At approximately 12:35 pm, Eastern Daylight Time, just fourteen minutes ago, between four hundred and six hundred million people perished during a ‘...lack fog’ event which seemed to have caused a painless, simultaneous death. There was no noise, there were no screams of agony, there was perhaps not even a consciousness of their expiration, but roughly half a billion human beings worldwide are now deceased. There were other deaths incidental to this mass expiration, of course, but their numbers. "She’s afraid I might show you.”"Guess you’re proving her right, huh?”"Come on, you don't love Kevin, you haven't for a long time. He treats you like crap. Hey, only you and I will ever know about this." Let me think about it, Ben. Give me a few days. It’s all a bit sudden. I'll get back to you."I hung up the phone and started thinking. Hell, Ben was a lot of fun and we usually had a good time when we were all together. I wasn’t worried about Kevin. He’d never know, anyway. But Libby’s an old. ”I kept asking to do his work for him, not realizing it was encouraging a feeling of expectation. I told myself that if I kept this up, I might just be able to woo and win him. After two full semesters of this “charity” work, my tongue finally slipped.“Hey, Mico. Here’s that report on Costa Rica you needed.”“Thanks a lot, Sam. I really appreciate it.”“No problem. Hey, can I see you after class today?”“Yeah, sure. See you later.”Four hours later, I met Mico and we went to a rather secluded area. He kissed her cheek and took her hand, leading her into the room. I took a sip of my drink before acknowledging the tug at my elbow. It was Georgette Jeffers, the hostess. I smiled and took her hand, softly kissing the back. She smiled and giggled lightly, calling me a charmer. I smiled with my eyes. We made small talk about events that did not hold my interest or attention. My mind was elsewhere. I lost track of the lovely woman in auburn, and I much wanted to meet her. I excused myself from.