----- Monday

I went in to work Monday morning. It had been a wild weekend and I still think I was feeling the affects of the alcohol from Friday night; even on Monday! But I was functioning enough for work.

I called Gail and arranged to meet her so we could talk. I could tell she really wanted to talk to someone last week. She was scared of crowds. How much so, I wasn't prepared for.

She didn't want to meet at the coffee shop or any sort of place in public. The only venue she would consider was the library. I told her they wouldn't let us talk but she knew of these little meeting rooms with windows that would be private where no one could hear us. So, we made a date to meet up at 5:00.

"Hey, Gail. How are you?"

"I'm ok. What about you?"

"Just fine."

"Is Sue coming?"

"No. I didn't think you wanted her to come."

"I didn't."

"You don't like her?"

"No, I like her. But she would dominate the conversation if she were here."

"I guess she would."

"She likes you too much. She would want to talk to you and I wouldn't be able to."

"I know she likes me."

"I don't want you to think I'm taking you away from her."

"I'm cool with Sue. You needn't worry. I'm guessing you want to talk to someone about the virus. Right?"

"You're perceptive. Are you scared of the virus?"

"Yes, I am."

"I'm horrified."

"I'm sure you'll be fine Gail."

"I'm so small now. I'm the smallest of our group, Sam."

"I know."

"I'm afraid people will hurt me. I can't defend myself."

"Most people are good. Just try to stay away from the bad people. You have the group. We can lean on each other."

"George is bad."

"You sure?"

"He's creepy. I've seen people like him before. He'll hurt me."

Gail was breathing real fast now.

"Gail. You're going to hyperventilate. Slow your breathing. Here, do this. Take a deep breath in. Hold it for a count of three. Ok, slowly, for a count of three, let all of it out. Hold it like that for another three, then breath in. Now let's do this again."

We did the breathing exercises until she was breathing normal.

"Feel better?"

"A little. Thanks. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. Would you like me to try to keep George way from you tomorrow?"

"Would you do that?"

"I can do that. Yes."

"Sue wants to protect me."

"I think Sue was kidding."

"She's bigger than me; she could protect me."

"Maybe."

"You're bigger too. Do you mind?"

"I may be bigger now but some day we all might even be smaller than you."

"Really?"

"When I started this I was four feet and four inches tall. I measured myself last week and I was only four three. I lost a whole inch."

"We're all shrinking."

"But we're shrinking together. I won't abandon you, Gail. I think the others like you too."

"Cindy likes you."

"I know. Sue spent the last weekend with us and Cindy spent the last two weekends."

"Wow. You get all the girls, don't you?"

"I wish. But I've made some real high quality friends. Not like when I was in college. My social life was a complete flop then."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Long story, I guess. I owe a lot to Julie."

"Your girlfriend. The tall one, right?"

"Yes."

"How can you two do that?"

"You'll have to meet Julie."

"I couldn't."

"Why? Because she's big."

"Yep."

"Gail, Julie couldn't hurt a fly. She's the gentlest person I know. You should meet her. She used to be short too. She was only four foot nine inches tall not much more than six months ago."

"But you said she was seven foot four."

"Seven four and a half, except now she's grown to seven seven. But that's not the point. She grew really fast."

"Is something wrong with her?"

"No. I think she's taking after her father who was tall."

"Did you ever meet him?"

"No. But Julie's sister, Jill, seems to be growing too."

"She has a giant sister?"

"Yes, but she's also nice. You should talk to Marie and Joe about Jill."

"Why?"

"They spent the weekend with us too."

"With Jill?"

"All three of them seem to be good friends now."

"Wow."

"If you come over to the house sometime you can meet Julie, and my sister Erin."

"They live with you?"

"Yes. They do."

"You have lots of friends."

"Nah. I have some friends at work but not close like my friends from the clinical trials."

"None of your work friends have the virus, do they?"

"No. I've never met anyone with the virus until the group. How about you?"

"No. But I was let down when I found out I was still the smallest one."

"Like I said, things could change."

"I hope you don't shrink anymore, Sam."

"The same goes for you, Gail. By the way, how tall were you before you got the virus?"

"Not big. I was only five one."

"That's bigger than I ever was."

"Really?"

"Before I got the virus the tallest I was was only four foot ten."

"I never used to be scared of people when I was that big."

"You don't need to be scared now."

"Does Julie protect you?"

"She would if she needed too."

"Would Julie help me if I needed it?"

"I'm sure of it. She's a good person."

"I'd like to meet her then."

"Then meet her you shall."

"What about Cindy and Sue?"

"Would you like them there?"

"I wouldn't mind, I guess."

"I'll see what I can arrange. Are you going to be ok, Gail? Can I do anything for you?"

"Just keep George away."

"I can't do it alone. I'll talk to Sue and she can help me with George."

"Good. Do you think Sue would do that for me?"

"I know she will. She did say she was going to protect you."

"You said she was kidding."

"But if she really could help you, I'm sure she would, given the chance."

"Ok. I really appreciate this, Sam."

"Don't worry, we'll make sure George doesn't bother you, Gail."

We didn't talk too much longer. The poor girl seemed terrified to be so small. As for George, I didn't know what I was going to do. I only knew that I had to keep him away from Gail.


----- Tuesday

"Hi, Cindy."

"Hi, Sam.", she said right before kissing me. And not a little peck on the cheek either.

"People will see.", I said.

"So? Their going to find out soon enough."

"Do you think Sue will tell everyone?"

"No. But maybe Marie and Joe will."

"Well, I don't really care."

"Good, then neither do I."

"Hey, Cindy. Can I ask you favor?"

"Sure. What?"

"Can I have your help with keeping someone away from someone else?"

"I guess so."

"It's Gail. George is stalking her or something, I gather. She needs our help to keep him away from her. I'm going to ask Sue too, but if you can help us that would be great."

"I don't mind. There's something about him that I don't like either. I know how Gail feels. Whatever you want, I'll help."

"Great. I'm not sure what to do yet, but if you have any ideas though let me know."

"I sure will."

"Good. And let me know when you see Sue."

"Ok. But I get to kiss her first."

I laughed. "No problem. I'll see you later."

I met up with Michele a few minutes later.

"How are things going?"

"Not bad."

"Anything new happening?"

"Not really."

"Good."

She was standing close to me when she said, "You look different, Sam."

"Oh, you noticed."

"Did you get a haircut?"

"Look closer."

"I don't see anything."

"When's the last time we were this close?"

"I don't know, last Tuesday. Or was it Friday?"

"I think Tuesday. How were you looking at me then?"

"How? I don't know, I was just looking at you."

"In the eyes?"

"Yeah."

"And now?"

"And now ... I'm looking at your eyes. Hey, I'm looking down. Did you shrink?"

"I lost an inch."

"Oh no. I'm still shrinking too."

"Since when?"

"Well, I don't think I've shrunk for a month or two now. But you never know."

"Do you measure yourself?"

"Yes."

"It's a bummer.", I said.

"If there's anything I can do for you, let me know, Sam."

"Thanks. I don't think anybody can do anything that is not already being done though. Look I gotta go see if I can find someone. I'll talk later."

"See ya."

I caught up with Marie on the way to find Sue.

"Hi Sam. I'm sorry Miguel couldn't make it last Friday."

"Miguel?"

"My brother. He wants to meet you. I thought I'd bring him out last Friday but it didn't work out."

"No problem."

"Thanks for inviting me and Joe over."

"My pleasure, Marie. Did you like Jill?"

"Um.", she said, looking around to make sure nobody was listening. "Yeah. She's, uh, real ... interesting. She, uh, said not to tell you this, but she called you her imp man."

"Oh, I see. Well, yeah. I guess you played her little game too?"

"Yes. Don't tell her I told you. She let that slip out without thinking and she's very sorry about it."

"Don't worry Marie. I won't say a word about it. What about Joe?"

"He didn't hear her. Just me."

"Ok."

"Do you, um..."

"What?"

"Could we, you know, come see Jill again?"

"If she wants to then that's fine with me. Oh, who am I kidding. Of course, she wants to."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You play with Jill? Right?"

"Yeeaah?"

"And Sharon?"

"I don't know what you and Sharon did. I've been with Sharon before, yes. But I've never played any 'games' with her."

"Could we all get together some time?"

"Did Jill ask for that?"

"Yes."

"Did she put you up to this?"

"No. I just, you know, was wondering..."

"Look, you and Joe can come over any time. I don't know about Jill though. We'll play it by ear, ok?"

"Ok. Jill wants you to shrink even more."

I sighed. "Yes, I know that."

"And she wants to grow."

"I know that too."

"She said she wants to be ten feet tall."

"She's growing like her sister, and Julie hasn't stopped yet. I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happens some day."

"You know what she wants to do with us, right?"

"I think so."

"She wants to stuff us in ..."

"YES, MARIE. I know. We don't have to talk about it here."

"Oh, ok."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. Look, have you seen Sue around?"

"She was still in the lobby waiting to be taken back. I think she was a little late so they're probably getting to her last. Is she ok?"

"Oh sure. I need her help with something. Hey, maybe you can help too."

"What can I do?"

"I don't really know but if I need you to do something for me, would you?"

"Sure."

"You see I need to keep George away from Gail. I'm not sure how. Plus, this is only today. I'll need some longer term strategy."

"Say no more. I've seen the way he leers at us girls. I'll be happy to help."

"Ok. Let me know if you have any ideas. I'm going to get Sue to help. And mention it to Joe too."

"Will do."

I walked back to the kitchen and caught up with Joe.

"Hey, Joe. How's it going?"

"Good. Good. It's going good."

"Hey, that was some time this weekend, huh?"

"Uh, oh, yes. Yes. Man, that was some time."

"So, you and Marie, you're ..."

"Yes. Yes. We are."

"Um, kay. And Jill. She's ..."

"Oh yes. Yep."

"So, you guys ..."

"Un huh."

"What about Sharon?"

"Oh, yes. Sharon. Her too."

"I see. Well, it's been nice talking to you."

"You too, Sam."

"Hey, Joe. If you see Sue, tell her I'm looking for her."

"Ok, I will."

That was a guy's conversation right there. No superfluous fluff. I wish all conversations went so well.

I finally ran into Sue.

"Sue. I've been looking for you."

"Thank God it's you. I swear I'm going to kill that guy?"

"What guy?"

"George."

"That's who I wanted to talk to you about. What did he do to you?"

"He hit on me."

"Ok."

"You don't understand. He wanted me to wear pig tails and a little girl's dress with white socks and mary jane shoes."

"So?"

"He said he wanted me to be two feet tall, Sam."

"Oh wow. Two feet?"

"He wanted me to be a little girl. When I said take a hike he asked me to find some little girl just that size at the playground. A little girl, Sam. I freakin' minor. He's sick!"

"Yeah, it sounds like it. No wonder Gail is afraid of him. She thinks he's following her around or something and he gives her the willies."

"I'd like to give him the willies."

"Ok, calm down. I'm worried about Gail."

"I don't want to see him anywhere near Gail."

"Good. I told Gail I would try to keep him away from her. I'm not sure what to do?"

"He's in the bathroom. We need to keep our eyes on him."

"That's a start. Cindy and Marie will help."

"Good."

"Maybe you should go see Gail. I think your attitude would make her feel better. But take her aside. She doesn't do well around a lot of people."

"I know, I'll find her. Maybe I can stay with her too."

"Fantastic. If I see George heading your way I'll try to head him off or warn you somehow."

"I'm sure I'll see you guys coming."

"We might have to do this all the time."

"Then we might need to think of something else."

"I'm sure we can."

"Alright. I'll go find Gail. You stand by the bathroom door."

"Already on it.", I said, leaving her.

I intercepted George coming out of the bathroom.

"Hey, George. How's it going?"

"Good man. Have you seen Sue around?"

"Yeah, she and I were just talking to Marie."

"Cool. Marie, she's a cutie, yeah?"

"Oh yeah. She's mean too."

"Mean?"

"Yep. She's a black belt. You know that, right?"

"No, I didn't know that."

"She's a bit upset about having to register her hands as a deadly weapon at the police station though."

"Her hands are deadly weapons?"

"The police think so. It seems she was involved in some incident."

"Really?"

"You didn't hear? She cracked some pedophile's neck at the playground. He was six feet tall and look how small she is. She would have gotten in big trouble except nobody likes a pedophile. Know what I mean?"

"Uh, yeah. Right."

"So, instead of arresting her they made her register her hands and feet."

"Oh. Too bad."

"Yeah. Now everyone knows how much she hates pedophiles. She can't deny being a badass anymore. It's a good thing Gail found out about it before, otherwise they wouldn't be such good friends."

"Marie and Gail are friends?"

"Sure. Haven't you seen them talking? They're together all the time."

"Oh, wow. I didn't know."

"Yeah, well. Catch them together and you can hit on both of them at the same time, man."

"Oh, sure. Dude, I think I'll stick with Sue. She's not mean."

"No, but she's a lesbian."

"She's what?"

"She was talking to Marie just now about it. She was asking if she would beat up some guy that was hitting on her or something."

"Oh yeah? Thanks man. I didn't know."

"Sure. Glad to fill you in."

"Yeah, dude. Later."

"Later."

I walked back to the common area and ran into Cindy.

"Cindy. I need to find Marie and Gail. And Sue too. Have you seen them?"

"Sue and Gail were around that corner over there.", she said pointing. "I don't know about Marie. Find Joe. He would know. What's up?"

"I'll tell you later. Do me a favor. If you see George coming our way then say something and try to stop him. Ok?"

"Ok, I'll try."

I found Sue and Gail.

"Hey you two. I have some news."

"What is it, Sam?"

"Ok. I was talking with George. I fed him a bunch of bullshit about Marie being a badass black belt that hates pedophiles. I think I shook him up pretty good."

Sue was laughing. "Oh this is too good."

"And Gail is Marie's good friend. So play along."

"We will, right Gail?"

"Oh yes. Thanks, Sam."

"And one other thing."

"What's that?"

"I told him you were a lesbian, Sue."

"You told him what?"

"Don't worry about it. Everyone here knows you're not. But I'll get the word out. I told him you wanted Marie to kick his butt because he was bothering you."

"Oh, I'm going to love this."

"Now, I just have to get to Marie. If you see Joe or Marie tell them for me, please."

"Ok, not a problem."

"I knew you guys would protect me.", Gail said.

"I love this, Gail. We'll make sure George leaves you alone.", Sue said.

"We won't let him put a finger on you, Gail. So, don't worry."

"Thanks, you two."

"Our pleasure."

I had to find Marie now. But I found Joe, the next best thing.

"Where's Marie?"

"Getting her blood drawn again."

"Ok, I need to tell her something."

"What is it?"

"Ok, you need to hear this too."

"Go ahead."

"Marie's a dangerous black belt in karate."

"She is?"

"No, I don't think so. But her brother is so the story fits."

"What story?"

"Well, George is very sick."

"We're all sick."

"But George is into pedophilia?"

"He likes little boys and girls?"

"Girls, yes. I don't know about boys. The thing is he's bothering Gail and Sue, at the least. I told him that Marie has a black belt and hates pedophiles and broke one of 'em's neck. I got him real scared of Marie. But Marie has to play along. Ok?"

"I'll tell her. Or maybe you better instead."

"Tell her to see me then. Have you seen George around?"

"No."

"Tell me or Sue if you do."

"Ok. I will."

"Thanks, Joe."

So, plans were set. Before I had a chance to see Marie I had to go back and have some blood taken myself. It only took minutes but when I got back out I found out they had told Marie.

"What did you go and tell George that for, Sam?", she said.

"I had to think of something. Your brother is into the arts. I figured it would at least be plausible."

"What if I have to fight George?"

"I doubt that will happen. I told him you had to register your hands as deadly weapons with the police."

"He bought it?"

"Yep. He's afraid of you now."

"He is? What should I do?"

"I don't know? What does Miguel do?"

"I don't know how to describe it."

"Well, act like him."

"I can do that. I mock him all the time."

"Marie!? You mock your big brother?"

"He's ok with it."

"Well this time do it for a good cause."

"Ok, this will be fun."

"Great. I told him Sue was a lesbian, but she isn't really."

"I was there last weekend, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess you know that. One last thing: you and Gail are best friends now."

"I guess I better go talk to her then."

"Good thinking. Thanks guys, I owe you one."

"No problem. We're happy to help."

So, as it turned out, we saw neither hair nor hide of George the rest of that day.

Cindy came home with me since I would be coming back into town the next day. We had a laugh talking about what we did to George.

When we got home Julie was surprised yet very happy to see Cindy and vice versa. Cindy gave 'Miss Julie' a great big hug halfway around her waist -- they wouldn't fit all the way around. The three of us spent the night together.