The Tiara

(Chapter 3 led into the flash-forward in Chapter 1, which is now resumed here in Chapter 4.  I hope it's not too confusing!)

"Kaitlyn... Why can't I take this tiara off?!", I said with just a tinge of alarm.

Kaitlyn came to the doorway, clearly amused at my apprehension.  "Why do you think, Nikki?"  She leaned against the door-frame with that knowing smile of hers.

"Did... Did you put magnets in my head?", I said as I gave the tiara one more tug.  Kaitlyn snorted, then walked up next to me.  She looked at me in the mirror, then casually plucked the tiara from the top of my head.  Before my astonishment had faded, she brushed back my chin-length hair and placed it carefully back.  I grabbed it and tried to duplicate how she'd done it, but that only led to more laughter from her.  Of course I was unsuccessful.  It felt like that thing was welded to my head.

"No magnets, Nikki.  It's one of the AI enhancements that we're experimenting with in the latest batch of nano-robotics.  If you put some clothing on, you can remove it as normal.  But when someone else puts something on you...", she shrugged as I tried wiggling the tiara.

"But how does it stick to my skin?!", I said, still confused.

"It doesn't, Nikki.  It just acts to prevent you from removing it."  I stopped for a moment as I absorbed this new information.  So removing the tiara wouldn't work.  But could I... I started to shake my head to shake the tiara off.  Except for some reason I could only shake my head very slowly and gently.  It was like someone was between my brain and my muscles, intercepting my intent and changing it!  Of course the gentle shake wasn't enough to move the tiara.  But my attempt caused Kaitlyn to dissolve into a fit of giggles.  "Aww, honey.  You are just so cute!  You really believed they wouldn't have thought of that?"  I turned to give her an annoyed glare, but of course that only created another round of giggles.  I had to realize that it was hard to glare properly when you were barely at the waist height of your girlfriend!  I thought of a million things I wanted to say, but my phone beeped to let me know the driver I'd messaged had arrived.  I turned to leave.  Kaitlyn wiggled her fingers as a cutesy goodbye.  I was going to say something, but I just tossed my phone into my briefcase and headed down to the main floor to get my ride.

I had to move slowly to keep my balance in the heels that I now knew were impossible to remove.  I must have looked hilarious doing my frustrated little stomp to my ride in my high heels, dressed in that frilly, flouncy 'suit'.  Each step supposed to impart anger, yet I realize now it probably looked all theatrical as each step made the ruffles bounce dramatically.  I opened to door only to find a children's car seat in my way.

"What's this?", I asked?  The driver stepped over next to me.

"Child restraint device, sir.  I'm afraid the law requires that, if you are under the height of four foot nine inches or 145 centimeters, you need to be strapped in."  I stared at the driver for a few moments absorbing the information.  I realized I could fight, I could argue, but it wasn't the driver behind this.  A quick glance back and I saw Kaitlyn in the window, watching with the biggest grin on her face.  I wasn't going to win this fight either.  Sighing, I clambered up into the seat and told the driver to buckle me in.

The Office

I had the driver take me through the back doors of the office building.  He scouted ahead so I could make it to the conference room without anyone seeing me, thank goodness.  The towering glass doors of the law firm's conference room opened with a soft whoosh.  The room was meticulously arranged: a sleek, ebony conference table sat in the center, surrounded by high-backed leather chairs, and a projector screen stood ready to display any necessary documents.

In the midst of this professional tableau, in I walked.  Three heads looked up at me as I entered.  I knew why.  At first glance, they might think I was a small child wearing a parody of a business suit.  It had the trousers, it had a suit jacket on top.  But it was decorated with frills at the cuffs, waist and hem.  It was also decorated with pink bows at the neck and hip and pink hearts at the shoulder and knees.  It was the kind of suit that would've been adorable on a small girl, but on me, a grown man?  Utterly humiliating.  Then I remembered the dainty little tiara perched on my head and I blushed even harder.

The lawyers — Mr. Lawson and Ms. Garcia, and the notary public Mr. Patel — their faces reflecting the practiced neutrality of seasoned professionals. They barely batted an eyelash at my attire, their focus solely on the stack of documents before them. Mr. Lawson, our most senior corporate attorney and a friend of my late father, adjusted his glasses as he gestured to the paperwork with a nod.

I took my seat, my 'suit' flouncing softly as I adjusted my position. Ms. Garcia, who had been busy organizing the papers into neat piles, stole a fleeting glance at the frilly ensemble but quickly refocused on her notes. Mr. Patel tapped away at his tablet, though his gaze occasionally drifted with a mix of curiosity and skepticism.  There was a slight hiccup as Mr. Patel needed to confirm my identity.  He apologized, but pointed out there were slight differences in my appearance.  I put on a fake smile.  "Yeah, I uhh, changed my hair." I blathered trying to cover up the changes that were harder to explain.  I flipped back my hair to emphasize but... That was weird.  My hair did seem different somehow?  It was longer, down to my shoulders?  Either way, once Mr. Lawson provided my ID and confirmed my identity to Mr. Patel, everyone just went back to business.

Despite the eccentricity of my attire, the meeting proceeded with the usual efficiency. The documents were signed, agreements were reached, and when I got up at the end, everyone shook my hand professionally. I hadn't realized how tense I was, how much I'd been holding my breath until everything was complete and I could relax.  I exhaled and felt myself once again.  I think I was starting to realize that one of the advantages of being rich was that people didn't see you as weird, they saw you as eccentric.

As I left the room, I glanced back at everyone around the conference table as they took what I'd signed and did the stuff they do with documents, the things my company was paying them to do.  And despite all the recent events, I felt like a powerful man again.  I felt like I could handle this, that despite this ridiculous outfit and the bizarre changes to my body, I was back in charge.

Now I just needed to figure out how to get back out of the office without anyone seeing me!

Lilly Breeze

Lilly was not happy.  She'd just been hired at Prestige Global and, on her first day, she'd insulted the owner of the company!  How was she supposed to know the owner was some little twerp that was her age?  Yet word had spread and now she was known as the girl who had insulted the boss.  No one wanted to associate with her because they were all worried it might rub off on them, affect their career.  So now she was stuck doing some crap jobs, digging through the old back offices of the company looking for old documents that needed to be scanned and filed.  Lilly was so stressed, she wanted to blow off some steam.  But her favorite method of stress relief was not really appropriate for an office environment.

Before Lilly had started as a secretary, she'd been in childcare.  She'd learned that nothing gave her more joy than a happy, squirmy child in her arms.  Of course most children were not happy to be in someone's arms.  But Lilly had figured out a cheat code.  Lilly had discovered that tickling to the point where they could only helplessly wriggle and writhe, gasping for breath, gave her a dopamine hit that no drug could match.  She'd become quite addicted during her babysitter days until the one unfortunate day she got caught on a nanny-cam.  She was fired and worse, word got around and her babysitting clients disappeared.  Now she was forced to work as a secretary.  And Lilly probably would've stayed stressed and frustrated except... She noticed a cute little girl wandering around in the back office!

Lilly quickly looked around, but no one else to be seen.  Wherever this little one's parents were, they were out of sight.  She again glanced at the little girl and she was almost overcome by how cute she was!  She was dressed in a darling little mockery of a business suit.  It had the cutest little flounces and frills at the cuffs, hems and waist, with pink hearts and ribbons as decorations.  The little sweetie had her armpit-length hair loose, held back by the most adorable little tiara.  For Lilly, it was like discovering gold.

Picture of Lilly courtesy of the amazing HinaYui

Escape!

I moved quietly through the back office.  I knew no one came back here, it was mostly just a storage area for old records and presentations.  I remember exploring it when I was younger, so I still had a pretty good idea how to work my way through these old offices.  I should be able to get to one of the back exits, then loop around back to where the car was waiting.  Hair once again slipped into my face and I had to brush it back.  I remember noticing it was looking a bit long in the mirror this morning, but as I pulled my hair in front of my eyes it was even longer.  I'd need to get it cut... Except I remember Kaitlyn telling me about the nano-robotics changing my hair so it was indestructible or something?  Distracted as I was, I had no warning until I suddenly felt fingers mercilessly digging into my side!

The bodysuit provided no protection from the unseen attacker as I burst into high-pitched laughter.  I had a surge of panic as I realized that the nano-robotics process had made my skin ten times more sensitive.  That also applied to being tickled!  I had a moment to take in that was now super-ticklish.  And as I continued to laugh, I knew whoever had me was already very good at tickling.

I heard someone else laughing, equally high-pitched.  I was embarrassed to realize we both sounded like a couple of little girls!  The fingers of my assailant continued to dance across my sides with relentless delight.  I tried to turn to see who it is, but my hair was in my face.  I tried to raise my hands to brush it back, but the tickling was so intense, I couldn't move my arms right.  They just flopped about, uselessly.  My legs had become so weak, I fell to the ground laughing.  A huge mistake as now my attacker was able to clamp her legs around me, holding me in place while her hands continued to dance around my waist, my armpits, under my chin and everywhere else.

"S-Stop! Ha ha ha. Can’t... Ha haha breathe...” I managed to choke out between laughs.  Quite the opposite of the intended effect, that seemed to spur the attacker on.  All I could do was twist and squirm in her grasp.  I don't know if this girl was some weight-lifter or if maybe this was a side effect of the nano-robotics treatment leaving me weak but she was able to handle me like a child.  It was clear she was so much stronger than I was and I was never going to break free.  Finally she said something other than laughing at me.

"Oh, I’m not sure I can stop now," she teased, her voice full of amusement. "You look like you’re having so much fun!".  Her joyful laughter mixed in with my strained high-pitched squeaks.  "Aren't you just the cutest, most adorable little tickle princess", she said, her voice light and teasing.  "Are you here with your mommy or daddy?", she asked.  I wanted to let her know I was with my driver.

"My... My d-d-d..."  I couldn't finish before the nails were digging into my armpits and I dissolved once again.

"Your daddy?  And are you supposed to meet him somewhere?  Somewhere other than here?", she asked.  The tickling eased up as I was once again able to get some air into my tortured lungs.  I knew the driver was just waiting for me, but of course if I could make her think someone would come looking, maybe she'd let me go.

"Back... d-d-d-o-o-r-r...", I started trying to say he was waiting for me at the back door, but she didn't let me finish.  Too late I realized all she wanted to know was if I had someone close and I'd just told her that I didn't!  Her hands danced between my midriff and ribs, my tiny body wriggling helplessly.  This time when she spoke, her voice was more aggressive, more commanding.

"Tell me you're my tickle princess.  Say you're a tickle princess and you love being tickled."  Just for a moment, the tickling eased up and I was able to get a ragged, gasping breath.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a cell phone, pointed at me.  She was trying to record me!  I couldn't say something so humiliating.

Blushed and red-faced, I tried to refuse.   "I... I c-can’t...!" I sputtered, but then the leg-lock pulled tight, pushing the air out of me again.  This time the assault was overwhelming and I could only manage faint, squeaky grunts.

"That's not what I said.  Say 'I'm your tickle princess and I love being tickled'"  The voice was like iron now.  I was in agony, feeling light-headed, and knowing there was no way I could break free from this monster.  I could not take much more of this, I was going to pass out!  What else could I do?

The tickling eased up again, and again I was able to pull in a ragged breath.  I could feel her fingers poised to strike if I said anything off the script.  "I... I am your tickle princess", I stumbled over the word, but I got it out.  I looked up at the cell phone, recording light on, and then I did something I cannot explain.  I tilted my head slightly to one side.  Then I gave a wide, friendly smile and both my hands shot up beside my face in a "V" sign.  "I love being tickled", I said softly, looking right at recording device, then I gave an innocent sounding giggle.  What the hell was that?  I didn't have much time to think as the cell phone was quickly withdrawn, and then the tickling began again, in ernest this time.  My tiny arms and legs flailed, my laughs choked out in little squeaks.  The more I tried to escape, the more relentless the tickling once until finally...

I could feel the wetness coming up from below.  The tickling stopped immediately.  "Oh no!  Did my tickle princess wet herself!  Such a silly little tickle baby you are.  Now I've got to clean you up!"  Suddenly I was lifted up and turned around.  I looked up and found myself face to face with that new secretary, Lilly.  She looked so happy, so pleased as she held me until she looked me back in the eyes.  Then I saw the joy quickly fade as recognition flashed across her face.  "Mr. Windsor?!?!", she said and, I won't lie, it kind of felt good to hear the panic in her voice.  I wanted to make some smart remark back, but at that point, I didn't have any breath.

Big Mistake

There was a certain joy watching Lilly wiping up the wet spot I'd left on the floor.  'Serves her right', I thought.  Even though it was my mess, she caused it.  Except I was the one standing there in a soaking wet bodysuit that I couldn't take off thanks to Kaitlyn's nano-robotics.  "I'm so sorry Mr. Windsor, I didn't... I hadn't... I thought you were a kid!  I didn't realize you were so small!", she sputtered out as she cleaned.  "I'm getting fired, aren't I?", she murmured.  I said nothing because I was trying to figure out what to do next.

"I need to get out of these wet clothes", I murmured to myself as I caught a whiff of urine.  As soon as I said that, Lilly's eyes lit up.

"I might have some clothes that would fit you", she said.  Something clicked in my head.  Lilly didn't want to get fired so I had some leverage over her.  Lilly had some clothes I could wear, could get me out of this humiliating outfit Kaitlyn had put me in and she could help me get back to the car.  I told Lilly that if she helped me, she wouldn't be fired.  It was like flipping a switch.  Suddenly Lilly was very upbeat.  I told her to go get the clothes immediately and off she went while I hid in the back area.

I'm not sure how long she was gone, but it was long enough that my pee soaked bodysuit grew cold, and I started to shiver in the air conditioning.  When Lilly came back, she returned with a stylish rectangular bag that had lots of zippered compartments and pockets slung over her shoulder.  Clearly she had some clothes in the bag and that's what I was interested in.  She was looking around for me, but couldn't see me even though she was right next to me.  The way the offices were designed in the back part of the building, someone could be standing an arms length away and you couldn't see them.  They designed it like that so they could cram in a lot of offices without people feeling like they were right on top of each other.  That's why it was such a maze back here.  I stepped out where Lilly could see me.  "I'm over here."  Lilly was startled by my sudden appearance, but handed me the bag.  It was quite heavy, so I just dragged it into the corner.  It was at that point a question popped into my head.  "Lilly, why do you happen to have some clothing that would fit me?"

Lilly looked away, like she was embarrassed.  "I... Uhhh... I used to babysit before I started working here, and it's always a good idea to have some spare clothes."  Well, if my ego hadn't taken enough of a battering already...  Nothing to do but change, so I started pulling on my suit jacket.  Of course it didn't come off.  That's when I remembered.

"Lilly, I need you to change my clothes.", I said trying to make it sounds like a reasonable request.  Lilly just stared at me, confused.  I sighed.  I was going to have to explain it or we'd never get out of here.

"Lilly, have you noticed that I'm smaller than when we first met?", I asked.  Lilly shrugged like she was saying she hadn't really noticed that she was only a couple inches taller than me when we met, and now I was only a couple inches above her waist!  I felt a surge of frustration. "HOW COULD YOU NOT...", I started before remembering that I needed her help.  Yelling at her was not going to get this done.  I took a deep breath.  "My girlfriend Kaitlyn has given me a nano-robotic treatment that, in addition to making me shorter, makes it so I can't take off my clothes."  It took a moment for Lilly to digest that information.  "So I'm going to need you to change my clothes for me."

Lilly scrunched her face up in a way that, under other circumstance, I would've found cute.  "Wait, so you can't take your clothes off yourself?"  I nodded yes, becoming annoyed when a bunch of my hair fell forward in my face and I had to shake my head to get it back.  If I hadn't been distracted, I'd have probably been very disturbed by the smile that appeared on Lilly's face.

Credit to Lilly, she figured it out after that.  I was expecting more questions.  Lilly quickly went to work, taking off my clothes with efficiency.  I felt some relief when that stupid tiara was removed as well as those high heels, and as she took off the suit jacket before removing the bodysuit.  Finally, off came my underwear.  Lilly very professionally began to dry me off with a towel.  I blushed as I was now completely naked in front of a girl my age.  It didn't help when she suddenly gasped.

"Oh, Mr. Windsor!  You told me Kaitlyn shrunk your body, but you didn't say she was so cruel that she shrunk your bits!"  Lilly reminded me that I hadn't actually had a chance to look at myself down there since the nano-robotics!  OH NO!!  What had Kaitlyn done.  I looked down to find... Everything looked exactly as it always had.  If anything, it looked a little bigger given how my body was smaller.  A weight lifted off my shoulders.  Except Lilly kept talking... "Mr. Windsor!  You poor man!  It's so tiny!", Lilly said clearly upset on my behalf.  "That's smaller than some of the children I've babysat", she said in disbelief.

To say I felt a flush of humiliation greater than anything I'd ever felt before would be accurate.  I could feel the blood rushing and my ears getting hot.  I felt shame like I never had before...  And then it got worse.  To my utter horror, I watched as my little man began to rise up, pointing straight at Lilly!

"Yes, yes, that's enough Lilly", I tried to interrupt, putting my hands down to hide my embarrassed arousal.  But Lilly would not stop.

"She's just left you with a little miniature version", Lilly said sympathetically.  "It almost looks like it's from a doll because there's no hair at all."  She reached down, as if to touch it in disbelief and I froze.  And then it got worse.  There was a little reflexive squeeze, a little squirt.  With a sinking feeling, I realized I'd just squirted onto Lilly's reaching hand.  We were both speechless for a moment, not sure what had happened.  After a few seconds, Lilly just used the towel to wipe off her hand, then gently resumed wiping me down, except now she was wiping the extra mess I'd made.  I couldn't even look at her, I was so mortified.  When she laid me down on my back, I just let her.

Suddenly Lilly grabbed both my ankles and lifted them into the air.  She slid something underneath me, her movements smooth and practiced.  She pulled it up between my legs, smoothing out the wrinkles, then fastening the tabs on my side.  It was a diaper!  She was putting me into a diaper!  "I don't need a diaper!", I protested.  Lilly just tilted her head at me.

"I just finished wiping up two of your accidents.  I think you do", she said matter-of-factly. "But OK, if you want, just take it off."  Naturally I reached down to undo the diaper and take it off.  Except as I reached for the tab, it felt like it weighed a ton.  I could grab it, but trying to pull it apart was like trying to lift a car.  Our eyes met as I began to understand, as Lilly's smile stretched ear to ear.  I might've made a mistake confiding in Lilly.

Lilly gently patted me between the legs, a soft reassuring pat that appeared to make sure everything was in place, but we both knew there was a deeper message.  "Don't you worry, Mr. Windsor, you're in good hands.  Hmm, that feels strange.  I think I'm just going to call you Nick."  Feeling very small and vulnerable, I just nodded.  But I frowned as she pulled my feet into the air again, and slid a second diaper under me!  Before I could protest, Lilly was already pulling it up between my legs.  "In fact, I think we should double up, just in case.  That way you have a lot of absorbancy in case you have another accident."  As she smoothed it snug, her voice took on a sing-song quality that I would guess was her slipping into her babysitter mode.  "Now doesn't that extra diaper add a comforting layer of softness?  It's like a plush cushion", she giggled.

Suddenly she lifted me up onto my feet.  My now loose hair fell instantly into my face, but before I could brush it back, Lilly slapped my hand.  "Leave it.  We'll sort it out in a minute."  So as I stood there, I was somewhat blind.  I was also taken aback by the huge padding around my bottom.  There was a massive cushion pushing apart my legs, forcing me to stand awkwardly!  Lilly pulled something out of her bag, another bodysuit it looked like, and then began feeding my legs in.  First the left and then the right foot disappeared into the soft material.  Then she repeated it with my arms, sliding them into the upper part.  I thought I'd be pushing my hands through the sleeves, but instead I felt some barrier keeping my hand enveloped.  Finally she fiddled with the back and I felt it pulled tight around my upper body.  With my hair in my face, I could see it was pink.  I put my hands in front of me, only to see two little balls of fluffy pink.  What was I wearing?

Finally Lilly began to brush and pull my hair out of my eyes.  I felt her pull my hair back and put it into a high ponytail and I could see again!  Once I saw what I was wearing, I freaked out!  "LILLY!! WHAT THE F..."

"I KNOW!", Lilly said, interrupting.  "It's my favorite outfit for little ones, and I'm so excited you fit it!  It was made for one of my special needs children.  That's why the padding in the hands and feet, so they didn't hurt themselves."  I could see the fluffy pink padded balls on my hands were matched by the fluffy pink padded balls on my feet.  Maybe it was for protection, but it meant I couldn't really use my hands for anything.  While I did fit into the outfit, there wasn't much room to spare as it was quite tight around my waist, under my armpits and around my arms.  I felt a little bit like a sausage being squeezed.  Looking down at how tight things were, I happened to notice what was written on the frilly bib attached to the outfit.  'Mommy's Girl'?  Worse, Lilly then clipped a pacifier onto the bib!  I had thought that Kaitlyn's little girl business suit was the most humiliating outfit possible, but I blushed hard as I realized how I must look in this pink monstrosity.  Lilly picked up a big, fluffy pink hair ribbon, and soon I felt it being nestled onto the top of my head.  It was when Lilly reached over to the damned tiara, finally I had to say something.

"No, no, keep that thing away from me", I said, trying to wriggle away, but Lilly casually grabbed me with the finesse of someone who has wrangled many small children and soon that stupid tiara was back on my head.  I glared at Lilly in annoyance, but she just looked so happy and didn't even notice.  Somehow, in trying to get out of Kaitlyn's suit, I'd managed to find something to rob me of even more dignity.  But at least now Lilly would help me get out of the office unnoticed.  I sighed in resignation.  "OK, whatever.  Let's just get out of here."  But Lilly seemed to be in no hurry, a satisfied smirk playing on her lips.

"Well, Nick, before that happens, we have one little thing to discuss.  If you remember, you said I wouldn't be fired if I helped you.  But I need something in writing."  With that, Lilly lifted me up and plopped me into the seat behind one of the empty desks.  Then she disappeared for a few minutes, only to return with a folder and a huge stack of papers that she dropped in front of me.  I looked down at the papers.  Across the top it said 'Personal Assistant Contract'.  Lilly sat down at the desk and began going through the documents, writing little changes and addendums.  She spoke as she wrote.  "The secretaries all were surprised that you didn't have a personal assistant.  Usually big bosses like you have at least one.  So, I'm going to become your personal assistant."  Lilly's tongue poked out adorably as she crossed out lines, added in new lines and such.  "I'm just modifying the contract so that if you fire me, you'll have to pay me half of your company.  I'm also upping my salary considerably.  You don't mind do you?", she said sweetly.