Dr. Klein sat at his window seat on the 737, his coffee mug half-full of cold, watered down coffee. He was going through his notes when the same flight attendant materialized in the passageway. Sighing as he dropped his vanilla folders, he nudged a sleeping Arthur who splayed across the other two seats like a child in a king sized bed.

Arthur’s eyes snapped open, greeted by the male attendant staring down his chest. His eyes instinctually drew towards the attendant’s loins. The professionally flat crotch of the attendant’s trousers weren’t by any means close. But despite its harmless proximity, it was all that Arthur was focused on. He impulsively jerked away.

“Jesus!” Arthur hissed, glaring angrily at the startled attendant as he drew himself to a proper sit.

“Sorry sir,” he said sincerely, “I have another urgent call for you.”

Dr. Klein watched nervously as he quickly walked down the aisle and snatched the receiver from the hutch. He observed every syllable that left his lips, vigilantly searching his face for every twitch, every crease and every strain. The good doctor caught Arthur’s eyes start to gloss over. He now knew that this was bad.

Arthur came back chewing on his upper lip, the way he did when deep in thought. He prepared himself for the worst.

“What’s the news?” He asked with gaunt, anxious eyes. “Did she get to the coast okay?”

Arthur said nothing, but turned to meet the doctor’s eyes before he looked down at the floor.

“This need-to-know basis thing has to stop.” Dr. Klein said respectfully, leaning in and hushing his voice. “I get it. You’re my much younger, more successful, boss. But stop proving it by leaving me out of the loop.”

“Okay, calm down,” Arthur said in a tense apology, “I just…” He paused, sitting back in his chair. He curled his mouth momentarily before leaning back in, looking soberly into the doctor’s eyes. The doctor’s chest tightened. He could barely breathe.

“Gisele… or… Tiffany… she made it to the Pacific.” He said in a whisper. “But there were problems. An on-land incident occurred where a whole mess of damage transpired, prompting the military to attack her.”

Dr. Klein pressed his face in his hands.

“Shit.” The doctor whispered in a heaving sigh.

“Yeah, I know. I too, think were in a lot of shit.”

At this, Dr. Klein’s eyes drifted tiredly to the seat in front of him.

“She didn’t retaliate.” He continued, as if reading the doctor’s mind. “She retreated to the Pacific. The good news is that she may also have shrunk, though not by much. Still quite big from what I hear.”

“She shrank?” Dr. Klein doubled back, lifting his hand to stop Arthur’s tongue.

“Yeah, about that; our calculations may have been completely wrong.”

“-which means she should have stayed.”

“No-no-no.” Arthur quickly corrected him. “Again, Tiffany is still quite big, still in the multi-mile range. I think it’s still better she’s away from the mainland.”

“What about casualties?” Dr. Klein whispered back, his chest tightening. “Were people killed?”

Arthur mouthed the words:

“maybe a few…”

Dr. Klein groaned.

They both looked down and leaned back into their chairs.

“It might not be that bad though. I mean… a few. A few deaths are much better than a lot.”

“I guess we should at least be thankful that there weren’t any other incidents.”

There was an uneasy silence from Arthur. And Dr. Klein didn’t like where this was going.

“You would think that,” Arthur said with ironic optimism. “But I should probably tell you what happened in Honolulu, about half-an-hour ago.”

Dr. Klein gave him the most incredulous look.

Simon Young loved his job. Sure the benefits were lousy and his contract was up in a few months, but he was enjoying himself now. Plus the pay was good, the work was mostly outdoors and he got to travel to the most exotic-

“Ah, who the hell cares?” Many men would say, usually cutting him off.

When he described his job and the life it came with, no man on earth really cared about them. To the grand jealousy of others, Simon took pictures of incredibly hot, bikini-clad women. ‘What job on earth could possibly top that?’ they’d ask. And if that wasn’t enough to fill their pipe, they could only picture the nights of parties the foreign cities would bring. But he was a profession photographer, first and foremost, from the age of 12 to today at 32. But a male one at that; he can’t help himself from sneaking in long stares or a few extra snapshots that ended up in his private use. But he was no sex-crazed lunatic that stalked beautiful models with his camera in hand. But he had to admit, the men that envied his life were starting to sound appealing. This experience was starting to wind down and that tempted him to live the last few months loose. But he shouldn’t get too carried away, But he definitely would have to start with Hawaii.

Honolulu was still new to Simon as he hadn’t had much time to explore the nightlife, ending up in the studio all of yesterday, unpacking and reassembling equipment, but he didn’t mind waiting for tonight’s opportunity. And besides, he was no pessimist. Sure, there were a few apocalyptically large, gorgeous women headed for the west coast, but the world had not ended. Though record news ratings would have him believe otherwise. And he was not going to let that bother him; not on day he has the opportunity to photograph a sand-scorching, blonde beauty on the beach.

For Simon, today’s shoot was in a state recreation area called Ala Moana just south of downtown. And because the park had a small, quiet and quaint inlet, it was the perfect place for a minor shooting session to calibrate and hone their equipment.