Submitted by someone wo goes by the name "Who Cares?"

It was Elaine’s fourth appearance of the day and as she took her position behind the podium applause filled room. As she stood there grasping the podium waiting for the warm applause subside she could not help but slip her right foot out high heeled pump. Immediately the empty pump fell on its side and Elaine began rubbing her sheer ecru stocking foot on top of her left foot and shoe.

“Put your shoe on Elaine!”, the ear piece in Elaine’s ear transmitted. It was the voice of Kerry her campaign manager who ironically was standing in her stocking feet off stage. It had been a long day for both of them. “You can’t embarrass yourself again.” Kerry continued.

Two weeks prior to tonight’s appearance Elaine was giving a speech when she slipped out of her right shoe and began rubbing her toes on the back of her left calf. She lifted her hands from the podium to make a dramatic gesture, lost her balance and fell. The photograph was of a shoeless disheveled woman being helped to her feet with a large run down the front of her dark stocking leg. Ogden Reed, her esteemed opponent, had connections with the local newspaper. He made sure that picture made the front page.

Elaine nodded slightly, and began to position the fallen pump with her toes so she could easily slip her foot back into it. Her stockings made the job more difficult. She did not look down and thought her toes were near the front of her shoe. Firmly pushing her toes into the shoe she only succeeded in spinning half of her shoe into a gap between the podium and the stage floor. Not realizing that she could put her shoe in an irretrievable position under the podium she moved her foot forward and put her shoe in an irretrievable position under the podium.

Kerry watching from off stage and Elaine with half of her stocking foot feeling for her shoe beneath the podium realized the situation at the same time.

“Stay calm!”, Kerry said into her transmitter. “Stay on your toes and deliver your speech. I’ll think of something. Don’t worry.”, she continued.

Those words calmed Elaine down; she trusted Kerry implicitly. Kerry was always good in the clutch. The applause finally subsided and Elaine pushed her stocking toes in the floor and began her speech.

A thousand things ran through Kerry’s head. She thought of how hard she and Elaine worked on the campaign. She thought of how Ogden could embarrass Elaine at the upcoming debate if he found out Elaine lost her shoe again; this could become a running joke. It had been a long day and Kerry could not blame Elaine slipping out of her shoe. Kerry wasn’t even sure where her shoes were; she had kicked them off a half hour ago. Now Kerry had to think options.

The speech was timed at 20 minutes. If needed Elaine could take questions for an additional 10 minutes. Kerry calculated that it was impossible to get to a shoe store, buy a matching pair of pumps, and return in a half hour. Her shoes, wherever they were, were flats, they were the wrong color, and they were too small to fit Elaine. Then she remembered from a previous scouting trip, that this auditorium stage had trap doors.

Using her PDA, Kerry quickly got the number of the stage manager but then realized if she let him in on Elaine’s predicament there could be a press leak. She had to do this alone. Kerry also decided to remain shoeless so she could silently maneuver below the stage. Quickly she found the entrance to go below the stage and she entered the dark and dusty area.

The toes of Elaine’s left foot were throbbing from supporting most of her weight and her right foot was beginning cramp from being on the tips of its toes. It would feel so good to put her stocking foot flat on the floor and shift her weight but that would betray her situation. A voice came over her ear piece again. She was use to this occurrence during her speeches and it did not distract her.

Kerry explained to Elaine that she was under the stage looking for trap door which with luck would allow her to retrieve Elaine’s pump. Elaine was ten minutes into her speech. It took about a minute for Kerry to get her bearings in the dark room by using her using a pen light. She saw the microphone wire for the podium. Her black stocking feet slid effortlessly on smooth dusty floor so she quickly shuffled her way silently toward the podium.

Suddenly, the big toe Kerry’s left foot stubbed against an iron angle brace. She winced silently in pain dropping her pen light. The tiny bulb shattered and there was total darkness. Not immediately concerned with the darkness she lifted her left foot to gently massage her toe. Gingerly she put he foot back down on the ground only to step in the broken glass of the light bulb stinging her foot. Again she lifted her foot to rub it but now realized she had to find some light. Bending down to search for her penlight she found it and realized it did not work. At this point Kerry decided to crawl in the general direction of microphone wire.

Elaine’s left foot was feeling very hot in the shoe. It was distracting her as she spoke. She was losing the battle to keep her foot in the shoe. Consciously thinking of just popping the heel of her foot briefly out of her shoe for a tiny bit of relief caused her to shift her weight to the toes of her right foot, lean into the podium and move her left shoe and foot. Instantly her heel popped out of the shoe. Cool air soothed her moist foot and brought immediate comfort. The pressure on her toes was relieved. The pleasure was so strong that she lost conscious control and pulled her foot completely free of the shoe before she realized it. Quickly she slipped her toes back into the toe of the shoe and pulled the she forward carefully. Once next to her right foot she pulled the left foot completely out of the shoe and let it rest on top of her shoe. The nylon encased toes of her left wriggled and reveled enjoying their freedom. Shifting most of her weight to her left foot and picked the toes of her right foot off of the floor. She rotated her ankle and flexed her foot vigorously shaking it form side to side but never eased her grip on the podium. Elaine had learned some lessons after all. Applause rose in the auditorium energizing Elaine. Pressing the toes of her right foot back into the floor she eased her left foot back into its shoe. Raising her hands to acknowledge the applause she continued with her speech realizing the precious seconds the ovation added to her speech.

Finally through her careful methodical groping on hands and knees Kerry found the microphone wire in the darkness. Tracing to the bottom of the podium Kerry could hardly believe her luck. She knew that the podium was 30 inches wide and found that the trap door was 2 feet wide. The microphone wire went up the center of the podium and was aligned wit the center of the trap door. This meant the trap door was beneath the podium. Since the podium was wider than the trap door she could open the door without disturbing the podium and letting anyone see what she was doing. Kerry rose to her feet but had to stand on the tips of her stocking clad toes to reach the latch.

Undoing the latch caused the door to fall open suddenly. Kerry was able to control the door but Elaine’s pump fell hitting Kerry’s abused left foot. The heel of Elaine’s pump hit Kerry’s little toe directly. Again she winced silently. Light streamed in and Kerry could finally see. Quickly she picked up the shoe and pushed it on to the stage but no sooner had she done that, the shoe fell back through the doorway. She caught the shoe and looked up seeing Elaine’s stocking sheathed toes curling over the edge of the trap door entrance. Elaine’s toes were flapping frantically. Kerry calmed Elaine’s toes with a light grasp with her hand. She then pushed the shoe onto the stage again where Elaine was able to slip firmly in to it and finish her speech.

On the limo ride back to their headquarters both women kicked off their shoes. Kerry was facing Elaine and put her left foot in Elaine’s lap. Elaine started gently massaging Kerry’s foot. The black stocking was now gray from all the dust and there were a few small runs in the sole. Elaine put her right foot in Kerry’s lap and Kerry gently kneaded Elaine’s foot. This ritual was something they did since they were roommates in law school and they laughed at the events of the night. Elaine's massage suddenly stopped when Kerry's cell phone rang. At the end of the call Kerry told Elaine that Ogden Reed fell and split his pants at a campaign rally, not to mention losing his toupee. Both women reared back in laughter. Elaine pushed the sunroof button with her stocking foot and stuck both of her feet out of the sunroof as the limo cruised down the turnpike. .