Louise was slowly rubbing the dark stocking covered instep of her right foot up and down the conference table leg. She slid her foot back and let her tiny red bunion touch the cool chrome steel of the leg. Every Thursday afternoon at 3:00PM Louise would have her staff meeting. The meeting would always be in the same conference room. It was informally known by the staff as the ‘Comfortable Room’. It was always refreshingly cool. The conference table was long and smooth with plush, high-backed leather chairs surrounding it. The carpet was thickly padded and as soft as Kashmir. Louise would always sit at the head of the table. During these meetings she developed the habit of kicking off her shoes under the table. Once the soles of her stocking feet felt the luxuriousness of the carpet, there was no way she would deny her self that pleasure. On this day Louise crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair and rubbed her stocking feet on the smooth cylindrical legs of the conference table.

Maggie usually remained professional and always had her shoes on during the staff meetings but today she had carelessly slipped her sheer nude stocking feet completely out of her shoes. She was wearing sling-back shoes and had kicked them off under her desk. When it was time for the meeting she slipped into her shoes but never pulled up her heel straps. Once in the cool thickly carpeted conference room Maggie stretched her legs and crossed her ankles. Almost immediately her feet slid halfway out of their shoes. She started flexing her feet and the shoes fell off one by one. Soon she sat up and dragged her feet back across the carpet towards her. For a moment she rubbed her soles back and forth across the carpet flexing her toes. The carpet had seduced another pair of stocking feet. As Louise addressed her, Maggie crossed her legs and began speaking.

Lisa, who wore mules frequently, was lamenting the fact that she had worn a pair of high heels with ankle straps. When she wore mules she would easily slip her feet out of the shoes and bury them into carpet. Lisa’s feet were feeling very hot and she noticed Greg’s empty size 11 loafer resting on the carpet. Slipping out of a mule was one thing but unbuckling a shoe was quite another during a formal meeting.

“Could you go up and draw me a picture on the white board? Louise interrupted and asked Maggie as the tops of her stocking covered toes now rubbed the outside of the table leg.

Maggie was not expecting to get up and speak. It was an awkward moment for her. Should she fumble into her shoes or get up and walk to the board in her stocking feet. She looked at everyone in the room.

“I don’t have my shoes on.” Maggie embarrassingly admitted.

“I don’t have my shoes on either” answered Louise.

Soon thinking that she was the only one wearing shoes, Lisa immediately crossed her legs and reached down to unbuckle her shoe. She pushed it off with such force that it landed on the soft carpet in an area she could not reach with her extended leg. The relief was wonderful. She wagged her suntan shaded reinforced toe stocking foot to cool it and thought of unbuckling the other shoe. At the same moment Hank, another staff member at the meeting, untied his laces and kicked off his wing-tipped shoe. Hank had athletes foot and his feet had a strong unpleasant odor.

Immediately the odor wafted upward as Hank brought his ankle on top of the opposite knee and began to scratch his toes with his pencil. Lisa was the first one to get a whiff of unpleasantness. She had been in her shoes all day walking around and her feet were sweaty. She was controlling her expressions of embarrassment and horror as she thought the malodorous scent was emanating from her foot. Frantically she uncrossed her leg and began groping for her shoe under the table but it was to no avail. Lisa wanted to shrink in her chair. It was only a matter of time before everyone in the meeting smelled her foot.

By the time Maggie finished at the white board, everyone in the staff meeting was experiencing the odor of Hank’s feet. Greg slipped on his loafer. As Maggie sat down she reached under the table and grabbed her shoes. She put them on and pulled up the heel straps. Louise uncrossed her legs and slipped her feet back into their shoes. Everybody at the meeting was beginning to feel a little responsible for the drop in air quality. Only Lisa and Hank had a shoe off under the table.

Lisa desperately wanted to stick her foot in something or somewhere to hide its odious scent but she could find no solace. With a growing panic her beautiful stocking foot kept circling under the table. Her stocking toes started rubbing Maggie’s foot and shoe. Hope was rising in her heart until Maggie gave her a quizzical look. Is there no end to my embarrassment, Lisa thought.

Hank happily scratched away with his pencil event punching a hole in his sock. The point of the pencil was hitting an itchy spot perfectly and a hint of joy was appearing on his face. Lisa’s face only grew sadder. It would not be much longer before everyone would realize that it was her foot that stunk to high heaven.

Maggie felt Lisa’s shoe under the table and soon realized Lisa was searching for it when their feet touched. Maggie wondered if it was Lisa’s feet that smelled so bad but she soon dismissed that thought. Lisa often had her shoes off when they were together and her feet never smelled that bad before. Helping her friend out, Maggie pushed Lisa’s shoe back to her. When Lisa’s stocking toes curled around the heel of her shoe she looked visibly relieved. Lisa mouthed the words thank you to Maggie.

Hank was rubbing his pencil back and forth faster and faster, harder and harder. More relief and joy appeared on his face until he let out a loud scream. Hank had jammed himself with the pencil. Greg was the first one to reach Hank and he saw the pencil sticking out of his foot.

“Man does your foot stink”, exclaimed Greg.

Suddenly Lisa saw no need to buckle her shoe.