An unnoticed fly hovered just inside the bar after following the giant men inside the entrance.
As the insect hovered in place, the pause between two songs ended, producing a loud barrage of bass-heavy noise that distressed the fly with concussive waves of sound that it felt more than heard.
Any other time, the bar, which was known to be a very good place to drink and dance time away with friends, would have appealed to Brad. In the wake of his transformation, it was a perplexing, perilous place that a puny bug had no business being.
Except he had to find Karam. Being stranded far from his home, Karam represented the transformed man's last tenuous link with his former life.
But the blaring speakers continued to blast out a song played at a volume that the one-time scientist had never heard in any of his altered experiences. With flashing, bright lights added to the turmoil of its surroundings, Brad panicked.
None of the patrons of the bar took any notice of the alarmed insect forced to search for shelter from the storm of noise.
He had never gotten more than a couple of feet, as the fly flies, from the front door, when a trio of departing friends swept up the discombobulated insect in their path. Before he knew what was happening, he collided with the vast fabric-covered chest of one of the giants. The unseen fly bounced off of the giant's chest and plunged almost straight down into the deep abyss of a shirt pocket.
As soon as he stepped out of the dimly lit bar into the bright afternoon San Francisco sunshine, the giant pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket. Brad, huddled at the bottom of the pocket, watched the massive plastic eyewear disappear, at least leaving him more room. A faint but attractive (to his fly senses) odor of salt and sweat leached from the other side of the fabric.
The other two men exchanged merry farewells of kisses and hugs with their friend.
"I'll be back in a couple of weeks," the man said as he slid on his sunglasses. "We'll do this again."
Brad buzzed nervously, unable to see what was happening outside the pocket. The faint sound of the buzz went unheard.
The man walked to a nearby parking lot, got into his car, paid the parking fee and then drove out of San Francisco. He had a six-hour drive ahead to get home to Los Angeles.
Of course, for the time being, the tiny fly that was an uninvited passenger in the man's pocket had no idea that it would soon be more than 400 miles from home.