"This report is unacceptable."

Kade nervously rubbed his palms on his knees, wiping the sweat off as he sat in the spacious office.

"Well, Jenna, I addressed all the points you asked for. It's not my fault the data doesn't support your story."

Jenna sighed, pulling her reading glasses off and pinching the bridge of her nose. She leaned back in her chair before continuing.

"Not sure how else I can explain this. We know the resources are stretched thin. We know the dollars are waning. What we need to do is explain why. There are lots of good reasons the project is off track."

"Riiight, but the team also fucked up here and there."

"You know, Kade. You'd benefit from working on your language."

Kade immediately jumped in. "Sorry for curs…"

"That's not what I mean." Jenna leaned forward again, pushing the laptop off to the side and folding her hands neatly over her mahogany desk. "A piece of bad news, worded appropriately, can come across as really encouraging."

"So, lie?"

"Business isn't black and white, Kade. Try tweaking it. The data doesn't have to change, the tone does. If you need help with it, set some time up with me tomorrow and we can work on it together." Jenna gestured towards the office door, indicating Kade should leave.

"Pfft, fat chance." Kade mumbled under his breath as he stood up.

He exited the office and went straight to the break room. As soon as he walked in, he released a loud, tired groan. "UGGHH!"

"Whoa! Rough meeting with the boss?"

Kade whirled around, surprised to see his coworker behind him.

"Oh, sorry Joe. I didn't see you there."

"What's up, buddy?"

"She's a total bitch." Kade slumped down into a flimsy folding chair at the table.

"Aww, come on, man. You need to learn how to work with Jenna. She's got no bedside manner, but she does try to make everyone look good." Joe sat across from Kade with his cup of coffee, nodding slowly. "I can't tell you how many times she's saved my ass on the fly… Meetings I didn't prepare for, questions I couldn't answer, even my own fuckups…"

"Shuuut uuup!" Kade had enough of Joe's flowery praise. "I shouldn't have to learn to work with an overbearing broad like her. I just wish someone would cut her down to size."

Back in Jenna's office, she rubbed her temples to try to diffuse the massive headache that seemed to follow her around.

"Was I too harsh?"

Jenna rarely second guessed herself. Outwardly, she was a strong-willed, competitive leader, but inside, she just wanted to make sure everyone got to keep their jobs. All they had to do was listen to her guidance and experience.

She stood and walked over to her large bookcase. Shelf after shelf was filled with, not books, but delicate crystal figurines. There were so many in different colors, they required their own dedicated space. Back at home, she had hundreds more. About half of them she inherited from her great grandmother. Her grandmother and mother then added to the collection, growing generation after generation. A few had been lost to clumsy moments over time, but great care had been taken to preserve the vast majority of the fragile keepsakes. She actually hadn't added many herself, but she found solace in lifting each memory up and holding it before the light, watching tiny prisms dance across her line of vision.  

The following week was a big one - The Showcase. This regular event is where team members would be presenting ideas to the bigwigs for the next product they'd be working on. Even though it "wasn't a competition" on paper, everyone knew it secretly was. Those with winning presentations were shoe-ins for promotions, and Jenna was the top candidate. However, this year everyone knew that Kade had been gunning for the top spot. After all, he had been going around to the various managers behind Jenna's back, planting seeds for his product like "wouldn't it be great if we had…?" or "man, it would be fun to work on something like…"

The day of the Showcase arrived and Jenna was scheduled to present shortly before Kade. While she was in the main meeting room practicing using the video projector, Kade quietly snuck into her office.

"Ain't no way I'm letting this lady get one more over on me," He thought. 

He sat down at her desk and scanned the open files on her computer until he found the one he was looking for. Jenna had already printed out the written report she planned to hand out, but her presentation slides were still vulnerable. Kade opened the presentation and quickly changed just one number on one slide - just enough that it could have been a simple typo. 

"Like I said, the data doesn't support your story… you bossy whore." Kade sneered, saving the file and sneaking back out of her office before anyone came by.

Kade sat in the back of the room with the other presenters. All of the executives surrounded the massive table up front, looking up at the projector as Jenna spoke. Kade's arms were crossed and he smirked as he watched his plan unfold.

"...And when we look at the results of the survey, we can see that 15% of customers would prefer… actually…" Jenna paused, "Sorry, one second, I think that isn't the right number."

A murmur surged through the room and one of the panel members quickly flipped through the handouts Jenna had supplied.

"Um, Jenna, it looks like your report says 51%. Maybe you flipped the numbers," one executive pointed out.

"Ahem! Yes, thank you so much. My apologies." Jenna blushed, but quickly recovered her composure. "As I was saying, about 51% of customers…"

Kade snickered in the back row, catching the attention of one coworker, who put a finger to her mouth and politely reminded him to be quiet.

"Whatever, mind your business," he snarled.

The woman scrunched her nose and turned back around.

Kade's presentation later that day went quite well. He walked off stage looking confident and proud. 

As he passed Jenna in her seat, he leaned over and whispered, "Looks like you had a little miscalculation, huh?" He chuckled before continuing to his seat, leaving Jenna rolling her eyes. She didn't bother to reply since they were still in the middle of the Showcase.

That afternoon, everyone was back at their desks awaiting a decision to be announced. Kade and Joe sat in the break room, going over their opinions. Kade, of course, was feeling quite confident that his idea would be chosen, and Joe agreed it was a distinct possibility. He had done well, after all.

A man peeked into the break room excitedly. "Guys, it's out!" 

"Oh shit!" Kade called out. 

The handful of people in the break room disbanded, hurrying to their desks to read the email with the executives' decision. Kade clicked on the email labeled 'The Showcase: Our Selected Product.' To his dismay, Jenna's name graced the top of the email, along with the name of her product idea.

"...W-what the fuck?" he sputtered.

Joe leaned over the cubicle wall. "Tough break, Kade. Your idea was great, though! Maybe they'll do it next quarter."

Rage bubbled up within Kade. He could feel his face grow hot as his blood boiled. He balled his hands into fists so tight that his knuckles whitened. 

"Goddammit!"

This was the last straw. He had to do something to teach that insufferable woman a lesson. There was no way her crappy idea deserved more praise than his own.  He refused to let all his hard work go to waste because of her tightfisted rule over the department.

That night, Kade could barely sleep. He lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to think up ways to get back at Jenna. At around 2am, he heard a light 'ping!' His phone's screen lit up, catching his attention. He groaned as he leaned over and grabbed the phone from his nightstand, squinting into the bright light to see what the notification was for. 

It was a text message - one from a number he didn't recognize. That wasn't uncommon, though. He didn't have all of his coworkers' numbers saved.

The text message read as follows. 

> [Need a little help? Our useful drink works like magic!]

> [Special Shrink Potion - use it to get into small spaces, scare friends, or just have fun! Use without fear - this potion makes your shrunken body durable and strong.]

"The fuck is this?" Kade mumbled, his voice rough and groggy.

There was an image attached to the text. It was a highly altered photo of a man at normal size and then the same man about as tall as a man's boot. 

Kade broke out into a laugh. "This is so stupid!"

But then he noticed a small coupon code on the image for a free sample. Kade was tired and angry. He stared at the [Click Here!] link.

"... Maybe I could use this."

Fantasies of him sneaking into Jenna's office at night and wreaking havoc - like smashing all of her precious figurines - flashed across his mind. Everyone knew they were sentimental and probably irreplaceable. He hated seeing the tacky things each time he sat in her office. 

"Yeah… Bullshit probably doesn't even work, but it's free." He clicked the link and shrugged, finally falling asleep.

The potion finally arrived about a week later. Kade had kept things cordial between him and Jenna,  even though things were tense. He didn't want to bring suspicion upon himself. It was exceedingly difficult to keep his mouth shut whenever he was in her office, but he used the chance to scope out places to hide and an exact path to his personal victory.

He knew Jenna usually locked her office every evening, so this would have to be an overnight operation. His plan was to sneak in shortly before end of day, take the potion so he would be small enough to hide, and then wait for the evening to pop out and smash all of those ridiculous crystal tchotchkes of hers.

Holding the small green bottle up to his face, Kade read the directions carefully. Not surprisingly, it was covered in warnings.

CAUTION: NEVER USE ALONE

ALWAYS READ DOSING INSTRUCTIONS TO CAREFULLY CALCULATE YOUR DOSE.

KEEP INCLUDED ANTIDOTE WITHIN REACH TO RETURN TO NORMAL SIZE.

He looked at the miniscule chart on the bottle, figuring he needed to fill the dropper about halfway to get down to the size of a cat. That should be small enough to hide easily.

That afternoon, Kade monitored Jenna's door carefully. It was just before six and most of the floor was empty. This was about the time she would normally leave. While she was still finishing up her last meeting, Kade made sure no one was nearby and snuck into her office. He walked over to the side table, stashing the antidote behind one of the chairs. The figurines then caught his eye. He turned to look at the object of his revenge and sneered.

"Just you wait, Jenna. You're gonna love this."

Footsteps approached from the hallway. Panicked, Kade quickly grabbed the dropper, filled it up, and squirted it into his mouth. The potion was bitter and disgusting. He groaned but forced himself to swallow. After a second, his mouth and tongue went numb and his joints burned as if on fire. He struggled to stifle his pained cries. He dropped to his knees as the world began to violently spin. Thankfully, the sound of footsteps faded away. It must have been someone on their way out. He breathed a sigh of relief. 

When the dizziness subsided, Kade looked around. To his horror, he realized he had shrunk much smaller than he anticipated. Not only that, but he was standing in the middle of the room far from his planned hiding spot. The thought crossed his mind to take the antidote and scrap the plan, but he was completely disoriented. He had no clue which direction it was even in now.

Suddenly, he heard Jenna's voice approaching.

"See you Monday! Thanks again for your hard work this week." Jenna said to some unknown coworker.

"Oh fuck, fuck, fuck!" Kade whispered. 

His adrenaline was through the roof as he desperately looked for a place to hide. To his right was a large black container - some kind of bag. It was his only option. Kade knew it was risky, but he also knew being found out would be worse than whatever would happen in that bag. No one knew about his plan to come to his aid. He would surely lose his job or even face being accidentally crushed. Sure, the shrink potion said he would be more 'durable,' but what does that mean at such a small size?

He began running. Unfortunately it was taking much longer since he was smaller than planned. What would have been an object a few inches away felt like miles. His muscles screamed and his lungs gasped for air.  Seconds felt like hours as he clutched and clawed across the carpet, tripping and sinking into the large fibers.

Just as the door creaked open, Kade jumped into the bag. He fell in a heap among its contents as Jenna entered the office.