chapter 2

Life now took on a new meaning for both Margarita and Matt. Margarita had so far seen the States as hostile territory, snatched as she had been from a night clubbing in Riga and smuggled unwillingly into this foreign land. Then, even at Matt she found it hard to let down her guard and still felt "in transit" as she expected to leave for home soon. Now that she knew she was in for a long wait, however, she felt able to settle in a bit more. This was helped by Matt's continued support while he made no claims or demands of her.

Matt was quickly becoming used to having company at home. A very career-focused person, he had never had very long or serious relationships, and had last shared a flat back in his early twenties. Now it was nice to wake up and find breakfast ready, even if this was burnt toast. It was comfortable to arrive home to a clean house, find his shirts ironed and hung, and dinner ready, even this was not really appetising. Learning to cook would not be wasted on her, he mused.

Margarita started to find joy in life again, as she committed herself to her cooking lessons every morning, meeting her classmates and being out of the house. She started to smile more frequently and her prettiness really shone through. Matt was also pleased to see her appetite opening up and he enjoyed taking her out to dinner a couple of evenings per week, and most of the weekend. He bought her some evening wear so that she could join him occasionally for work receptions or dinners.

Coming from a very rural part of Latvia, Margarita was used to home cooked meals made with fresh and healthy food. Now that she was in cookery lessons she asked Matt to buy a wider range of food so that she'd have the necessary ingredients to practise properly. As she became more secure, she also started to enjoy eating more. Her days were quite routine. Mornings were spent cooking, after which the class would would eat their work for lunch, trying one another's efforts, compare notes and constructively criticise. After that Margarita would head home and spend the afternoon doing housework before preparing dinner.

In the cooking course she was paired with an American woman, Sandy, a little older than her and quite plump. They hit it off immediately and laughed a lot during the course. Whereas most of the other women only picked at the food they would have cooked, Margarita and Sandy enjoyed digging in and often took the equivalent of three or more servings. Her classmates taught her a new term: food baby. Sandy soon started to join Margarita at Matt's place in the afternoon to practise their cooking skills, which would become dinner for their men.

Matt enjoyed seeing the change in Margarita as she became happier and more willing to get involved in things, he was very happy that she had a friend to invite over. However his impulsive philanthropic action was becoming slightly problematic. When he had rescued her, Matt had no ulterior motive and truthfully was not sexually attracted to the skinny girl, fully expecting to send her home within days.

However he was becoming rather fond of her, especially as she became more confident and laughed a lot more frequently. As she continued to eat large portions and flesh out a little, she was also becoming more attractive to him, yet he felt he couldn't make a move on her. His only hope was that she would be attracted to him and make the first move.

He usually took Margarita out to fine restaurants, which she completely enjoyed, but one day she craved simpler, more filling fare. On the Friday of her fourth week of lessons, when Matt suggested going out to eat Margarita asked whether they could go somewhere more low key than usual. Surprised, Matt asked if she had something particular in mind. "An American diner!" exclaimed Margarita excitedly. Matt laughed and wore a polo shirt rather than a dress shirt before heading out.

Margarita wore a pair of jeans that Matt had bought her on her first day at him, with a tight pink top. Looking at her Matt felt himself getting hard as her slight weight gain was apparent. Although still slender, her butt and thighs packed out her size 0 jeans to the limit, while her belly swelled out very slightly over the waistband, the first hints of lovehandles at the side.

At the diner, Matt ordered a rack of ribs while Margarita couldn't decide between a burger or a half rack of ribs, so she got both, each accompanied by a sea of house fries. Matt watched in amazement and horniness as the recently skinny girl wolfed down the meaty feast, sauce running down her cheeks and her hands covered in sauce up to her wrists. She also drank two pints of beer with it and finished all her fries. While Matt skipped dessert, Margarita ordered a mud pie, a huge slab of chocolatey heaven covered in ice cream that she made short work of.

As she stood up after dinner, Margarita's belly was visibly swollen and it pushed up her top, leaving a sliver of tautly stretched skin showing above her waistband. As she sank into the low seat of Matt's Porsche 911 her jeans button shot off with a loud tearing sound and her belly spilled out onto her lap. With a shriek of embarrassment Margarita put her hands over her belly and stared at Matt, her face flushed red.
"I guess I'm no longer too skinny!" she blushed.
"You look just great to me" replied Matt, desperate to touch her, caress that swollen belly, yet unable to do so uninvited.

When they got home, they each went to their respective bedrooms to sleep. In his boxers, Matt felt thirsty and popped out to grab a drink from the kitchen. While passing Margarita's room her door opened and she stepped out, also in her underwear. They stared at one another in surprise.
Matt looked at her body and couldn't help the words coming out of his mouth.
"Oh wow, you've filled out my dear"
"Filled out?" she repeated questioningly. "What does that mean?"
"Oh... you have changed I mean" he said hurriedly, not wanting to make her self conscious.
"I got fat, you mean" she laughed nervously, sticking her belly out even more and resting her hands on it, pretending it was much bigger.

His eyes thirstily drank in the vision of beauty in front of him. He spoke slowly, hoarsely.

"Your belly's just full of food. I last saw you in underwear in that shit hole around six weeks ago, a sad, skeletal shadow. Now you look like your body has been lovingly painted in happiness and content, coated in a soft layer of warm cosiness and you look beautiful."

As he moved towards her, she noticed the huge tent in his boxers and shrieked, pulling back into her bedroom and locked the door. He sank slowly to the floor, sitting against the door and heard her crying inside.
He called through the door: "I'm so sorry Margarita, I didn't mean... I'm not..." he tapered off. Who was he kidding? He wanted to take her desperately, fiercely.

He had a cold shower before sleeping fitfully.