chapter 1 - big boss

'Watch out, big bird and the butt are about, how much have they bought today?' scowled Ant, ducking out of view behind a stack of crates as three large figures, happily laughing away, waddled into the store carrying full bags of freshly baked goods.
'Hey Mike, how was the delivery today?' asked the store manager Jess, her heavy round face meeting mine with a warm chubby smile.
'It was a big one, but we should have it all on the shelves by the time we open', I replied, wiping the sweat off my brow in a vain attempt to prove I was working hard.
'Ohh Mike, you always work too hard. Look what it's done to your body, your all skin and bone', jested Lucy, my pear shaped assistant manager. After some chit chat the trio, including Michelle, another thick set pear that had recently been rehired, started to get hungry. As they slowly walked towards their office at the back of the shop to finish their snacks before opening time, I gazed at their gorgeous rippling bodies that jiggled away under those tight work trousers.
'Stop trying to suck up Mike, you're not going to get promoted', snarled Ant once they had gone as he came out of hiding. 'You're not going to get a supervisor position. Look at you, and look at them. You're not the right build, and besides, Michelle already put in the hard yards'.
'What are you talking about? For the past six months while she's been away I've worked six days out of seven, always getting the delivery done on time and closing up at night without a hitch. You've just got a problem with them because their fat. What's so bad about bigger girls Ant? Haven't you ever been with a BBW?' He didn't even look up, instead pretending to be distracted by the engrossing task of sticking the sandwiches on the shelf. What an ass, I thought, what does he know. I tried again, 'Anyways, Jess is always saying that I've got managerial potential.'
'Ye, but not the waistline', he snapped back with a wry chuckle, as he finished off his stack and went to set up the tills. His comment left me puzzled. Sure they were all on the larger side of fat, but what did that have to do with getting a promotion? For a while I had been frustrated with my lack of progress. I had worked as a sale assistant in so many retailers over the past few years and was desperate to get off the shop floor. In the year I'd been working at this busy bistro in Canterbury, I'd become a lean and muscly from all the crate pulling, box lifting and general business that came with running a store. I was tired of it. All it wanted a nice cushy desk job and a chair to grow into.
That's what Jess, Lucy and now Michelle had. Each time I wandered past their office at the back of the store my nose was hit by the warm smell of fried or baked goods. In comfy leather swivel chairs, all three of them sat by their PCs and munched away for eight hours a day. For breakfast and lunch they would wander the store, picking out the most deluxe baguettes, the biggest packets of crisps and the thickest chocolate cakes, salivating and giggling away with each other at the prospect of another big fill. At closing time they would joyfully reduce the out of date items, buying big sacks of sandwiches, cookies and ready meals to take home and gorge on.
Everyone working on the shop floor complained about them. 'They're so lazy...They never help out... How can she eat that much? Have you seen the size of them? All we do is work, all they do is eat!' But this wasn't exactly true. We weren't the most productive team of staff. Unless it was really busy most of the day was spent texting, gossiping or going outside for a smoke. Jess didn't seem to care and never called anyone out. Despite our incompetence, the store was turning a record profit. The shop was always full of customers that gobbled up more and more food. The deliveries kept getting bigger. They must be doing something right out the back.
Since Michelle had come back she'd been on the shop floor less and less, and last week had been made the treasurer, a job that came with a nice seat in the office with Jess and Lucy. Six months ago she used to bitch and moan like all the other staff. 'Those fat slobs', she would rant, 'always chewing away and never helping us out. It been months now and I'm sick of it! I quit', she lamented, dropping her name badge on the till and charging out of the store seemingly to never be seen again. But now she was back, and not only that, she looked amazing. Her trim work hardened frame had given way to a hundred pounds of soft flesh that hugged her thick thighs and protruded out in a pair of mushrooming buttocks, that all jiggled boisterously as she struggled to squeeze behind the till to collect the cash. When I asked her why she came back, she simply said, 'Oh I couldn't leave, Jess has been so nice and she's promised me that if I completed her training course I would get that desk job I always wanted'.
'What course?' I asked, 'I'm desperate to get a promotion'.
'Ohh, ha ha', she blushed, 'ask Jessie'.
And so I did. Later that day as the shop was closing I called her over.
'Hey Jess, can we have a chat?'
'Sure Mike, what's up?'
'I've been thinking for some time, and I'm a little frustrated with how things are going'.
'Oh, how so?'
'Well, I've worked very hard for six months, but I feel no closer to getting that promotion you talked about. I'm just a little confused and think I might need a career change. Also, Michelle has been away from six months and somehow walked straight into the job I wanted '.
'Hmm', she murmured, smoothing her long brown hair as she sized me up with her bright blue eyes. 'I've held off on you as I'm just not sure you really want it'.
'What what what!!' I protested, 'How can you say that! For six months I've worked my ass off...'
'Mike, Mike, please calm down', she pleaded in a soothing voice, waiting for the calm to settle before starting again. 'Just answer me one question. Have you always been this skinny?'
'Erm...' her question took me off guard, what did that matter? 'Since I left college yes, but before that no I was pretty chubby'.
A smile crossed her face, 'Good, good. Okay that's promising. Come with me once we close up and we'll test whether you're right for the job'.
'What tonight? I'm tired Jess and I have to be up early tomorrow'.
'No you don't, forgot about that, I'm sure Ant will manage. It's time to start you training', she announced, patting her huge double belly. As I ogled her thick apple shaped frame as she waddle away, a barrage of questions drew me out of my fantasy. What the hell was she talking about? Why have we got to start training tonight, and how can I just suddenly not be working tomorrow? Also, why did she ask about my weight? I was beyond confused at the time, but thinking backing the signs were all there.
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