Corporate Shrink

The office was quiet, save for the sound of clacking of keyboard presses and the occasional ringing phone. A slow day, thought the young woman in the corner. With her golden hair tied into a bun, and a well-fitted suit, she looked every part the working woman she strove to be. Her workspace was clear, with only a single photograph of a tranquil field adorning her desk. Various HR forms were sorted into multiple piles, and her eyes darted between them and the computer screen. Her hands danced across the keyboard as she checked and confirmed information, and logged her results. Lips pulled tight, brow furrowed, she barely heard her coworker call for her. It was only when an unblemished hand bounced between her and the screen that her eyes widened, and she looked up.
“Anna? What is it?”
Anna, the red-headed owner of the hand, frowned before responding.
“It’s lunch, that’s what. Are you alright, August? You haven’t moved from your seat for the last 6 hours.”
Turning her head, her computer’s clock blinked 4:15 at her. She’d been working the whole day on the pile of papers in front of her, logging the information, and updating the systems. A small breath escaped her lips as she looked back to her friend, a slight smile on her face.
“Sorry , sorry. I’ve just been busy.”
“I know you’ve been busy. But come on, you haven’t even had lunch yet. Hell, I’m leaving now. You should get something to eat, or at least some fresh air.”  Anna’s words were kind, but there was steel behind them. August grinned.
“I will, don’t worry. Trust me, I didn’t want to be in on a Saturday either. But someone has to finish these reports.”
“Usually, the person who does it gets paid for it.” Anna didn’t bother to hide the distaste in her voice now. Turning her head, she glowered at the office at the end of the room. “The man spends hours and hours lecturing us about professional behavior, and responsibilities,” Anna spat the word as if it was vulgar, “and then just up and disappears when things get rough? And leaves us to pick up the slack? As soon as he gets back, I’m having a serious conversation with his boss, that’s for sure.” Anna’s glare was burning holes through the dividing window now, August was sure of it. A tingle ran along her toes, hidden within her flats. She stifled a grin, and clenched her toes together, as Anna went on about how their boss was short-changing them. She turned again to August, out of steam for now.
“Look, are you sure you don’t need help? I can call my date, I’m sure he’ll understand.” Anna’s eyes were softer now, and her words were earnest. But her eyes flicked towards the door for a half second, and that was all August needed.
“Nah, you go ahead. You feel good about this guy right? Go have fun. Just let me live vicariously through you later!” August smiled, and Anna laughed. She turned again towards the door, and took off, a distinctive spring in her step. August turned to the screen again, hands typing away, but her ears perked up, waiting, until she finally heard the thud of the office door closing. Exhaling deeply, she leaned back in her chair, and grinned. ‘Finally,’ she thought, ‘the fun can begin.’ As she cleared her workspace, making sure to keep the papers neat and tidy, she slipped her feet out of their flats. Shifting in her pantsuit, she raised now bare feet to the desk. There, gripped by her toes, no more than two inches tall, was a naked man, flailing in his prison of flesh.
“Hello boss. How was your day?”
August smiled. She couldn’t hear him, even if he answered, but she didn’t want a reply. Relaxing her toes, she let the tiny man fall from her toes onto the desk. He hit the surface, and curled up, no longer moving. She grinned and brought her face closer. She could see he was still shaking, and she scoffed.
“Really? Was it that bad? Why, I’m insulted boss. You really need to learn how to treat a lady.” Her grin split wider and wider, until it was a goofy smile plastered along her face. She didn’t know why teasing him felt so good, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to stop. A part of her was disappointed, though. Teasing him was fun but she wanted a reaction of some kind. Tears, screaming, begging. The cold shoulder route was already getting boring. Her eyes flashed, and she started to speak again.
“Well, since this whole thing was your idea, maybe you have some suggestions. How would you punish yourself?”
Bingo. At once, the tiny man, got to his feet and started yelling. His red face, covered in dirt, was deforming as he jumped, she noticed in glee, actually jumped at her. It was clear he was upset, violently so, but August could only smile. All she could hear was a series of high pitched squeaks, with a choking breath breaking up the flow every here and there. She couldn’t understand what he was saying, but she knew exactly what he was screaming about.
“Yes, this was your idea. I said I would make you disappear, didn’t I?” That set off a fresh bout of squeak and flailing, which almost sent August giggling. Well, she thought, let’s get started.
“Wait. Could it be you don’t like the kind deal I gave you? Do you want to renege on our agreement?” Her lips had pursed, and her tone had a tinge of mock hurt to it. The small figure stopped flailing, and August continued.
“Well, it’s a shame, but I suppose I could try and change you back.” The figure didn’t move, but August could almost taste the hope she had inspired. Her face remained placid, but her heart was racing. She let the moment stretch on, before,
“You just need to do one little thing for me first.” At that, the figure twitched. She knew he wanted to fight it, to make demands. But he had also spent the last day and a half as an insole. The fight had been, quite literally, stomped out of him. He lowered his head in acceptance, and she smirked.
“Good. I’m going to go get my lunch. In the meantime, I expect you to take the data on each of these forms, and have them logged in the system by the time I get back. I’m already logged in, and I already did most of the work, so it shouldn’t be an issue.” At that the small man jumped up again. The forms in question were stacked up behind him, each almost as tall as he. Moving each sheet of paper would be an effort, much less operating the keyboard. Before the man could look up at her, or try to argue, August slipped out the cubicle, and down the hall.  She walked to the break room, giggling all the while. Of course, she didn’t expect her former boss to succeed, but she was genuinely interested if he would even try. The result would be the same, either way. She didn’t have any intention of letting him go, not since she found him in his situation. Unwrapping her packed lunch, she thought back to how things had started. Quint Steward, the middle manager of the HR company, was not a well liked man. That he managed to weasel himself into a position of some power was a mystery to his employees and employers alike. Quick to point fingers during times of trouble, and seldom willing to acknowledge group efforts, he was both incredibly aggressive and massively incompetent. So, when rumors of him embezzling money came to light, none of his coworkers came to his aid. Despite the court being unable to prove anything, the little reputation he had was damaged beyond repair, and things only got worse. He was shunned by his superiors, and found his responsibilities being moved to other, more capable workers. His wife left him, by publicly announcing his marital indiscretions in the middle of his office. The writing was on the wall, plain for every one to see. That was when August had made her move. It was clear that Quint was planning to jump ship with whatever he could get his hands on. She just needed to provide the proper incentive. It was actually Quint’s ex-wife who had given her the idea for his punishment. A chance meeting at a bar the day before the official separation, the red-faced woman had spared no detail in revealing any humiliating secret to anyone who would listen. She wouldn’t have guessed that Quint had such a strange fetish, but she found it difficult to complain when it made him so much more accommodating. All she had to do was suggest that she could make him disappear. Just drop a small hint at the method, and he had been eating out of her hand, figuratively. Convincing him to pack his things, and show up to work early was child’s play. To be fair, she hadn’t lied. She had made him disappear, straight into her shoe, and out of sight. Was it really her fault that he hadn’t thought ahead? That was Friday morning. He’d spent the rest of that day trapped in her flat. She hadn’t even let him out when she slept, just stuffed a sock in the mouth to keep him there. Upper management was livid, of course, when they learned he’d disappeared. And she and Anna had been called in to complete the work he had left behind. But that was a small price to pay. August smiled as she glanced at her watch. She’d given the little bug 15 minutes already. “No reason to keep him waiting too long.” She muttered. Making her way back to her desk, she couldn’t help but smile at the sight before her. She’d expected the boss to try to file a form and give up. Apparently that was too much for him, as the computer screen was asking for login credentials. Somehow, to her complete glee, the miniscule moron had managed to time out the system. In only 15 minutes. The aforementioned moron was currently jumping on top of the tab key, trying to input a set of credentials he clearly didn’t know. Knocking on the desk, August interrupted his efforts.
“Well, I guess you’ve made your decision then, haven’t you?” Snatching the tiny figure off the table, she brought him up to her face, grinning like a cat.
“It’s okay. You might not be good for anything else, but at least you can keep feet company.” The tiny man tried to again call out, but his words carried no weight to August. Reaching down, she picked up the flat, grimacing.
“Jeez, these things really reek. But if that’s what you’re into, I won’t judge. Just do me a favor,” She dangled him above one of the flats, letting the scent bathe him.
“Try to clean up a bit, will you? This is your new home after all.” With that, she dropped him into the shoe. Tilting it slightly, she led his body down to the toe section. Grinning, she placed the flat back on the floor, and slipped her shoe back on. She twisted her foot on it’s heel, and leaned back in her chair.
“Now,” she breathed, “Back to work.”