“Keep it up and you may make something of yourself, kid.” She loved saying this to the man who now polished the solid-gold ring around her big toe. The man who used to say this to her all the time as a way of teasing her of her failures. A man she once looked up to as an idol who used his position to take advantage of her in so many ways and over so many years.

Nearly 15 years her senior, he had found her at a bar during her first year of college. He was some sort of Director at a growing upstart, Vilecio. She had never heard of it, but he made it sound so promising. He offered her an initial internship and went from there. For 8 years he manipulated her. The things she did which she thought would get her his respect or admiration were merely acts of unaware subservience. All the customers she collected and revenue she earned; he took all the credit. All she received in return was the phrase which she now used liberally.

It wasn’t until the last 2 years where she started to see a change. He showed her more respect around others; he worked hard to keep his acts private. Others like him in the company began disappearing as Vilecio grew. A new attitude shift came after Anne took charge from her brother.

He grew stale in his position. Though he attempted to drag her down, he had acted too late. She had learned to grow and succeed despite his best attempts. The time came where she looked down upon him, both, mentally and physically. Where he once represented money and power and a future which she craved, he now acted as a remembrance of her past. A reminder to never settle.

As she settled into her new role, so, too, did he…reluctantly. He still tried to use his old tricks. Words and methods to drag her down, but when she had him polishing interns’ shoes, it was like drops to an ocean – it only filled her with that much more pride.

Her sapphire-blue eyes pierced into him. How he used to tower over her and hold her in his arms and fill her head with empty promises to get what he wanted. Now he was nothing to her, nothing but a lesson learned and a nameless tool.

She spoke no more words. She had decided long ago not to waste much more of her time on such an insignificant object. Something easily treaded underfoot. He was no more deserving of her attention than a harmless gnat and she had told him as much when his final demotion was announced. His wife was unaware of his double-life up to that point, but his new boss made sure his ‘widowed’ spouse was well taken care of with a satisfying ‘severance’ package which ensured that Vilecio held him until she grew tired of his sight.  She doubted she would.

His beaten body stood only half as tall as her foot was long. Literally forced to scurry on the ground like a rat to survive. She insured there was a wide array of crumbs for him to feed off. The girl he once backed into a corner and told she would be nothing without him now allowed him to live off her crumbs. If she was feeling nice, she’d let some of the girls in the office feed him by hands.

Of course, there were others like him in the office. All put in their places by some sort of universal balancing. It took time but could not come at a better one. She was reaching the prime of her life while he was exiting his. He could watch her rise from the best seat in the house.

She recalled the first round of promotions and demotions in Vilecio’s history. A new means of maintaining ‘growth’ as Anne had put it. How much fear he shook with, though he still stood over her, it was only by a mere inch or two. By 3 more months, his attempts to berate and humiliate her we more humorous by that point as she, not only, held the height advantage but also the pay advantage. He soon became her unwilling assistant. His desk in front of her office sized to fit his ever shrinking body. New employees and interns would tower over him as he cowered trying to find them a spot on her busy schedule.

Despite his best efforts to appease her, however, the demotions piled up and he was soon replaced by another.

The office still gossiped about the time she first ‘put her foot down’. His 10 inch body was throwing a tantrum and screaming at her as if she still worked for him. Her stockinged foot quickly put him in his place and sealed the final hierarchy. The laughter from the office was deafening as he was held under her barefoot until he passed out and awoke in her stocking hanging from a coat hook.

Now he lived in awe of this woman who he used to mold like putty. How her eyes used to stare at him with awe and wonder, he now returned the favour. His head between her toes, tears welled in his eyes as he realized all too late what a fool and asshole he’d been. How wrong he was to think he could control her.

As she typed on her phone, she paused and peeked over to admire the sight, but caught his stare.

His stomach sank as their eyes met for the first time in weeks. She saw the tears in his eyes and smirked; she knew he recognized the dynamic and there was no going back.

The smirk made him grow cold, it wasn’t a smile of victory. But more of a recognition of things being as they rightfully should.

She squeezed her toes together around his 4inch body and spoke, much to both their surprise.

“You’ve finally made something of yourself.”

With this, she went back to paying him no attention and typing away on her phone.

His tears fell form his eyes and added to the saltiness which his tongue lapped up.