Chapter 19 – A Very Delicate Process

It was twelve forty five in the morning when Wiley felt his world shift. Jennifer had been out for quite a while and was waking up. “Oh my God.” she said, holding her head. “I must be going crazy! That has to be the strangest dream I've ever had.”
She looked at her foot, then down at the camera on the floor, which gave her butterflies in her stomach, realizing that it probably wasn't a dream. Grabbing the camera, she said to herself, “this can't be happening.”
Turning the camera on, she exhaled a few times before she had enough courage to press the button beside the screen and look at the pictures. Her left hand raised to her mouth with a gasp at seeing the picture, still zoomed on on her toenail. There was her miniscule husband, helplessly glued to her toenail. “Oh my God!” she blurted out. “How on earth could this have happened?!! I could have squashed you and not even have known it!”

“Can you hear me Everett?” she said, rolling her eyes at herself right after saying it. “Of course you can hear me.”
“Let me think.” she said to herself, biting her fingernail.
After a few minutes, she looked up and said “Of course!” then stood up and carefully walked to the table and got her phone. She returned to the sofa, sat back down and lifted her foot on to her knee. She pressed the sound recorder, then record and placed the small hole with the microphone down near her toe. “Try and yell into the microphone. Maybe it will pick you up?”

She waited for a minute, then said “Let me try it Everett.”
Pressing play, she put the phone's speakers right to her hear and listened closely. It was barely audible, but she could hear him.
“That crazy nut Mitchell did this! She's developed an injection that does this! We have to stop her!”
There was a short pause, then she heard “Jenn! I love you. I love you so much. I heard a lot of what you said at the dinner. You're right! I let the Agency become more important than you.”

Tears streamed from her eyes at hearing his voice. “Everett. Oh Everett. I can't imagine how all this feels for you.”
Flexing her toe back and forth, she continued “How am I ever going be able to get you unstuck from my toenail? I can't believe she did this. She's a monster!”

Looking back at the picture on the camera, she zoomed in tight on him and could clearly see that he had been completely encased in the clear polish and was firmly affixed to her nail. It seemed quite hopeless. If she tried to scrape the polish, she would crush him. The only option she could think of was to use dabs of nail polish remover and try to dissolve it enough to get him unstuck, but that was very risky. She could easily squash him, or the fumes of the remover could kill him. Feeling quite helpless, she lowered the phone microphone to her foot and said “Everett, I feel so damn helpless. The only thing I can think of is to use nail polish remover, but I'm scared that will harm you. Speak into the microphone sweetie. I'll record for a little while.”

After about thirty seconds, she lifted the phone and pressed stop. She put the speakers to her ear and pressed play. Her tiny husband's voice was barely audible as she listened.
“Jenn, nobody feels more helpless than me. I'm glued to your toenail. I'm an insect!”
There was a short pause, then he continued, “It's my only chance Jenn. You have to try with the remover. I'll hold my breath and shut my eyes as tight as I can. Put a drop at a time. I'll try to break free. Don't try to pull me off, you'll crush me. If I can get free, I'll try to make it to the center of your toenail.”

Jennifer wiped her eyes as the recording ended. “I have to get up and go the bathroom sweetheart. I'll step lightly.” she said as she stood up. It was the most agonizing feeling she had ever had, feeling so totally helpless. She could only imagine what each step she took felt like to her miniscule husband. She opened the cupboard in her bathroom and reached for the bottle of nail polish remover, then took and eye dropper from a bottle of eye drops. Looking around the counter for something to put him in if he was able to get free, she decided on a top from a jar of bath salts. She filled a small cup with water and picked up the other things, ready to try and free her husband from her toenail.

Looking down at her foot, she shook her head, realizing that this could easily kill him. Walking carefully back to the sofa, she thought how humiliating this must feel for him being glued to her toenail, permanently affixed like he was nothing more than a tiny little bug. Sitting down on the sofa, she took the cap off the remover and poured a bit into it and placed it on the table beside the cup of water. Pulling the reading lamp beside the sofa closer, she aimed the light on the edge of the table. Taking a deep breath, she placed her foot on the table and pushed the lamp close she she could see better.

After dipping the eyedropper in the remover, she lowered the tip to her big toe. “Okay Everett. I'm going to put a drop on you. Try to get free. I love you sweetheart.”
Pressing the rubber tip of the dropper, she felt butterflies as the first drop landed on her nail. Wiley heard the drop hit her nail and instantly, could smell the tell tale fumes. He shut his eyes tight and tried to push against the lacquer walls that encased him. The remover had not penetrated around his head, so incredibly, he was still able to breathe. He felt the next drop hit as his immense wife tried to free him. Slowly but surely, with each drop, the hardened polish was starting to loosen. Four drops in, he had to hold his breath as the toxic fluid surrounded his tiny head. Pushing against the now, sticky lacquer, he felt it give way. Struggling to free himself for all he was worth, he gagged, not being able to hold his breath any longer. Suddenly, he broke free and rolled onto the teal surface of his wife's massive toenail.

Jennifer's eyes widened and she gasped as she saw his incredibly tiny form rolling on her nail. Taking a drop of water with the tip of her finger, she let it fall onto him. Wiley coughed and gagged, spewing out a combination of water and the remover. More water fell as she took a few more drops and let them fall to her toe. Laying on her nail, totally exhausted and reeling from the effects of the remover in his lungs, Wiley lay still, still spitting out water and remover . He was not in great shape, but he was still alive, and other than inhaling the nail polish remover, was unhurt.

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed. “I can't believe you did it!” 
Her exuberance was short lived however. She quick realized that even though he was freed from the polish, he was still only millimetres high. “How am I going to get him into the top of the jar without killing him?” she thought.
“Everett, if you can hear me, I need to you get to the tip of my nail, so I can get you transferred to a cap I have here.”

She watched closely as the spec that was her husband started to move slowly across the teal surface of her toenail toward the tip. After a few minutes, he reached the tip and collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Jennifer took the jar top, tilted her toe down to it's surface, then took a drop of water and let it fall on him. Wiley was washed off her nail and tumbled down to the jar cover, landing quite hard inside it. He lay still, looking around to see thirty foot walls that surrounded him off in the distance. Jennifer's booming voice rang out from far above. “Everett? Are you okay sweetheart?”
Even if he could answer, she would never hear him at his size. Before long, a massive black object lowered into his new prison. He looked up and saw it was her phone. “I'm....I'm.....o....o...okay Jenn.” he spoke. “I need to sleep.”

His eyes closed as he drifted off, totally spent from the whole ordeal. Jennifer lifted the phone to he ear and heard his faint raspy voice. She wiped the tears from her eyes, not knowing if we would make it. It seemed so impossible that he even survived this far. Leaning down to the table, she peered into the cap as close as she could. He was so incredibly tiny, she couldn't believe that it was even possible that a full-sized human being could be reduced to such a small size and still remain alive. Standing back up, she turned and went into his office, looking for a magnifying glass. Wiley was an avid stamp and coin collector. In his desk, she found a magnifier that he used for his stamps. She returned to the living room and placed the magnifying glass down over where he was laying. She got on her knees and lowered her eye to the glass. “Oh my God!” she whispered at the sight of her miniscule husband, asleep in the lid of the jar. His skin was a little red, probably from the exposure to the nail polish remover, but aside from that, he looked pretty normal. He was just the size of a bug. “How on earth am I going to get you back to your normal size.”

She got up and sat on the sofa and just stared at the lid. All sorts of thoughts of who she could call raced through her head, but nobody would believe this she thought to herself. She felt so alone right at that moment. “What am I going to do with him if he can't be restored?” she said to herself.
Holding her face in her hands, she held back the tears, thinking about how life would be with her husband being the size of a bug. Jennifer started to question her own sanity when the thought of stepping on him popped into her head. “I wouldn't even feel him squish.” she whispered to herself. “He would be just a tiny little stain on the bottom of my foot.”

Standing up, she looked down at the table, then back up and shook her head. “I have to stop thinking like this and focus. There has to be someone that can help me.” she said out loud. Thinking for a minute, her mouth dropped and she said “Donna! Of course.”
The entire conversation they had at the fund raiser about foot fetishes and giant women replayed in her head. She looked down at the table and said “God! Look at me now. I'm the giant woman.”

She leaned down to see if he was still asleep, then headed for the office. She sat in his chair and flipped open his address book. Flipping though the pages, she found Donna's number. “What am I going to tell her?” she said to herself, with her hand nervously on the phone. Picking up the receiver, she hesitated and then said “What am I doing, it's almost two in the morning.”


“I have to speak to her!” she said, then dialled her number and listened. After two rings, she heard Donna's sleepy voice. “Hello?”
“Donna?” she said. “It's Jennifer Wiley.”
“Oh hi, Jennifer.” Donna replied. “What time is it?”
“I'm sorry for calling so late, but I didn't know who else to call.”
“Oh, okay..” she replied. “Is everything okay?”
“I don't even know how to tell you, so it won't sound incredibly ridiculous and far fetched.” she said.
“Your starting to worry be Jennifer. Tell me what going on.” Donna said, sounding very concerned as she sat up in her bed.
“I guess I should just come right out and say it.”  After a short pause, with butterflies in her stomach, she said “Everett has been shrunk.”

There was silence on the phone. Donna frowned and her eyes shifted left and right. “Come again.” she said.
“I said Everett's been shrunk.” Jennifer repeated.
“Uhhhh.....I thought that's what you said.” Donna replied. “Are you feeling okay? Do you need me to call someone for you?”
“Donna, listen. This is no joke. There's something quite sinister going on at the agency. There's an agent, I think her name is Mitchell, she injected something into my husband, and now he's.....he's, Oh for God's sake. He's the size of a bug!”
Donna wasn't quite sure to make of what she was hearing. She looked over to Pete, who was still fast asleep. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. “Jennifer, I think you need to calm down.”
“I'm not having a breakdown, if that's what you're thinking.” she replied. “Can you come over, and see for yourself? I'm in big trouble.”
“Uhhh...I guess I could.” Donna replied. “I'll get dressed and come over. Give me twenty minutes. Is that okay?”
“Yes, that's fine. I didn't know who to turn to Donna. I'm really scared.” she said, her voice fluttering.
“It's okay. Just stay calm. I'll be there as soon as I can.” she told her, then hung up.

Jennifer got up from the chair and paced back and forth. She couldn't believe that someone could be so incredibly mean and unfeeling and do something like this. She looked down at her foot and saw the faded spot in her big toenail where he had been affixed. “I could have crushed him and never even known it.”

After spending an agonizing twenty minutes sitting on the sofa waiting for Donna, she heard the buzzer. Leaping to her feet, she rushed to the door and pressed the button. “It's Donna.” rang out from the speaker. She pressed the buzzer and cracked the door open. A few minutes later, Donna knocked and opened the door. She saw Jennifer standing bedside her sofa as she entered her condo. “Thanks for coming.” Jennifer said as she walked over and gave her a big hug.

“No problem sweetie.” Donna replied. “You sounded a little freaked out on the phone.”
“I know.” she replied, her voice fluttering. “I don't know what to do. This is so terrible.”
Donna took her arm and said “Listen Jennifer. I know you were expecting Everett for dinner and he didn't show up, but you have to stop this about him shrinking.”
Jennifer walked over to the coffee table in front of the sofa where Wiley was, still dead to the world in the jar top. She took the magnifying glass, held it up and said “See for yourself.”

Donna looked at her sideways, realizing that there could be some truth to her ranting. She put down her bag and walked to the sofa. She took the magnifying glass from her hand and stood there staring at her. “Look.” Jennifer said, pointing down at the jar top. “That spot in the middle of that jar top is my husband.”
Deborah's eyes shifted down at the table, then back at her. She frowned, then bent over the table to get a closer look, carefully placing the magnifying glass down over the spec in the center of the jar, she looked through the lens with her right eye. Jennifer heard a gasp, then Donna stood bolt upright. “How? I mean this is not possible. Holy shit!” she blurted out.

“It's not only possible, it's reality.” Jennifer told her. “My husband is the size of a bug.”
Donna put her hand over he mouth and sat down on the sofa and just stared at the jar top. After a few moments, she looked up at Jennifer and said “I don't understand. How did he get here? How did you even find him?”
Jennifer sat down on the sofa beside her and said “I can't believe it myself. This Mitchell girl, she was painting my toenails....”
“Wait. What?” Donna interrupted her. “Painting your toenails?”
“Let me start from the beginning.” she said. “Everett told me that she injected him and that's what made him shrink.”
“You got that from Everett.” she said, pointing at the jar. “How on earth could you have heard him?”
Picking up her phone from the side table, she loaded the recording, put the speakers beside Donna's ear and said “You have to really listen. It's very faint.” She pressed play and waited. Donna's eyes widened as she heard his voice in the speakers.

“Oh my God!” this is crazy. “But what does this have to do with painting your toes? I'm confused.”
“Let me start over.” she said. “I was supposed to meet him at his office and then we were going to go to the fund raiser together. When I got there, this Mitchell girl was in his office. She said she that he had gone to another floor for something and would be back any minute. It all makes sense now, but at the time, it sounded very innocent.”
“What sounded innocent?” Donn asked, sitting on the edge of the sofa.
“I had a pedicure done for the dinner, and I had chipped the polish off my big toe. She noticed it and offered to fix it. I told her it was okay and she didn't have to do that, but she insisted.” Jennifer continued. “I mean, she was very nice, so I had no reason so suspect anything. I'm guessing that she had already shrunk Everett at that point.”

Donna frowned and said “I still don't get the connection with the painting toenails.”
Jennifer exhaled and shook her head. “She painted my toes, then put on a clear coat on top of that.” Exhaling once more, she looked at Donna and said “She put Everett on my big toenail and put a drop of the clear coat on him. That bitch glued my husband to my toenail!”
Donna shook her head and said “I can't believe it. How did you even figure out he was there?”
“I was sitting here with my feet up on the sofa. I heard a faint squealing. I thought I was loosing my mind. I kept hearing it, and it seemed to be coming from my foot. I saw a darker spot on my toe. I couldn't see what is was clearly, so I got my camera and took a picture. When I zoomed in and saw him, encased in nail polish, I passed out.” she explained.

Donna shook her head, totally flabbergasted at what she was hearing. “That's just diabolical.” she said. “Obviously, there's something much bigger going on here than we know and she wanted to do away with Everett, but wow, gluing him to your toenail. It's just amazing that he made it this far.”
“I still don't believe it myself.” Jennifer said.
“I'm going to have to speak to Pete about this.” Donna said.
“No.” Jennifer said. “I don't want Everett becoming a spectacle. He's been through so much already.”
“So what do you want to do then?” she asked. “We need to do something. He can't stay the size of a bug.”
“I know, I know.” she said, sounding so dejected. “I just want to let him recover a bit from the ordeal before we get anybody else involved. Okay?”
“Okay sweetie.” Donna replied. “I'm still amazed that you were able to free him. That in itself is a miracle.”
Jennifer looked at her and said “I know. I used nail polish remover to loosen him. I was so scared that it would kill him.”

Donna smirked a bit and looked off in the distance. She turned to Jennifer and said “The whole time at the dinner. He was stuck to your toe the whole time. Do you mind if I have a look?”
Lifting her leg and placing her foot on Donna's lap, she said “Of course not. If you look at the base of my nail, just at the cuticle, he was glued with his back against it.”
Looking at her toenail, Donna said “My God, the whole time we were talking about fetishes, he was glued there, totally insignificant.”
Jennifer nodded, remembering the content of their conversation. “He heard us you know.”
“No.” Donna said, looking a little embarrassed.
Nodding again, she said “Maybe not all of it, but he mentioned it in another recording you didn't listen to. I would let you listen to it, but it's a little personal.”
“That's okay. I don't need to hear it.” Donna said, stroking Jennifer's bare sole with her fingers.
Jennifer looked at her hand as she caressed her foot, feeling a little uncomfortable. Suddenly, Donna's hand snaked around her ankle and up her calf. “Donna, what are you doing?” she asked.
Donna looked at her with her green eyes. It was totally clear from the look on her face what was going on. Jennifer removed her foot from her lap and stood up. “Please stop this.” she told her.

Donna stood up and looked into Jennifer's deep blue eyes. Without saying a word, she put her hand around the back of Jennifer's head, pulled her toward her and planted the most sensual kiss Jennifer had ever experienced. After their lips parted, Jennifer looked into her green eyes and asked “What are you doing? My husband is right there.”
“Yes, but he's a flea.” she replied, moving around behind Jennifer. She kissed the back of her neck as her hand snaked around her front, caressing her flat stomach. The other hand squeezed her butt. “If your husband was not the size of a bug, he could have joined us, but right now, I want to make love to you.”

Jennifer turned around and looked at her face. “I can't do this.” he said. “I know this whole, being giant fetish of yours is probably turning you on, but I'm not into this type of thing.
Donna's right hand stroked Jennifer's crotch, causing her to grab her wrist and hold it tightly. Donna waited for a second, then smiled as her grip released. The two women stood eye to eye for a few moments, before Jennifer put her hands around the back of Donna's head and kissed her passionately.
“I don't care about any fetish Jennifer.”  Donna whispered into her ear. “You're beautiful and I just want to make love to you. Is that so bad?”

Back on the table, Wiley was still lying still in the center of the jar's surface. His eyes were open and they moved to see the two immense women walk off towards the bedroom. The feeling of sheer helplessness and total insignificance was hitting him like a ton of bricks.

About two hours had passed. Jennifer was lying her he bed, staring at the ceiling. She looked over at Donna lying beside her, asleep, with her slightly freckled face framed by her long red hair. “What am I doing?” she whispered to herself. She loved her husband, but she had not been made love to like that in years. The stark realization that Wiley might be stuck at his current size permanently started to sink in. She shook her head trying not to think about it, but it was no use. How would she be able to take care of him like this? She knew it would take only her toe, or even her thumb to squash him. Her eyes closed and tears started to roll down the side of her cheek. If she had any hope of getting him back, she would have to get Pete involved. “This is going to get ugly.” she thought.

Back at the Agency, an analyst printed off the transcript of an intercepted phone call and a call to 911 and put it into an envelope. He sealed it, stamped it classified, recoded the time and wrote a few lines on the front.  He got up and walked over to the supervisor on duty and handed it to him. Looking at what was written, the supervisor took it an agent standing at the door and said “I need this delivered by hand right now.”
The agent looked at the envelope and said “Right away sir.”

Shortly after five am, a black SUV pulled up in front of a building on east 29th and stopped. The agent that had been given the task of delivering the envelope exited the vehicle and headed for the entrance. He flashed his badge at the doorman and waked through two sets of doors into the lobby, heading for the elevators. In the 22nd floor, the dark haired woman that had been following Deborah for the past few days heard the doorbell. She got out of bed, put on a robe, then reached down and pulled her gun out of the holster hanging on a chair. She walked quietly to the door, pumped a bullet into the gun's chamber and placed the barrel against the door. She peered through the peep hole and saw the agent standing there. He held up his ID so she could see it.

Opening the door, she was handed her the envelope. “Have a good day ma'am.” he said, then turned and walked away. Closing the door, she opened the envelope and took out the paper. Her eyes widened as she read that transcript. Picking up her phone from the table in the entrance, she pressed a number and waited. “Sir, we have a situation. We may have located Director Wiley.” she said.
“What is his location?” the man on the other end asked.
“It appears he is with his wife sir.” she replied.
Knowing that he would have not received a call at five am for nothing, he asked “And what is the situation?”
“Mitchell may be farther ahead that we thought sir.” she replied.
“Are you saying what I think you are saying?” he asked.
“I am.” she replied.
“What is the status of the other carriers?” he asked.
“There was a 911 call last night about a tall woman being assaulted by two men. I think it may be her. I will be following up on that this morning.” she said.
“Keep me informed.” he said. “We need both carriers more than ever.”
“I understand sir.” she replied. “I will be in contact with you later.”

After ending the call, she pressed another number and waited. “I need you out front in thirty minutes. Also, I need you to check all the hotels in a ten block radius for a Cindy Sherwin.”
“Right away.” the man on the other end said. “I will be out front in thirty.”
She ended the call and headed for the bathroom to get ready for what would be a very eventful day.