was poked in the chest by Jessica for that.

“ I’m not going to disagree with that,” Jessica cooed as she began to move.

Jack watched as her body rolled onto her side;her left breast squashed against her right and the ground. Jack’s eyes couldn’t help but drift from Jessica’s face and down the rest of her body. It was like looking at art; living art.

“ When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” Jessica replied swiftly, giggling at her own response.

“ You have another shoot in two days, Eva says this time you’ll get to wear the company’s own swimwear. You can keep them, mostly because you’re the only person who can fit into them.”

“Awesome, I should have one for every day of the week now.”

Jack chuckled, “ She says there’s more too, but it’s a surprise.”

“Now I wish we were doing the shoot today. Gosh, to think I used to get excited over new toys. Is this what being an adult feels like? Getting excited over new clothes?”

“You also pay bills too. Go to work, get married, have kids.”

“I’m doing one of those right. Don’t worry about the bills okay, I know I’m expensive to keep around,” Jessica frowned.

“You’re not,” Jack insisted.

Jessica grabbed Jack and laid on her back, the earth shuddering from nearly two thousand tonnes of woman shifting so quickly.

She held Jack above her in an enclosed fist, almost saddened by what she had to say next.

“ You’re going to need thicker walls to fool me. I heard what Caitlin said and I agree. I’m a liability if I keep incurring costs for you. I don’t want to be that kind of guest. When I have my own house and my modelling really takes off, you can send me a bill and we’ll work something out.”

For a moment he considered asking if he had heard any more intimate sounds but decided he didn’t want to hear that answer.

Jack shook his head, “ I should be the one paying you, you saved my life when I didn’t deserve it. This is all on me. Need I mention you did it thrice. This is barely covering the cost of the first time.”

Jessica chuckled, “ And I guess you’re going to say you can’t put a price on a life?”

Jack nodded, it was exactly what he was going to say.

“Exactly, everything I’ve spent getting you a place here and for sustenance is nothing compared to what you’ve done for me.”

“ I worry you’ll overextend yourself.”

“Depends, you planning on destroying any towns soon?” Jack joked.

Jessica chuckled, “ No, not intentionally.”

“ Then I won’t be overspending. Oh, my parents might be dropping by in a month or so.”

“Hmm,you want me out of the house?” Jessica asked, well aware of Jack’s earlier conversation.

“No, they’re going to see you, whether they like it or not.”

“Wow, putting your foot down,” Jessica said as she put him back on the ground, Jack’s shirt slightly damp with his own perspiration.

“ You have really humid hands.”

“It’s not polite to comment on the humidity of a girl’s hands.”

“I thought that was only about her weight,” Jack shot back.

Jessica wagged her finger jokingly, “ The rules have changed but you’re alright, you’re a real gentleman now.”

 

 

“ Women actually wear this?” Jessica asked as she played with the black bikini bottom in her hands, the rear coverage just a sliver of material. She didn’t think her derriere was particularly large or curvy once you accounted for body proportionality but even so, the thin line would probably be butt floss at best.

“Some do,” Derek answered as he did some basic maneuvers with his drone, his fingers easily working the joystick.

Jessica sat, hunched over a box of bikinis and swimsuits sent by Eva, the string bikini bottom the first piece which caught her eye.

“ This doesn’t even cover my ass, my cheeks will be out there for the whole world to see; and I know they’ll see it because there’s a crowd out there waiting to get a shot of me bending over.”

Jessica stood up and peeked over the screen, where an even larger crowd had gathered. Her brow creased downwards as a feeling of uneasiness formed in her stomach. Something bad was going to happen, that was what the feeling said to her. She looked back at Derek, piloting the drone and thought of postponing the shoot but stopped once she looked back at the crowd.

Further back, her hubcap sized pupils spotted Jack and Caitlin, sitting far behind. While she could see them, their faces were a little blurry owing to the great distance. She thought of Jack, proud to see her striking out on her own, and Caitlin who was eagerly anticipating her next failure.

She couldn’t let down one and justify the other.

“ Alright then, I guess I’ll wear this dental floss; I remember girls used to cover up more.”

“If you got it, flaunt it.”

Jessica chuckled, Derek was a funny guy. Not as humorous as Jack but enough to elicit laughter.

“There’ll be plenty of that. Just don’t make my ass look too big,” Jessica said to Derek as she ushered them out of her makeshift changing room.

Jack and Caitlin walked down the slope, accompanied by Eva who had worn open toed sandals to avoid the  issue of sand creeping into her shoes.

“ You are not worried about them?” Caitlin pointed at the crowd, many of whom had brought their cameras with them.It was a group of mostly adults, male and middle aged. She grimaced at the thought of those men, likely perverts leering at her if she were ever in Jessica’s position.

Eva shook her head, chuckling, “ Free publicity, the best kind you can get. Let them talk about her in the news, it’s only good for my company.”

“Not always,” Jack added as he trudged through the sand.

“ CNN spends it's prime time hours debating what she’ll do,FOX thinks she’s an assault on American values, as usual. Personally I think they both lost the plot when someone mentioned she intended to run for President.”

“Does Jessica know?” Eva asked as they came to a stop several hundred yards from the big screen. There were three foldable chairs set up for them, Eva immediately easing her into one.

“ No, why let her worry about things she cannot fix,” Jack replied while helping Caitlin into hers.He fell back into his chair, the legs sinking an inch or two into the sand from the impact.

“ Jack’s been the perfect host, he’s taken care of all of her needs, except for clothes,” Caitlin interjected.

Eva smiled,the free clothes initiative was her idea. If and when Jessica stepped out, she hoped they would notice her attire and perhaps ask her where she got them; then Jessica would point towards her brand and the rest as they would say, is history.

“ She said they’re great. I told her replacements will be free, the fabric is supposed to be more resistant to wear and tear than normal clothes. The stress she must put on her outfits must be tremendous!”

Eva paused to drink from her personal plastic bottle, a solitary sip all she needed.

“ People don’t realise that, the stress the body puts on your clothes.”

Her attention, as well as that of everyone in the vicinity was soon captured by the familiar rhythmic reverberations of Jessica’s footsteps, stepping out from behind the screen in a two piece that caught every man’s attention. That and the bounce in her chest with every step she made.

Just like the last shoot, Jack watched as Jessica received instructions from Derek, her hands on her curvy hips as she nodded along.

Sweat began to form on his forehead as he felt Caitlin’s eyes on him, scowling for staring too long at her. Jack wisely turned away.

“So Jack, what do you think about her outfit?” She asked in a falsely sweet voice.Jack put on a little smile, knowing he was now in a minefield.

“ It works,” he said succinctly. Last time she caught him staring at a woman, he said too much and for that, he slept in the guest room for a month until she cooled off.

“I think it's more than that,” Caitlin replied coldly. That made the hair on his neck stand, she was about to blow her top any moment now.

“Oh it’s effective, I think a lot of people would buy it. You would look better in it than she does anyway.”

His silver tongue was enough to cool Caitlin’s temper, and she smiled sheepishly at her boyfriend.

“I know I would,” she answered before kissing him on the cheek.

********

With only a slight grunt, Jessica struck a pose; both arms over her head and eyes closed with a look of peace and tranquility on her face.Her instructions had been to hold the pose until Derek and his drone were done with taking pictures. That alone wasn’t easy, given the various full body shots and angles he needed to cover given her giant frame.

She didn’t focus on that, instead letting her mind dwell on more peaceful, happier thoughts.

She imagined her father, free and happy. She wondered his reaction, upon learning she had become a model. Wallace was not a conservative man, not by any measure. She imagined he would have envisioned her as a scientist like himself, even if she never really found academics to her liking. He probably would have settled for his daughter being an engineer, instead of taking off her clothes for money.

Either way, she thought he might still be proud of her, having made her way in the world.

“Alright, change your pose,” Derek said Jessica heard the pinprick of a camera flash.

Her eyes fluttered open, a serene smile on her lips.

She switched again, breathing in deeply. Her voluminous chest swelled , straining the fabric as her D cups put it to the test.

She lay down on the ground, the tonnage of her frame sending rumbles throughout the ground. Derek stumbled, and so did a few of the others near her. Jessica’s eyes fluttered open, briefly smirking at the sight of them trying to regain their balance.

She then gently turned her head to the side, her hair draped over shoulder as a gentle breeze blew through the beach. She remained in that pose, the only movement coming from her stomach which undulated as her muscles twitched.

All of which was going well until one of the straps on her bikini decided it was time for a break. It happened too fast, even for her. The triangular cups fell forward from her bosom, the back straps flying back in accordance with Newton’s Third Law.

It took a half second for Jessica to register what had happened, her eyes widening in shock , lips curled as she understood what had happened. She was briefly paralyzed by indecision, should she cover her chest with her hands or use the ground?

By the time she chose the latter, it had been more than enough for the less respectful members of the public to snap a few shots. Their falling over from the impact her breasts was a little payback for ignoring basic decency.

“Oh god!” Jessica exclaimed, hoping no one had seen.

She turned around and saw Derek’s face, red as a beet. It wasn’t the first nip slip he’d ever seen but the nipples on those weren’t the size of coffee tables!

“I-I uh...I didn’t get any of that,” he assured her.

**************

Saul Martin  was one of the thousands who had gathered to watch the photoshoot. The beach, while having white sand and clear waters had little else to distinguish itself from the multitude of fine beaches in Florida.

In his late thirties, overweight with a thinning head of hair  and working a dead end job at his local diner, he had only been to Miami to see his sister on the same fateful day that Jessica had shown up. He, like many others before him had fled when the titaness had rampaged across the city, Saul choosing to take refuge in a bank with about a hundred other people while the authorities took action.

It was in the aftermath when every major news outlet gave a running 24/7 commentary about the giantess that he came to realise one very obvious but overlooked fact: she was hot. She may have been able to see over skyscrapers, but to Saul and the others here, Jessica Chen was a great beauty.

He devoured every piece of information he could find about the giant woman, and he was more than chuffed to learn she would be gracing this very beach with her presence.

He was even more excited when she posed in bikinis for what he thought was either an interview for some magazine or a modelling job. The latter seemed more likely to him given the lack of dialogue on her current job.

Every pose she struck, every time a slight shift of her mass caused seismic shifts made his heart and the hearts of those around him flutter. From what he could , it wasn’t just men who were interested in her.

When her top snapped, exposing her assets to the world, Saul’s eyes widened as if he had just won the lottery, snapping pictures of the busty behemoth’s goods before she could cover them. It was exactly like winning the lottery he thought, readying his camera for any further wardrobe malfunctions.

**************

“Oh sit down!” Caitlin rolled her eyes, stopping Jack from sprinting to the shoot.

Jack had one foot forward,all about to launch himself towards Jessica like a good samaritan when his girlfriend’s irate voice halted that idea. He turned back, one foot forward and the other back.

“She needs help,” Jack explained to her.

“ And you’re going to help her how? By covering her tit with your shirt? Or are you going to be her nipple pasty?” Caitlin struck at his idea sharply, like a pin to a balloon; Jack deflated backed into his deck chair.

“Fair point,” he uttered, wishing she had been a little more delicate in the delivery of words.

Just a few feet away, Eva was on her phone. Based on the fragments he could pick up , she was talking to the photographer on the ground. Jack looked back towards Jessica, chin resting on the sand while the smaller figure on the beach, he assumed was Derek.

“I hope she’s okay,” Jack said to Caitlin, who shot him a glare; a sign she gave exactly zero fucks about Jessica’s predicament.

“She’ll probably eat everyone who took a photo of her. Can’t spread them around if you’re dead,” Caitlin cackled.

Jack chuckled, going through the motion of a laugh as he worried about what his friend was going through. Bad enough she had a very public nip slip, but being so immense left her very little room to hide.

He prayed she would not react too badly to it.

*******

“You think they saw?” Jessica whispered to Derek.

Derek looked over at the crowd, knowing at least one of them had to have seen it and snapped a photo. If she was lucky, maybe they were selfish and decided to keep the saucy picture for themselves instead of sharing it online. It was a big maybe, and she likely wasn’t lucky.

“Yeah they probably did,” he answered truthfully.

“Well,” Jessica said as she sat up, arms crossed across her breasts.

“I’ll bet someone’s taken a peek at me while I was changing in Miami.You know, the time I swam to the beach there and everyone decided to re-enact Godzilla.”

“ I was actually in Maine when it happened. I still can’t believe someone like you even exists. But you okay to continue?”

“What did Eva say?” Jessica asked.

Derek shrugged his shoulders, his drone’s remote control  hanging from his neck via a strap.

“Mostly to see if you’re okay.”

“You can tell her I am, after we’re done shooting. I think topless shoots are a thing right? Provided I cover my assets with my hand of course,” Jessica suggested.

“Yeah we could do that. In fact we should do that,” Derek chuckled as he readied the drone.

Up on the hill, Jack was surprised by how well she took it in her stride. She flashed a smile when it was called for, threw her hair back and played the part of a sexy model very well.

Too well, as Jack found himself staring for extended periods of time, only made aware of his doing so when Caitlin had to yell into his ear for him to stop. So it was a mixture of relief and disappointment when the shoot finally ended, with the sun already slipping below the horizon.

Jack and Caitlin made their way down to the beach, Jessica behind her screen as she changed. Jack whistled to himself as they waited in front of the screen , Caitlin looking down at the scene. That changed when she glanced up and her eyes immediately widened upon seeing Jessica’s shapely silhouette, and saw Jack staring at it;or at least in the general vicinity of it.

She couldn’t have that and moved to stand in front of Jack, who was slightly surprised by his girlfriend’s face filling up the foreground of his vision.

“You should be happy, we’re finally done,” he said to her.

“I am, but maybe you should be enjoying the rest of the scenery instead of staring at this really bland thing,” Caitlin gestured at the screen.

Right on cue, Jessica emerged from behind, carrying a container which looked like it could hold several buses. She no longer required the tarp ,wearing a short sleeved shirt and cut-offs.

She exhaled deeply, happy to see the two of them.

“That was embarrassing, I practically flashed the entire beach!” Her cheeks turned red as she remembered it.

“At your size that was happened,” Jack shot back.

“I can’t help that I’m so large!” Jessica faked a whine, causing Caitlin to roll her eyes.

“ But props for not letting it get to you,” Jack assured her.

“Hey, I’ve been through worse.A lot worse than letting the world see my tits. Kind of puts things in perspective.”

“That’s a good attitude.What’s in the box?”  Jack asked, pointing at it.

“Clothes, you can never have enough clothes. Especially ones which don’t leave everything hanging out,” Jessica flashed a smile at Jack.

“Good for you. Now we’re heading back, and we arrived in a limo so we’re going back the way we came,” Caitlin interjected, a hand resting firmly on Jack’s chest.

“ Sure you don’t want a ride back? I think I’m actually faster than that hunk of metal you call a car.”

Caitlin shook her head.

“You’ll probably drop us, not going to take the chance.”

Jack stepped forward but Caitlin pulled hard on the back of his shirt collar,stopping his body’s motion.

“And neither will Jack.” Jack looked disappointed but concealed it from Caitlin, whose voice sounded prickly and Jack knew to push her further would mean sleeping on the couch or floor; preceded by a very loud rollicking from her which he didn’t want nor desire.

“Yeah alright,” he said as they walked to the pick up point. While Caitlin’s back was turned, Jack turned back to Jessica and gave her a thumbs up, which she replied with a toothy grin.

Holding the box, Jessica was about to leave, until she saw Eva running up to her.

“Thank god I caught you before you left,” Eva panted between breaths. Jessica noted she had worn heels to the beach, not exactly the most practical of beachwear.

“ Oh what’s up?” Jessica put the box down and got on her knees.

“ I just want to apologise in person for the mishap you had. If that ever happens again, just tell Jack to send me an email and we’ll replace it at no cost.”

“It’s fine, and I’ll pass it on to him. I should get a phone, you know where they those 1000 inch phones?”

Both women laughed.

“ I wish I knew,” Eva answered.She looked in the distance , spotting Caitlin and Jack just as the car pulled up.

“ You know…” Eva said as Jessica also looked at the couple.

“I have to say that he’s much better off with you; but it might be too late for him to realise it.”

“What do you mean?” Jessica asked, unsure of what Eva meant.

Eva chuckled, “ Oh honey, I think you know what I mean.”

 

“I think I was wrong about her,” Jack said to Caitlin.

“Oh?” Caitlin replied, her body jerking up as the car went over a pothole in the road, much to her annoyance. She turned to the driver, who chose to focus on the road instead of her.

“ Yeah, I thought she would like cry or something when her top broke,” Jack continued, oblivious to Caitlin’s disinterest in the subject. It didn’t matter what subject it was, toss Jessica in and it was instant apathy.

“ She’s what, survived a shot from a tank?” Caitlin asked, visibly irritated but Jack either paid no heed or he was simply too dense to pick up on her body language.

“And a missile too,” Jack added for accuracy .

“ Yeah and after all that, you think she’ll die from embarrassment?” Caitlin said coldly, scoffing at her boyfriend’s irrational train of thought.

Jack shrugged his shoulders, “You never know-”

“AND YOU NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT HER!” Caitlin exploded at Jack like a nuclear bomb.

“All day and all night, you keep bringing her up, like she’s some superwoman and we should all be amazed at how well she can put on her pants or even just wake up!” Caitlin balled her delicate fingers into fists and shook them at Jack.

“ You could do a lot more by just fawning over the slut and spend time caring about what your girlfriend thinks!” Caitlin folded her arms and fell back into her seat. Jack was close to the point of no return for her right now, her lip curled in dissatisfaction.

“ I do care what you think. I know you don’t trust Jessica. You think she’ll do something to us, which is why you insisted on coming along.”

Jack wasn’t done, but he would later look back and thought he ought to have stopped there and remained mum for the rest of the ride home.

“But you should show some gratitude to her. If not for her, you wouldn’t be able to nag at me.”

That was a mistake. Caitlin launched herself off her seat like an alligator and slapped Jack across his cheek, the skin of which turned red almost instantaneously.

Jack didn’t see it coming, the impact of her slap flinging him to the left side of the seat and leaving him winded.

“Come on!” Jack moaned as he rubbed his cheek.

“I just meant that you could go a little easier on her.”

“And you can sleep on the couch tonight,” Caitlin huffed as she took out her phone and opened Facebook.

Jack sighed, he wouldn’t get through to her for the rest of the day once she whipped out her phone; it was the couch for him. He also took out his phone, flipping through Facebook but with one eye on Caitlin in case she tried to tear his head off again.

He watched her, scowling and scrolling through her newsfeed with her thumb. Occasionally he would see a smile or chuckle but those were fleeting, smothered by her anger towards Jack. With that, he resigned himself to a night out of bed.

When the car finally brought them home, Caitlin wasted no time in heading up to the bedroom, the slamming of the door and a more subtle click of the lock  indicating that for all intents and purposes, it would be inaccessible to him.

Jack walked slowly, after all he was not in a hurry when it came to facing his enraged girlfriend. When he got to the front door, he stopped and realised it would be suicide to enter the lion’s den. He rubbed his cheek, almost by instinct; it was still burning. He definitely didn’t want to go in.

Jack looked over the roof, at the towering tent behind. Jessica wouldn’t be so hostile or physical. He stepped away from the door, the idea of going to his giant friend seemed very appealing. If anything, he could let Caitlin cool down a little.

Yes, he decided,go to Jessica and hide out for now. He walked over, standing outside the tent, a pig sized toe sticking out of it.

“Anyone home?” His voice caused the prone giantess to stir. She sat up, pulling her knees in , hair still wet from her shower.

“Not in bed with Caitlin?” Jessica asked. Her smile soon vanished as she saw the welt on Jack’s cheek.

“How did that happen?”  She leaned in to further examine his injury, her enhanced vision allowed her far greater clarity than even a normal human. She could see the redness, even a little bit of skin break and winced accordingly.

“Caitlin. Caitlin got angry and this happened,” Jack motioned to the indention she had left.

“She shouldn’t do that to you,” Jessica replied as she held her hand out; Jack knew what it meant and stepped on.

“I know but it’s the perils of being in a relationship. Sometimes a man has to suck it up,” Jack assured her but Jessica was having none of it.

“Maybe I should talk to-”

“No don’t. She’ll get even madder and then she’ll probably do the right side too,” he sighed deeply.

“If she does that, at least it’ll be symmetrical.”

“She sounds like a bully. I hate bullies. Please let me help you. I feel bad, just staying here and eating into your wallet. I have to return the favour,” Jessica pleaded.

Jack shook his head, she didn’t have to do that. She was mistaken to suggest it.

“I’m the one who is returning the favour. Have you forgotten how many times you saved my life?”

Jack held up three fingers, wiggling them slightly to answer his own question.

“You’re staying here,” Jack finished.

“Alright. I’ll stay since you want me here. You’re probably the only person who does.” Jessica looked out the tent, past the house. It was a great big world out there but none of it seemed to want her.

“ Maybe we could go somewhere a little more quiet? Have a little talk,” Jessica suggested. Jack nodded.

“ You got a place in mind? Your fortress of solitude?” He jested, Jessica chuckling heartily. Her laugh echoed throughout the tent as she placed him on her shoulder. Jack wrapped a strand of hair around his waist, securing it tightly.

‘That would be here. No, I’ve been exploring the place and by that I mean the forest around your house. I don’t really go into town.”

“Understood,” Jack replied as Jessica crawled out of the town. She carefully rose to a standing position before starting her trek.

It didn’t take long for Jack to figure out where they were going, Jessica’s long strides made it a short trip. The vantage point offered from sitting on her shoulder helped in his guesswork, bringing them to a clearing by a lake.

Jessica chose a point near the lake’s edge, where her toes were being lapped by the water.

“ So,” Jessica said as she stared into the ebony waters, the entire place only lit by the pin pricks of starlight and the spotlight of the quarter moon.

“What keeps a guy like you hanging on to a girl like Caitlin?” She asked curiously.

“That’s a tough one,” Jack replied, a little uncomfortable with the difficulty of the question.

“I don’t expect you to answer it. You can skip it if you like. I’m just wondering, what do you like about her?” Jessica continued, unsure of where this would go. Perhaps it would be better if she changed the topic?

“A man like me, as you said, stays with a woman like Caitlin because every relationship has its ups and downs. Right now it's down, but you work on it to get it back up again,” Jack answered.

“Oh ok. I just haven’t seen you happy with her, that’s all,” Jessica added ,  noting the discomfort in his voice. It was a horrible topic, she thought.

“Moving on, I found this place while you were out. It’s peaceful , no one here to bother me.”

She leaned forward, eyeing the water’s edge even further.

“You like being alone?” Jacked asked, shifting closer to Jessica’s swan like neck. She turned a little, her mind in two places.

“ A little. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m so damn big.” She shoved her arms out to the side, emphasising it.

“People either run from me like a monster or they do the wise thing and just stay the hell away from me. Those who get near me, most of them are douches. Except for you, you’ve been the perfect gentleman.”

Jack grew a grin from ear to ear upon hearing it.

“ Thank you, and you’ve been a good house guest. You have anyone you’d like to see? I bet a girl like you must have been very popular in school.”

Jessica chuckled, then laughed loudly at Jack’s statement. Her laugh skimmed the surface of the lake, jumping from tree to tree and startling the fauna nestling in it. Birds took flight, flapping their wings away from her.

“ Oh Jack,” Jessica gasped, her stomach aching from her laugh. Jack watched, bemused by the giantess’ reaction.

“ Thanks for that but the truth is, I haven’t really been to a proper school since I qualified for the NBA. My dad gave me reading material, e-books and whatnot but honestly, it’s not the same. I went through grade school but that’s about it. They took me away in middle school and since then, I haven’t been inside of a classroom. Probably a good thing too, I hear public schools suck.”

“Oh you got that right,” Jack replied in agreement.

“But I went to a private school so I can’t be the judge of that. Still, if you went back now I bet you’d be the most popular girl in school. With your looks and brains, and I know there’s one hell of a brain behind it.”

Jessica cut her strand of hair with her finger,freeing up Jack who was promptly pulled off her shoulder. Her cheeks were flushed, burning hot and she wanted to at least look him in the eye. He was so sweet, and she knew he was sincere; she could pick out his heartbeat and it was beating calmly.

“ Is this how you get girls to fall you? Drown them in honey?” She raised an eyebrow, a toothy grin on her lips.

“ It helps. The fact that I happen to be really handsome and rich helps. Sometimes I get gold diggers but a man in my position attracts that kind of trouble like flies to a carcass.”

Jessica nodded in agreement. Maybe it was all the flattery, or the fact that he had treated her like a human being but she felt an attraction, an almost magnetic force pulling her lips towards him. She wanted to carry it through, but the logical side of her brain told her not to open that can of worms. It would never work out, the voice reminded her. Best to let things be.

“ Anyway,” Jessica started, she had to change the topic.

“ I don’t think I have any friends left. I haven’t seen them since middle school , they probably moved on. I doubt Zoltan would have told them what happened to me.

‘ Maybe they recognised me, marching down the streets of Miami; that I was the very same girl who played soccer with them. I’m not holding my breath though, it’s easy to forget if a person exists.”

“Hey, I’ll be your friend. What do you say I throw a little party, invite some of my friends and if things go well, they’ll be yours too,” Jack suggested as he stood up in her palm, using her thumb as support. After her last spurt, her thumb was about as tall as him and that meant he could easily stand in her palm without experiencing vertigo.

He looked up into her face, as large as a billboard but infinitely more attractive. He meant every word he had said, and he hoped Jessica knew it.

“Do your friends mind that I’m so...vertically gifted?” Jessica asked with great concern. It would do none of them any good if they were to run from her. She had enough of that already.

“They know about your situation though I might have to buy smelling salts for them.”

“I could just give you one of my work out tops, should be enough to wake the neighbourhood,” Jessica jokingly offered. Jack inhaled sharply as he pondered the potential of so much sweat in that.

“Look I still want them to be my friends,” Jack  cheekily answered.

“Oh right, that’s a little over the top.” She looked about, then up at the sky. The moon had ascended significantly since they began their talk. She had hardly noticed, and neither had Jack given the lack of comment. It was as they said, time flies when you’re having fun.

“Hey uh...we better get you back.It's getting late and I don’t want you to get into more trouble with Caitlin.”

Jack sighed, she had a point. If he didn’t then yes, Caitlin would tear him a new one.

“Yeah alright, let's go back.”

As she stood up and headed back to Palm Creek, Jack wished they could have stayed the whole night.

He didn’t say a word going back, just enjoying the rocking motion as he lay in Jessica’s palm as if it were a hammock. He really didn’t want to face Caitlin now, not when he could be with Jessica.

Up above, Jessica could feel each vertebrate of  Jack’s back against her palm. She cradled him a little, enjoying the feeling of doing so. Here he was safe, safe from mortal peril. Yet she would have to hand him off to Caitlin, a woman who could not appreciate what she had; and Jack was shielding her. She gritted her teeth, imagining putting the woman in her place if she could. Well she could, she just respected Jack as a host too much to actually do it.

When they got back, she got down on one knee and placed Jack back on the ground, who did a back stretch, feeling his spine crack and pop from the angle of sitting.

“Ah,”he sighed contentedly. “

“That felt great. Great talk Jess, really great. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, if I can.”

He waved at her, she waved back on instinct. Her feelings for him were far more certain now. She loved him. And eventually, she wanted him to know it.