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Pulling back into traffic, they didn't say a word to each other for the rest of the way back to the precinct. Parking the car, Carlos got out and slammed the door. Walking briskly, he didn't even wait for Deborah. Once inside the precinct, he saw a few officers looking at him kind of funny. He looked at them with a frown as he walked past, wondering what they were looking at.

He sat down at his desk, still fuming from Deborah reaming him in the car. “Munoz!” he heard his Captain yell from across the room. “In here now! You too Ryder!”
He got up, pushing he chair hard and headed for his office with Debroah following behind. They waited outside his door while he spoke on the phone. It was such an awkward moment for both of them. The entire floor seemed to be looking at them, wondering what was going on. After what seemed to be an eternity, the pair entered Captain Morris' office and stood there. “Shut the door.” he said.
“What in the hell is going between you two?” he spoke loudly. “I just got a call from the chief. You two were arguing like a couple of teenagers at the Bosati crime scene this morning? He just chewed my ass off. Do you two jackasses know how connected Bosati was? His widow called the chief herself! She gave him the lowdown on how two of my detectives were acting like a couple of school kids in front of everyone.”
“Hey man, we weren't......” Munoz replied, but was quickly cut off.
“Save it.” Morris shouted. “This kind of crap has been going on for months with you two. I've had it.”
“I know he asked for another partner, so just transfer me.” Deborah said.
“You zip it.” he told her. “You have two choices. You go to counseling, or, you're back walking the streets.”
“Counseling?” Munoz shot back. “Fuck are you talking about man? I'm not going to no counselor.”
“Don't be an idiot Munoz.” Morris replied. “You've been through five partners in eight years. Since I paired you up with Ryder here, and it's been the worst one so far.”
Deborah stood still, arms folded and didn't say a thing. Writing on a pad, Morris continued “You both go see our counselor.” he said looking at Munoz. “I don't care what it takes, you both start getting along, or you'll be back on the streets. End of story.”
He tore off the paper and handed it to Ryder. “That's it.” he said, sitting down at his desk. “You have two weeks. Now both of you get out of my sight.”

Munoz stormed out of his office, walked over to his desk, grabbed his jacket and left. Deborah, arms still folded, shook her head and exited his office. The room became very quiet as she passed thought it. Nobody said anything. Heading downstairs, she was stopped by another female officer who said “I wouldn't take that shit from him.”
“Don't worry about me.” she replied. “I can take care of myself.”

Walking out the door, she saw Munoz leaning against the stone banister on the end of the staircase smoking a cigarette. She walked down the stairs and stood beside him, arms still folded. “Nice Carlos. Really nice.” she said.
“Don't even start man.” he snarled.
“Listen you fucking prick.” she said. “I'm not about to let you affect my career, so cut the shit. We're going to see this counselor...what's her name...right now. So give me the God-Dammed keys.”
She held out her hand and waited for him to give her the keys. He looked at her and exhaled in frustration, then took the keys out of his jacket pocket and slammed them into her hand. Deborah glared at him for a few seconds, then walked off toward the car.

Munoz didn't follow her right away. He was a very controlling personality and didn't like anyone telling him what to do. Finishing his smoke, he finally walked over to the car and got in. Deborah pulled out before he even had a chance to close the door. “You crazy man?!” he yelled. “Where is the twat anyway?”
“Okay, can you be a little less of a pig?” Deborah asked. “We don't even know who she is. My God! What happened to you as a child?”
“Don't even try analyzing me.” he snapped back. “You don't know me. You don't know my life.”
Looking straight ahead, Deborah said “What I know so far isn't pretty, believe me.”

They didn't speak the each other the rest of the way. Pulling in front of a Brownstone building, Deborah parked and got out. She walked up the stairs with Carlos following behind reluctantly. Deborah rang the bell that was under a brass plaque that read “Paige Mitchell, Counseling Psychology”
“Yes.” they heard a voice in the speaker.
“It's Deborah Ryder and Carlos Munoz”
“Second floor.” the voice replied. Deborah pushed the door open as the buzzer sounded. “What a waste of time.” Carlos grumbled. “Oh shut up.” Deborah snarled. “And don't make an ass of yourself.”
“Hey man.” he shot back, grabbing her arm. “Who the fuck you think you're talking to?”
Debroah pulled her arm away forcefully and stood in front if him. She was five foot ten, which was only an inch or two shorter that Munoz. “You think you can intimidate me?” she asked sternly.
Staring at him for a few seconds, she turned and opened the door to Mitchell's office and walked in. “We have an appointment with Paige Mitchell.” Deborah said to the young lady sitting behind a desk.
“Yes, of course. Miss Ryder, right? She is expecting you.” she said as she got up and walked around the desk. “Please follow me.” she said, walking into a large, dimly lit office.

Sitting behind a large antique desk was an auburn-haired woman writing on a pad.
“Please, come in and sit down.” the woman said, pointing to the pair of large leather chairs in the middle of the room. “I'll be with you in a minute.”
There young woman that led her into the office walked over and stood next to her, waiting to take the paper she was writing on.
“Can you make sure that this makes it there today?” she said to her assistant.
“Of course.” she replied, taking the paper. She walked past Munoz, who was staring at her. She had a gitty smile on her face and smirked a little. Deborah rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You've got to be kidding me.” she said under he breath. “Excuse me?” Mitchell asked, looking up at her.
“Nothing?” Deborah replied.

Standing up and walking around her desk, she extended her hand to Deborah first. “I'm Paige Mitchell.”
“I'm Deborah Ryder, and this is Carlos Munoz” she replied, pointing to Carlos.
Extending her hand to Munoz, she greeted him.
Munos looked her over. She was wearing a red blouse, long white skirt just above her knees and black sling-back pumps. She had shoulder length auburn hair and blue eyes. She turned around and sat in the chair opposite the two detectives and placed a notepad on her lap.
“I spoke with Captain Morris this morning.” She said. “He brought me up to speed, so the first thing I like to start with, is getting to know you both a little better. It that okay?”
“Sure.” Deborah replied.
“Mr. Munoz?” Paige asked. He was looking at her, undressing her with his eyes, and replied smugly “Whatever.”
“Would you grow up!” Deborah snapped at him. “God you're so obnoxious.”
Paige looked over at Deborah and said “Let's start there shall we. What are you finding obnoxious?”
“Are you kidding?” she asked. “You see the way he's looking at you.”
Not even acknowledging Munoz, she asked “Why does that bother you?”
“He's being a pig.” Deborah snapped back.
“Whoa.” Carlos snapped.
Looking over at Munoz, she asked “Mr. Munoz, may I call you Carlos?”
“You can call me whatever you want.” he replied in a smarmy tone.
“Okay.” she replied with a slight laugh.

He looked around her office, not paying attention to her at all. After a few moments, she cleared her throat loudly and waited until he looked at her. “Mr. Munoz. Carlos, this is not really very appropriate behavior for a man of your, uhhh experience, shall we say.”
Scratching his head, he said “Experience? Yeah whatever.”
Seeing that he was acting completely disinterested in whatever she had to say, she turned to Deborah and said “It's quite clear that the animosity here is not work related.”
“You don't know squat.” Carlos shot back. “You sit her in your big office with all your degrees on the wall, like I am supposed to care. You wouldn't last a day on the streets.” Deborah sat quiet, her arms folded as he spouted off about how being a cop was his way of life. Paige let my ramble on for what seemed to be quite a long time before she interrupted him quite forcefully with strong, authoratative tone, “Mr. Munoz. That will be quite enough.”
“What an ass.” Deborah added.
“Hey man.” he said, looking at her. “You knew who I was when you got into this.”
“Carlos.” Paige said loudly.
Continuing to rant, he barraded Deborah with hand gestures “Like you think I'm going to be someone I'm not? Well you can forget it. I am who I am and I'm not going to change that for no one.”
Deborah stared forward, shaking her head slightly. “Every day I have to listen to this shit.”

Snapping her fingers in front of him, Paige said loudly “Mr. Munoz!”
He kept is eyes locked on Deborah for a few seconds before turning his head and snarling “Did you just snap your fingers at me?”
Sitting back in her leather chair, she crossed her legs and adjusted her skirt on her leg. She placed her hands on the notepad in her lap and looked him in the eyes.
“You like to intimidate people.” she said. “Maybe that comes from your job, or maybe from your upbringing, but I am not about to accept this behavior.”

Carlos was getting visibly angered and opened his mouth to say something, but Paige held up her hand and pointed her index finger at him and said “Don't interrupt me.”
Deborah cringed, expecting this to get ugly, but to her surprise, Carlos slumped sightly in his chair and said nothing. Paige lowered her hand slowly back down to her lap.
“Listen to me.” she said. “The two of you bicker at each other like you're a married couple.” Her comment resulted in a sigh and rolling of the eyes from both of them. “I've dealt with this so many times, I can't even count.” she said. “You spend so much time together, your bound to get on each other's nerves.”

Writing a few notes on her pad, she looked up and asked Deborah “Deborah, what is really bothering you?” She didn't reply right away, but finally replied “Sometimes he looks at me like...well....” she started to say.
“Look at you like what?” Carlos snapped at her.
“You look at me like I'm one of your bimbos” she completed her statement.
“Are you loco man?” he replied. “Don't flatter yourself. I don't look at you like anything.”
Paige wanted to probe this a little more, and asked Deborah “You don't approve of the female company Carlos keeps?”
“I don't really care. It's not my business.” she replied. Shifting in the chair, she crossed her arms and looked away.
“Deborah.” Paige said calmly. “When you spend so much time together, feelings can develop.”
“Feelings? You have it all wrong.” she snapped back. “I don't give a damm who he humps. I just don't like being treated like I can't handle the job.”
“Can't handle the job?” Carlos said. “I don't treat you like you can't handle the job.”
“Sure you don't.” she snapped back. “Do you know how many times you take the lead, or completely disregard my input? You and your ego Carlos. It just you and your fucking macho ego!”
“I just do what I got to do, you know.” he replied, looking away.
“Just cause I'm female, doesn't mean I'm any less qualified than you are.” she shot back.
“Oh there it is.” he said in a mocking tone. “There it is. You're going to use the “I'm a girl” crap.”
“You're such an asshole!” Deborah said.
“Carlos.” Paige said. “You are not showing Deborah very much respect. I think we're going to take a little break.” She left the room and asked her assistant to prepare something to drink.

A few minutes later, her assistant entered the room and handed the pair cups of tea. Deborah smelled it and then took a sip. “Mmmm....” she murmured and took a few more sips.
“Don't you have some coke or something?” Carlos asked. “I'm not drinking this.”
“It's a tea blend I import from India.” Paige told him. “It's very calming. Please. Just try it.”
“It's good, just try it.” Deborah added, taking another sip.
“Fine.” he snarled. Taking a few sips.”

“What I suggest is you both spend the weekend together, off the job. Get to know each other a little better. You need to work out your differences.” Paige said.
“I don't know.” Deborah said.
“I have five days to file my report to Captain Morris, so you both need to come back and see me before then, with some real progress.”

Finishing her tea, Deborah stood up and said “Thanks for you time. We'll see if we can work on it.”
Carlos stood up and walked out, not saying anything at all. Deborah looked at him, then back and Paige and said “I'm sorry.”
“No need to apologize.” she replied as she took Deborah's hand and squeezed it. “I've see this quite often. What you need to do is demand his respect.”
“Okay, I guess.” Deborah replied. Paige was still holding her hand and didn't let it go, even after Deborah made a few attempts to pull her hand away. Finally, she forcefully pulled her hand away and made her way out of the office, looking back at Paige. “That was weird.” she thought to herself. Walking down the steps outside, she stopped beside Carlos who was standing at the curb, smoking a cigarette. They both looked around, but not at each other, then finally Deborah broke the silence. “Okay listen. I live three blocks from here. Come over to my apartment and we can talk.”
“You're place. Man, I can't wait.” he said sarcastically.
Deborah rolled her eyes and started walking, saying “You're such an jerk.”
“I heard that.” he said.
“You were supposed to hear it.” she said as she kept walking.
“Hey! The car?” he said, almost shouting.
“Leave it. I'll come and get it tomorrow.” she call back to him.
Carlos shook his head and looked up at the sky. “Great. Just fucking great. I get to spend a Friday night with her.”
He followed behind, but stayed quite a few steps back. He stopped at several shops and looked in the windows as if he was window shopping. Deborah was getting a little fed up with his antics and about a block from her apartment stopped and waited for Carlos to catch up. “What?” he asked, approaching her.
“You're acting like a spoiled brat.” she said.
“Hey man.” he said sharply. “Don't act like you own me.”
“Own you?” she said loudly. “Do you ever listen to yourself? It's like you are in your own world.”
“Whatever man.” he replied. “Just keep walking.” he said as he walked passed her.
“I could just....” she said in frustration. “I can't believe this.” she fumed to herself.

After a few minutes, Carlos looked back to see Deborah walking up some stairs. He back tracked to where she was opening the door to her place. Looking down the stairs, she nodded her head at him and said “Come on.” He followed her up the stairs, then inside to another flight of stairs. “Up here.” he heard her say. He climbed the wooden staircase to to top. A door at the end of the hall was cracked open. Pushing the door open, he walked in and looked around, then closed the door behind him. Her apartment was pretty large for New Your standards. She had a living room, separate dining room and the kitchen was off to one side. “Grab a seat.” Deborah said, heading for her bedroom. “I'll be right back.”

He looked around her place, which was very clean and nicely decorated. It was much more feminine that he thought it would be, see seemed more like a tom-boy that a girly-girl. Heading for the living room, he noticed some pictures frames on the mantle that looked mostly like family. She never talked about any relationships to him, in fact, he didn't know that much about her – mostly because he didn't really care to know.
“You want a beer?” Deborah asked as she crossed behind him into the kitchen.
“Uhhh....Yeah, all right.” he answered.
Deborah walked from the kitchen into the living room and said “Here.” as she handed him his beer.
Turning around, Carlos did a double take when he saw her light blue sport tank top stretched slightly across her breasts. She was wearing white running shorts and sport thong sandals. Her long brown hair (which Carlos had never noticed before because she always had her hair tied up on the job) was tied in a pony-tail. She was also wearing red-framed glasses.
“What's wrong? What are you looking at?” Deborah asked, seeing the look of surprise on his face.
“Uh...nothing.” he replied.
“All right.” she said, taking a sip of her beer. “So what's the look then?”
“Nothing man.” he replied. “You're just...uhhhhh”
“Sit down Carlos.” she said, shaking her head.
“I never see you out of work clothes. Thats all. I didn't even know you wore glasses.”
“I wear contacts on the job.” she said, sitting down on the sofa. “There's a lot you don't know about me.”
“Yeah? Like what?” he asked.
“Let's get one thing straight.” she said sternly. “We have get that report signed, then we can go on with our lives. So let's just get through this ridiculous exercise, okay?”
“I'm just trying to make conversation. Relax man.” he snapped back.
Folding her arms, she plopped her feet up on the coffee table and said “For four years I've listened to your macho bullshit. Never once did you bother to try to get to know me better.”
“I don't need to know your life man.” he said, rolling he eyes.
“Stop calling me man.” she said shaking her head. “Geese. Just sit down.”
She picked up the TV remote and turned to some home improvement show.
Carlos sat down at the other end of the sofa and sipped his beer. The tension in the room was thick. He Exhaled loudly, causing Deborah to look over at him and ask “What?!”
“Hey, would you take it easy!” he said.
Taking another sip of his beer, he adjusted himself and said “Is there like a football game on or something? I can't watch this home improvement shit man.”

Sighing in frustration, she clicked the remote and changed to the NFL channel. “The NFL channel? I didn't know you liked football.”
“Like I said Carlos, there's a lot you don't know.” she snarled.
He sat back and sipped his beer, hearing her yell “Throw the ball!”
“She likes football. Okay that's cool.” he thought to himself. After watching the game in silence for a short while, Deborah lifted her leg up rubbed her knee with her right hand, then slipped her thong sandals off and let them drop on the table. She crossed her legs at the ankles. Carlos didn't say a word, but he couldn't help looking over at her long shapely legs. She was in really good shape. He wondered how he could have gone so long and never even noticed her.
Deborah's eyes looked right and then she asked “Are you checking me out Carlos?”
“What? Checking you out? No man?” he replied, trying to lie convincingly.
“You have no chance with me.” she said. “Get that through you head right now.”
“You really need to calm down Deborah. You're getting all worked up for nothing. I'm just a little surprised, that's all.
“Surprised?” she shot back. “Surprised that I do normal things like watch football?”
She saw that he was looking at her feet and pointed her finger at him and said “And not a word about my big feet.”
“What?” he shot back. “I wasn't looking at your feet. They're not that big.”
“Size ten feet on a woman is not attractive, believe me. I took lots of ribbing about my canoes over the years. My last boy.....you know what? Forget it.” she said.
“It's not like you're five-foot-two or something.” he said. “They suit you.”
Looking down at her feet, she flexed her toes back and forth and said “Well you're the first person to tell me that.”
“What was that you said about a boyfriend?” he asked.
“Forget it.” she replied.
“You told me I don't know anything about you. You're right. I'm just trying to get to you know you a little better.”
“He was an asshole. It's not worth discussing.” she said as he got up to go to the bathroom. “I'll be right back.”

Carlos sat there, still wondering how he never noticed her before. When Deborah returned from the bathroom, she walked right into the table with her shin. Hobbling to the sofa, she sat down and rubbed her leg, saying “Ow, Ow, Ow. I hate when I do that.”
Snapping his fingers, he motioned for her to put her leg on his lap. Deborah hesitated, then lifted her leg and placed it on his knee. He stroked her shin trying to help ease the pain. Taking her calf in his free hand, he squeezed and caressed her calf muscle. Feeling a little uncomfortable, she started to pull her leg away, but he held it in his hands and said “Would you relax.”
“I'm fine Carlos.” she replied. “My leg is fine.”
“Just sit back.” he said, looking at her.
Reluctantly, she sat back against the pillows at the end of the couch. Carlos continued caressing her leg. With each stroke, the tips of her toes touched his arm. Readjusting himself, he placed her foot in his lap. His hands made their way to her ankle, then he ran his palm up the sole of her bare foot, stopping at her toes, then back down. He repeated this several times before Deborah said “It was my shin I whacked on the table Carlos.”
“I'm just rubbing your foot. I'm not asking you to have my baby.” he said.
Shaking her head, she said sarcastically “You're so eloquent.”
Continuing to caress her foot, he commented “I don't know why you're so self-conscious about your feet?”
Replying in a sarcastic tone, she said “I didn't know you had a foot fetish.”
Letting out a laugh, he slid his pinkie between her big and second toes and said “Whatever turns you on.”
Removing her foot from his lap, she said “All right, you've fondled my foot enough. You're starting to creep me out a bit.”
“Creep you out?” he shot back. “I've never met a chick that doesn't like a good foot rub.”
“Chick?” she replied. “Are you kidding me. Does this shit actually work for you?”
“You can't enjoy anything can you?” he said. “You're like, so uptight man.”
“I'm not uptight.” she replied waving her hand in the air. “You're the one with this whole....foot thing going on.”
Laughing at her, he chuckled “You've never had a really good pedicure have you?”
“Are you like loosing your fucking mind Carlos?” she said, practically yelling. “If you think I'm finding this remotely interesting...”
Still chuckling, he said “I knew it.....I knew it.”
Deborah looked at him flabbergasted, shaking her head. “I didn't know you were into....oh boy this is not going to happen!”She removed her foot from his lap and turned back towards the coffee table.
Completely disregarding her comments, he said “My wife used to like it when I gave her pedicures.”
“What? You're wife? You never told me you're married!” Deborah said in a surprised tone.
“Used to like.” he said. “She left me a long time ago.”
“Oh, I'm sorry.” Deborah replied.
“Noting to be sorry about.” he said. “She didn't give a shit about me.”
Deborah, surprised by what she was hearing, didn't say anything. Carlos looked at her and said “She used me to get into the country. I was too young and stupid to see that. As soon as she had her green card, vamoose.”
“Wow.” Deborah said.
Not responding right away, he looked into space before saying “I almost dropped out of the academy because of it. It was a really bad part of my life.”
Shrugging, he said “Ahhh forget it. I stopped worrying about that bitch a long time ago.”
“Okay.” she said. “But uhhhh....this whole foot slash pedicure thing....it's not going to happen.”
“Hey man. I'm not trying to get in you pants is that's what you're worried about.” he said. “I like don't really think about you that way.”
“You're fucking right you're not getting into my pants.” she said. “Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I think it's time for you to go.”
“Deborah just wait a sec.” he said. “Don't read anything into what I'm about to say okay?”
“I don't want you to say anything, really, please just stop it.” she replied.
“Whatever man.” he exhaled. “You know how lucky you are?”
“Oh my God!” she commented sarcastically as she stood up. “I'm just so lucky. ”
Still sitting, he was getting a little perturbed. “Are you done?”
Taking her sandals off the table, she tossed them to the floor and slipped her feet into them and motioned to the door and said “No, I think you're done.”
“Do you know how many women would kill to have what you have?” he said.
“This just keeps getting better and better!” she shouted at him. “Get over yourself already!”
“Listen you fucking hard head.” he said, almost yelling. “I'm talking about you, not me.”
“What?” Deborah asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
“You have the entire package man.” he continued.
“Carlos, I swear!” she said, shaking her finger at him.
“You really don't know do you?” he said, chuckling and shaking his head. “Why you chose to be a detective, I'll never know.”
“Listen Carlos, I made it to detective with hard work.” she shot back. “What is your fucking problem?”
“Look at you.” he said, motioning with his hand. “Tall, beautiful, smoking hot body. Man, it's like you don't own a mirror or something.”

Deborah was quite shocked at what he said. Although she was a very beautiful woman, she didn't think of herself that way. Feeling quite embarrassed and blushing a little, she shifted back and forth awkwardly. “I don't know what you are trying to accomplish Carlos, but you are really making me uncomfortable.” she said.
Carlos was a little taken a back at her reaction. “Wow man, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable Deborah. I thought you were putting me on.”
“I'm not some model or something.” she replied. “I don't know why you're telling me all this stuff. First the pedicure, now this? I don't know what to say.”
“Listen man, I know what I am.” he opened up to her. “I don't have anybody. I've tried, you know, to be a better person. Nobody stays around me too long. I guess I'm too far gone.”
Feeling a little sorry for him, she said “Nobody's too far gone Carlos.” Taking a few steps to the sofa, then sitting down. “Look, I'm sorry, I thought uhhhh.....you know.”
“Listen Ryder.” he said. “I was just trying to be nice. You bashed your shin and I was trying to help.”
“I got it.” she said. “The foot thing is just, well, a little strange.”
“Do you know how many guys find women's feet attractive?” he asked her. “Tons. It's not like I am a leper or something.”
Exhaling loudly, she shook her head and said “I don't care if you like feet. If that's what turns you on, that is your problem, not mine.”
“Okay, that's enough.” he said. “You know what, I'm going to show you just what it is, so you can see that there is nothing sexual about it.”
“You are not touching my Carlos.” she replied sternly. “Or any part of me for that matter.”
“You're so uptight.” he replied with a sarcastic sigh. “It's not about that, I told you. It's just something nice to do for someone.”
Rolling her eyes, she looked at him and said “If I let you do this, will you just drop it?”
“Yeah, yeah. Don't worry.” he said. “Bring me whatever stuff you got for you feet.”

Deborah got up and headed for the bathroom saying “I can't believe I'm letting you do this.” She was still finding it a little weird, but he did just show her a softer side, so she thought it would probably be okay. She tossed a bunch of implements and tools into a tray, followed by cremes and a few bottles of nail polish. Heading back to the living room, she placed the tray on the table and sat down. Carlos looked at the tray and laughed.
“What now?” Deborah asked.
He chuckled looking at the quantity of stuff in the tray. “Nail polish too!”
“I don't know what you wanted me to bring. If you don't want to....” she started to say but was interrupted.
“Give me the tray and sit back.” he said, pointing to the table. Deborah handed him the tray and sat back on the sofa, then lifted her feet and placed them in his lap. “I need something for a foot bath.” he said.
“Foot bath?” she asked, removing her feet from his lap. “You don't need to do that. I don't expect you to wash my feet.”
Picking up a rasp from the tray and pointing to it. “Using this on dry skin is not good, it actually tears the skin and can give you . The skin should be moistened.”
Deborah was feeling quite uneasy and said “Whatever, but I don't have a foot bath.” she replied. “So you will have to make do.”
“Do you have a large bowl or something?”
“Maybe in the kitchen.” she said.
“Just sit down and relay already.” he said as he stood up as he headed for the kitchen. Deborah listened to him clanging around in her cupboards, then there was running water. “Where is your salt?” she heard him ask. “Beside the stove.” she called to him, rubbing her hand on her forehead.

After a few minutes, he returned with a large bowl filled with water, a towel and a bottle of shower gel he got out of her bathroom. Deborah watched as he prepared the foot bath for her. “Wow, you are really into this.” she said. “And thanks for going through my stuff in the bathroom.”
Hi smiled at her, not even acknowledging her snide remark. He sat down on the floor in front of the bowl and motioned for her right foot. She raised he leg and placed her heel in his palm. Butterflies hit her stomach as he lowered her foot into the warm soapy water, then took a cloth and gently washed it. She bit her upper lip as he washed between each toe, tickling her slightly. Wringing out the cloth, he put it on the towel then continued to massage her foot with his hands. “I've got to say that you are really good at this.” she said as she watched him. He looked at her and smiled. “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.”

Lifting her foot from the water, he dried it with the towel, set it down on the floor and repeated the process with her left foot. After both of her feet were washed and ready, he sat down on the sofa and put the towel on his legs. Deborah swung her legs over and deposited her bare feet on his lap. Carlos perused the tools in the tray, finally choosing a metal rasp. He took her right foot in his hands and gently scraped her heel smooth, then moved to her instep and did the same. He switched to finer grades and repeated the process until her entire sole was as smooth as a baby's bottom. Deborah watched intently as he moved to her left foot. She started to relax and let her guard down a little. “He's right. ” she thought to herself. “This feels pretty incredible.”

Deborah put he hand over her mouth as he took the lotion, squeezed it into his palm, then gently, but firmly rubbed it into her soft skin. Spending quite a bit of time on each foot, he massaged each toe between his fingers. Just when she thought it couldn't get any better, he took the cuticle tool and carefully sliced off the dead skin. He contoured each cuticle until it was perfect. He clipped each of her toenails to a perfect profile, followed by an emery board until each nail was smooth and perfectly shaped. After he was done, he stroked each foot and inspected his work. “Nice.” he said.

“I have to admit that was incredible. You are very good at this.” Deborah said.
“We're not done yet.” he said, holding up a bottle of red nail polish.
“I'm not that big on red.” she said. “How about something dark?”
Picking up a bottle of deep burgundy, he showed it to her and received a nod of approval. Deborah placed her right hand behind her head and exhaled as Carlos carefully inserted toe separators between each of her long, straight toes. For the next hour, he laid down three coats of color, followed by two coats of clear to each of her toenails, during which he would lift her foot and blow on her toes to help the polish dry. Deborah sat silently the whole time, watching him pamper her feet. She remained a little uneasy with the whole situation, but still tried to relax and enjoy it.

After the last coat of clear had dried, he looked at her and asked “So, how was that?”
“That was a first for me.” she said. “It was nice.”
He lifted her right foot up and gently kissed the tip of her big toe.
“Nice?” he said, lowering her foot back to his lap. “That's all you can say?”
Deborah suddenly felt something on her heel. She looked down to see the bulge in his pants.
“I knew it.” she said removing her feet from his lap. “My God! You're getting off on my feet!”
“Wait!” he said, before he doubled over in pain. He clutched his chest, wincing in pain. “What's wrong with you?” she asked as she stood up and backed away.
“I don't know.” he replied, in obvious discomfort.
“I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but you need to go.” she shouted, pointing at the door.
He clenched his fists and moaned in pain. “Did you hear me?” she yelled, backing up further.
Carlos grabbed his head in his hands and blurted out “I'm burning up.”
Deborah's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “What the fuck is happening to you?” she screamed.
She watched in shock, he was almost screaming in pain. It looked like like he getting smaller. His hands retracted inside his shirt sleeves. His feet slid from his shoes. Deborah covered her mouth with her hand and just stared as he continued to reduce in size. After a few seconds, he stopped screaming and took short breaths as he rubbed his arms. He instantly noticed his larger than normal shirt, then pants. All his clothes were huge.

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