It was simpler just to keep things simple.

A bodyguard for a pretty socialite, I was moving up in the world. Like all idiots I naturally assumed she was pretty because she was rich. You can buy anything with money, even people, even... beauty.

To say she is only a woman is to say a violin is a piece of wood with strings, and Dante is mere ink printed on paper.

Last call. It was about that time. He’d probably been drinking liquid courage all night, waiting for his chance to hit on her. I had little choice in assuming he was a three-time loser with a wad-of-cash to wave around and a bozo smile to boot. About to prate his many accomplishments as a man of the world and his travels among the world’s top markets.

The sound of her laughter eased Clark’s migraine.

Here… our failures are known to every Tom Dick and Harry while our successes fall only on deaf ears. It’s death, hostile civilians, greedy politicians, and more death, and forget about love. You could be here now and across the world in 11 minutes. If you're lucky you’ll be blown to the next world in much less than 11 seconds.

I yawned awake ready to blow stuff up like a 90s action-star. I’d become what I despised, a misguided schmuck following the status-quo for the sole purpose of fitting in. Whatever... gunrunners, terrorists, bankers, dictators, goons; we all have it coming.