Colleagues (Part 7) - Deal

You woke up, covered in cold sweat, it was morning, and you were still shrunken - laying on the table.

You had a nightmare, you dreamed that Naomi gave you to Anna from the office and she ripped you off with her toes, then sent it on whatsapp and everyone laughed at your pathetic death.

Naomi came out of her morning shower, you stood up and looked at her.

“Oh hey Greg, woke up so early?” She asked, “you probably couldn’t sleep, excited about the cure and all”, she smiled and went to make herself breakfast.

You looked at the cage, Jonathan was still sleeping, you laid back down and watched the ceiling, “please grow back…” you mumbled, talking to your body like it’s a living thing.

She left for work and you spent the day on the table, too nervous to talk with Jonathan, you kept your distance.

—————-

When Naomi came back from work she stood by the table and looked at her phone, “Greg, it’s been almost 23 hours, I guess it didn’t work, aw”, she said with a smile, “can’t say I feel too bad about it”, she giggled.

“There’s still time, no? An hour?” You asked in tears.

She sighed and placed her feet on the table, just in front of your face, “yeah I don’t think it’s going to work, bummers, guess you’ll stay and take care of my feet, but it can’t be that bad, right?” She laughed.

You quickly walked and stood next to her feet, “n-no, I will order another one”, you called to her.

Jonathan climbed down and started walking to her feet, it’s your daily meal’s time.

“Really? You will spend another 50k just like that? Lol Greg, I had no idea you are that rich”, she giggled.

“I’m not rich, that’s all of my money I think, I will have to sell my investments as well”, you explained.

“Hmm… ok”, she said with a mischievous smile, “if you insist, we can order another bottle”.

You looked at Jonathan, he used the fact he’s hidden behind her foot to tell you not to do it, but you ignored him, that’s your only chance.

"But first, I want you to focus today on my dead skin”, she gestured towards her feet.

“Y-Yes, of course”, you miserably nodded and approached her sole, you quickly found a dead skin cluster around her arch and started grinding your teeth against it.

By now, it didn’t really disgust you anymore, you were used to it.

You were used to everything, the smell, the taste, the burning sticky feeling in your throat, you ignored all of it, only one goal was in front of you - try the cure again.

At some point Jonathan stopped treating her foot and climbed back to his cage, all curled up, he probably ate enough putrid gunk.

You didn’t stop, you kept eating her dead skin eagerly, doing whatever you could to please and satisfy her.

Her TV show ended, she pulled her feet and sighed.

You wiped off her foot sweat from your mouth and walked forward, “h-hey Naomi, can we please order another bottle now?” You pleaded.

“Umm, Greg, I’ve been thinking about it”, she said and placed her foot back on the edge of the table, she caressed her sole with a smile, “you are doing such a good job eating the dead skin”.

You opened your eyes in fear, scared of how what she says might continue.

“I will let you order the cure again, but only once my feet are completely smooth”, she explained with a smile.

“b-but it will take months”, you said, your eyes slowly starting filling in tears.

“Yeah, I guess”, she said casually, “but it’s worth it, right? Imagine I’m going to have smooth soles”.

You looked at her with sad eyes, bowing down your head and sobbing.

“I mean, having soles like my teenage years? Who wouldn’t want that”, she laughed, “so what do you say?” She asked.

You defeatedly nodded, knowing you don’t have any other choice.

“Good boy, now walk back to your cage, I want to have proper dinner”, she ordered and you walked like an obedient slave, you entered the cage and closed it behind you, she reached her hand to lock it.

As she walked to the kitchen Jonathan knocked his floor a few times.

“Greg, you gotta listen to me, she is lying”, he whispered.

“Even if she does, that’s my only hope”, you said, trying to calm down your sobs but you couldn’t, Jonathan had nothing to say to that, “I’m going to spend months here”, you cried, “my career, my savings, everything I worked for”, you said in a sore voice and kept crying.

“I’m sorry”, he said in a sad tone.

“For her soles, so she can have tidy feet - I’ll lose everything”, you said and sat back down, crying and holding the bars, “that stupid cage”, you mumbled in frustration.

Naomi came back with another homemade feast, eating in joy in front of you both, you were used to it either, you watched her eating and imagined eating the same, but the only taste you could imagine was either her disgusting foot gunk or sweat.

—---------

Life was horrible, every single day was the same, it drove you insane.

Jonathan only ate what he needed so he wouldn't die of starvation, while you worked hours upon hours every day, eating every little tissue of dead skin.

No matter how much Naomi mocked and teased you, or pushed you to work harder - you remained silently obedient, fully focused onward.

It’s been so long, you lost weight, your hair was falling out, you felt like your whole physical and mental health is degrading over time, just for the sake of her beautiful feet.

You stopped crying, and you stopped responding to Jonathan, you felt like he’s just trying to distract you from your goal.

Every time Naomi told you “good boy” you smiled like a puppy, you kissed her feet voluntarily many times, her smiles meant the world to you, in your head it was all an approval that she will really let you try the cure again.

Jonathan’s health state also degraded, his skin was pale, he also lost most of his hair, he coughed a lot at nights, apparently caught some sickness.

You had no idea how long it’s been, and new dead skin clusters kept showing up on her foot, it was like an endless work, she didn’t care for her feet condition, she kept using her shoes without socks, walked outside barefoot, it was like she did whatever she could to get her feet’ condition worse - and she won this fight, you couldn’t keep up, and there were constantly dead skin clusters somewhere on her soles.

—---------

"h-hey *cough cough*, Greg?” You heard one night, you woke up and looked at Jonathan, he was sitting in his part of the cage.

“Hmm”, you replied.

“Naomi, she shrank me on purpose, right?” He asked with a weak voice.

“What? Why are you saying that?” You asked, you didn’t want to snitch on Naomi, who knows how she might react if she finds out.

“Just tell me the truth man, I swear I won’t say anything”, he asked and you felt sorry for him.

“Y-Yes…” you confessed.

“Heh…” he made a pathetic voice, “and you really think she will let any of us out of here”.

“Once her feet are smooth she won’t need us anymore”, you said, determined.

He shook his head and sighed, “Greg, do you know how long you have been doing it?” He asked. You  didn’t know the answer, “it’s been 4 years now”, he said in a grave tone.

“F-Four years? Hah, that can’t be right, you must have made a mistake”, you said, but your heart was pounding.

“I’m counting every foot treatment, and I have no more room on my bars”, he said, trying to show you a mark on one of the bars, “1529 days…” He said desperately.

“No, no, it can’t be… What about the holidays? Birthdays? She mentioned nothing about it, she doesn’t celebrate christmas?”

Jonathan looked at you, he seemed so weak, “haven’t you noticed the cold? It’s winter right now, how couldn’t you hear the bells, it’s Christmas, now, why do you think she hasn’t gone to work lately?”, he asked, it was a rhetorical question.

You couldn’t hold back, deep in your heart you knew he’s right, you were in complete denial, you started crying.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for what my wife did to you”, he said and looked up, “you had nothing to do with it, sorry Greg”, he mumbled weakly.

Your mind was racing, you thought about every dead skin cluster you ate, some of them were showing up at the same spot, over and over again, you are working so hard and it’s never enough, it will never end, you must pick up the pace, you must do something.

————

End of part 7