Marlin rushed to the bathroom and tried what he can to clean himself up. He cannot afford to be seen the way he was, with his pants wet, in a professional environment. He was still struck with how little respect Finley had shown him. Why did she do this? Since when did Finley act like this?

The only explanation is that it must be, somehow, connected to the shrinking. Could it be that people just treat him with much respect due to his smaller height? He knew very well that his smaller stature made him feel more vulnerable, and less capable of dominating the scene. But he thought it was just his own perception. Maybe height does have its own unique power.

After he did what he could to clean himself, he left the bathroom. It was not completely gone, but it's the best he could do for now. There is a big wet spot still, but at least its mostly just water now, and it will dry.

He walked by the reception area, and stumbled upon Lulian sitting very in professionally with her feet raised up, alternating between posing for selfies on her phone and voice chatting on it. She did not bother keeping her voice low. She seemed very careless, and it was indeed an unprofessional scene that made Marlin unhappy.

Marlin walked towards her, then stood across from her where she could see him, expecting that his mere presence will at least strike a response to scare her. She completely ignored him, however. For a good 30 she made no eye contact with him. He did not expect this behavior from her, and knew he had to say something.

"Lulian" said Marlin, with a demanding voice. He said no more, hoping his assertiveness will be enough. She still paid him no attention. She might short eye contact with him, then dismissively looked away.

"Lulian, stop what you're doing immediately and listen to me RIGHT NOW!" He said assertively. This time, Lulian shushed Marlin and gave him a frown, demanding he be quite. "Sorry, the guy at work was talking to me. But Ohh yess, that's so true! There is..." she carries on talking on the phone and once again completely ignoring Marlin.

This made Marlin furious. This was a deliberate act of disrespect towards him. He knew Lulian was the bratty rebellious kind, but she never reached those levels of dismissiveness. She was probably starting to get too comfortable. 'Maybe she needs to be put back in her place', he thought.

Marlin had lost his patience, and so he walked angrily towards Lulian and aggressively used his right hand to snatch her phone. Lulian immediately clamped hard on her phone, and Marlin could not pull it off of her. "What the - what are you *doinggg*!" she yelled.

Marlin tried pulling harder on the phone, but it was futile. How come? She can't be that strong.

Lulian lost her patience, and using her other arm, she tried pulling Marlin's arm off. She was not able to do it from her seated position, and Marlin used his second hand to pull the phone. Lulian immediately reacted and got up from her seat, and quickly rose to her full height.

"Leave my phone ALONE! STOP this!"

As soon as Lulian rose to her full height, Marlin was immediately struck with fear and let go.

She was looking down at him.

And she wasn't looking happy. She was frowning down. She must have been at least 3 inches taller.

He was lost on what to do, bit he tried to regain whatever courage he had and said to her

"L-Lulian, c-can you please get off your phone? You're at work now and should not be doing this"

His tone has shifted to a much softer one.

"Oh my God, I am talking on MY phone. What is even your problem!? Just leave me alone and get YOUR work!"

Marlin was getting angry again with her tone, and said under his teeth" you're not. Supposed to. Be chatting with friends at WORK!". He tried again to snatch her phone, with much greater strength this time. Lulian reacted quickly, however, and pushed him back with both arms. He almost fell back, but was met with a wall that he hit hard and saved him.

Lulian did not even bother to look at him. She walked back to her seat, and continued whatever she was doing.

Marlin felt utter humiliation. He was furious. He could not stand seeing her like this. What is even happening? Surely she can't keep doing this. She is of no use to the company if she will spend the time chit-chatting. He had the power to fire her, right? He needed to speak to the manager first.

Marlin rushed to his manager's office, not awaiting any second longer.