Is This What You Really Want? Ch. 05

He swallowed nervously a couple of times before he was able to say, in a tiny voice, "C-curry."

The silence in the room was deafening. Ashley, Katie, and Patricia were all exchanging their respective glances again, and they looked again to Clare, anticipating her reaction.

"Curry," said Clare in a dead-pan voice. She narrowed her eyes down at Timothy. He was unable to meet her eyes and looked quickly down at his hands.

"Curry!?" asked Clare again, but this time for forcefully and shrilly, as if she could not believe her ears.

"Y-yes," said Timothy, looking back up at her incredulous expression, desperate to explain himself. "Y-you see, it's a...it's a...a bold, um, attempt to...to give the consumer something, uh, s-something that they haven't uh, haven't experienced b-before in a soda," he sputtered, knowing how pathetic and timid he sounded, but trying to power through his explanation nonetheless. "It's a...a new and r-r-revolutionary way of seeing soda. N-not only as something...as something sweet, but, uh, savory too. Sweet and s-savory...like, uh...like a meal."

Clare's silent piercing stare told him everything he needed to know, and he was not surprised by what came next.

"So that's what he came up with?" she asked, turning to the other women. "That's what Timmy has to show for a full day's work?"

"Mmmhmmm," said Ashley, arching her eyebrows as she nodded.

"Curry," said Katie, nodding in kind as she grinned.

"You do realize," said Clare, turning back to Timothy, her voice dripping with haughtiness, "that we live in the United States, don't you, Timmy?"

"Y-yes," he squeaked.

"And I've got nothing against India — great country for all I can tell," said Clare loftily, "but do you actually think that American consumers — who, if you'll recall, have soundly rejected Bubble Town's idea of chicory root soda — are ready for a...a curry flavored soda??"

"Th-that's all I had!" said Timothy desperately, throwing up his hands. "I thought you'd appreciate the...the boldness of the idea!" He couldn't hide the disappointment and hurt in his voice, and it came out, without his intent, in a kind of whine.

Clare's mouth curled into a calm superior smile that was almost nasty. "Boldness is one thing," she said, indicating to Patricia. "Ginger is bold." She indicated to Ashley and Katie. "Vanilla, cinnamon, licorice root — that's bold." She turned back to him. But curry? Come on, Timothy." Katie and Patricia giggled again as Ashley just shook her head. "Boldness is one thing, Timmy," said Clare, "but recklessness...and ignorance, really...is another."

Timothy hung his head and was not able to say any more. Clare stared at him hard for a few more moments, almost not believing how little he had contributed, before she turned back to the other women. "Ok, anyway, getting past all that nonsense...I think we really have something here, girls! Sugarcane complimented by a whole host of new and exciting flavors. And, as Ashley has pointed out, a new soda that potentially can be targeted directly to diabetics, since the natural sugar in sugarcane has a low glycemic index. All in all, despite a few impediments in the way (and she indicated to Timothy), a wonderfully productive day's work, ladies! I'll be sure to mention all the hard work you've put in to the boss, and don't be surprised if the three of you see raises on the horizon." Ashley, Patricia, and Katie all responded enthusiastically, congratulating each other. Clare moved to leave.

"Timmy?" she said, a bit of harshness edging her voice.

He looked up at her. "Y-yes?"

"It goes without saying that you'll be back in batch mixing tomorrow. I'm sorry, sir, but "curry flavor" just doesn't cut it in this department. I hope you've at least seen up close how your superiors operate every day. Maybe it'll give you some inspiration and encouragement to do better."

A little while later, Timothy felt like he was literally dragging his feet to his car. He was exhausted, mentally and physically. The shrinking had taken it out of him, and just being in the proximity of his female colleagues' fast-paced work rate had been enough to mentally drain him. He thought about taking the stairs to the fourth floor of the parking deck, but quickly decided on the elevator instead. He was just...so tired. But as he walked into the elevator and the doors shut, he had to smile to himself. No one knew what...or rather "who"... was waiting for him at home. He wondered what Beatrice had been doing all day, and the elevator started going up he closed his eyes and sighed, imagining how happy she would be to see that he had shrunk down even more.

A sudden breeze danced through his hair. He was puzzled for a moment — he was in side the elevator...how was there a breeze? But then he smelled the unmistakable aroma of roses, and his heart quickened in his chest.

"Well?" came Maia's deep and magical voice from behind him. "How's it going, little man?"

He turned around and saw the goddess standing directly behind him, with her long elegant hands on her thick and persuasive hips. She had grown — her head was just at the top of the elevator ceiling, and Timothy saw that he was staring directly into the middle of her hips...into her crotch. Her long fingernails looked like sharpened talons, and her thighs were huge pillars of voluptuous flesh directly under his eyes. He looked up into her face and saw her dark eyes boring into his own...her red mouth was curved upward in a smile, and he was forced to exhale drily, blown away by her beauty.

"Ahh...ah...g-good," he said, trying as best he could to maintain eye contact. "Good!"

"Everything going just like you imagined?" she said, smiling down on him.

"N-not...not exactly like I imagined," he said, thinking back to his unwilling shame and humiliation at work. "B-but...but I don't mind," he said quickly, not wanting to sound ungrateful. His mind shot to Beatrice. "It's...it's just incredible!" he said truthfully, his face lighting up as he remembered how miraculous it all was.

"Mmm I can see that you're appreciating it," said Maia warmly.

"I don't...I don't know what to say!" said Timothy, feeling an emotional surge within him. "You've...you've given me everything I wanted!"

"Everything," she said, arching her eyebrow from high above, "and more."

"Y-yes," he said, nodding. A moment passed, and then he blurted out. "I don't know how I can repay you, goddess! I don't...I don't know how to — "

"Shhhh," interrupted Maia, bending her gorgeous, hulking frame down and putting a long finger to his mouth. Timothy shuddered in ecstasy at her touch. It truly felt, from the buzzing warmth that went to his toes, that he was being touched by a goddess.

"You don't have to repay me, little man," she breathed softly into his face. "You only have to remember what you've agreed to...and reap the consequences." A shot of deep crimson sparkled in her eyes and was gone and soon as it had arrived.

"Oh I do! I do remember!" he said enthusiastically. "And I won't, won't forget!"

"That's good," she said, smiling at him again as she stood back up to her full height.

"Y-you're taller!" he blurted out, wanting to speak with this divinity longer. "And...and bigger!"

"Of course I am," she laughed, filling the elevator with the music of her voice. "I'm taking it from you."

"From...from me?"

"Every time you get smaller," she said, holding out her huge hands to display herself, "I get bigger."

Timothy actually laughed out loud. "Of course!" he said. "Of course! That, uh...that makes so much sense!"

The elevator suddenly dinged, causing Timothy to turn around for an instant, surprised by how much the worldly sound contrasted with Maia's otherworldly voice. He turned back around and was stunned to see that he was looking at the bare elevator wall. The goddess had gone. Timothy could still, however, smell the unmistakable hint of roses.