someone who normally kept himself aloof and saw relationships as a luxury rather than a necessity.
Earlier that morning, Jason had taken Lily’s photo with his smart phone and printed the image on paper, making a flyer with his cellphone number on it. He used tape to stick several copies to the traffic lights on the corners, as that was the only way he was going to get Lily away from the intersection and over to Mario's Diner for breakfast. Even then, she had asked if she could hold onto his phone as she didn't want to risk missing the call.
Jason and Lily had met up with Mitchell and his girlfriend Helena outside Mario's. Mitchell hadn't stopped grinning. He'd been waiting to drop that pearl on Jason as soon as the girls were out of earshot.
Jason and Mitchell slid into a booth overlooking Central Park while Helena and Lily went to the bathroom. Helena had insisted on having Lily come with her, and Jason figured she was grilling Lily on all the juicy details of what she imagined had gone on last night. There was nothing, of course. Lily had sat there staring out the window into the night as Jason had drifted off to sleep. He’d woken a couple of times, which was unusual, but each time he’d seen her still sitting there staring out into the night. When he awoke with the dawn, Lily looked like she hadn’t moved all night. Helena wouldn’t believe a word of it.
“How did you meet her?” Mitchell asked. “How long have you guys been going out? And how the hell did you keep her secret from me?”
Jason opened his pill case and took a swig of water, swallowing a red capsule followed by two dull blue tablets. He suffered from a rare genetic disorder known as Cander’s Syndrome and needed to watch his meds to avoid ending up in the hospital. He slipped the case in his pocket as Mitchell continued.
“Where is she from?”
Jason wasn’t sure which question he was supposed to answer first, but he decided the last one was the simplest.
“She’s Korean, from some place called Sun-Way-Do.”
“Sunwi-do,” Mitchell replied. “You’re fucking kidding me!”
Jason shrugged. He wasn’t sure why Mitchell was so excited.
“Dude,” Mitchell said, opening his backpack and pulling out his tablet computer. “That’s the peninsula from the Incheon Incident. Sunwi-do is in North Korea.”
“Isn’t Incheon in South Korea, just outside of Seoul?” Jason asked, knowing he was going to regret asking.
Mitchell switched on the tablet, saying, “It’s called the Incheon incident because that’s where the rescue helicopter was based, but if you want to be technical about it, it’s the Yellow Sea incident, although that’s confusing as well, as the Chinese weren’t involved.”
“Weekly World News? Seriously?” Jason said, catching a glimpse of several poorly photoshopped images as Mitchell opened an application and flicked through virtual pages.
There was an image of a man with three heads, or was that three people with one body? Another shot showed a classic, bug-eyed, hairless alien with a bulbous head sitting behind the President’s desk in the Oval Office. In another, UFOs sat outside the departure gate of some anonymous mid-west airport.
“This stuff is gold!” Mitchell said, overacting, knowing he was goading Jason. “It's serious investigative journalism.”
Jason shook his head, trying not to laugh.
As Mitchell flicked through the pages, Jason spotted an image of a hairy man running through a child’s playground.
“Hey, that’s a monkey suit,” Jason cried, but Mitchell kept running his finger back and forth over the glass display, turning pages.
“Oh,” Mitchell replied. “You gotta separate the wheat from the chaff, but there’s some great stuff in here. Most of this stuff has been classified top secret for decades!”
“Yeah,” Jason replied dryly, pretending to agree with him. “It's real Pulitzer Prize material.”
Mitchell turned to a page near the back of the virtual
Earlier that morning, Jason had taken Lily’s photo with his smart phone and printed the image on paper, making a flyer with his cellphone number on it. He used tape to stick several copies to the traffic lights on the corners, as that was the only way he was going to get Lily away from the intersection and over to Mario's Diner for breakfast. Even then, she had asked if she could hold onto his phone as she didn't want to risk missing the call.
Jason and Lily had met up with Mitchell and his girlfriend Helena outside Mario's. Mitchell hadn't stopped grinning. He'd been waiting to drop that pearl on Jason as soon as the girls were out of earshot.
Jason and Mitchell slid into a booth overlooking Central Park while Helena and Lily went to the bathroom. Helena had insisted on having Lily come with her, and Jason figured she was grilling Lily on all the juicy details of what she imagined had gone on last night. There was nothing, of course. Lily had sat there staring out the window into the night as Jason had drifted off to sleep. He’d woken a couple of times, which was unusual, but each time he’d seen her still sitting there staring out into the night. When he awoke with the dawn, Lily looked like she hadn’t moved all night. Helena wouldn’t believe a word of it.
“How did you meet her?” Mitchell asked. “How long have you guys been going out? And how the hell did you keep her secret from me?”
Jason opened his pill case and took a swig of water, swallowing a red capsule followed by two dull blue tablets. He suffered from a rare genetic disorder known as Cander’s Syndrome and needed to watch his meds to avoid ending up in the hospital. He slipped the case in his pocket as Mitchell continued.
“Where is she from?”
Jason wasn’t sure which question he was supposed to answer first, but he decided the last one was the simplest.
“She’s Korean, from some place called Sun-Way-Do.”
“Sunwi-do,” Mitchell replied. “You’re fucking kidding me!”
Jason shrugged. He wasn’t sure why Mitchell was so excited.
“Dude,” Mitchell said, opening his backpack and pulling out his tablet computer. “That’s the peninsula from the Incheon Incident. Sunwi-do is in North Korea.”
“Isn’t Incheon in South Korea, just outside of Seoul?” Jason asked, knowing he was going to regret asking.
Mitchell switched on the tablet, saying, “It’s called the Incheon incident because that’s where the rescue helicopter was based, but if you want to be technical about it, it’s the Yellow Sea incident, although that’s confusing as well, as the Chinese weren’t involved.”
“Weekly World News? Seriously?” Jason said, catching a glimpse of several poorly photoshopped images as Mitchell opened an application and flicked through virtual pages.
There was an image of a man with three heads, or was that three people with one body? Another shot showed a classic, bug-eyed, hairless alien with a bulbous head sitting behind the President’s desk in the Oval Office. In another, UFOs sat outside the departure gate of some anonymous mid-west airport.
“This stuff is gold!” Mitchell said, overacting, knowing he was goading Jason. “It's serious investigative journalism.”
Jason shook his head, trying not to laugh.
As Mitchell flicked through the pages, Jason spotted an image of a hairy man running through a child’s playground.
“Hey, that’s a monkey suit,” Jason cried, but Mitchell kept running his finger back and forth over the glass display, turning pages.
“Oh,” Mitchell replied. “You gotta separate the wheat from the chaff, but there’s some great stuff in here. Most of this stuff has been classified top secret for decades!”
“Yeah,” Jason replied dryly, pretending to agree with him. “It's real Pulitzer Prize material.”
Mitchell turned to a page near the back of the virtual
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