Sneakers

Chapter 3 - and so it begins

When Roger's duck alarm quacked at 5:30AM the next morning, Claire groaned- she still wasn't quite used to a duck in her ear so early in the morning. Slowly, her feet slid out from the covers & onto the hardwood floor, the cool material bringing her internal temperature down mildly. She shimmied her way off the pillow & gave her still a-snooze beau a peck on his scruffy cheek before reaching for her robe & heading to the shower- or, she sort of put her robe on, the ties barely coming around her more padded frame, the buttons straining a little around her now broadened middle.

'Huh, that's weird- I could have sworn I still fit this last night,' Claire thought as she turned on the water in the shower & let it come up to temp. She took off the robe & gandered at herself in the mirror before things got too hazy from the steam- she had, indeed, packed on a few pounds as she could see in the pooch of her tummy that remained after last night's o'dark snacking... & it was clearly distended when she turned to the side, gawking at her profile in the mirror. 'Geez, it's almost like I'm pregnant!' she thought, pinching at her newly established lovehandles, filling-out rump, & slightly widened hips. She sighed, knowing there wasn't anything she could do at that moment, & stepped into the shower, going through the rest of her morning routine.

Once she'd dried off & had slipped on a lacy black bra, she barely noticed her face scrunch up as her matching panties seemed tight around her fuller hips. However, she REALLY noticed as she tugged & pulled on her slacks, which squeezed her thighs into each pantleg like an overstuffed sausage. It seemed even tighter still once she sucked in her new pudge to button & zip up the front, giving her body its first muffin top. Luckily, they weren't so tight that she couldn't sit down after putting them on, so on they stayed. Her blouse wasn't much better as the added sponge of her flesh made the last button around her belly seem pretty snug, leaving a sizable gap between it & the 2nd button above it. Her suit jacket, however, was both long & wide enough on the bottom that, done up, no one knew the wiser- except for Claire- so she slipped on her red heels, did up her hair & makeup, grabbed her purse, & headed to work.

The rest of her day seemed like any other, although the extra snacks didn't help her case either. She grabbed two muffins with her morning coffee before work, followed by a couple doughnuts at the board meeting. Lunch was out with her boss over a conference buffet, to which she had 3 helpings in. Then another 2 or 3 bags of chips & cookies from the vending machine down the hall & a couple of hot dogs on the way home- by the time she walked through the door, her suit jacket & the last button on her blouse had been undone, exposing her belly button & fuller muffin top underneath. She kicked off her shoes & set her purse down by the door, groaning a little bit from how much her dogs were barking that day- loud enough to catch Roger's attention.

He had come home early as his company had finished a project earlier that morning, so he looked up from the kitchen table & smiled- sort of- to her presence. The new expression on his face captured a 'what the hell' brow arch he wasn't familiar with, cocking his head to the side in order to get a better angle at the speed bump of fat that sat atop her pants, careening his neck even further to keep his tongue from falling out over how round her ass had become in her slacks, every curve emphasized in the best- & worst- possible way.

"Hey babe, how was work?" he asked, masking his acknowledgement of her recent weight situation.

"Went alright- but I'm not feeling well... I'm gonna go lie down a while," she called out, giving a soft grunt & silent sigh of relief once she changed out of her tight suit & into her more comfortable pajamas, pale yellow & bright red marks indented into her skin where the material had dug in.

"Oh, alright... I'll wake you when dinner's on," he retorted, sympathetic in her icky state. As he had a feeling some of her 'ick' had to do with what they had been eating lately, he decided to grab a couple soup & salad combinations from the deli down the street. He'd confront her about the noticeable changes later- 'right now, she needs rest,' he thought as he grabbed his keys & locked up the front door behind him.