Karen Janning’s new black patent leather high heeled ankle strap pumps were being particularly cruel to the middle and left toes of her left foot. The romantic six block walk from the restaurant to the theater did not help matters much either; her left foot was on fire. Even after she was seated in her seat waiting for the play to start her toes were throbbing. She decided that if she was going to enjoy the rest of the evening the she had to remove the shoe.

She sat in an aisle seat in row M of orchestra section waiting impatiently for the house lights to dim. Wearing a little black dress, that is a staple of every good looking woman’s wardrobe, and dark stockings she felt no one would notice her willful disregard of social etiquette when she slipped off her shoe. Perhaps there would be a little awkwardness when she would have to slip into the shoe at intermission but that embarrassment would be well worth the comfort. Finally the house lights dimmed and the play began. Karen crossed her left leg over her right knee and undid her ankle strap. Pushing the heel of the shoe off of her foot with her French manicure fingers, the shoe went into an immediate dangle off the tip of her big toe. The relief was instantaneous. No more pressure on her toes. Cool air bathing her foot. It was ecstasy. She almost lost her shoe in the aisle but she caught herself. With a couple experienced flexes of her toes she worked the shoe more securely on her foot and uncrossed her legs. Silently she slipped her foot completely free and placed her stocking foot flat on the cool theater floor. She crossed her right leg over her left knee and grabbed her date’s arm.

At about five minutes into the first act, a heavy set, slovenly gentleman and his companion arrived row M to take their seats. Karen uncrossed her legs to give the couple room to get past her. Entering the aisle the man stepped on Karen’s sore toes with all his weight. Karen winced silently in pain! The man turned to quietly apologize and Karen accepted as gracefully as possible. The man continued to his seat inadvertently kicking Karen’s shoe underneath the seat in front of Karen’s date. Karen crossed her left leg over her right knee and reached down to gingerly rub her tender toes.

After several moments gentle massaging, Karen’s foot was beginning to feel quite refreshed and she began getting involved in the play. She stopped rubbing her foot with her hand and began absent mindedly brushing her toes on the smooth seat back in front of her. Her toes extended and curled against the chair. Her ankle flexed up and down. It was as if she were trying to paint the chair with her stocking foot. Suddenly, Karen felt a quiver on her wrist. The tiny cell phone she had tucked in the sleeve of her dress was vibrating. It had to be an important call. She quietly told her date that she had to go to the lobby to take an important call and excused herself. Uncrossing her legs her stocking foot silently flitted across the floor in search of her pump. Puzzled and annoyed that she could not find her shoe she decided to limp up the darkened aisle without one shoe.

With Karen walking up the aisle, her date felt relaxed enough to kick off his tasseled loafers momentarily and stretch his legs under the seat in front of him. He felt Karen’s shoe but thought it belonged to the woman sitting in front of him. To help the woman out he pushed the shoe forward under the chair so the woman could easily reach it with her foot. He thought better of his situation and slipped his feet back into his loafers.

Jennifer, the bartender, stood with her three inch stilettos between her nude stocking feet as she sipped a club soda. She found it much easier to work without her shoes while she set up the bar. The theater always set up a portable bar in the lobby to serve drinks during the play intermissions. Jennifer watched as this elegantly dressed woman came walking out of the theater with only one shoe. The woman was dialing a small cell phone as strode purposefully towards a window. Only the toe of her stocking foot ever touched the ground.

Karen smiled at the bar tender as she walked across the lobby. It was a half embarrassed smile and a half apologetic smile for being caught without her shoe. Jennifer returned an understanding smile that put Karen at ease. A quick simple glance between two women can convey so much. The call Karen received was a business emergency. As she listen to the situation she lifted her shoeless off the ground, bent her knee and extended her foot behind her. Her toes touched the smooth shiny rim of a decorative polished brass cuspidor. Jennifer watched Karen’s stocking sheathed toes glide and dance effortlessly around the rim of the cuspidor. Karen started tipping the cuspidor with her foot, and Jennifer thought it was good that nobody actually used it.

After a few minutes, Karen decided that her boss Jerry should handle the situation and instructed the caller to call Jerry. Just as the call ended, Karen felt the cuspidor beginning to fall. Quickly she tried to rectify the situation with her foot but ended up stepping into the cuspidor. She tried to pull her foot out but it was stuck. Karen was instantly mortified. Jennifer could not believe what she was seeing. This obviously polished and elegant woman had a cuspidor stuck on her foot. Her initial impulse was to laugh but she managed to control herself. Instead, she rushed over to Karen without putting on her shoes. She helped Karen over to a chair next to the bar where the two women considered the problem.

Jennifer bent down to try to remove the cuspidor when Karen suddenly dove behind the bar. Karen explained that her boss, Jerry had just walked out of the theater. She explained the business problem and how Jerry had to handle it. Karen was surprised that her boss was here and for obvious reasons she did not want to talk to him with a cuspidor stuck on her foot.

Jerry saw the bar and decided to get a drink while he handled the emergency. Jennifer warned Karen that Jerry was approaching. Karen could not believe her situation. Fortunately for Karen, Jerry was totally oblivious of the situation, as he was considering solutions to the business problem. After a few minutes that seemed like an eternity Jerry finished the call and returned to the theater.

Karen’s date glanced at his watch and began to wonder what was keeping Karen. The woman in front of him moved her feet and felt something. She slipped off her shoe to feel the object with her stocking foot. Soon she determined it to be a woman’s shoe. Slipping back into her own shoe she assumed that the shoe belonged to her sister. Her sister was sitting to her right and she felt this was the perfect time for revenge.

Her sister had stolen her clog the other night when they were at a bar. She had carelessly dropped her clog while she was talking to a cute guy. After that she spent the rest of the night in her socks carrying one clog. Now it was pay back time. She picked up the shoe and tossed in the empty chair behind her sister.

While trying to ease the cuspidor off of Karen’s foot the two women were having a pleasant conversation. Karen explained why she removed her shoe and how she lost it. Jennifer explained that bartender job was temporary and that she was going to computer school. The women had many common interests and they were beginning to bond. Karen told Jennifer that she might have a higher paying job for her working with computers and that she should see her Monday. Jennifer thanked Karen and suggested that trying to ease Karen’s foot out of the cuspidor might be the wrong approach. Maybe they would have to yank it off suddenly. Karen reluctantly agreed.

Karen braced herself in the chair and Jennifer took firm grasp of the cuspidor. The women synchronized their effort. Karen curled her toes and pushed the cuspidor with her shod foot at the same moment Jennifer pulled at the cuspidor. The cuspidor popped off and Jennifer flew back landing on top of her shoes breaking the heel of her right stiletto. Karen wiggled her toes examined her stocking foot. It felt good and it looked perfect. There were no runs or snags in the stocking. Karen then noticed Jennifer sitting next to her broken shoe and was empathetic and apologetic. Immediately she removed her shoe and gave it to Jennifer. She explained that padding around in stocking feet for the rest of the night would be nothing compared to the embarrassing situation she had just gone through. Jennifer indicated that it did not matter and that she would give her feet a rest for her last night bartending. After all she was getting a new job on Monday.

With shoe in hand Karen walked back to her seat in the theater. She sat down on top of her other shoe. Her date must have found it for her she thought. Putting both shoes on the floor, Karen took her dates arm, rested her head on his shoulder, crossed her right leg over her left knee and began rubbing her stocking foot against his leg. Both of them thought the date was getting better.

At intermission, Karen was not embarrassed to be walking in her stocking feet despite the looks she got from some people. Jennifer tended bar vivaciously. It was a combination of happy stocking feet and a brighter outlook for her future. The woman who sat in front of Karen’s date pondered how her sister could be standing their with her two shoes on her feet. .