Big Corp Inc. (G/T)

Part 36: Manipulation

Mr. Hardon pulled Candy out of his pants and set her on his desk. Candy glared at him, then spun around on her heel and stomped off until she realized she was trapped on his desk. "L-let me d-down," she demanded. She attempted to sound assertive, but Mr. Hardon could hear the tremor in her voice. "Please," she added.

"Look at me," Mr. Hardon growled. Reluctantly, Candy turned around with a grimace. "You're coming to work tomorrow, as always, right?"

Candy cringed. "Sure. Just let me down." She was done. Her limit had been reached. She had no intention of coming back. She didn't know where she was going to go, since she was technically still living in the janitor closet, but she couldn't stay here any longer.

Mr. Hardon slowly curled his lips into a malicious sneer and leaned forward, looming over the tiny woman. He was prepared to stab his stake into her heart, the final nail into her coffin. "If you don't come back, I'll fire Martin, and I'll use my influence to make sure he can't get a job anywhere else, ever again. You'll never see him again. He'll be gone from your life."

Candy's heart stopped. Her legs turned to rubber and crumbled beneath her, leaving her on her hands and knees. "No... you can't do that!" The truth of his statement dawned on her as she realized she didn't even have a phone to keep in contact with him, and she wouldn't be able to get to his apartment on her own, since she was so small. If he didn't come back to the office, he really would be gone from her life.

"Of course I can, idiot. I'm the boss. I can do what I want. And, as my subordinate, you will do whatever I demand," Mr. Hardon expounded harshly. Candy's mind was racing, but she couldn't see any way out. She couldn't let the boss fire Martin. She'd feel awful if she was responsible for Martin losing his job. Furthermore, if he found out she was the reason for losing his livelihood, he might not forgive her. He might stop loving her. Candy couldn't let that happen. Martin was everything to her. She loved him and wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Didn't she say to herself that she'd be willing to allow herself to be eaten to keep him? Would the answer change if it were his stomach or somebody else's? She wouldn't be able to continue on without him in her life. She had nothing else left. No home, no money, no love, no hope, nothing.

Candy's eyes overflowed with tears and she balled up her fists against her legs. "Ok," she whispered. "I'll do it." Mr. Hardon's sneer widened and he closed his hand around her, lifting her up off the desk.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he jeered as he placed her on the floor in between his immense shoes, dropping her work clothes alongside her. Candy grabbed her clothes and ran. She sprinted across the carpet and didn't stop until she dove through the crack beneath the door and safely made it outside Mr. Hardon's personal office. She hastily threw on her shoes and kept moving, despite her fatigue. She didn't stop until she reached the human bathroom and went inside. She took a long moment to catch her breath.

Her mind was too broken to process the mess that was now her situation, so she attended to her body instead. With disgust, she removed the filthy, rubbery clothes she had been wearing all day. She was beyond revolted. She was unclean, saturated with the distasteful funk of Mr. Hardon's junk. She tried her best to wash herself off with the sink water, lamenting her lack of a shower. She changed her clothes and checked to make sure the office was deserted before sneaking off to her home base in the closet. She was reminded of the spider in the closet and quaked. She wouldn't be able to spend another night in there; she'd have to find a new place to sleep.

She entered the closet to find her stuff in the corner covered with fresh, sticky webs again. She collected her stash and removed it from the closet, leaving her sponge mattress behind since it was too big for her to drag all over the office. With nowhere else to go, Candy trudged back to her cubicle, rolling her suitcase behind her. She rode the capsule launcher up and hid her luggage behind the monitor. She didn't have anything soft to lay on, so she fluffed up her backpack as best she could to at least cushion her head and rested on the hard surface of the desk. She was hungry, but the events of the day left her too sickened to even consider eating dinner.