Andrew Elmore is a typical American. Hard working, motivated, and always looking out for himself. His hair, dark strawberry blonde in color, he tried to keep at about two inches in length. Whenever he would go out for a night of fun, he would comb it back to make himself look more appealing. He had dyed his hair jet black once. It made him look downright scary, but oddly made his bright blue and yellow eyes seem to pop out of their sockets. Andrew’s self esteem wasn’t so much on a high note though. He had barely any girlfriends when he was in high school. Standing at five eleven and three-quarters, he would always say six foot to make it easier, he seemed to tower over all the girls in school. It kind of made him intimidating considering he also had the build of a pro footballer. Nonetheless, Andrew had managed to get laid and even had a girlfriend once that he still cared deeply about. His subconscious would always remind him of this with at least one dream every night of the week.

By the time Andrew had turned 19, he had a fiancé, a great job, and was about to move into his first place. Then at a huge party to celebrate all of this, liquor was of course involved, it all went to shit. He had gotten uber wasted, but had noticed that a younger girl at the party had been bumped into the swimming pool. Andrew let out a loud belch, of which he was famous in the town for, and went over to the pool to help the young girl out. As it turned out, it was his friend’s niece.

“Need a hand Brittany?” Andrew asked, holding one hand out to the girl, that was flailing in the pool in a fit of rage, and his bottle of Jack Daniels in the other.

“Thanks Andy, damn boys.” Brittany said taking Andrew’s hand as she proceeded to climb out of the pool, her clothes soaked. “Boys are so immature around here, it’s not even funny.”

Andrew easily pulled the soaking wet 14 year-old out of the water. He must have pulled a bit too much as Brittany came straight up at him as if the water had somehow thrown her at him. Andrew having reflexes of a cat, caught her before they both toppled over onto the patio. Holding her so close sent a chill down Andrew’s spine. He could still smell the perfume on her that she had carefully placed on her neck and in her hair. He felt a little twitch in his groin as he was getting aroused from the intoxicating perfume and cleared his throat. Looking down at the tiny girl he saw that she had noticed the twitch as well and both of them blushed as their eyes met.

“Hrmrmmm, well how about we get you into some dry clothes? I think Katrina might have some you could borrow.” Andrew asked trying to be as polite and gentleman like as possible.

“Sure, lead way my savoir.” Brittany giggled and blushed some more.

Brittany had always had a crush on Andrew ever since she first saw him a year ago. It was the sort of crush that most teenage girls had when they were hitting puberty. She’d dress in a way that made her look much older than she was so she could attract looks from the senior boys. She’d write his name on the covers of her notebooks, smile every time he was around, and even sometimes go out of her way just so could be alone some times. This happened to be one of those times, although this was just by coincidence.

Andrew led the way up to Katrina’s room, where he knew nobody would be, so that she could have some privacy. As the music died down in the background, Andrew could hear his heart start to race. Going up the stairs felt like climbing a flat wall. Every step seemed to be weighed down by at least 100 pounds. When they finally reached Katrina’s room, Andrew quickly went into the dresser trying to find some dry jeans that looked like a good fit. Brittany and Katrina were around they same build, petite with a little rump but a nice bust. Andrew let go of Brittany’s hand so he could search better and Brittany began to undress behind him. She let the soaked clothes fall to the carpet, and then jumped onto the bed.


Being a Corporate Trainer for the Hooters of America restaurant chain, Andrew has been a very loyal employee and has excelled at every challenge that has come before him. Today, he has been invited for a meeting with the President and CEO of Hooters, Coby Brooks. He’s nervous as he boards the plane that will fly him to Atlanta, GA. He ponders what this meeting will be about. Has one of the Hooters Girls complained about him and wants to file a sexual harassment suit against him? Is it about his recent success with the opening of the Hooters in Tokyo, Japan? All he can do is go over different scenarios in his head. The wait and not knowing is killing him inside.

As Andrew sits in his first-class seat, he picks up a Popular Science magazine. He flips through the pages when an article about halfway through catches his eye. It’s titled, “Shrink Ray, Science Fiction or Fact?”. He reads the article as it explains that scientists in Germany, Russia, Japan, and even the USA have all been collaborating on building a device that would shrink matter to save on fuel costs. Its applications would include movement of massive cargo and building materials that are currently transported by massive amounts of fuel on freights, planes, semi’s, and ships. The expected savings would be in the Trillions. Andrew becomes fascinated by the article; he looks at the cover so he can pick up a copy for himself, Mar – Apr, 2012.

“This is your Captain speaking; we will be arriving at Atlanta shortly. Please return to your as seats as we prepare for descent.” The speakers blared as Andrew stowed the magazine back where he found it.

Leaving the airport terminal, Andrew was going to hail a cab and give the address probably to some Arab guy playing Indian music, but instead saw a man dressed in a suit holding up a paper with “Elmore” written on it. He approached the man and said “Here I am” with a smile. “Good day to you sir, my name is Edmund. Mr. Brooks told me that if there is anything you need, just ask.” The chauffer lead him to a limo that had the Hooters Owl on the side of it. The chauffer opened the door for him with a nice pleasant smile that set Andrew at ease. Okay, so no lawsuit then Andrew thought to himself, returning the same pleasant smile to Edmund. Andrew entered the limo, Edmund closing the door behind him.

Edmund’s smile quickly disappeared as he walked to the other side and took out his cell phone. When Edmund got behind the wheel and closed the door, he dialed the only number in the phone. “Yes sir, he’s in the limo now.” Indistinct reply “No sir, he doesn’t suspect a thing. We will be arriving within the hour sir.” Indistinct reply “Understood.” Edmund said as he hung up and threw the phone out the window where it was quickly crushed by a passing truck. Edmund turned from the curb and drove Andrew to headquarters. Andrew was completely oblivious to the carefully laid plan as he helped himself to the refreshments in the mini fridge.

Andrew couldn’t believe he was getting all this special treatment. Now I can’t wait to hear what they want me to do, he thought. Andrew was glad he was no longer in the trouble he thought he was, when something caught his eye in the stack of magazines inside the limo. It was the same Popular Science magazine he saw on the plane. He smiled as he turned to the page where the article was, only to find that it had been torn out. “That’s weird” Andrew said as he put the magazine back.

The window separating the driver from the back opened a bit “We will be arriving at headquarters in about 5 minutes” Edmund said. “Hope you’re ready sir.” The window closed again before Andrew could reply.

Andrew waited, in a nice leather chair that was a bit too big for him, outside a room marked “Conference Room”. Inside he saw Coby Brooks talking with around four or five men in suits. There was also somebody that he recognized, barely visible behind the flock of lawyers. It was Lacy Mills, a Hooters Girl from the first store he ever worked at. She had curly blond hair that came down to her somewhat small chest and striking big blue eyes. 36B, that’s her cup size Andrew thought remembering what had happened only 2 years ago.

It was a concert and Andrew didn’t want to go alone, so he worked up the courage and asked Lacy out. She gave him a nice smile that made Andrew smile every time. She had said yes even though it wasn’t her type of music. Later that night at the concert, Andrew was looking around at the crowd seeing a lot of girls flashing their tits during one of the bands best songs.

“Hey, how bout you flash your tits at the band too?” Andrew had asked Lacy, being just beyond the border of sober reasoning.

“No, I’m not going to degrade myself like that.” Lacy replied, turning away from him.

“Awwww, c’mon beau. Just give ‘em a liddle flash.” Andrew said as he started to pull her shirt up stepping up behind her. Before she could give him a firm no, and leave, Andrew yanked her shirt up catching her bra on the way up.

“AHHHHH!!!” Lacy screamed as she covered her chest. She spun around and smacked Andrew across the face, hard. She stormed off leaving Andrew there with a big red hand print across his face.

The rest of the night was a blur to Andrew; he couldn’t even remember how he got home. Now that feeling of nervousness had returned. Andrew was now certain that he was going to be fired. He started to sweat profusely; his hands went cold, his heart raced. How could I have been so stupid? He thought. He saw that the lawyers were now talking with her, probably to make sure she was telling the truth. Lacy brought a laptop out of her bag, opened it and turned it towards the lawyers. They nodded and one of them, with vibrant red hair, led her out a door in the back.

“Mr. Brooks will see you now.” The receptionist motioned to the door. Andrew grabbed his things, tried to make himself presentable in front of a very reflective picture frame. His shirt was starting to show the first signs of pit stains. He looked at his short blond hair with his gray-blue eyes that had the slightest hint of yellow around the pupil. He turned to the door, grabbed the handle and took a deep breath. Exhaling, he turned the knob to face his inevitable firing.

“Good afternoon Mr. Elmore…or should I call you Mr. Harvey.” One of the younger looking lawyers said, holding out his hand.

“Mr. Elmore will do.” Andrew croaked with a dry throat in desperate need of hydration. He sat down to a seat the lawyer motioned towards. Andrew saw a pitcher of water and plastic cups close to where he was sitting. How did they find out my real name? Andrew thought as he poured the water into a cup almost overfilling it.

Andrew had gotten into trouble like this before, quite a few times, when he was a teen. The end result had been being labeled a sex offender for five years. Andrew took this deal with one stipulation, at the end of the five years his name would be changed and the records would be sealed. The DA had almost laughed in his face, but then saw the seriousness in his face. Andrew was on the inner circle of the biggest drug ring in the county, possibly the state. He gave up the names of around 30 people all across the state, and even some that were out of state. He got his deal but now it seems that not all of their end was held up.

“Regardless of what your name is, we have a matter to discuss with you” Mr. Brooks had interjected, motioning the lawyer to take a seat. “It seems that Ms. Mills has a complaint against you and wants to be compensated for it. Mr. Elmore, you are a good asset to have. Good, but not great. So it’s my decision that we will not be paying Ms. Mills a single dime.”

Andrew could hardly formulate a thought. He was in trouble, that much he knew for sure, but now he had a corporation in his corner.

“Instead, we and Ms. Mills have come to a solution that benefits all of us.” Mr. Brooks continued. “Recently we have gained the opportunity through the Egyptian government to build a new location in Cairo. We will be sending you by the end of the week. If this new store becomes a success, you will be given a promotion to International Corporate Trainer. If it fails, you will have to find your own way back to the United States.”

Andrew was stunned at this statement. Go open a store, succeed and you have the world. Fail and you’re on your own. He was speechless for what seemed like hours, “What…what if I say no?” Andrew finally asked knowing what the answer would be.

“If you enjoy staying out of prison, you have no other choice.” A lawyer with short gray hair answered.

So this was it, Andrew’s past had finally come back to hit him and it didn’t pull any punches. Andrew had no other choice and agreed to the conditions. He looked at this as yet another challenge, and boy was it a big one. This time, failure was NOT an option.