~BBW, ~XWG, Stuffing, Sex - A tale of capitalism and feederism run wild.
Chapter 1
He opened his eyes: 4:15 am. Ryan rolled away from the green numbers on the clock. In the darkness, it took him a few seconds to realize that hed woken up because Rose wasnt in bed. He pushed himself upright, struggling against the persistent compulsion to fall back asleep, and walked into the kitchen. He squinted against the cold blue light of the open fridge, the only light in the room. Rose had left the doors open again, painfully reminding him of the near-emptiness of that appliance. He trudged into the living room.
It was a scene hed come across a million times. Wrapped in her tattered green robe and plopped in the middle of the couch, Rose scraped at the few remaining lines of chocolate on the bottom of the ice cream carton, eyes glued to a Cosby Show rerun.
Midnight snack? he asked.
Couldnt sleep. She answered without turning away from the screen. There wasnt hardly any ice cream anyway. Ryan encouraged her to come back to bed, but she only continued to scrape up the chocolate and suck it from the tip of the spoon.
He sighed. I cant do this every other night, babe. Im going back to the room.
It took Ryan at least an hour to fall back asleep, and it felt like hed been there for no time at all when his 7:00 alarm went off. He slapped it off, groaned, and rolled over. Rose had come back to bed at some point - she was lying to his right, having kicked off the sheets during the hot night - but for all he know she had arrived only just before the alarm.
He lay there for a moment, admiring her naked, slumbering body from behind. Even from this angle, he could glimpse Roses huge belly rise and fall with her breath. He loved the rolls of fat that sculpted her back, the way her arm fat and back fat pushed against each other. She didnt have much of an ass, but that didnt keep her hips from rounding out as shed grown. And she had grown, but only for a while. A month from then they would have been dating for two years, but Rose had plateaued around 260 pounds over six months ago. At 53, even that weight made her unequivocally fat, but they both wanted more - and no one wanted it more than Rose. Since shed stopped gaining, shed become bored and listless, and shed been out of a job ever since the McDonalds where she used to work closed a few months ago. She put in a little time applying for jobs every day, but it had become perfunctory. She spent most days glued to the TV, watching reruns of Law and Order and Seinfeld and bemoaning the lack of food in the fridge. Since Ryan had been promoted at the bank, they hadnt been struggling, but without a second income there was no room in the household budget for indulgence.
Ryan leaned over to kiss her soft neck. Then he mustered the energy to leave the bed and started getting ready for work.
* * *
Ryan, how wonderful to see you! You look positively glowing today; what could bring such a smile to your face?
Ryan rolled his eyes at his coworker as he slumped into his desk chair. Give it a rest, Kim. I didnt sleep much last night.
Kim, standing in Ryans doorway, raised her eyebrows suggestively. Up all night fucking her brains out?
What?! No! Jesus, Kim, it was just insomnia. Of course, he didnt say whose. He looked up at her. Kim was roughly his height, thin as a rod but sharply dressed in her skirt and green blouse. Theyd both started as tellers at the bank a few years back and risen to middle management, and for colleagues they were pretty good friends. Good enough, thought Ryan, for Kim to sexually harass him without it being a big deal.
He chuckled at the thought, and Kim smiled reflexively in response. Why are you so happy, yourself? he asked. I dont normally see you bring this much enthusiasm to your job, either.
Since you asked She walked in, leaning toward Ryan and lowering her voice, and her eyes sparkled as she said, Im getting married!
Get out. He waved his hand.
No, seriously! She laughed joyously. Next month! Downtown, in a small ceremony right at city hall. You and Rose are invited!
Youre saying Marv actually proposed?
God, dont call him Marv. He didnt propose, exactly; weve just been talking about it lately, and with his business finally starting to pick up, we decided it was the right time.
Ryan leapt out of his chair and threw his arms around Kim. Kim, congratulations! Im sorry for giving you shit; this is wonderful!
Isnt it? She grinned from ear to ear. I havent told anyone else yet, but I brought in some celebratory snacks today; there are some cupcakes in the break room. Keep the wedding thing on the DL, but help yourself to a cupcake. She winked and walked out of his office.
Ryan and Roses invitation arrived a few days later, and they showed up for the ceremony the following month. As their bus to city hall left behind cheap condos and abandoned buildings for the ritzier parts of town, Ryan realized how infrequently he came to this part of the city. He felt like the city didnt want them there, a feeling that only intensified during the ceremony as the officiant glared at Marvin and his family, all of whom were black. It was a relief to head back to the north side of town for the reception at Kims mothers place.
Kim had told Ryan that she and Marvin couldnt afford a honeymoon, so by the following Monday she was back at work. It didnt seem to bother her; in fact, her marriage seemed to have launched her into a state of perpetual joy. She laughed more than she used to, brought in gifts for her coworkers. Kim had always been fun to be around, but this was different, and the strangest thing, thought Ryan, was how much more she ate. She showed up every day with some elaborate, calorie-laden drink from Starbucks and became a regular supplier of snacks for the office. She also wore the same outfit every Monday - the skirt and green blouse - which allowed Ryan to track the effect of this new splurge on her body. Two weeks in, the skirt had grown a little tighter around her hips. At six, she started to show a little belly. At the eight-week mark, she wore her auburn hair up in a ponytail, which emphasized how much her cheeks had rounded out and revealed the slightest hint of a nascent double chin. After three months, you couldnt miss the changes in Kims body. Her arms, belly, ass, and hips all strained against her outfit. Her little double chin was now visible from every angle. Ryan figured she had put on at least 20 pounds.
What had begun as simple fattening breakfasts had turned into all-day pigouts. One day, when Ryan and Tom, the branch manager, were closing, Tom asked if Ryan he had noticed Kims donut habits. She gets two boxes of the things from Tim Hortons every other day, makes a huge production about bringing in snacks for the whole office, and then eats most of them herself! He tossed six empty donut boxes into a recycling bin. And these here are just from the last two days!
How could I not notice? said Ryan, shaking his head. He did his best to make his boner as discreet as possible.
Kims growth continued through Christmas. The original Monday outfit transformed into gray slacks and a sweater, though Ryan didnt know if that came more from the impending winter cold or from the blouse and skirts inability to contain Kims growing body. Her ass filled out the pants wonderfully, just a bit more each week, and her thighs started to brush together ever so slightly when she walked. Ryan couldnt figure it out. As long as hed known Kim, shed been practically underweight and never one to indulge, but her rapid expansion didnt seem to faze her. Was the fog of marital bliss distracting her from how huge she was getting? That seemed less and less likely as the winter holidays approached and she continued to outgrow the new Monday outfit. The week after Thanksgiving, her sweater was doing all it could to contain her belly, and her legs were packed into the slacks like sausages. There was no way she didnt know what was going on.
That night, Ryan walked in entirely distracted, but Rose, unusually, was in a good mood. She guided him to the bedroom and dragged down his pants so she could run her tongue over the head of his cock.
Someones horny, he said mischievously as his cock stiffened, and she looked up at him teasingly as she wrapped it in her lips. He grabbed the edge of the bed behind him and stiffened as she began jerking him off at the same time, and then she couldnt wait anymore. She pushed him on the bed, threw off her own clothes, and forced his cock inside her as she laid her belly on him. He gasped a bit, unprepared for the weight, and his cock throbbed. But his mind was soon elsewhere: he imagined it was Kim riding him, her ass cheeks and thighs slapping against his legs while he grabbed her luscious belly. Kim wasnt even as fat as Rose, but at the pace she was gaining she would overtake her in no time. He envisioned Kim at twice her current weight, panting as her enormous body rocked up and down over his cock. He grew even stiffer inside her and clenched her hips as he exploded in her - and realized that Rose was cumming at the same time.
She rolled off him, panting as the bed creaked under her, and a blush of shame crept into his already flushed cheeks. This obsession with Kim was going too far, but he didnt know what to do about it. She was one of his best friends, and he had to see her at work every day.
Rose loomed over him and kissed him again. I wasnt the only horny one, she grinned. Why dont we do that more often? Ryan laughed. Rose sat with her hands on her belly in silence for a while, slowly massaging her fat. Youd think that spending all day on my ass would be the perfect way to get fat, she said, suddenly. At least when I was at McDonalds I could eat all I wanted. Now, Ive got all the time in the world, and no calories. Ryan flushed again; his bank job didnt pay nearly well enough to support a gaining lifestyle for Rose, and ever since shed been fired, he hadnt been able to shake his guilt over the issue. He wondered if she had even lost a little weight in the last couple months - not much, if any, but the possibility nagged at him. In the meantime, Rose refused to weigh herself for fear of seeing weight loss, so there was no way for either of them to know for sure.
* * *
A week passed. Ryan barely got anything done at work; he spent half his time waiting for Kim to walk by outside his door, to see her sweater inch up her belly as she walked - maybe to see her pants finally split. It didnt happen.
Ryan came into work as usual the following Monday and started preparing for a few meetings with clients that afternoon. He worked well for a while, strangely undistracted, until he glanced up at the clock: 10:30. Kim was normally in by 10:00 at the latest. Lunch came and went with no sign of her, and by the time his meetings were done he had to stop into Toms office and ask about her.
She told me not to say anything unless you asked, but shell no longer be working at the bank. She quit.
What are you talking about? She didnt even bring home any of her stuff.
Told us to keep it! Tom shrugged. Its bad timing, too, since none of our low-level people really fit the bill for her position. I might have to call another branch and see.
Whyd she quit?
Didnt say! She seemed happy as a clam, though. Has been ever since she got married. Maybe she wants to stay home and have a baby. Do you think maybe all that fat is baby weight?
Ryan just drifted out of the office as Tom kept talking. How could she just leave? Why would she leave? He realized, surprised, that he didnt even have her phone number; they never saw each other outside of work. He didnt know where she lived. He had no way of contacting her. She was out of his life, and he didnt really know what to feel. He would have expected relief - after all, didnt he want to get rid of his obsession with her? No, this wasnt the way to do it. Disappearing suddenly and without explanation just deepened her hold on him.
He was never able to totally shake it over the months that followed. The intensity of her grip faded, but work and sex always reminded him of Kim from time to time. He would go a week without a single thought of her bothering him, and then the next time he fucked Rose he wouldnt be able to get Kim out of his mind. She was a curse, a cancer. He was miserable.
He told Rose about Kims mysterious disappearance - withholding, of course, any knowledge of his obsession - just to get it off his chest. It didnt mean much to Rose. Around the same time, she found some part-time work substitute teaching, but she had no idea what she was getting into. The kids in these old, underfunded schools ruled the classroom with a tyrannical fist and couldnt care less about schoolwork, and her wages barely allowed them to buy an extra pie or cake a week. She dropped out after two weeks, and Ryan was impressed she lasted that long.
* * *
It was a Saturday in early July, about a year since Kims marriage, and Rose and Ryan were relaxing in the living room. She had an episode of Law and Order on; he was reading the paper. He hated his job (and business in general), and Kims departure had left a huge emotional void in his life, so since then hed found himself becoming interested in politics. His Midwestern town split pretty evenly between Democratic and Republican control, so local elections tended to be highly contested. He was thinking about volunteering for the next campaign of the incumbent Democratic mayor, Max Kaplan; he faced a primary challenge from a fairly conservative city councilman, and Ryan felt invested enough to get involved. It seemed to him that Kaplan was the only thing keeping the north side of the city as healthy as it was - and it wasnt very healthy.
Are you sure you dont want to come to the Kaplan rally this afternoon? he asked Rose.
Nah, she mumbled as she picked her way through a bag of chips. Have fun, though. Ryan had gotten a small raise recently - not big enough to increase their standard of living, to be sure, but enough to get Rose some extra snacks. Still, shed worn the same clothes for more than a year; she seemed stuck at around 260 pounds.
It was a long bus ride to Aberdeen Plaza downtown, where the rally was taking place, and once again Ryan saw the town transform along his route from a Rust Belt wasteland to a rejuvenated Mecca of wealth and opulence. Fountains shot forth pure blue water at the plaza, where hundreds of people had gathered for the rally. We will not allow the moneyed interests of our state to take over Southvale! cried Kaplan, a stocky, darkly complected middle-aged man. Southvale will remain a city of the people, by the people, and for the people! Ryan winced when Kaplan reached a point in his speech outlining a plan to combat obesity. It was uncontroversial with most of the city residents, but for Ryan it was an acceptable cost for the other benefits he felt Kaplan brought the city.
The rally ended long after lunch, and a ravenous Ryan conducted himself to a nearby Chipotle to refuel until dinner. It was a huge restaurant with a second floor, so he brought his burrito to that top floor to enjoy the closest thing to a panoramic view that Southvale had to offer. It was there that he began to hear strange snippets of conversation on the floor beneath him.
...youre getting so big...cant wait to
...but the business wont be able to handle it
You underestimate yourself; you
...more popular every day. Some day you wont be able
The voices dropped to a whisper, but the first comment had sparked his curiosity, and he thought he recognized one of the voices. He leaned over the second floor railing to look down, burrito in hand, and saw a couple leaning close to discuss something. He couldnt see the man very well - he was black and bald but otherwise indistiguishable - but the woman seemed familiar. She had several empty pieces of foil in front of her; Ryan figured shed already eaten two burritos and had moved on to her third. And then she cocked her head just enough for him to recognize her - it was Kim!
He almost couldnt believe it at first. She seemed nearly twice as large as she had been when she got married, nearly the Kim of his wildest fantasies. She wore a pink sweatsuit that couldnt contain her flesh; her ass spread out across the bench, and the pale skin of her midriff spilled over the waistband of her sweatpants. Ryans heart began to race: since she was roughly his height (58), he figured she must weigh over 200 pounds. He didnt know how much she weighed when she was skinny, but he felt as though she had almost doubled in size in the time since her marriage. One year, and a gain of around 100 pounds.
He had to know what she and Marvin were talking about. He leaned against the railing beside him, trying to catch some of their whispers, but without warning the railing gave out, and Ryan found himself tumbling to the ground. The last thing he remembered was Kim glancing up sharly and screaming as he plummeted toward her.
* * *
My dear Ryan Sweet. How wonderful to see you. What might account for that positive glowing look on your face today?
Ryan slowly returned to consciousness, successively remarking the white curtains, the immobility of his left arm, the sound of Kims voice. Fuck you, he managed.
His eyes focused, and he realized he was in a hospital. His left arm was wrapped in a cast, and Kim lay in the bed to his left, her own left arm in the same condition. Marvin sat in a chair at the foot of Kims bed, glowering hesitantly at Ryan for the profanity directed at his wife.
Sorry, man, Ryan wheezed. Shit, what happened to us?
That shitty Chipotle and its total disregard for safety codes is what happened, said Marvin, and Ryan realized that Marvin might be glowering for other reasons. The second floor railing you were leaning on came off completely and almost hit us when it fell. Were lucky you two just ended up with broken arms and a few other scrapes and bruises.
And lucky that my extra padding cushioned your fall, Ryan! Kim chirped.
Marvin smiled. Thats one way to look at it. Anyway, that Chipotle is scared enough of a lawsuit to give each of you $20,000. Apparently they think you can sue for even more.
Ryan almost choked on his laughter. Youre fucking kidding me.
No way. Theyre dead serious. As soon as you leave this hospital, youve got $20,000 to your name, and maybe more if you want to sue.
Ryan could tell Marvin was serious, and the smile quickly fell from his face. Twenty...thousand dollars? What am I going to do with all that money?
Whatever you want! Youll lose some to taxes, but youll still be left with fifteen or so. Think about what you want to do. He stood up and rubbed his hands together. Kimmy, Ive got a few things left to do at work, but Ill be back again after dinner.
Sounds good, you big piece of meat, she said. They kissed briefly, and Marvin left.
Ryan wasnt sure what to say at first. He settled on: Marvins working on a Saturday?
Hes an entrepreneur, said Kim. Duty calls!
Is this the same business hes had since last year? How long do you stay an entrepreneur if your business actually crushes it?
“Hes got a lot on his plate. But what about you? You finally makin bank at the bank?
I cant believe how little they pay me for what I do for them.
That made her pause. They remained silent for almost a minute, and then Kim spoke: I owe you an apology.
For what?
You know what! I left the bank last year and didnt even say goodbye. It was what I had to do, and I didnt think Id ever see you again, or anyone else, but I felt so guilty. Im glad I finally have a chance to explain what happened.
Me too, said Ryan earnestly, and he pushed himself up in bed with his good hand. Im ready.
Good, said Kim, fire burning in her hazel eyes. Let me tell you why I left and why I got so fat - and why Im going to get even fatter.
Compound Growth
by Benny Mon
by Benny Mon
Chapter 1
He opened his eyes: 4:15 am. Ryan rolled away from the green numbers on the clock. In the darkness, it took him a few seconds to realize that hed woken up because Rose wasnt in bed. He pushed himself upright, struggling against the persistent compulsion to fall back asleep, and walked into the kitchen. He squinted against the cold blue light of the open fridge, the only light in the room. Rose had left the doors open again, painfully reminding him of the near-emptiness of that appliance. He trudged into the living room.
It was a scene hed come across a million times. Wrapped in her tattered green robe and plopped in the middle of the couch, Rose scraped at the few remaining lines of chocolate on the bottom of the ice cream carton, eyes glued to a Cosby Show rerun.
Midnight snack? he asked.
Couldnt sleep. She answered without turning away from the screen. There wasnt hardly any ice cream anyway. Ryan encouraged her to come back to bed, but she only continued to scrape up the chocolate and suck it from the tip of the spoon.
He sighed. I cant do this every other night, babe. Im going back to the room.
It took Ryan at least an hour to fall back asleep, and it felt like hed been there for no time at all when his 7:00 alarm went off. He slapped it off, groaned, and rolled over. Rose had come back to bed at some point - she was lying to his right, having kicked off the sheets during the hot night - but for all he know she had arrived only just before the alarm.
He lay there for a moment, admiring her naked, slumbering body from behind. Even from this angle, he could glimpse Roses huge belly rise and fall with her breath. He loved the rolls of fat that sculpted her back, the way her arm fat and back fat pushed against each other. She didnt have much of an ass, but that didnt keep her hips from rounding out as shed grown. And she had grown, but only for a while. A month from then they would have been dating for two years, but Rose had plateaued around 260 pounds over six months ago. At 53, even that weight made her unequivocally fat, but they both wanted more - and no one wanted it more than Rose. Since shed stopped gaining, shed become bored and listless, and shed been out of a job ever since the McDonalds where she used to work closed a few months ago. She put in a little time applying for jobs every day, but it had become perfunctory. She spent most days glued to the TV, watching reruns of Law and Order and Seinfeld and bemoaning the lack of food in the fridge. Since Ryan had been promoted at the bank, they hadnt been struggling, but without a second income there was no room in the household budget for indulgence.
Ryan leaned over to kiss her soft neck. Then he mustered the energy to leave the bed and started getting ready for work.
* * *
Ryan, how wonderful to see you! You look positively glowing today; what could bring such a smile to your face?
Ryan rolled his eyes at his coworker as he slumped into his desk chair. Give it a rest, Kim. I didnt sleep much last night.
Kim, standing in Ryans doorway, raised her eyebrows suggestively. Up all night fucking her brains out?
What?! No! Jesus, Kim, it was just insomnia. Of course, he didnt say whose. He looked up at her. Kim was roughly his height, thin as a rod but sharply dressed in her skirt and green blouse. Theyd both started as tellers at the bank a few years back and risen to middle management, and for colleagues they were pretty good friends. Good enough, thought Ryan, for Kim to sexually harass him without it being a big deal.
He chuckled at the thought, and Kim smiled reflexively in response. Why are you so happy, yourself? he asked. I dont normally see you bring this much enthusiasm to your job, either.
Since you asked She walked in, leaning toward Ryan and lowering her voice, and her eyes sparkled as she said, Im getting married!
Get out. He waved his hand.
No, seriously! She laughed joyously. Next month! Downtown, in a small ceremony right at city hall. You and Rose are invited!
Youre saying Marv actually proposed?
God, dont call him Marv. He didnt propose, exactly; weve just been talking about it lately, and with his business finally starting to pick up, we decided it was the right time.
Ryan leapt out of his chair and threw his arms around Kim. Kim, congratulations! Im sorry for giving you shit; this is wonderful!
Isnt it? She grinned from ear to ear. I havent told anyone else yet, but I brought in some celebratory snacks today; there are some cupcakes in the break room. Keep the wedding thing on the DL, but help yourself to a cupcake. She winked and walked out of his office.
Ryan and Roses invitation arrived a few days later, and they showed up for the ceremony the following month. As their bus to city hall left behind cheap condos and abandoned buildings for the ritzier parts of town, Ryan realized how infrequently he came to this part of the city. He felt like the city didnt want them there, a feeling that only intensified during the ceremony as the officiant glared at Marvin and his family, all of whom were black. It was a relief to head back to the north side of town for the reception at Kims mothers place.
Kim had told Ryan that she and Marvin couldnt afford a honeymoon, so by the following Monday she was back at work. It didnt seem to bother her; in fact, her marriage seemed to have launched her into a state of perpetual joy. She laughed more than she used to, brought in gifts for her coworkers. Kim had always been fun to be around, but this was different, and the strangest thing, thought Ryan, was how much more she ate. She showed up every day with some elaborate, calorie-laden drink from Starbucks and became a regular supplier of snacks for the office. She also wore the same outfit every Monday - the skirt and green blouse - which allowed Ryan to track the effect of this new splurge on her body. Two weeks in, the skirt had grown a little tighter around her hips. At six, she started to show a little belly. At the eight-week mark, she wore her auburn hair up in a ponytail, which emphasized how much her cheeks had rounded out and revealed the slightest hint of a nascent double chin. After three months, you couldnt miss the changes in Kims body. Her arms, belly, ass, and hips all strained against her outfit. Her little double chin was now visible from every angle. Ryan figured she had put on at least 20 pounds.
What had begun as simple fattening breakfasts had turned into all-day pigouts. One day, when Ryan and Tom, the branch manager, were closing, Tom asked if Ryan he had noticed Kims donut habits. She gets two boxes of the things from Tim Hortons every other day, makes a huge production about bringing in snacks for the whole office, and then eats most of them herself! He tossed six empty donut boxes into a recycling bin. And these here are just from the last two days!
How could I not notice? said Ryan, shaking his head. He did his best to make his boner as discreet as possible.
Kims growth continued through Christmas. The original Monday outfit transformed into gray slacks and a sweater, though Ryan didnt know if that came more from the impending winter cold or from the blouse and skirts inability to contain Kims growing body. Her ass filled out the pants wonderfully, just a bit more each week, and her thighs started to brush together ever so slightly when she walked. Ryan couldnt figure it out. As long as hed known Kim, shed been practically underweight and never one to indulge, but her rapid expansion didnt seem to faze her. Was the fog of marital bliss distracting her from how huge she was getting? That seemed less and less likely as the winter holidays approached and she continued to outgrow the new Monday outfit. The week after Thanksgiving, her sweater was doing all it could to contain her belly, and her legs were packed into the slacks like sausages. There was no way she didnt know what was going on.
That night, Ryan walked in entirely distracted, but Rose, unusually, was in a good mood. She guided him to the bedroom and dragged down his pants so she could run her tongue over the head of his cock.
Someones horny, he said mischievously as his cock stiffened, and she looked up at him teasingly as she wrapped it in her lips. He grabbed the edge of the bed behind him and stiffened as she began jerking him off at the same time, and then she couldnt wait anymore. She pushed him on the bed, threw off her own clothes, and forced his cock inside her as she laid her belly on him. He gasped a bit, unprepared for the weight, and his cock throbbed. But his mind was soon elsewhere: he imagined it was Kim riding him, her ass cheeks and thighs slapping against his legs while he grabbed her luscious belly. Kim wasnt even as fat as Rose, but at the pace she was gaining she would overtake her in no time. He envisioned Kim at twice her current weight, panting as her enormous body rocked up and down over his cock. He grew even stiffer inside her and clenched her hips as he exploded in her - and realized that Rose was cumming at the same time.
She rolled off him, panting as the bed creaked under her, and a blush of shame crept into his already flushed cheeks. This obsession with Kim was going too far, but he didnt know what to do about it. She was one of his best friends, and he had to see her at work every day.
Rose loomed over him and kissed him again. I wasnt the only horny one, she grinned. Why dont we do that more often? Ryan laughed. Rose sat with her hands on her belly in silence for a while, slowly massaging her fat. Youd think that spending all day on my ass would be the perfect way to get fat, she said, suddenly. At least when I was at McDonalds I could eat all I wanted. Now, Ive got all the time in the world, and no calories. Ryan flushed again; his bank job didnt pay nearly well enough to support a gaining lifestyle for Rose, and ever since shed been fired, he hadnt been able to shake his guilt over the issue. He wondered if she had even lost a little weight in the last couple months - not much, if any, but the possibility nagged at him. In the meantime, Rose refused to weigh herself for fear of seeing weight loss, so there was no way for either of them to know for sure.
* * *
A week passed. Ryan barely got anything done at work; he spent half his time waiting for Kim to walk by outside his door, to see her sweater inch up her belly as she walked - maybe to see her pants finally split. It didnt happen.
Ryan came into work as usual the following Monday and started preparing for a few meetings with clients that afternoon. He worked well for a while, strangely undistracted, until he glanced up at the clock: 10:30. Kim was normally in by 10:00 at the latest. Lunch came and went with no sign of her, and by the time his meetings were done he had to stop into Toms office and ask about her.
She told me not to say anything unless you asked, but shell no longer be working at the bank. She quit.
What are you talking about? She didnt even bring home any of her stuff.
Told us to keep it! Tom shrugged. Its bad timing, too, since none of our low-level people really fit the bill for her position. I might have to call another branch and see.
Whyd she quit?
Didnt say! She seemed happy as a clam, though. Has been ever since she got married. Maybe she wants to stay home and have a baby. Do you think maybe all that fat is baby weight?
Ryan just drifted out of the office as Tom kept talking. How could she just leave? Why would she leave? He realized, surprised, that he didnt even have her phone number; they never saw each other outside of work. He didnt know where she lived. He had no way of contacting her. She was out of his life, and he didnt really know what to feel. He would have expected relief - after all, didnt he want to get rid of his obsession with her? No, this wasnt the way to do it. Disappearing suddenly and without explanation just deepened her hold on him.
He was never able to totally shake it over the months that followed. The intensity of her grip faded, but work and sex always reminded him of Kim from time to time. He would go a week without a single thought of her bothering him, and then the next time he fucked Rose he wouldnt be able to get Kim out of his mind. She was a curse, a cancer. He was miserable.
He told Rose about Kims mysterious disappearance - withholding, of course, any knowledge of his obsession - just to get it off his chest. It didnt mean much to Rose. Around the same time, she found some part-time work substitute teaching, but she had no idea what she was getting into. The kids in these old, underfunded schools ruled the classroom with a tyrannical fist and couldnt care less about schoolwork, and her wages barely allowed them to buy an extra pie or cake a week. She dropped out after two weeks, and Ryan was impressed she lasted that long.
* * *
It was a Saturday in early July, about a year since Kims marriage, and Rose and Ryan were relaxing in the living room. She had an episode of Law and Order on; he was reading the paper. He hated his job (and business in general), and Kims departure had left a huge emotional void in his life, so since then hed found himself becoming interested in politics. His Midwestern town split pretty evenly between Democratic and Republican control, so local elections tended to be highly contested. He was thinking about volunteering for the next campaign of the incumbent Democratic mayor, Max Kaplan; he faced a primary challenge from a fairly conservative city councilman, and Ryan felt invested enough to get involved. It seemed to him that Kaplan was the only thing keeping the north side of the city as healthy as it was - and it wasnt very healthy.
Are you sure you dont want to come to the Kaplan rally this afternoon? he asked Rose.
Nah, she mumbled as she picked her way through a bag of chips. Have fun, though. Ryan had gotten a small raise recently - not big enough to increase their standard of living, to be sure, but enough to get Rose some extra snacks. Still, shed worn the same clothes for more than a year; she seemed stuck at around 260 pounds.
It was a long bus ride to Aberdeen Plaza downtown, where the rally was taking place, and once again Ryan saw the town transform along his route from a Rust Belt wasteland to a rejuvenated Mecca of wealth and opulence. Fountains shot forth pure blue water at the plaza, where hundreds of people had gathered for the rally. We will not allow the moneyed interests of our state to take over Southvale! cried Kaplan, a stocky, darkly complected middle-aged man. Southvale will remain a city of the people, by the people, and for the people! Ryan winced when Kaplan reached a point in his speech outlining a plan to combat obesity. It was uncontroversial with most of the city residents, but for Ryan it was an acceptable cost for the other benefits he felt Kaplan brought the city.
The rally ended long after lunch, and a ravenous Ryan conducted himself to a nearby Chipotle to refuel until dinner. It was a huge restaurant with a second floor, so he brought his burrito to that top floor to enjoy the closest thing to a panoramic view that Southvale had to offer. It was there that he began to hear strange snippets of conversation on the floor beneath him.
...youre getting so big...cant wait to
...but the business wont be able to handle it
You underestimate yourself; you
...more popular every day. Some day you wont be able
The voices dropped to a whisper, but the first comment had sparked his curiosity, and he thought he recognized one of the voices. He leaned over the second floor railing to look down, burrito in hand, and saw a couple leaning close to discuss something. He couldnt see the man very well - he was black and bald but otherwise indistiguishable - but the woman seemed familiar. She had several empty pieces of foil in front of her; Ryan figured shed already eaten two burritos and had moved on to her third. And then she cocked her head just enough for him to recognize her - it was Kim!
He almost couldnt believe it at first. She seemed nearly twice as large as she had been when she got married, nearly the Kim of his wildest fantasies. She wore a pink sweatsuit that couldnt contain her flesh; her ass spread out across the bench, and the pale skin of her midriff spilled over the waistband of her sweatpants. Ryans heart began to race: since she was roughly his height (58), he figured she must weigh over 200 pounds. He didnt know how much she weighed when she was skinny, but he felt as though she had almost doubled in size in the time since her marriage. One year, and a gain of around 100 pounds.
He had to know what she and Marvin were talking about. He leaned against the railing beside him, trying to catch some of their whispers, but without warning the railing gave out, and Ryan found himself tumbling to the ground. The last thing he remembered was Kim glancing up sharly and screaming as he plummeted toward her.
* * *
My dear Ryan Sweet. How wonderful to see you. What might account for that positive glowing look on your face today?
Ryan slowly returned to consciousness, successively remarking the white curtains, the immobility of his left arm, the sound of Kims voice. Fuck you, he managed.
His eyes focused, and he realized he was in a hospital. His left arm was wrapped in a cast, and Kim lay in the bed to his left, her own left arm in the same condition. Marvin sat in a chair at the foot of Kims bed, glowering hesitantly at Ryan for the profanity directed at his wife.
Sorry, man, Ryan wheezed. Shit, what happened to us?
That shitty Chipotle and its total disregard for safety codes is what happened, said Marvin, and Ryan realized that Marvin might be glowering for other reasons. The second floor railing you were leaning on came off completely and almost hit us when it fell. Were lucky you two just ended up with broken arms and a few other scrapes and bruises.
And lucky that my extra padding cushioned your fall, Ryan! Kim chirped.
Marvin smiled. Thats one way to look at it. Anyway, that Chipotle is scared enough of a lawsuit to give each of you $20,000. Apparently they think you can sue for even more.
Ryan almost choked on his laughter. Youre fucking kidding me.
No way. Theyre dead serious. As soon as you leave this hospital, youve got $20,000 to your name, and maybe more if you want to sue.
Ryan could tell Marvin was serious, and the smile quickly fell from his face. Twenty...thousand dollars? What am I going to do with all that money?
Whatever you want! Youll lose some to taxes, but youll still be left with fifteen or so. Think about what you want to do. He stood up and rubbed his hands together. Kimmy, Ive got a few things left to do at work, but Ill be back again after dinner.
Sounds good, you big piece of meat, she said. They kissed briefly, and Marvin left.
Ryan wasnt sure what to say at first. He settled on: Marvins working on a Saturday?
Hes an entrepreneur, said Kim. Duty calls!
Is this the same business hes had since last year? How long do you stay an entrepreneur if your business actually crushes it?
“Hes got a lot on his plate. But what about you? You finally makin bank at the bank?
I cant believe how little they pay me for what I do for them.
That made her pause. They remained silent for almost a minute, and then Kim spoke: I owe you an apology.
For what?
You know what! I left the bank last year and didnt even say goodbye. It was what I had to do, and I didnt think Id ever see you again, or anyone else, but I felt so guilty. Im glad I finally have a chance to explain what happened.
Me too, said Ryan earnestly, and he pushed himself up in bed with his good hand. Im ready.
Good, said Kim, fire burning in her hazel eyes. Let me tell you why I left and why I got so fat - and why Im going to get even fatter.
