Chapter 1: Solitude

Finally. A week away with the woman he loved. A week alone together in the wilderness, spending every moment with one another. Larry couldn’t help but smile, and nod his head to the music whilst he steered their car along the shaded forest road.

Everything was perfect. Well, almost perfect. He sniffed and wrinkled his nose.

“Heather, will you please put your shoes back on?”

“What’s wrong?” Heather grinned and flexed her slender soles up on the dashboard. “Stinky?”

“Yes! Very much so!”

Annoyed, he tried to roll down the windows and let fresh air into the car in order to blow the stench away. Nothing happened. Oh yeah, it’s busted. Why did I never get that fixed?

“Sorry, looks like you’re trapped with the smell until we reach the cabin.” She giggled.

“You’re not going to put your shoes back on?”

“No waaaaaaay. They’re getting all stuffy in those old things.”

“It was your own decision to wear those nasty trainers without socks. Now, put them back on, the stink might knock me out, which wouldn’t end well considering that I’m driving.”

“Lair-bear, can’t you just stomach the smell of my sweaty feet for once? Pretty please?”

Larry sighed, resigning himself to the cheesy aroma that was filling the hot interior of his car. He hoped the odour wouldn’t soak into anything. The last thing he wanted was a car that constantly smelled like feet.

“Fine. Just this once.”

“Yay! Best. Boyfriend. Ever.”

Heather pulled out her phone and angled it at her feet, likely taking a picture for Fwittergramk. Larry smiled in spite of the distracting stench and concentrated on driving whilst she continued to play on her phone.

Usually he’d be vehemently against Heather baring her feet unless they were freshly washed, but he was in a good mood. This week was special, perhaps the most special week of his entire life. The weekend where he proposed to his perfect girlfriend and place them on the road to married life. And it hadn’t even been his idea! Heather had arranged it, booking the isolated cabin and presenting him with the opportunity of a lifetime.

How did I ever manage to bag a girl like this? He glanced over her whilst keeping an eye on the road. Tall, blonde and beautiful. There wasn’t an inch of her that was anything less than divine. Even her big feet, although extremely stinky, were aesthetically pleasing, and that was coming from someone who hated the things!

“There’s a spider on the window,” he said, grinning.

The squeal that she made was more than enough to turn his grin into laughter.

“Larry!” She was laughing a little herself when she playfully slapped him on the shoulder.

“I swear, you’ll believe anything.”

The rest of the drive passed by in relative silence. Larry managed not to complain any further about Heather’s stinky feet. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t filled with relief when he got out of the car, gulping down air like it was a drug.

“Hold on, Lair-bear, I’ll be out in a moment. Just gotta pop my shoes back on my feet! Get my stuff out of the back, would you?”

He had planned to admire the scenery, but it seemed Heather had other ideas. He rolled his eyes and went around to the rear of the vehicle. Opening the trunk, the bags were hefted out one by one. Heavy! Heather’s luggage outnumbered his, having brought four cases to his single case. Did she realise that this was only a week long?

Thankfully, the cases had straps, handles and wheels. He put one on his front, one on his back, and lifted the rest. Somehow he was able to lift two with a single hand, although the grip felt loose.

“Heather! Little help?” he said as he waddled around the side of the car.

She was sat sideways in her seat with the door open, fighting to get her feet back into the tight trainers. It’s her own fault. She’s got plenty of new shoes and chose to bring those regardless. She seemingly quit, throwing her hands up in frustration, then reached down and picked up the trainers.

“I’d help out, Lair-bear, but I really gotta pee!” She got up, ran over to him and pick-pocketed the keys from his pocket, offering her shoes as trade. They were left on the case strapped to his front, leaving them right below his face. “See you inside; try not to drop my shoes.”

“W-wait!” he yelled after her to no avail, watching as she ignored him and went inside the cabin, giggling. “Fucking hell.”

The rotten pair of trainers tainted every laboured breath. He could see the nearly completely black insole; the once present numbers imprinted onto the heel section erased by years of sweat and friction.

Grumbling all the way, he had plenty of time to check out the cabin on his slow, careful approach. Heather had picked a fancy place for a week-long getaway, that was undeniable. It was huge! He’d been expecting a cosy log cabin, not a luxury, two-storey house that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Climbing up the short set of stairs leading to the front door was the hardest part. He had to take them one at a time, and each time he leaned back the shoes slipped a little closer to his face; each slight slip causing their odour to get stronger.

He did make it, in the end. It would have taken far less time with two people. Heather had, at the very least, left the door ajar, so he pushed it open without difficulty. How thoughtful of her. The room he entered was huge, acting as both the living room, dining room and kitchen all in one. The kitchen was differentiated from the rest of the room by a change from hardwood to tiled floor.

Dumping the cases on the ground, Heather’s trainers toppled.

“Hey! My shoes!” she called from the couch. Her feet were propped up on the coffee table whilst she watched TV.

“I thought you needed to pee?”

“I finished, obviously.”

“So why didn’t you come and lend a hand?”

She shrugged. “You seemed to be handling things well enough. Besides, a girl’s gotta put her feet up.”

“Watch that you don’t soil the furniture, your feet are dirty.”

“Come and clean them for me, if you like. Ooooo, give me a massage too!”

Larry grimaced, remembering how potent the smell had been inside the car. He’d just gotten away from her reeking trainers and he wasn’t eager to go near her feet for a good while.

“I’m good, thanks. I just don’t want to be stuck with a cleaning fee.”

“Would you relax? This is our special week away! We know the owner of the place, and I know for a fact that she wouldn’t dream of charging us a cleaning fee.”

He cocked an eyebrow. We know the owner? Kelly? She and Heather were close. Or, maybe...

“It’s not Natalie, is it?”

Natalie was Heather’s best friend—even more so than Kelly—nothing more. That was what they both claimed. However, Natalie liked women an awful lot more than men, and Larry knew that she was head over heels for his girlfriend. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t like Natalie, and the feeling was mutual. He’d tried his hardest to get along with the woman, for Heather’s sake. Sadly, she wasn’t willing to do the same. The last time they’d seen each other, strong words had been exchanged.

“What makes you think that?” She seemed amused by the question.

“Well, that’s the worst case scenario.” Proposing to the love of his life in a house owned by her wasn’t something he desired.

“No, no. This place doesn’t belong to Nat. Stop worrying, it’s just me and you!”

Larry smiled. “You’re right. Sorry.”

“Apology accepted. Now, get over here. I want snuggles from my Lair-bear!”

Staying well away from her bare feet, he circled around the coffee table and took a seat on the cushion that Heather had patted, cuddling up to her.

Tired from the drive, he nodded off with his head on her shoulder whilst she played with his hair.

“Lair-bear. Laaaaaaaair-bear. Wakey wakey, sleepyhead.”

“I don’t think he can hear you. He’s out cold. Want me to give him a buzz?”

Larry was half asleep, his eyes still closed. He recognised the voice of the person talking to Heather, but couldn’t quite place who it was. The smell of sweaty feet was thick in the air.

“Go ahead. Just a quick one. I kinda want to see our new toy in action too.”

Bzzzzzzzzzzz.

Larry screamed, his eyes shooting wide open as electricity ran through him. The sudden pain disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Now he was wide awake, aware that he had been stripped and left in just his underwear.

Giggling rained down from above. He saw four soles dangling in the air above him. Two were bare, long and dirty. The other two soles were that of boots, boots with filthy treads. A smooth portion of rubber split the treads, displaying embossed and encircled number 10s.

Heather’s toes reached out and grabbed at his nose. He turned his head away and tried to slap the foot away with his hands, but found that his arms were bound off to the sides. A glance either way showed him that he was shackled to metal rings protruding from the front of the couch that he somehow hadn’t noticed before.

“Hey, quit trying to escape my stinky toes,” Heather said, still giggling.

“Heather, stop!” he yelled weakly.

“She said to quit it!”

A boot stomped down hard next to his head. Now that he was fully lucid, that voice was unmistakable. Both girls chose this moment to lean forward, putting faces to their soles.

Natalie grinned down at him, her face framed by raven black hair. His blood went cold.

“Surprised to see me? We’ve been planning this weekend for a while.”

“We?”

Heather took the opportunity to jam her toes into Larry’s mouth when it opened. He gave a muffled yell as his tongue was assaulted by a sour, earthy flavour.

“Suck on my toes for a little while, Lair-bear. I have some things to tell you, and I don’t want to be interrupted. It’s a mix of good news and bad news. Should I start with good news or bad news?”

“Bad news,” Natalie answered for him, smiling. “I want to see if he cries.”

“Bad news it is.”

Heather wiggled her long toes in his mouth and he groaned. Bits of loose grime—either acquired in the depths of her trainers or in the short barefoot walk from the car to the cabin—escaped from the vinegary spaces between.

“So, how best to put this? Lair-bear, it’s been fun, but I’m breaking up with you. There’s only one way to say it, really.”

As soon as Larry heard those words, he teared up. Why was she doing this to him? Was breaking up not enough? She had to torment him with her damned feet too? This was so unlike her; it was as if she’d been replaced by an evil twin.

“Don’t cry! I still want you around. I love you, Lair-bear, and I always will. It’s just...” she sighed, and Natalie barked a cruel laugh, “we’re not comparable. Look at us, I’m a ten and you’re a—”

“—two,” Natalie said.

“I wouldn’t go that low. Maybe a three or a four. That’s not the point. The point is that I don’t want to be with you any more. I’ve found someone more suited for me.”

“Guess who that is?” Natalie stroked his face with a hard rubber sole.

“We’re a perfect match, don’t you think?”

Larry tried to shout “No!” but all that came out was a garbled noise.

“Sorry, Lair-bear. I know you’ve never liked her, but you’ll have to learn to get along with her now. If not, she’s got permission to punish you.”

“Like I need permission for that. He’s going to be mine as much as he will be yours!”

Natalie’s stroking became more intense, twisting his skin painfully under her weight.

“That leads me to the good news,” Heather said, smiling sweetly. “Since I can’t bear to lose you, you’re going to become a pet for me and Nat. You’ll be in charge of keeping the house tidy, cleaning our feet and shoes, and generally act as our entertainment whenever we’re bored. Basically, you’re going into full-time slavery. Won’t that be fun?”

Once more, he tried and failed to cry out with a “No!”

“Aww, it almost sounds as if you love the idea as much as I do! For your very first task, I want you to suck on those toes I have crammed into your mouth. Suck on them as if your life depends on it.”

Her toes went still in his mouth, waiting for him to begin worshipping them. He didn’t do it; instead of obeying he kept trying to turn his head and remove them.

Heather sighed. “You really should have listened to me, Lair-bear. Nat, shock him.”

Natalie grinned evilly, holding up a little remote control in her hand. Once Heather had withdrawn her toes, Natalie pressed the singular button on the remote and once more, Larry felt electric pain erupt from his neck and flow throughout his body.