Chapter 28 – The Big Slow Down

Across town, Claire's phone rang. She looked at the caller id and said to her driver “Pull over here.”

“One moment.” she spoke into her phone.

As soon as the SUV stopped, she got out and stood on the sidewalk. “Go ahead.” she said to the caller.

“Have to delivered the antidote to Director Wiley?” the male voice asked.

“To his wife sir.” she replied. “But I have to say that I am not at all comfortable with that.”

“Your concern is noted. In this case, I don't think we have any other options. We can't have this get out.” he said.

“I understand that sir.” she replied. “But Mrs. Wiley had company. I am not comfortable with it.”

“I am aware of that. Your concern as been noted. I have spoken to Peter Ruger and he assures me that his wife is there only for moral support.”

“How many people are aware of the situation?” Claire asked in a stronger tone.

“As I said.” he replied. “Claire, your concern has been noted. You need to focus your attention to finding Paige Mitchell. She is still rogue and we must be certain that we have all the formula and all the antidote.”

“I'm on it sir.” Claire replied as she paced back and forth on the sidewalk.

“Are you going to give me an update on your daughter?” he questioned.

“She's returned to her apartment.” she replied.

“Have to secured the location?” she asked.

“I have it guarded.” Claire replied. “We already have cameras installed, so we are keeping an eye on things.”

“Okay. Keep me informed of any developments.” he said.

“Yes sir.” Claire replied.

She ended the call and got back in the SUV. “Head over to west 59th. I want to check on things.” she told the driver.

Back at Deborah's apartment, Carlos was still inside the plastic bottle, waiting for Deborah to open the top and let him out. His confines were a little more tight. The antidote had taken effect and he had increased in size by almost an inch. It had been quite a while since they had gotten back to her place and he could her he walking to and fro and rummaging about, but he was essentially shut off from the outside world inside the opaque bottle. Left to his thoughts, he started wondering what she was up to and, more importantly, what was he going to do once he was back to his normal size. The events of the past few days were life-changing. Deborah was life-changing, but he couldn't help wondering if it would all go sour once he was back to normal. Was their connection purely based on his reduction in size?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden movement of his confines. The bottle sides darkened as her giant hand wrapped around it. He looked up and saw the top being unscrewed then it was removed, revealing her giant smiling face far above. “Sorry for leaving you in there so long.” she said. “Ready to come out?”

Carlos slid towards the opening as she tipped the bottle into her palm. Sliding himself through the mouth of the bottle onto her palm sent a wave of relief through his body. His heart felt incredibly heavy as her fingertip caressed his small form. “Sweetie, it seems to be working.” she said. “You definitely are bigger. Not by much, but you only had a tiny bit of the antidote.”

“What were you doing in here?” he asked her. “You left me in there for a long time.”

“This place.” she said, looking around. “Had eyes and ears.”

Carlos, being a detective, knew exactly what she meant. “Did you get them all?” he asked.

“I swept the entire place.” she told him. “I got them all.”

“What about her?” he asked, referring to Paige.

“Paige?” she questioned. Shaking her head, she said “I don't know where she is.”

He shook his head, feeling a very uneasy with her answer.

“Carlos.” she said, lifting her hand up. “Look at me.”

He looked up at her and she told him that he had nothing to worry about, that she would never let her get a hold of him, not matter what. He gazed into her huge hazel eyes, feeling like he would melt into her palm.

“I don't know.” he said. “She is really fucking crazy!”

“Right now, let's concentrate on getting you back to normal.” she told him. “Forget about her.”

“What about Claire?” he asked.

“What about her?” Deborah answered.

“You two have a lot to resolve.” he told her. “You can't leave things the way they are.”

Deborah pursed her lips before saying “Look, she did what she did and nothing will change that.”

“Maybe.” he told her.

“No maybe sweetie.” she said. “I know you're trying to help, but it's complicated.”

“Just make sure you know the whole story.” he told her. “There may be something going on that we don't know about that's influencing her.”

“Do you know something you're not telling me?” she asked.

“No.” he replied. “You know that things are not always what they appear to be. I'm just saying don't shut to door until you are sure. My gut tells me there is a lot more to Claire than what she is letting on.”

“You may be right.” Deborah replied. “But now, I want to focus on getting you back to normal.”

She lowered her hand to the table and tilted it. Carlos slid from her hand and stood up on the table top. “Wait there.” she said as she turned and headed for the kitchen. “Like I'm going to go anywhere.” he mumbled to himself. She returned with the vial of antidote and an eye dropper. “Here.” she said as she dipped the dropper into the clear liquid. She lowered the dropper to the table, but Carlos held his hands up and said “Wait!” before she had a chance to put any on the table.

“What's wrong.” she asked, sounding quite concerned.

“You heard what that guy said, we can't rush it.” he told Deborah.

She just stared at him, raising her eyebrows slightly. “It's been hours sweetie. You can take some more.”

“I just don't want to rush it.” he said. “I'm still feeling kind of weird.”

“Weird.” she said. “You didn't say anything about that before. What do you mean weird?”

“It felt like I was filling up, or bloating.” he asked.

“Was it painful?” she asked.

“No, not really. I got light headed and felt dizzy.” he told her. “I just want to be careful and not rush it.” he replied.

“Okay sweetie. There's no rush, it's just all you could talk about before was being stuck a two inches tall. I just thought you would want to get back to normal.”

“I don't even know what normal is anymore.” he told her.

She moved her hand and tapped her index finger on the table at his feet. “You know sweetie.” she said. “If you have something on your mind, you can talk to me. You know that.”

Carlos turned his back to her and grabbed his head, then shook his little fists in the air.

“Carlos?” Deborah asked. “Are you okay?”

He spun around and looked at her. He seemed to want to say something, but couldn't get it out. Deborah looked down at him with an expression of genuine concern. She was about to asked him if he was okay, but before she could, he blurted out “I don't want to go back to normal.”

“To work?” she asked.

“No!!” he yelped. “Normal size!!”

Deborah turned her head slightly, then her eyes shifted back on him. “That's exactly what I was afraid of.” she said.

“Afraid?” he asked. “You're not afraid of anything.”

“That's not what I meant.” she said. “You're not thinking straight sweetie. You can't stay like this.”

“Why not?” he asked her.

“Why not?” she repeated. Holding her hand, palm up on the table, she looked at him and said “You can't stay in the palm of my hand sweetie.”

Walking over to her thumb, he reached up and caressed it and said “Deborah, you have me in the palm of your hand. No matter what size I am.”

“Oh boy.” she said, pressing his arm between her thumb and forefinger gently. “I've really done a number on you, haven't I?”

Carlos leaned against her thumb and kissed it a few times before she moved it away. She put her hand flat on the table and exhaled.

“Listen sweetie.” she said. “I understand that this has been a whirlwind of emotions and it's really hard to make sense of it all, but honestly, I don't want to keep you like this.”

“You're not “keeping” me.” he said. “It's my decision.”

“Actually Carlos, I would be keeping you.” she answered. “I would be keeping you from life. You would be too small to do anything for yourself. You can't really want that. To not even be able to reach my ankle? If it is, well, I'm sorry, but that's not what I want and certainly not what I had planned for our family.”

“Family?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

She looked down at him and shook her head. “Are you that dense Carlos?” she asked. “Really?”

Feeling a little embarrassed, he looked down and ran his hand through his hair. “You want to start a family?” he asked her.

“You think I want to stay in this crazy life forever?” she asked him. “I don't. And I certainly don't want a husband that I could accidentally step on.”

“I didn't know.” he said looking up with watery eyes. “I just like….I like uhhh….” he blubberd.

“You like me taking care of you.” she completed his sentence. “That won't change, regardless of your size.”

“Are you ready now?” she asked, moving her hand towards the antidote.

He looked at the vial and started fidgeting with his hands. He was torn. He loved her and wanted to be with her, but the feeling her size gave him was so exhilarating.”

“How about this?” she asked, seeing that he was quite hesitant. “How about he take it slow. You take the antidote at your own pace. We'll take our time and you will get to experience being small for a little bit longer that way.”

He reluctantly nodded, realizing that she was right, he couldn't stay three inches tall.

She stood up and pulled her long brown hair back, then looked down at him with her head tilted to the side. “Is there anything you would like to do before starting the antidote again?” she asked him. “Now is the time sweetie.” she said as she put her hair behind her ear with her fingertip. “Once you take it, there's no going back.” Carlos couldn't think of anything. For the life of him, he had the most beautiful woman he had ever known that was giving him the opportunity of a lifetime, and he couldn't think if anything. Being ever perceptive, she leaned down and asked quietly “Did I hear you mention my socks?”

Carlos was so overwhelmed by her presence that he just nodded. “Okay then.” she said. “Inside my sock it is.” she said, lowering her hand down. She gently took him into her fingertips and lifted him into her left palm. Carlos stared past her gigantic breasts at her face as she walked into her bedroom, depositing his small form in the top of her dresser. Getting to his feet, his eye level was just below her chest. She took off her top, revealing a black sports bra. Carlos felt his throat go dry at the sight of her massive, firm breasts. “Like what you see?” she asked, seeing that he was quite fixated on them. “Well, nice to see that you are not only interested in my feet.” she said.

Reaching down, she pulled off her socks and placed them on the top of the dresser to his left. “I don't think we want to use those.” she said, twinkling her nose. Pulling open the top drawer, she looked over the selection of socks, then asked “Why don't you choose?”

Carlos walked to the edge and looked down at the neatly placed pairs of socks of every type and color. He was short of breath and his heart felt like is was going to leap from his chest as she spoke. “There's sport socks, cotton socks, ankle socks, hiking socks.” she said. “I think I might even have some toe socks.”

Carlos got dizzy all of a sudden and fell forward, plummeting into the drawer below. “Carlos!” Deborah exclaimed as she saw him fall. Wondering what happened, he lay between two pairs of her socks, totally dumb founded. Chuckling, she said “Geeze sweetie. You have to be more careful. Are you Okay?”

Carlos covered his face, then reached down to cover his rock hard erection. He looked up at her, feeling a little embarrassed. “Are you sure you're going to be able to take this?” she said jokingly. “Those are just my socks. We haven't even gotten to my feet yet.”

He nodded, still trying to cover himself. “Okay.” she said lowering her hand into the drawer. Carlos swallowed as his foot and ankle were gently pinched between her thumb and index finger. She lifted him up to her face, letting him dangle upside down in front of her beautiful eyes. “You've only seen one drawer so far.” she told him. “I have plans for you, but you will need to be a little bigger for that.”

Moving him closer to her eyes, he stared at the marvelous hazel jewels “When I'm done with you.” she said, pausing for effect. “You'll be reduced to a nothing more than a quivering mass of complete and total obedience.”

Winking at him to let him know she was playing it up, she lowered him back into the sock drawer and let him go just above the fabric. He fell a short distance into a pair of pink cotton socks. He lay still, taking in the fragrance of detergent, and the faint scent of her feet. “Are those ones good?” she asked, resting her hands on her knees. Her face lowered down so she was looking over the tops of her socks at him. After a few seconds, she slipped her fingers under him and lifted him back to the dresser top, letting him climb down from her hand. She took the socks and placed them down in front of him. “Those aren’t sport socks, so they probably don't fit as tight on my foot.” she said. “But I'm sure they are little softer.”

Carlos looked at them, then over the edge at the brightly colored sport socks. “Okay then.” she said, putting the pink ones back. “Sports socks it is.” she said, placing a pair of white, yellow and black striped socks on the dresser top.

Closing the drawer, she looked down at her feet and said “I think I should get these big honkers of mine cleaned up for you.”

“If you want.” he said with a shrug.

“If I want?” she asked. “Do you want to direct me sweetie, or do you want me to take charge?”

“Well, I uhhh....thought we could kind of do things together.” he replied a little sheepishly.

“That sounds good.” she said. “I think getting my feet cleaned up is the first order of business.”

“You mean a shower?” he asked.

“I was planning to keep the shower for a bit later.” she said, tapping her finger on her lips. Looking at the ceiling, an idea came to mind and she turned and headed for the closet. “I have just the thing.” she said as reached up to the top shelf and pulled a box down. “I got this as a gift a few years ago and I never even used it, until today that is.”

Retuning to the dresser, she held up the box she was carrying so he could see it. His eyes widened at seeing that it was a foot spa. Deborah read the side of the box and said “Wow. It has jets, a massager, a heater. This could be like a jacuzzi for you.”

“Very funny.” he said.

She shifted her eyes toward him and smirked a little. Walking over the bed, she opened the box and pulled out the blue plastic tub and set it down on the bed. Reaching back into the box, she took out a bag that had the instructions and some other things. “It comes with soaking salts, lotion, clippers and toe separators.” she said as she read the instructions.

She put the paper she was reading and walked back to the dresser and leaned down closer to him. “Do you want to join me?” she asked.

“You mean....” he said pointing to the bed.

She turned her head to look at the bed, then looked back at him and said “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, okay.” he said.

“Great.” she said as she picked him up and slipped him into the space between her luscious breasts. She spoke to him as she strode to the bed. “I need both hands sweetie and I don't want to put you on the floor. We don't need any accidents, do we?”

Over the next few minutes or so, she prepared the foot bath in the bathroom, filling it with water, then putting in the salt. She looked at herself in the mirror, rubbing her cheek with her finger. Carlos stared at her reflection in the mirror, enthralled with her sheer beauty. “You okay down there?” she asked, glancing down.

Carlos wanted to say something, but he just couldn't get the words out.

Putting her hands on her hips, she looked at him in her bra. Only his shoulders and head were visible, and barely visible at that. He had a certain look of contentment on his little face. “Ready for a bath?” she asked. When he nodded, she lifted the bath and said “Let's go into the living room. It will be more comfortable there.”

Carlos felt her breast flesh push on either side of him as she carried the water-filled bath to the living room. Bending over, she set it down on the floor, then straightened up, then gently removed her little man from her bra. He was set down on the floor beside the foot spa. Deborah stepped over him to get an extension cord from a lamp so she could plug in the spa. She sat down on the sofa and plugged it in. The motor hummed and the bubbles started. She waited for it to warm up a little with Carlos standing right where she had put him down. “I should be warm enough now.” she said, lifting her right foot and lowering it into the bubbling water.

“Oohhh....that's nice.”

“Come here.” she said down to him. He walked over to the front of her left foot and looked up past her knee at her. “Ready.” she said, spreading her big and second toes slightly. Carlos looked at her toes straight ahead of him and quickly realized what she was expecting. He took a step closer, but stopped. “Go ahead sweetie, it's okay.” she told him.

He did as she asked, slipping himself in between her slight raised big and second toes. Deborah licked her lips and relaxed her foot, causing her toes to come together, holding him snug. He felt like he was about to go on an amusement park ride as her giant foot lifted. The bubbles got louder and louder as her heel slipped down into the warm bubbling water. He craned his neck to look up at her, wiping the water from his face. “Hold your breath.” she told him, just before her foot dipped into the water. She held it there for about six or seven seconds, then tilted it on her heel. Carlos spit out some of the salty water and breathed heavily. “One more time.” she said. He had barely enough time to catch his breath before he was plunged into the warm, salty water. After a few seconds, her toes spread apart and he slid out from between them. A little disoriented, he broke the surface and tread water. Looking around, he made it to the center of the spa, where there was a foot massage pad that he was able to pull himself upon. He looked at her toes that were bobbing up and down in the water. He felt the vibration of the motor combined with Deborah rubbing her giant soles along the ribbed surface of the spa.

“You might not want to stay there sweetie.” she told him as she raised the ball of her right foot over his position. She held it there, letting the water rain down on him. Carlos dove into he water just before her foot lowered onto the rubber spikes. After a few more minutes had passed, she turned off the motor. Carlos was treading water, looking around as if to spot a shark in the ocean. Deborah lifted her toes under him and placed her foot on the center of the spa. He lay in the crevice between her big and second toes, breathing hard, not really knowing what, if anything he should say. Deborah was certainly playing the role he wanted and she was milking it for all it was worth.

Carlos rolled to his side and kissed her big toe and few times, then ran his little hand up and down her long second toe. She closed her eyes and exhaled at the feeling of his tiny hand. “I hate to admit it, but I'm going to miss having so much control of you once you're back to normal.”

He rolled over, got up on his knees and moved onto the top of foot and said “Deborah. You have me in the palm of your hand, and you know it.”

“Well you don't have to go that far sweetie.” she replied. “You're your own person.”

“This is going to sound corny and it an old movie song, but I'm hopelessly devoted to you.” he told her.

Deborah reached down and carefully picked him up and deposited him into her waiting palm. She looked him over for a few seconds, then said “Are you ready for some of the antidote?”

“What about the….uh….” he said.

“Oh...yeah.” she said quietly. “We have some socks to try on. Do you want to take some of the antidote first?”

He shrugged a little, not answering, but his body language said it all.

“Okay, it's up to you.” she said as she stood up and carried him back into the bedroom.