chapter 17

"I hope things won't be weird between us, Gweny," Martin said the next day during one of their movie sessions, looking quite abashed.

"I wasn't born yesterday. It's not like I didn't know what you and Mort get up to," said Gwen over her glass of wine.

"I know... but still."

"It's fine. I liked it too. I mean, it's kind of hard to explain. I didn't want to join in... but I liked it."

"OK," said Martin, with a shy smile. "But, yeah. It's not like it'll happen very often. I mean, Morty's got Sherry after all." He couldn't keep a slight hint of bitterness from his voice as he said this.

"Do you think he feeds her too?"

"Probably," said Martin, gazing down at his belly, and rubbing his hands over it thoughtfully. "But I hope for her sake she doesn't get too much bigger... I know Mort, and it's not like he'd make a commitment even if someone needed him."

Gwen snorted. "Well, I'm not Mort."

Martin smiled at her. "I know."

Gwen got up from the couch and picked up her DVD wallet. "Now, we gonna watch 'Man with the Screaming Brain', or not?"

*

Gwen soon realised, however, that Sherry might have been cleverer than she looked, and did not seem likely to let Mort fatten her up any more. In fact, Martin now looked almost equal in size, though Sherry's fat was divided into rolls, and her huge shelf of an ass. Martin's greatest feature was of course his huge belly, though he also sported a very pleasing all-over largeness.

"Woo-wee! Can see you been hanging out with Mort!" Sherry boomed, laughing loudly when she met Martin and Gwen one evening in Mort's apartment. She pressed her fat hand into Martin's fat, as Martin blushed deeply.

"Er... yeah," he muttered.

"I live to give," Mort said in a saintly voice, smoking a cigarette.

"You know, his belly's not actually public property," Gwen said in annoyance, but Sherry merely laughed.

"Careful, or you're going to be so addicted to cakes you'll never loose a gram!" said Sherry. She lifted her own shirt, and shook her rolls back and forth. Martin exchanged a glance with Gwen, clearly begging to leave.

"Ohh you naughty girl," said Mort, leaping up from the sofa and wrapping himself around Sherry. "It's funny you should mention cakes, because I have an assortment of tasty treats left over from work..."

Martin shuffled his fat body forward a little to gain the levergage he needed to heave himself off the couch. He grunted as he stood up.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow," he said.

Mort pouted. "A room of fatties, and still I'm the greediest one of all," he sighed.

"I think you'll survive," Gwen said baldly.

Once she and Martin were out in the corridor, they exchanged another glance; then, almost against their will, they both started laughing.