Michael drew in a sharp breath to steady himself. How many minutes had he been forced to wait now? It couldn’t have been more than five. Ten at the most. Yet it felt like it had been easily twice that. There was little he could do to keep himself occupied; thusly he was left with little choice but to look back up. To look back up towards her again.

He hadn’t caught her name yet, but whatever it was she was one beautiful woman. Then again Michael couldn’t remember the last time he found a Giantess who wasn’t beautiful. She looked young enough to be in her early twenties; though it was a safe assumption that she was almost twice that age. Youthful as it was, her face bore a distinct maturity to it. Silk-like brown hair was set down her shoulders, cascading down to her bosom in slight curls. Sunlight beamed through the windows and cast her in an almost angelic light. Her immaculate gray slacks and vest left almost everything up to the imagination; though if her figure in spite of the rather formal clothing was any indication she was a very blessed woman indeed. It was hard not to wonder what rested just under all that business attire.

“Let me pull up your profile first.”

That was the full extent of what she had said to Michael before setting him atop her desk. That was several minutes ago, all spent in pure, stifling silence. Alas, as interesting as glancing over her meticulously kept office was Michael couldn’t help but get at least a little antsy. The pressure the giant woman so effortlessly exerted was almost overwhelming. He couldn’t afford to show any discomfort or weakness now. Not when he’d come so far already.

“Alright, we’re all set to begin the interview Mr. Jones.” At long last the professional woman turned from her computer and looked at him. Her face was set into a welcoming but distant smile, every bit as professional as the rest of her appearance.

Michael immediately stood straight and adjusted his collar. “Wonderful. Thank you for seeing me Miss…?” Out of old habit the shrunken man offered his hand.

“Ah, pardon me.” She chuckled and pressed her index finger against the shrunken man’s hand, moving it up and down in what could vaguely be interpreted as shaking his hand. “Angie Williams, head of structural engineering. Just call me Angie if you would.” As the handshake broke off she nodded and reached below her desk, pulling up a tablet that fell atop the desk with an audible crash. Her digits, manicured to perfection, didn’t dilly dally in perusing the pages visible on it. “It says here you are applying for an engineering position?”

Michael nodded up at the giant woman. “That’s right Angie.”

The woman’s eyebrow arched ever so slightly. “It’s not often we get mant applications for this field of work. In fact, I dare say you are the first.” Angie’s elbows came atop the table, her hands meeting near her face and locking fingers. She leaned forward and rested her chin atop her wrists, staring down at Michael from on high. “What makes you think you are qualified for this position in spite of your…handicap?”

Already his size was becoming a focus; not that Michael wasn’t prepared for this. “Well Angie.” The man cleared his throat and met the giant woman’s gaze directly. “As you likely saw on my resume, before the Shrink Accident I was actually the head of structural engineering at the company I used to work at for several years as well. But once the Accident happened well…Understandably things changed and I needed some time off to get my life back in order. Once I saw this job listing I figured it was time to get back to doing what I love.”

“I see.” Angie nodded along. In true business fashion her expression was nigh unreadable. A radiant smile on a dazzling face, but not betraying any of her thoughts to the person before her. “If you do not mind me asking, how exactly do you plan on doing that job? All the other engineers are like me. Some might consider you a liability to the company given the likelihood of…accidents at your size.”

“I can work online.” Michael answered immediately. “All I need is a safe workplace set aside and it should be no problem. I’ll design anything you need with a computer and email it to whoever needs it.”  

“Naturally.” She lowered her hands from her face, one casually brushing a tuft of brown hair back over her shoulder. “I think you missed the point of the question however. Allow me to be a bit more blunt. How do I know you won’t simply get crushed?” Her eyes seemed to hone right in on Michael, intently reading him like a hawk. “Any employee could reasonably mistake you for a pest and then we can be held accountable for your death.”

Angie leaned forward, her face dead serious. “What do you have to say to that Mr. Jones?”

The way those words were so casually uttered sent chills up the man’s spine. She wasn’t wrong of course. In this world of Giantesses and Humants crushing people his size was almost as common as breathing. Vivid memories came to mind of the countless times Michael himself nearly met his end underfoot. “I can assure you that won’t happen Angie.” He began calmly. “I haven’t spent all my time as a Humant doing nothing but run from women and their feet. I’ve learned how to get by.” The man smiled faintly, breathing his tension out slow and steady.

“I suppose learning how to avoid giant feet is a required skill for you at this point.” Angie’s booming voice let out a few short laughs. “Let’s move on to the next question then. Suppose we hired you, what could you bring to us as an employee that someone else couldn’t bring? Such as someone who is not the size of my fingernail?” One of said fingers began tapping along the desk, sending out soft rumbles under Michael’s feet.

Michael cleared his throat and let the latest jab against his size go unabated. “Well for one thing I have considerably more experience than most workers you would find. Even after being shrunken down I’ve been hard at work helping my fellow Humants build better and stronger homes to live in. Those skills can go a long way to improving everyone’s lives I think. Not just Humants, but giants such as yourself too.” The optimism of his words came across through the tone. Each word danced off the man’s tongue with confidence bordering on certainty.

Angie nodded and extended her pillar-esque fingers after a pen, scribbling something on a nearby notepad. “Experience definitely helps your case. What about any other skills?” She brought the pen up over her plush lips. “Are you good at massages?” The tip of the tool sunk against her lower lip as she awaited an answer.

What’d she say? The small man stumbled back a step, visibly thrown off. “I beg your pardon?”

“Just a joke we giants like to tell. Relax.” Angie laughed playfully.

“Ah…Hahaha.” Michael laughed awkwardly. “Well, to answer your question I’m good at working with others. During my time as a Humant I’ve gained a lot of practical knowledge about how to handle things in spite of my size.”

“Practical knowledge hmm?” The giant’s eyes piqued with added interest. “Such as how to get on a girl’s good side I’d imagine.”

Was that another joke? Whatever, he let it slide. “Something like that.” Michael said, smiling a bit easier now. “I’ve gotten a lot of hands on experience building and working with tools. The sort of things people usually don’t consider in our line of work since we’re too busy at our computers or desks. And I’ve picked up a few additional languages too.”

“How useful.” Angie made further notes and skimmed the tablet further. “It says here you used to be an engineer at a mant company in the area. What made you decide to change jobs?”

“The money.” Michael laughed bluntly. “Even a minimum wage in a Giantess’s company is much better than what I was making working with others my size. Plus, I feel like I could get a lot more done here.”

“I’m sure” Something about that made Angie smirk. She brought the pen up to her hair and began fiddling with her curls. “Did you know we actually have a special employee package for mants here Mr. Jones?”

“You don’t say?” He grabbed his necktie and adjusted it, looking rather nervous all of a sudden.

The giant brunette leaned closer in, her smile seemingly growing wider. “That’s right. It’s quite a gracious one too. On top of getting the standard insurance coverage it even comes with an immediate referral to get an identification card. You’d be amazed how many mants come here trying to get their card like that.” Angie’s hand came up for her chin to rest on. The professional demure was gone. Now she was very clearly smiling mischievously at the shrunken man before her. “After all, we all know how dangerous it is to be unregistered. It’s not against the law to crush an illegal. Just like a bug.”

The more Angie talked the more nervous Michael seemed to get. He cowered under her strong gaze, barely able to maintain his posture under her intimidating pressure. His hands clenched in a feeble attempt to steady himself. “I-Is that so?” His heart threatened to leap from his chest.

She nodded. “I’m sorry; I’m getting off topic again. I just couldn’t help but notice that you wrote down that you didn’t have an ID and it reminded me.” Angie chuckled. “Good thing I’m a nice woman, otherwise you might be in some serious trouble.” Her chuckle erupted into a full on laugh.

“Lucky me.” Michael joined her in his own awkward laugh. The unstated message wasn’t even remotely subtle. Angie made it quite painfully clear that she knew the real reason he was here. Getting an ID was damn near impossible on his own. This was Michael’s best chance at getting a decent life as a mant. He needed this job, and she knew that.

“Next question.” Angie leaned backwards, reverting to her professional visage again. “Let’s say you notice a coworker doing something they shouldn’t be doing. What would you, as a mant, do in that situation?”

If he was being totally honest Michael would probably look the other way to avoid pissing off someone who could literally crush him into paste. Obviously not an answer someone should give in an interview. Instead he opted for something a bit more mundane. “Well, obviously I would report it to the higher management and have them sort it out as they see fit.”

“Probably wise. It would be a shame if they stomped you out in a fit of anger. Not to mention an insurance nightmare.” Nodding along, Angie made further notes on the notepad and finally set her pen down. “Next question then Mr. Jones.” Her eyes bore down on Michael. “What do you think of me?”

Michael could only blink. Of all the questions, inappropriate or not, that he could have expected…That was not one of them. “Excuse me?”

“Me.” She affirmed. “What do you think of me?” Her shadow stretched out over the man as she leaned further and further in. “Do you find me attractive?”

“I-I think that’s a little inappropriate for an interview don’t you thi-”

“Answer the question.”

Angie’s sudden commanding tone made Michael jump. “W-Well I mean…naturally you’re a beautiful woman.”

“What about me is beautiful?” The relative giant was relentless in her interrogation. What seemed like a mere joke at first was quickly losing its luster.  Angie’s face was dead serious: completely absent of all the humor and cordial mannerisms she’d had until now. “My face? My body? My size?”

Michael put his minuscule foot down. “This seems highly inappropriate Angie.” Enough was enough. He could only put up with so much before he was offended. Mant or not this sort of behavior in an interview was socially unacceptable. He cleared his throat and looked up into the giant’s unyielding eyes. “Can we please get back to the interview? I think if you look at my references you’ll be pleasantly surpri-”

“The position is already filled.”

The words blindsided him. Michael’s eyes widened, hearing Angie but not fully grasping what the Giantess had just said. “What?”

“The position is already filled.” Angie repeated flatly. “Last week we hired a young woman as our newest engineer. You may have even seen her on your way here. Right now you are applying for a job that is already taken.”

“T-Then…” For the first time since he’d arrived Michael felt his shoulders droop, his carefully crafted mask breaking to reveal the tiny man beneath. The position was taken? But…Then why…“…Why did you agree to interview me then?”

“Because there is another opening that I think you would be ideal for.” Angie leaned back in her chair, smiling at the sound of Michael’s confident voice finally cracking. Her finger slid onto the tablet’s power point and turned it off.

“What position?”

“My assistant.” Angie’s smile only grew wider. “You see, my old assistant was a mant like yourself. A rather talented one too, but one day he pushed his luck and well…” She shrugged. “…Now the position is open. It’s a pretty gracious job if I do say so myself. All you’d need to do is do as I say, fetch me what I want when I want, give good massages…Anything I need really. You’d make a fair bit of money for a mant too.”

This woman wanted a shrunken servant! The realization hit Michael like a truck. “I’m flattered you would consider me for such an illustrious position Angie; however, I think I might prefer my old job for the time being.” Disappointed and taken aback as he was, one thing about all this made itself painfully clear. He needed to get as far away from this woman as possible.

“You sure?” The towering woman frowned slightly. She leaned back in her seat, swinging legs the size of neighborhoods high into the air until her heels were set atop the desk. The sight of her shoe sole made the man pale. “I’m just trying to help you Mr. Jones. After all it’s a dangerous world out there for an unidentified mant. It would break my heart to hear that you were stepped on like an insect as you left.”

Strength left Michael’s legs. It wasn’t Angie’s thinly veiled threat that did it. Nor was it how utterly hopeless the idea of leaving this room was. No, it was her shoes. Or rather, what was on her shoes. Michael had been shrunken for many many years. More than long enough to recognize a crushed mant corpse when he saw one, and that was precisely what decorated one of Angie’s high heels. An imprint of a Humant body, no bigger than his own.

“The same tragic thing happened to my old assistant when he was let go. How sad. Actually, you’re starting to remind me of him a bit.” Angie sighed. “But, I suppose if you’ve made up your mind then there’s nothing else for us to talk about. My apologies for wasting your time Mr. Jones.” Her shoe sole started moving in close, growing darker the more it lowered towards him.

“N-No!” The situation finally caused the shrunken man to fall over. His face was gaunt, like a man who saw his imminent death. His breaths were short, panicked even. Michael saw his future in those dusty shoe soles: a painful, slow end underfoot. “I-I mean…I think you might have a point Angie.” In the end, when the chips were down, he could only try and get out of this alive. Part of him hated himself for being such a coward, but it was either this or death.

Just like that the heel moved back toward its side of the desk, a couple hundred feet away from the shrunken man. “Is that so Michael?” The giant woman smiled like nothing happened. “I’m glad to hear you’ve changed your mind. And please, call me Mrs. Williams.”

“Okay Mrs. Williams.” He needed a moment to steady himself before he could properly stand again. “I cannot thank you enough for this gracious offer. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’d be happy to accept.”

His words were met with a playful smile and a shake of the head. “Not so fast Michael, I’m afraid you don’t have the job quite yet.” The brunette locked her fingers over her knees, eyes never leaving the helpless mant atop her desk. “We’re still in the middle of an interview after all. Since we got a bit derailed let me ask again. What about me is beautiful?”

Michael wanted to run. To hit her. To get help. Anything but what he was about to do. “Everything.” No matter how pathetic it was of him, it was time to either play ball or meet his maker. “You’re just a perfect woman.” He hated himself for what he was saying.

“True, I suppose I am a marvelous specimen huh?” Angie seemed satisfied with the answer, wrapping her hair around a finger. “Would you say I am like a goddess?”

The self-loathing was stifling. All Michael wanted right now was to crawl into a hole somewhere and hide. Or hit himself. Probably both at once. Were he a stronger man he would tell this conceited bitch to go to hell. “Yes, you are a goddess Mrs. Williams.”

Alas, he was a mant at heart. A weak, pathetic, groveling mant.

“Oh you, at this rate you’ll make me blush.” The brunette said with a smug smile. “Flattery will get you everywhere. Oh! But, if I’m a goddess; what does that make you?”

Why even fight it at this point?

“A bug.”

Angry and bitter as he was, Michael was helpless. He just needed to say what Angie wanted to hear and he could get out of this. Logically he knew that, but it did little to quell the growing disgust with himself. Odds were even if he did live to see another day he could never bare to look at himself again.

Angie simply laughed in the midst of his humiliation. “Don’t be so hard on yourself Michael. I’d like to think that you’re at least an ant.” Her throat rumbled with more laughter. Deafening, inescapable, mocking laughter. “So far you’re doing quite well. But it’s easy to say what I want to hear. Personally, I’d like to see how capable you are first hand.” The Giantess didn’t need to explain further. Her hands reached over and slid her heels from her feet. The next moment her bare soles stood in the distance, exposed toes wiggling in the fresh air.

Michael dragged himself towards the awaiting feet, unable to do much more than curse the unfairness of his size. He looked up at the elated visage of the woman, soon eclipsed by her wrinkled soles. They stood higher than most buildings. Literal skyscrapers of fleshy creases and wrinkles, lined with fresh sweat and muggy heat. A smooth pair of feet with lengthy toes and a distinct female aroma; every bit as gorgeous as the rest of the woman, and hopelessly more powerful than the inadequate man.

His hands sunk into the moist skin all too easily. Angie’s feet were warm to the touch, soft and weathered from a long day of enduring her confining shoes. Ever since he’d shrunken down Michael had done his best to avoid women’s feet. Now here he was, massaging a pair that belonged to a woman who was ready to kill him on a dime.

“Not bad at all.” Angie relaxed in her seat and watched it all with vivid amusement. “But, I don’t think I’m feeling the enthusiasm I like in my employees. Didn’t you just call me a goddess Michael? You should be happy to be down there. Otherwise I might get the wrong impression, and we wouldn’t want that now would we?” Far above him the man heard one of her toes crack with another wag.

“Certainly not.” Michael smiled bitterly and leaned in to deliver a kiss upon her sole. The taste was salty to his lips, only growing more unpleasant with each subsequent smooch. He didn’t dare retch while she was watching though. He grit his teeth and kept at it, running his tongue along her sweat laden foot and massaging with all his minuscule strength.

Was this all he really was? For all his intellect, all the good he could do. Just because he was a little smaller than someone he was forced to endure this degradation? The fact that he was fervently licking away at a woman’s foot was unbelievable. Yet he didn’t dare slow down.

This went on for far too long. Hours, literal hours passed. Before long Angie simply went back to work on her computer and barely said anything to Michael; except to offer him “hints” from time to time.

Michael’s self-loathing and rage only worsened by the minute, each lick making him want to die all the more. He knew he could try and run. He knew that he should try to get away. But his stupid, shameless urge to live kept him groveling at Angie’s feet until she finally deigned him worth addressing again.

“Not bad. A bit of room for improvement, but I think you might have a future at this company.” Angie smiled innocently at the suffering microbe, the expression mocking his predicament. “Consider yourself hired.”

Too exhausted to even get upset, Michael looked around her foot and nodded. “Thank you.” He coughed out a reply.

“Now then, I need to take my lunch break, but before that I would like to show you to your new office.”

Without warning the Giantess’s sprawling fingers snagged Michael up from the desk, careful enough not to hurt him but careless enough that he could feel something crack. His eyes shot wide when he saw what he was held over: Angie’s high heel. The insole grew dark the further in he looked, resembling a chasm more than something someone put their foot in.

“I trust you will enjoy it as much as I have.” The brunette grinned and dropped him inside, wasting no time in raising her foot over the opening. His body rolled haplessly along the insole, unable to veer away from the terrifying sight.

Angie’s sole completely filled his vision. A plush, flawless set of toes were pointed right at him. They wiggled. No doubt eager for their new plaything.

“P-Please! Mrs. Williams!” Came the latest cry for mercy. Humiliation was one thing, but this? All his pleas fell upon uncaring ears. Angie set her hands on her lips and smirked as her foot slid into her shoe. The toes knocked Michael aside like an irrelevant speck. All struggles did nothing to halt the advance. The mant was only pushed further in by the forceful advance of Angie’s toes. All the light began to dim as her foot fully crept into her shoe. The foot tapped along the ground a few times to secure the mant in a cozy spot beneath her toes.

“Now then, if you don’t mind I’ll be off to lunch. There should be plenty of things in there for you to eat in the meanwhile.” Angie adjusted her vest, toes squeezing the man mercilessly. “Perhaps once we get back I can talk to you about the importance of keeping your office clean.” She stomped her heels a couple more times before setting off.

“Oh, and congratulations on getting the job.”