Abi worked late for the rest of the week, leaving him at Sofia’s mercy.

She rose mid-morning each day and came into the kitchen. He would already have her breakfast waiting and would be kneeling on the floor.

Sofia would barely acknowledge him as she sat at the table and flicked through her phone. He would crawl over to her, standing was forbidden in her presence, shoes in hand. She would lift her foot, clad in a white ankle sock, as a signal that he may proceed. It was his job to put her freshly cleaned gym shoes on in the morning and ensure they were perfectly laced.

Unless otherwise instructed, he would then lie face down on the floor until she left for the day.

From Tuesday to Saturday she worked at the gym every afternoon. While she was gone he would do chores around the house, she demanded the place be made spotless each day. Once his tasks were done he would dutifully select a pair of her shoes and spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning the dirt and stains from them. She insisted on this last task, to remind him of his place. Each day she expected at least two pairs waiting for her. Some days she would direct him to clean a pair of Abi’s, always with his tongue.

Abi had insisted that doing all the housework and cooking was unnecessary, that he was paying to be here and didn’t need to clean up after them. She had no idea that the sandals she wore had been licked clean the day before.

He’d lied to her, of course. It was his pleasure, the least he could do. He couldn’t leave the house and there were only so many hours in the day that he could lie on the floor staring into empty space.

When Sofia returned home; she’d find him kneeling by the door, waiting for her. She would sit on the stairs, scrolling through her phone, as he unlaced her shoes and drew them from her feet. Without a second glance she’d turn her back on him and continue with the day, leaving him to await her further instructions.

Most days she would have him lie beneath her as she watched TV. The couch would hide her, her feet propped up on the glass table while her legs made a tan bridge above him. They always had an hour, maybe two, before Abi came home.

She would usually find him reading by then, or sat in the chair opposite listening to Sofia chat about her day. Abi loved how close they had become, he even enjoyed her teasing.

Sofia usually left them after dinner, he always volunteered to clean away. She had her own project, editing videos that would often have her working in her room until late into the night.

He heard her most nights, muffled sounds of her working bleeding through the walls. Abi didn’t seem to notice, she slept soundly through anything.

Almost two weeks had passed since he first entered the house and became Sofia’s pet. He lay in his usual position, silent as she binge watched Netflix.

Without a word she shifted position, slipping one foot from the coffee table. His eyes widened as she dropped it upon him; the warm, damp, socked foot landing on his face.

He began to protest but she pushed down firmly upon him, muffling his voice.

‘I’m sorry what was that?’ she asked with dangerous innocence, ‘did you just try to speak without my permission?’

The scent of her foot filled his nostrils. Her flesh covered his mouth, crushing harshly against his lips. She had been working out all day, the fragrant heat radiating from her body.

‘No?’ she questioned, leaning forwards to look down upon him, ‘No I didn’t think so.’

From that day on she didn’t pause before using him as her afternoon footrest. The two hours he spent every day with her foot on his face, the pungent scent of her post workout sweat burning his nose, were some of the most humiliating of his life.

He couldn’t help but worry what would happen if he shrank while she had her foot upon him. Would the weight of her leg alone be enough to end his life there and then, to reduce him to paste to be cleaned from her gym sock? The idea hadn’t been lost on Sofia, more than once she delighted herself by describing what would happen if he was accidentally stood on.

Apparently she had stepped on one poor unfortunate before, albeit by accident. She hadn’t even noticed until she finished her morning run and saw the half mangled torso dangling from the treads of her shoe.

She described how her victim must have felt in cruel detail, enjoying the idea of every bone cracking and popping in an instant as her uncaring foot fell upon them. She pushed her foot into his face as she spoke, enjoying the feeling of having him beneath it.

‘That won’t happen to you though, will it?’ she asked, not expecting an answer, ‘that person out there wasn’t a good pet like you Fido. They probably disobeyed their mistress and were banished outside. Pets like you don’t live long outside do they boy?’

‘No Miss Sofia,’ he responded, his voice muffled by her foot.

She lifted it off him to grin at the full grown man lying helpless at her feet. ‘You know why that is don’t you boy? That’s because there’s no difference between a bad pet and a bug. And you know what happens to bugs don’t you?’

Yes Miss Sofia,’ he answered obediently as her foot lowered back onto his face.

‘Bugs get stepped on.’

She slammed the ball of her foot into his face, almost bursting his lip before stepping off of him. He could only lie in silence, not daring to anger his mistress as she shut off the TV and climbed the stairs. She always showered before dinner.

He waited until the water began to run before the first sob escaped his bruised lip. What was his life becoming? He couldn’t live like this. He had to tell Abi, surely she would question why his face was swollen? But what could he tell her? Sofia was right, she’d lie her way out of it and then he’d either be out on the streets at the mercy of the elements or trapped here and tiny, at the mercy of the psychotic Barbie upstairs.

He got up quietly and walked into the kitchen, wiping his face with a damp towel before starting on dinner. He would speak to her soon, he would have to. If he explained properly she was sure to believe him. She promised to help him, to protect him. He just hadn’t expected to be needing it quite so soon.

In his head he made a plan. He would wait until he had Abi to himself, sometime over the coming weekend, and would come clean. It was the only way he would survive this.

Unfortunately, Sofia had other ideas.