Stephanie ran over to see that Amy was diligently working on Sophie’s feet.

“Amy, is this customer treating you ok”, asked Stephanie.

“Everything is fine”, said Amy, “I am working faster.”

“I have such a busy schedule”, scoffed Sophie, “don’t be chitting chatting with coworkers. But I am impressed that you can string words into a coherent sentence.”

“I’m not thrilled with your attitude”, said Stephanie.

“I am the customer and I am always right. Now, get back to work before I crush your little hands with my feet.”

“Sorry”, responded Amy.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Amy. This customer is just full of herself.”

Amy was just focusing on getting the pedicure done but she looked dejected – this bitch was eating away at Amy’s confidence.

“You’re sure everything is ok, Amy?”

“What about me”, said Sophie, “I am the one who is paying money and deciding on the tip this meek soul is getting.”

“I should get back to Julie but – Amy promise me – if this brat is treating you like crap, let me know.”

Amy nodded.

Stephanie went back to Julie.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. I know Sophie can be a bully sometimes. She’s not as bad as she acts – she is just a little insecure.”

“No excuse for how she acts.” Stephanie took Julie’s soft foot and finished up the pedicure.

“You’re such a brave woman”, said Julie.

“Not really. I just can’t stand it when people are mean to others.”

“But you’re willing to stand up for others. Not all of us have the guts to do that.”

Stephanie was even more curious about Julie now. Julie seemed like the perfect woman – the kind that would be the most popular and admired woman on campus but she was taking orders from a brat.

Stephanie then heard a, “Be careful – you peon. Think of my feet as those of a goddess!” Veronica.

“I understand if you need to save the world again”, said Julie.

“We’re almost done. I’ll finish with you first. Also, Maria is hardy – she’ll tell Veronica off if she needs it.”

After another 3 minutes, Stephanie finished Julie’s pedicure. Stephanie couldn’t help but admire how pretty Julie’s feet looked. Her long toes polished green looked elegant and sexy. Stephanie was careful not to stare too long – she didn’t want Julie to get the wrong idea, or was it the right idea?

“You did an amazing job, Stephanie”, said Julie, “I plan to come back here whenever I need my nails done.”

“No problem, Julie.”

“In fact, here’s the tip I want to give.” Stephanie saw Julie pull a $50 bill out of her wallet. Stephanie was shocked. That was a 200% tip.

“This is too much. I can’t accept.”

“It’s no big deal. You were excellent.”

Stephanie smiled and said, “wow – umm, hey. I would love to get to know you better.”

“Me too. How about exchange numbers and meet up soon?”

“I would love that! You can put me down as Stephanie Zhao.”

“And I am Julie.. Hornblower.”

Hornblower. Stephanie wondered if Julie was one of those Hornblowers – seemed likely especially given Julie’s slight hesitation for giving out her last name. She knew that Amy was at NYU on a full tuition scholarship funded by the Hornblower Foundation.

Stephanie heard a loud groan. She saw that Sophie was livid with Amy.

“You’re such a loser”, said Sophie to Amy, “this is the worst nail job I have ever seen and I’ve been to a LOT of nail salons. You deserve no tip and I will make sure to put in a review on Yelp.”

Stephanie could see that Sophie’s hands were now perfectly manicured. She was ready to give Sophie a piece of her mind. Amy was trying to hold back tears.

“Hey, you”, said Stephanie, “what the hell are you doing?”

“This mani/pedi was the worst”, said Sophie, “besides your nervous nelly coworker, I have to deal with you getting on my case all the time.”

“Frankly, you deserve it.”
“It’s okay”, said Amy softly, “I know I’m not that good.”

“Your friend agrees with me”, said Sophie with a smile, “me, Julie, and Veronica are never coming back here.”

“For a lowlife”, said Veronica with a shrug, “I guess I would say the work done on my nails was mediocre. I gave Ms. Illegal Immigrant here a dollar for her work.”

“Puta”, said Maria with a snarl, “for someone who claims to be a goddess – you act like scum.”

“I think Veronica was very generous”, said Sophie, “I’m giving my worker no tip – since it was awful.”

“I don’t know. Your nails look really pretty”, said Stephanie.

“No thanks to her.”

“Fucking idiot”, said Stephanie under her breath.

“What the hell did you just call me? Why don’t you say it a little louder?”

“You heard me. Why don’t you two buzz off?”

Julie said, “I thought you were excellent, Stephanie. And from what I see, Maria and Amy are great too. I’ll write a top-notch review on Yelp of my experience.”

Stephanie smiled. Julie really was generous. Stephanie noticed that Sophie’s bravado was disappearing. Perhaps Sophie felt like she was getting a piece of the Hornblower wealth.

“Maybe Goody-Goody Two Shoes here is the only one who can do her job. C’mon, let’s go.”

With that, the three left.

Amy finally broke down in tears. Stephanie and Maria rushed over to her.

“Don’t fret over it”, said Stephanie, “that bitch was obviously out to make you miserable.”

“What if she’s right? What if I am a loser?”

“To anyone with a heart, you are a winner. My mom is so impressed with your attention to detail – she is always telling me, why don’t I be more like you”, said Stephanie, “c’mon let’s go on break.”

[hr]

Stephanie sighed in relief at the end of a chaotic day. She really hoped that she would see Julie again. Stephanie was curious about exactly why Julie associated with two rotten people. She browsed on Facebook. Stephanie found the profiles of the three of them.

Julie Hornblower had a picture of her wearing sunglasses holding a little Maltese. So cute! Stephanie sent a friend request right away.

She found the other two. Sophie Drumpf– who had a picture of herself with sisters from the Mu Nu Iota sorority. It was a picture where Sophie was front and center with all the girls looking at her with awe. How much did Stephanie want to bet that was Sophie’s idea? No friend request to her.

She also found Veronica Rivera who had a picture of herself wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat. Stephanie rolled her eyes. That’s all she needed to know about Veronica.

Stephanie wished that people like Sophie and Veronica could get a taste of their own medicine. They acted like they were so much better than everyone else. They treated everyone else like bugs. Stephanie remembered something that Amy had told her about. Amy had become really good friends with a PhD student in Physics named Brian. From what Amy said, Brian was a genius. He was even on his way to building his own shrinking machine. Stephanie chuckled. It sounded like something from the movies. Amy didn’t say much about the project. But Stephanie knew that Amy was crushing hard on Brian, no matter how hard Amy tried to deny it. So cute!

Stephanie knew what she needed to do. She decided. She was going to see if this shrinking machine was complete and get her revenge on Sophie and Veronica. They deserved to be little bugs at her feet. Stephanie looked down at her own feet currently in flip-flops. She fantasized about teasing each of them with her toes and how scared they would look. Stephanie’s thoughts suddenly switched to herself being tiny at Julie’s feet. Julie’s already large feet would be leviathans if Stephanie could shrink down to an inch tall. She felt embarrassed and immediately went back to her original thought.

Stephanie wasn’t much of a math/science girl, but she knew the main building where Brian did his research. It was where Amy would often spend late nights studying and probably assisting her cute mentor wherever she could.

Stephanie looked in the mirror. She decided that her tank top, short shorts, and flip flops would be enough for going to the lab. She figured she would look sexy enough to sway attention.

She had no interest in seducing the inventor (especially since Amy liked him) but she wanted to get his attention. Stephanie doubted that Brian even knew who she was.

Stephanie took the ten block walk over to the science building on the warm summer evening. From what Amy said, it sounded like Brian would be at his office. He was always working and had little to no social life except his time with Amy.

Stephanie arrived at the office of Brian Kaplan and began to knock. She hoped this would work out.