“You should have the chance to try that too,” she said, “You won’t be able to do so with anyone else, when this works.”

“I won’t want to,” he said, “And thank you so much, Colleen.”

“Obviously, we can’t keep a written record of an employment contract spelling out your undertaking to be reduced to miniature size and eaten by me,” said Colleen, “I would be willing to accept a handshake agreement, if you would.”

“I think it would be poetic if you licked your fingers, before we shook hands,” said Patrick.

Colleen smiled at the suitability of his suggestion. He watched, as she put out her tongue, and extended each finger in turn and licked it. Then she shook hands with him. He felt the moisture of her fingers against his hand.

“Would you mind if we finalized the deal in another way?” he asked.

“What do you suggest?”

“Could I put my fingers in your mouth?” he asked.

“Surely! I’d enjoy feeling you doing it,” said Colleen.

He took turns putting one or two of his fingers into her mouth, running them firmly against her tongue, sliding them right to the back of her mouth. She giggled encouragingly.

“Just wait for the real thing,” she said, “I’ll give you the address of my research mansion now. You can report there for work first thing on Monday morning. I’ll advise the agency to cancel any future interviews, and say that I’ve decided not to proceed with filling the vacancy.”

She gave him her home address in the hills above the meadows.

Patrick had no idea whether or not she would ever find a way to shrink him. She tried weeks and weeks of tests with no success (mainly because she had temporarily removed a working part from the machine). He grew used to being surrounded by a beam of coloured light, and waiting for it to clear, once again revealing that he was full sized as usual.

The wages were phenomenal, and he enjoyed using them, and was pleased that Colleen responded to all his invitations out on dates. 

She knew that all of his buttons responded to her desire to eat him.

He was now well settled into the routine of turning up to work, and doing a day as a guinea pig for the woman who had captured his heart. He had no reason to believe that such a scientifically outlandish fantasy would ever be made more than the ridiculous mental indulgence that it was.

However, what mattered most was the fact that he simply adored Colleen for having her fantasy and awakening its reciprocal counterpart in him. He loved Colleen, and wanted to be with her forever. There was still a way to do that. He would ask her to be his steady girlfriend.

Today he spent the time contemplating the best way to ask her. Would she say yes to a man she still hoped to invent the means to reduce and eat?

She did seem to respond lovingly to his advances.

Once more the light ray surrounded him, as his mind began silently reciting all sorts of romantic speeches. Patrick’s nerves were getting worse, as he knew that the day’s testing was coming to an end. He would soon have to tell her the full extent of his feelings for her. Could he go through with it? How could he build up his confidence in the few minutes which remained?