Chapter 25:

An artificial, chilly wind blew in my face as we walked through revolving door. My mom, my dad, and I were in the lobby of Jackie’s father’s high-rise company headquarters. The building was smack dab in the middle of D.C. and doubled as a luxurious apartment building. Jackie’s father had quite the success story.

Frank Donahue, her dad, was born a poor man. By no means was he expected to succeed to this extent. He went into debt going to business school, and he must’ve really applied what he learned because five years after he graduated, his debt slate was wiped clean. He was already running a successful real estate business.

Fast forward a decade or two and Donahue made hundreds more millions of dollars, married a socialite named Rudy and had a child with her. Fast forward another decade and that child grew up to shrink her college boyfriend.

Being in the lobby was intimidating enough. The hugeness of it shocked my system as a tiny person. The white marble floors and walls bounced every little sound we made across the expansive room.

I was being cradled by my mom, who was wearing a black blazer and a black business casual skirt. My dad was ahead of us in his navy-blue suit, already waving at the receptionist. I didn’t really fit in with their attire. I was still wearing my American Girl doll dress from the day before.

I made a point in my mind about how I was going to closely watch everything my dad did today so I could learn from him. And the lesson was starting now. Being nice to the front desk person was only the smartest thing you could do 

After what seemed like a three-minute-long walk, we finally arrived at the front desk. My dad looked down at the receptionist’s name plaque. He smiled warmly in her presence and greeted her as if we were off to a low pressure, routine meeting.

“Hi Miss Sterling,” he said. “We have a meeting with Mr. Donohue and Mr. Sullivan.”

Mr. Sullivan was Jackie’s lawyer.

The receptionist smiled right back at my dad and looked at her computer, scrolling for a few seconds.

“Yep! I have you penciled in at noon on the dot. Head to the 60th floor conference room that’s where they’ll be. Room 60145.”

Without issue, we were let past into the elevator and whizzed up 59 floors. While in the outrageously big elevator car, I began shivering in my mother’s arms.

“Desmond, are you cold? You have goosebumps,” Mom said.

Instead telling her that I was scared shitless, I just said yes—I was cold. She wrapped me up in a blanket, swaddling me. She brought me close to her torso to keep me warm.

My dad knew better though. From the way he was eyeing me, he knew I was shitting my guts out in fear. Looking at him, I couldn’t help but notice how confident and snazzy he looked. He had his still-black hair gelled and swept to the side. He was rocking a classic side part cut, a favorite of men his age. He had a sympathetic face, and a smile that could stun just about anyone. He was still relatively thin and fit. The wrinkles on the sides of his eyes were endearing Middle age had been awfully kind to him.

Taking in my dad’s calm and collected appearance, I wondered if I would ever have as confident an aura as he had.

Even if I wasn’t nearly as bullish as him, his reassuring head nod brought me back down to earth, even though my legs were dangling several feet off the ground.

The elevator dinged.

“Ready?” Dad asked.

“Not remotely,” I said.

“Not with that attitude you’re not. Loosen up,” he said. “You’re gonna be fine. We’re here to protect you.”

I tried to shake the nerves out of me, but it simply wasn’t working. I was terrified of what Jackie would do. Mostly because I knew she had almost all of the leverage. We had no direct evidence that she was that one who actually shrank me. This meeting was only being held so I could extract concessions. The amount of leeway I would be granted would depending on how generous she was feeling. I wasn’t too sure she was in generous mood after I left her and barely returned her messages for days.

Before long, Mom and I followed Dad into the conference room. The walls were lined with acoustic paneling, making the room completely soundproof. Large flat screen TVs hung all around the room, allowing you to see a video presentation from anywhere in the room. The table was 20 feet long with what seemed like dozens of chairs. With all the equipment, furniture, and technology in that room, the value probably totaled somewhere around $100 thousand. And there was likely a room like this on every floor. So, multiply that number by 60.

Frank Donahue was absurdly wealthy, and that was clear without him ever saying word.

Mr. Donahue sat at the head of the table, and without a moment’s notice, he sent his burly bodyguard to pat us down.

“Daddy, they’re not carrying weapons. Go easy,” Jackie said, who was sitting on his right.

Seeing Jackie again for the first time in days was heavenly but at the same time, daunting. She looked taller than ever, wearing charcoal gray blazer with matching pants to go along. I’d never seen her so buttoned-up and official-looking. Her golden hair was tied into a comically large bun at the top of her head. She was more beautiful than ever.

And she looked concerned for me. She gave me a glance communicating how much she missed me, but her eyes darted away quickly, probably because she wanted to be emotionless for her father’s sake. Yet, she was already failing to do so by taking umbrage with the way her father’s bodyguards were handling us.

“It’s just a precaution, dear. They’re also checking for recording devices,” Mr. Donahue said.

After we were thoroughly patted down, the bodyguard stuck his hand out.

“Hand over your phones,” he said. “This meeting is not be recorded, at Mr. Donahue’s request.”

Mom and Dad both handed the six and half foot-tall man their phones, and we took our seats at the opposite end of the conference table.

“Greetings, Mr. and Mrs. Ford,” Mr. Donahue said, addressing my parents. “May I call you by your first names. I hate formalities.”

“That’s fine, Frank,” Dad said.

“Good. So, Brian and Natalie,” he pointed at my parents, making sure he got their names right. “I’ve heard some very outlandish accusations being hurled at my daughter. Explain to me what you think my daughter did to your son, and we’ll take it from there.”

I tried to speak up, but my dad cut me off. He gave a clear and sober explanation of all the facts pertaining to how I shrunk. He recited all the details I’d given him perfectly.

Mr. Donahue didn’t take kindly to his recitation. His face went sour, hanging his head at the particularly damning details my dad revealed. It seemed that he already knew that Jackie did this to me, yet it was still hard for him to hear.

He turned to Jackie when my dad was done, “You told me this was an accident. Is that not true?”

“No. I did it on purpose. Just like he said. I’m sorry.”

He took his daughter’s cheeks in his hands, “Sweetie, you can’t just go around doing this to people. Do you understand how much nonsense you’ve put this family through?”

“Yeah, I know that know, but I—”

“You didn’t think! Think before you act!”

Jackie was a kid again. A kid petrified of their father’s wrath. She cried inaudibly, devastated that she’d disappointed her father.

I actually felt bad for Jackie. I wasn’t expecting Mr. Donahue to be this sympathetic to me. In fact, I was expecting him to defend his daughter rigorously. 

He turned back to the three of us when he was done yelling at Jackie.

“What do you want?” he asked. “What are your terms?"

“What are my terms?” Mom asked rhetorically. “My son walks out of here today his normal height!”

“Ok, fine. Those are your terms. What about this? Your son gives the rest of his size over Jackie for the remainder of the volleyball season. Once the season is over, win or lose, Jackie will give back Desmond’s height. I know this is an inconvenience, but—"

Mom shot back, “An inconvenience?? That’s what you call this? No way! This isn’t acceptable, Frank. You’re lucky that we’re not pressing charges right now!”

“Quiet!” Dad said.

My father didn’t raise his voice often, but when he did, it packed a punch. Everyone shut up. And he talked.

“Frank, you have to understand something. My son needs to get back to normal. He still has schoolwork. He wants to have a social life outside of his girlfriend. He’s just a kid. He doesn’t deserve to have his first semester at college ruined over this. If Georgetown Volleyball can’t win without my son boosting their height, then is it really a win? Jackie, don’t you want to win fair and square?”

Jackie was stunned. She didn’t expect to have the spotlight turned on her. She wiped her still wet cheeks, but before she could answer, I spoke up on her behalf.

I couldn’t lie to myself anymore.

“Dad, this is all wrong. I didn’t tell you the whole truth. This is gonna sound weird, but I like being small for Jackie. I want to help out her volleyball team because I care about her. So, if she wants me to be small for the next month and a half, I don’t mind at all. In fact, I’m happy.”

I let out an exhale of relief. For too long, I’d been keeping that truth from my parents.

“Desmond,” my mom began. “I will not let you ruin your life like this. I feel like we’re going in circles! I thought we were on the same page here! Our goal was to get you back to normal!”

I turned around in my mom’s lap to face her. “I’m sorry I didn’t have the guts to tell you about this until now. But I like being like this. I really do. And I will grow back. It’s only for a little while longer. And the goal still is to get me back to normal, just on a delayed timetable.”

My mom’s mouth was hanging open. My dad was facepalming. Jackie’s dad had no idea what to make of this. Jackie smiled at me. She was happy I stuck up for her. For the first time in a while, it seemed like we were on the same wavelength, even if our parents didn’t understand our unorthodox relationship.

My dad stood up abruptly, still rubbing his face with his hands, clearly exasperated. He had no more leverage. If his own son wanted to be shrunken, what was he to do? He only had one option left. Give in.

“So,” my dad began. “You’re telling me that in two months’ time, my son will be returned to normal?”

“Yes,” Frank said.

Mr. Sullivan stepped in to explain that they had already written up a document that said Jackie would return me to my original five feet tall at the end of the volleyball season.

My dad snatched the document out of Sullivan’s hands and read the whole thing. Everyone sat there in awkward silence for 15 minutes while he read every section and subsection contained within the dozens of pages. I would glance over at Jackie once and a while. When she’d reciprocate my glances, she’d grin innocently. I thought about the fun times I’d had with her. I should’ve just talked it over with Jackie, and never told my parents what Jackie did.

Once my dad was finally done reading, he put the document down and sat in silence, contemplating what to do next. Then he passed it over to me and told me to read the top.

“You tell me if you’re OK with all of that.”

At the top of the document, there was a summary in not in legalese. The terms were bulleted.

• Desmond will live with Jackie for the next two months.
• Desmond will shrink down to an inch tall for the duration of the volleyball season.
• Desmond will continue his schooling, with Jackie helping him with transportation.
• Desmond will not press charges against Jackie or Frank over this matter.

There were a number of other innocuous terms, things basically confirming our life as a couple would return to the way it was before. But the last bullet point was different.

• Desmond will issue a public denial, saying on the record that Jackie did not shrink him.

Mr. Sullivan and her father were asking me to lie for her. When my eyes came up from the paper, I directed my attention to Sullivan.

“What would this public denial look like?” I asked him.

“It would be aired on national TV,” he said. “I would write a script for you and you would read it.”

It was one thing to simply not acknowledge what Jackie did but to actively lie? It didn’t feel right. But I didn’t appeal to her lawyer on a moral basis. I appealed to him on a strategic basis.

“Won’t a scripted public denial from me come across as robotic? Something that was forced on me? Will people even put any stock in my denial? Can we just not address it instead? I think that would be better for me and Jackie.”

“I understand your concerns,” Sullivan said. “You don’t have to issue a scripted denial. But this contract will stipulate that you have to issue a denial in some form.”

I looked over at Jackie. She was expressionless. They weren’t budging on this one, and I was done fighting.

“Fine,” I said. “I’m OK with that.”

My mom piped up, “You’re OK with covering for her?!”

I didn’t want to say it in such stark terms, but she asked me. So, I answered truthfully.

“Yeah.”

My dad put his hand on my mom who was thoroughly shell shocked.

“Natalie,” he whispered to her. “Let’s go outside and talk about this.”

He led her outside, and they convened just outside the door to the conference room. My dad was doing most of the talking. I knew he’d already made a decision and was simply explaining it to my mom. She’d allowed him to take the lead on this, and he was the more experienced of the two.

When they came back in, my mom was crushed. Utterly defeated. She looked at me not with disgust. Not anger. But with massive disappointment. And that hurt more than anything else she could throw at me. I was betraying her. I made her look like a fool. I’d never intended for all of this crap to unfold this way.

“We’ll sign the contract,” my dad said. “But we need to add some amendments.”

Sullivan stepped in to ask my dad, “What kind of amendments?”

“My son’s safety needs to be maintained. I want my wife or myself to be able to visit Jackie’s college residence whenever we want, unimpeded by anyone, to check on Desmond. Also, no one has been shrunken down that small before, so any unforeseen medical issues need to be reported to my wife and I as soon as they present themselves.”

When my dad’s speech lulled, Frank made sure his daughter was paying attention.

“Are you listening, Jackie? You’re getting a sweet deal. Desmond’s parents are going to agree to not press charges against you for what you did.  All of Brian’s concerns are very reasonable, and you’re the one who’s going to follow his rules.”

“Yes, Daddy. I’m listening,” she said unconvincingly.

My dad rattled off a bunch of other demands, but they were immaterial. I zoned out and began staring at Jackie again, lusting over her. Her tits were burgeoning out of her tight business-style clothes. She was the largest presence in the room, easily 5 inches taller than the next tallest person in the room.

I got lost in my thoughts when my mind inevitably began comparing our bodies. Her arms had to be 3 times longer than my entire body. Her pinky was beefier than my biceps. Her hair bun alone was over four times the size of my head. Just like the first time I met her, I was losing my mind over the size difference between us. Now, of course, it was just a lot more pronounced.

“Do you agree to all of that?” my dad asked Jackie.

“Of course,” she said.

Sullivan allowed my dad to add his amendments in to the official contract we were signing. And once the amendments were added, everyone signed. Me, Jackie, Mom, Dad, and Frank. This was to be a two-month excursion as a tiny person. An inch tall to be exact. I couldn’t wait to see how Jackie would do it—how she would jack my remaining inches from me. The mystery of it was so fucking hot to me. Would she rub my dick with two fingers until I orgasmed? Would she suck my dick until I had a tiny eruption in her mouth? Would she slide me in and out of her tits again?

I couldn’t wait to find out. And I was ready to submit to her. My tantrums were finished. My male pride was no longer keeping my sexual desires pent up inside me. I was delighted to give up my last 11 inches of height over to Jackie. From my perspective, she had more use for those 11 inches than I did.

At the same time, I’d broken my mom’s heart and crushed my dad’s opinion of me. He must’ve thought I was so weak for what I did. But he was wrong. I was brave. I actually admitted what I wanted, even if it sounded alien to him and Mom. They could survive two months of me being a little different.

A newfound anger bubbled up within me. My parents had tried to discourage me from exploring my greatest desires. Put it this way, going back to my normal height at that moment would’ve been like going to vacation in France. You get there. You’re in the airport. You explore France for all of a day, and then you’re forced to go home by your parents. You barely got to explore the country. And that’s how I felt at that moment. I’d barely gotten to explore my sexuality with Jackie. Sure, we’d already had a lot of mind-numbingly tantric sex, but I wanted more. I wanted to navigate her body when I was the size of a fingernail. I wanted to curl up and take a nap inside her bellybutton. I wanted to play with her toes. I wanted to go inside her mouth and feel the strength of her tongue as it dwarfed my whole body.

But most of all, I wanted to know what it felt like to be a possession. Because at an inch tall, no matter how nice your partner is to you, you can fit in their pocket. I was going to become a toy, and that thrilled me. Just the thought of being so small that she could enclose her hand around me sent pleasant tingles all throughout my body.

Thoughts of my future with Jackie were swirling around in my head, and I couldn’t take being even an inch away from her any longer. I hopped off my mom’s lap, walked under the table over to Jackie (yes, I was small enough to do that now), and lovingly hugged her leg.

“I missed you,” I said.

“I missed you more,” she said, scooping me up into her arms.

Close to her, I felt safe. Safer than I felt with anyone. I looked up into her eyes. She returned my gaze, looking into me. That look she gave me—it was one of complete understanding. She, more than anyone, knew how much I loved our little arrangement. It was then that I made my decision. I didn’t care if Jackie somehow ended up breaking the contract. As long as I was with her, I would be a happy man.