Credit for parts of this chapter goes to an anonymous collaborator

To her credit, Anju didn’t even blink. She didn’t really show that she was taken aback at all, aside from maybe a slight change in posture, or a momentary pause that she had to take to process what she’d just heard. Her first impression of the client must have been slightly off.

Luckily, she’d spent enough time here for her body to react almost automatically in situations like this. On her first day at Pedestal, Anju would probably look around, trying to get some support from her coworkers. But she knew that Nicole right now would have a plastic smile on her face as well and there would be absolutely zero sympathy for Anju in her eyes.

“My sincerest apologies, Sir”, Anju said and bowed her head briefly. With her head still slightly lowered, she watched him as he took a seat, the leather creaking under his weight.

***

He glanced up from his phone as he heard Anju’s meek apology, grinning behind the screen. The whole search would be a dead end for this poor girl; his shoes were bought in a specialty shop a few years back, essentially custom made. Although they looked similar to a lot of popular brands, he knew they wouldn’t have them in stock… and he couldn’t wait to savor the moment.

***

The next request was a bit out of ordinary even for Pedestal - but it wasn’t necessarily something she’d never done before. Though usually not for people of his age… much more often for those older, who (sometimes) could actually use the help. She barely even had a chance to reply when he decided to make another, louder, remark, and Anju, internally mortified that Felicia might have heard that, immediately replied in a soft, sorry voice:

“Of course, sir”.

Because in situations like this you never make excuses nor try to argue - the customer at Pedestal was always right. Always.

Normally she’d pull something up, but in this situation she had to act quickly, so, without missing a beat, she gracefully went on her knees in front of the extended leg and quickly untied the laces, her fingers deft and gentle. Then, she supported his ankle with her right hand and pulled the shoe off by the heel with her left. Throughout this, Anju kept a calm, professional demeanor; her back was straight, her motions were steady. She certainly hoped he wouldn’t find another reason to berate her - maybe the phone would occupy him for the rest of this.

As the shoe popped off, Anju carefully set it down on the rug in front of the couch. For a moment there, she was still in this position, holding up his socked foot.

***

A sigh escaped Jay as he felt his foot pop free from the tight leather shoe. He was a 14 wide; making it even more difficult to find of shoe of his size, especially at a high-end store like this. He flexed his toes in his black cotton sock a bit as she held his foot in her hand, stretch them and airing them out. The scent travelled to his nose; a familiar musk, the product of a hard days works. He bit his lip, knowing that the odor had to more pungent for the poor girl on her knees.

He loved the facade she wore, he'd seen it before. A stone cold exterior to project to the world, but inside she was house of cards. A smile spread across his lips again as he taught of a better idea to torment the port girl.

***

The moment after Anju set the shoe down, she was hit with the smell. She had to hold her breath for a moment. These were big feet, the one she held up right now absolutely dwarfed her hand, and these big feet clearly spendt a while in the leather shoe. He'd probably been up on his feet since the morning. In a warm room. Because they smelled, and they smelled strongly, and the musk invading her nostrils right now was... potent, to say the least. As his toes flexed, she almost felt the warm air moving around her face, and she couldn't help but wince ever so slightly, hoping immediately that her position would obscure this fact from the man. For some reason she felt like he was in the mood to pick up on every little thing she did (or, more importantly, did not).

Anju started lowering the foot to the floor, carefully, so as not to just drop the customer's leg. Her eyes already investigated the insole of the shoe in search of a logo, but it looked like it was rubbed out by wear. She'd have to take a look at the tongue of the shoe...

While Anju was busy with that, her coworker Nicole watched out of the corner of her eye. A moment later, the manager, Felicia, showed herself. She frowned as she noticed Anju on her knees, then shot Nicole a glare. The cashier walked out from behind the register and cheerfully addressed the client:

“Sir, would you like a drink while you wait?”

Nicole was a blonde lady about Anju’s age, but taller and slightly curvier all around. She wore the same kind of uniform. Anju was internally grateful even if she understood that Nicole likely didn't do it out of a genuine desire to partake in Anju's grief with this demanding customer - she was just following the protocol.

***

“Yeah, let me grab a vodka and tonic.” he said with a low chuckle, turning to the young lady. “Just kidding, hun. Water is fine.”

He normally would have happily jumped at the opportunity to torture this new clerk but she didn’t interest Jay nearly as much as Anju. Something about the look in her eyes told him that she wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to press and prod as the brown skinned woman at his feet.

"Sure thing, sir, water it is", Nicole replied in the meantime, turning around on her heels.

“Actually, hun, hold on a sec” he said as the blonde haired clerk started to turn away. She twirled around back toward him and perked up, a plastic mask of a face depicting a willingness to serve, likely honed from years of service work. He eyed the older lady in the corner, undoubtably the manager, before shooting the blonde a soft smile.

“How about you fetch the shoes instead? The store seems pretty empty after all. I’ve been thinking about telling the other PMs at my firm to come check this place out, but I came to see what this vaunted service of yours is all about.” He said, just loud enough for the manager to hear, before turning his attention to the woman on her knees, dutifully removing his shoes from his tired feet.

Nicole hesitated for a moment, but only for a very brief one, and out of confusion rather than disobedience. 'Ehm, of course, sir', she said, knowing that Felicia was probably still watching this. (She was, although she already half-stepped back into her room, satisfied that her subordinates were doing well). Nicole bent down and picked up the shoe that Anju just took off.

Jay raised his foot a bit, tapping lightly the bottom of her delicate chin with his socked toes.

"How about a massage, babe? Keep me distracted while we wait." he eyed her, coy grin across his lips as he waited for her response, "Or is that too much to ask from the 'first class service' here at pedestal?"

***

As Nicole stepped away, Anju felt immensely stupid for still being down here on her knees, so she looked up and flashed a brilliant smile as... as he tapped his toes on her chin and requested a foot massage. The damp, clammy touch paralyzed her. Never before a client would touch her face with their foot. Never. It was warm, and it sent another wave of odor into her nose, and it was so, so... humiliating, she realized. "Who does this?" She froze, trying to think.