Colleagues (Part 3) - Massage

She ignored you both for the rest of the day, you tried talking to Jonathan but he was in some kind of a shock and he wasn’t communicating.

You thought she would approach you in the morning with some food and water - but she casually left for work like there’s no one else home.

In the evening, she finally approached the cage and you stood up and held the bars, looking at her sadly.

“Oh hey you, how are you guys doing?” She asked with a smile.

“H-Hungry”, you replied, “Naomi, you can’t keep us like this, we need food and water”, you said, Jonathan remained silent.

“Oh”, she started laughing, “I’m so stupid, you are right, sorry… I’m so bad with pets”, she chuckled and shrugged, “did I ever tell you about Whiskers? My cat when I was a teenager, he starved and died after I forgot feeding him for 5 days”

“We aren’t pets”, you said in shock, shivering at the thought she’s comparing you to her dead cat.

“I know, poor whiskers, he yelled so much but I didn’t know he wanted food”.

You actually heard this story once, few years ago, you never paid it much attention but now you realized just how fucked up it actually is, you are now that whiskers and you can starve here to death, she kept talking and drifted to other subjects but you weren’t listening anymore.

*SNAP SNAP*

“You with me?” She asked.

“Y-Yes Naomi, please, food and water, and talk to Jonathan he hasn’t said a word since yesterday”, you said with a sore throat.

She tapped the upper bars a few times, “babe, don’t be like that, you and Greg can be best buddies”, she said with a smile, then left.

You were sure she’s going to give you some food and water but she went to shower instead.

“What the fuck”, you said in anger and kicked the bars, “what the hell is wrong with your wife is she serious”, you asked in frustration and sat down in anger.

“W-We are going to die”, Jonathan said in a weak voice, your blood froze from hearing this.

“What? Why are you saying that? Don’t talk like that”, you said in fear.

“You don’t know Naomi like I do”, he said, “she has a dark side, she didn’t forget to feed her cat, her sister told me she did it on purpose to watch him starve”

You released a terrified shriek and your face turned pale, you quickly held the bars and started shaking them, it was a panic attack.

“This is why I didn’t want us to keep you, I knew she would become sadistic”, he said and sighed, “you’ve no idea how many times I caught her watching those damn TikTok girls crushing tinies”.

“J-Just shut up, I don’t want to hear this! Shut up!” You shouted in fear.

“Suit yourself”, he said and shrugged.

“I must get out of here”, you said in panic and continued shaking the bars, then you heard the bathroom’s door open up and Naomi walked out with a smile.

She made herself dinner and sat down to eat, she made satisfied sounds, obviously on purpose, once she was done she licked her fingers one by one, then she sat in the living room and turned on the tv.

“NAOMI!” You screamed and kicked the bars.

“Oh no, I forgot about you guys”, she leaned forward and finally opened the cage, you ran out, sweating and breathing heavily.

“Oh Greg, you must be starving”, she said casually with a smile, she looked at the kitchen, “ugh, I just sat down, and my feet…” she caressed her soles for a moment, “so sore from today…”

“T-This is madness! Naomi you can’t do this!” You shouted in fear.

“Do what?” She asked, confused.

“I don’t want to die!” You screamed.

She placed a hand over her mouth and gasped, “die? What are you talking about?” She asked in an innocent tone.

You looked at Jonathan, his cage was opened but he remained inside, “t-tell her! Tell her what you told me!” He turned his back to you.

“Listen, Greg, let’s calm down, no one is going to die, ok? Here, I’ll bring you something to eat”, she stood up and walked to the kitchen, she came back with a tap filled with water and some bread crumbs, you immediately shoved your face inside the water and drank as fast as you could.

Jonathan slowly climbed down from his cage, you suddenly saw his head pushed into the water too.

You walked to the crumbs, Naomi was looking at the both of you with a smile, it was the most humiliating thing you’ve ever experienced before, you held a crumb and started biting it, again and again, it was so good to finally eat something.

“Is it good?”

“Y-Yes, thank you Naomi”, you tried to be polite.

“Babe, what about you?” She asked Jonathan and he silently nodded.

“Ok great”, she said and laid back, then placed her feet on the table and turned on the TV.

You and Johnathan looked at each other, you took another crumb and started eating it.

Naomi coughed her throat a few times and scratched her feet with each other. It was clear that she’s asking for a massage again, but you tried to ignore it.

“Umm, boys?” She asked with a smile, “I could really use a foot massage, my feet are killing me”.

You sighed and got up, you approached the closest foot and started pushing it, if it means that’s the only way you keep getting food you’ll do whatever it takes.

Johnathan stood and watched you.

“Babe? Go to the other foot please”, she said and hit the table gently with her heel.

“What are you doing?” He asked her, “it’s not a game Naomi”

She sighed, “Greg is my colleague and look at him massaging my feet like a masseur, you are my husband and you complain?”

“It’s not about a foot massage, it’s about humiliating us”, he said in anger, “I don’t deserve this, if he wants to be your slave that’s his choice”

“Wow, Johnny you start to piss me off, a SLAVE? Take it back this instant”, she said in anger.

You stopped massaging and thought to intervene, but you saw their faces and it felt like a couple’s personal stuff, so you kept your mouth shut and turned back to massaging her sole.

“I piss you off? You starve us for a day and then expect us to kiss your feet as thanks for a few crumbs”, he shouted.

“You know what Johnathan?” She bent forward and held him brutally, then threw him inside his part of the cage and closed it behind him, “maybe a day without food will set you straight”.

You didn’t like it at all, she’s abusing her difference of size in cruel ways.

“Fuck you”, he shouted.

“Ok 2 days”, she said casually and he remained silent, hugging his own knees and turning his back to her.

She brought her finger and tapped your head a few times.

“Good boy Greg, you are nothing like him, you’re doing a good job”, she said like talking to a child, you started blushing, “but put some more muscle into it, ok? And if you can, massage between the toes as well”.

Her face was still faintly red from the argument with her husband and you didn’t want to piss her off more, so you just obediently nodded.

She smiled in satisfaction, “thanks Greg, I’ll let you have another crumb before going to sleep”, she said and laid back, resumed watching the regular prime time show, some stupid cooking reality show competition.

You pushed harder, and she slowly flattened her foot and placed her toes in front of you, you massaged between them like she instructed and she sighed with pleasure.

Yesterday when you shrunk in front of her, you would have never guessed that this is what today is going to look like, working so hard to get fed with crumbs, you honestly thought she’s going to take proper care of you.

The saddest part of it was that you had no one else, even this awful reality is in fact your best option, you knew for certain that every other girl from the office would probably squished you by now or torture you in much worse ways.

So you have to keep showing gratitude, you pushed harder, even though you were so exhausted your arms were going numb, you desperately waited for her to tell you to stop.

She finally pulled her feet away, she yawned and caressed her feet a little, then tapped your head again like you were a good pet.

“Hey, thanks Greg, I really appreciate it, you definitely deserve a treat”, she said and walked to the kitchen, you eagerly waited with a dumb smile on your face, you didn’t want to starve again like you had today.

She came back with one crumb of granola and placed it in your cage, “it’s healthy, so you’ll have strength for tomorrow’s massage”, she smiled, you were disappointed but you nodded and started walking back to your cage, she closed it behind you and went to the bedroom.

You looked up and saw Johnathan all curled up.

You used your teeth to break the crumb.

“Hey, Johnathan”, you called and raised a piece of the crumb to his bars, “take it”.

He looked at you, a bit suspicious, then reached his hand and took it, “thank you”, he said and ate it.

“I’ll try to get you more when I can, I’m sorry for how things turned out”, you said apologetically.

“It’s not you, I’m stupid, I should have divorced her long ago”, he said and sighed, “I was always scared of it, shrinking and being under her care, but I thought the vaccines are safe… man, how come you are an anti vaxxer, you seem like a smart guy”, he sighed and took a bite.

You gulped, right, Naomi told him you weren’t vaccinated.

“I think we should just keep her satisfied man, Naomi isn’t a bad person”

He chuckled.

“What?” You said.

“I haven’t divorced her only because I knew she would take everything and ruin my life”, he said with a sad tone, “Naomi might be kind and friendly in that office of yours, but she has no friends left and even her family broke ties with her”

You couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth. You have known Naomi for years at work and you didn’t know about any of this, it’s true that you were kinda her only friend at the office, but you thought that’s because people perceive her as a snob.

You coughed your throat, “anyway, let’s try and keep her happy? We just need to wait for the cure”.

He laughed and shook his head, “you’re naive”, he said.

Your mind was screaming “you are one to talk about being naive”, but you just sighed and sat down, you can’t let this melancholy idiot drag you down, you must focus on surviving.

————

End of part 3