A single piece of popcorn, which, without a doubt, was dropped from his boulder-like toes.

Valerie gasped.

She curled up there, looking away. Her chair creaked, trembling against her back. She looked up. The monolithic soles were flexing above her, showing off in all their glory, wide and muscular. They were godlike.

On all fours, Valerie crawled over to the popcorn. She clumsily broke off a piece and slowly put it into her mouth. “He knows”, she thought to herself, “somehow he just knows, and I have no choice, or else…”

Else what? She didn’t know, she was afraid of finding out. In that moment, despite never talking to the man, she felt utterly intimidated by him. She just did what felt right to do.

She started chewing. She tasted salty butter and something else, a different kind of salt, one she recognized. She felt tears coming up to her eyes; her skin felt like it was on fire, and the air was electrified. Valerie felt a small piece of dirt crunching between her teeth and swallowed everything.

“I should stop this”, she thought helplessly, but simply broke off another piece and kept eating. Her hands and lips were getting greasy. Shame was coming in going in waves, mixed with burning desire for this to continue. Hannah and Sophia never made her feel this small. She munched on the snack while the giant aired out his soles above her, in her space, and she could not draw her eyes away from them.