After what was by far the most interesting day of his first month at work things proceeded without anything special happening since. Day after day Marcus would show up and work as Victoria’s assistant. One day he might be filing paperwork, another he might spend most of his time tidying the office, make food runs, answer phone calls, the typical menial sorts of jobs as expected of an assistant. Days turned to weeks and before he’d even realized it that fabled day had finally arrived: pay day.

Marcus entered his workplace much like he always did and entered Victoria’s office as he had grown used to. Right behind her desk sat the twenty-something foot tall lass, looking just like the day they met. Her eyes glanced up from a series of forms to welcome him in. “I bet I know why you’re here.” She smiled and reached inside of her desk, pulling out a thin envelope. “It took some time getting you into the system but here it is: your paycheck for the month.” A large hand reached over and held out the envelope towards him.

“It’s been a little rough getting by until now but I think with this it’ll all be worth it.” Marcus said as he took the envelope from her. Rather impatiently his fingers already started opening it eagerly. “I really do owe you for all this Victo - Ms. Lockhart. The stories make it out like all people of a certain size do nothing but horrible things to people smaller than them but here you’ve helped me every step of the way. I can’t thank you enough.”

He was answered with a modest shrug. Victoria stood from her seat and walked towards Marcus. “You can’t believe everything you hear you know.”

“I guess not.” Marcus laughed, his fingers pulling that glorious piece of paper from its slot. His eyes looked to see how much all his work had earned him. And then that joy-filled expression on his face vanished.

“What’s this?”

“What’s what?” Victoria asked back, her calm smiling visage remained the same. She now stood in front of Marcus, towering over him and looking down at the man who only came to her knees. “That’s your paycheck.”

All the color had left Marcus’ light brown skin. “Is this how much I earned? This can’t be right. I mean, I can’t hope to pay all my bills with just this. You know that right?”

The woman’s eyes widened though they conveyed no sense of surprise whatsoever. “Well what did you expect? A banker’s assistant isn’t exactly a high paying job. This was meant to help you while you continued that job hunt you were having.”

“But I haven’t been looking for another job!”

Her eyes narrowed as a playful smirk crept up the side of her face. “Now why is that?” One of her heeled feet started tapping in place.

“Because you said this job would be enough to pay my bills!” Marcus now yelled up at her, his frustration beginning to get the better of him.

Whatever smile Victoria had on her face vanished in that instant. Her foot stomped the ground beside the man, scaring him enough that he jumped back. He stared at her bare leg as if it had tried to kill him. “Don’t get that attitude with me Marcus. Do not forget who your superiors are. I had told you that this job was to help you. It was on you to follow through and use this time efficiently was it not?” She chided.

Marcus shook his head. “But I didn’t realize that. I can’t pay my bills and both my loans with just this?”

“Then I suppose in that case we will need to follow protocol. In the event that you fail to pay back your debts the bank withholds the right to seize your properties as payment and whatever is left will be held against you in a federal court of law.” Victoria’s expression was pure ice. The only part of her that seemed to indicate her feelings were her eyes that looked at him as a snake would its prey.

The young man before her gasped, suddenly feeling very light headed. He’d only felt this feeling once before: when he went from nearly six feet tall to nearly five feet tall. He was shrinking again and not slowly by the looks of it.

“It would appear you are changing to reflect your change in net worth Marcus.” Victoria noted with an all too thrilled gleam in her eyes. “I wonder how small someone becomes when they owe over 60,000 dollars.” She watched on eagerly as the man before her dwindled more and more. His panicked sounds and cries grew lower and lower until she just flat out couldn’t hear them anymore and even then he became smaller. The man who was once up to her knees now found himself staring at her ankles, then her heels, then up at her heels. When it was all said and done there was little more than a small bug standing before her. Victoria couldn’t help but laugh.

“That may be a record for shrinking Marcus. I must admit it’s rather impressive. However I regret to inform you that you are now breaking your employment contract as you are now unable to carry out your duties. As such your employment with Charlottesville National Bank is hereby terminated.” Her heel rose over the shrunken man. “So I will kindly ask you to leave my office. Nothing personal but I cannot be seen with bugs scurrying about. It wouldn’t make for a very good impression now would it?”

Marcus stared up at the dirty sole of Victoria’s heel as it loomed overhead. Countless thoughts filled and jumbled his head. So many questions. So much confusion. But at this very moment none of it mattered. What mattered above all else and was his only coherent thought was to run far away as fast as he could. He turned, scrambling for the door as fast as his legs could take him. Everything grew dark with the light being eclipsed by Victoria’s shoe. In fact it seemed like it was getting darker. Almost pitch black even. His eyes widened as the realization hit him.

Victoria’s heel was less than an inch from the ground as he dove forward. Freedom was right there in his reach. He was going to make it! In his final jump he pierced the darkness and rejoined the world of light. The celebration was only momentary as he realized he had much more distance to go. His tiny arms scurried trying to lift himself back up off the carpet.

Then all he could feel was crippling pain.

Rational thought left Marcus in an instant, his mind unable to piece together what just happened although it was one of the simplest things to understand. His body convulsed as loud, agony-filled cries escaped his throat. He eyes glanced behind him, barely able to comprehend what he was seeing. All he could see was what appeared to be red goo where his legs were meant to be. Just behind them stood Victoria’s heel, also decorated with a splotch of red. It took far too long for him to connect the dots for what that meant.

“I understand termination is a difficult thing to deal with Marcus but could you do me a favor and not bleed on the carpet?” Victoria clicked her tongue and adjusted her glasses. “It sends the wrong sort of message to our customers. Please do not make this any worse than it already is.” Her foot rose once again, this time with no way for its target to escape. There were no grandiose cries or struggles from the tiny, mutilated man. There was something beneath her foot one second and the next there wasn’t. That’s all it was.

“And one less bug to worry about. Nothing personal Marcus, just business.” Victoria smiled proudly, her heel digging into the carpet. It came back up with nary a sign of anything that once stood under it. Still, to be safe it wiped itself on the carpet for a few more seconds before she made her way back to her desk. Her fingers danced along the keyboard, pulling up a company page on the young man she had just crushed. “I warned him it was a bad idea taking a loan.” She clicked her tongue, making the necessary changes to his file to indicate his unfortunate passing. As the changes were made and saved she smirked.

“I love this job.”