chapter 5

For weeks, Martin did not gorge like he had at Mort's--not even close. He tried to reign in his overly large appetite by restricting himself to three meals a day, all of them relatively light. He politely refused Fran's delicious cookies and cakes. Still, as he settled into his new job, his old gym routine fell by the wayside and a small layer of softness crept back onto his body, replacing what little definition he had managed to get while at Chad's. Of course, nobody noticed except himself; not even Mort's keen eye would have discerned any difference.

Seeing Mort with Sherry had been more difficult than he had hoped--not, of course, that had had been expecting it to be easy. Finally, during one of his and Gwen's weekend movie sessions, he felt that he wanted to share his concerns with his friend.

Gwen always knew when something was troubling Martin, and wondered if the way he miserably declined yummy food had anything to do with his trying to punish Mort somehow.
They had just watched 'Chopping Mall', and Gwen ordered two large pizzas, hoping she could cheer Martin up a bit.

"You better do your part; I don't want any leftovers," she said facetiously, throwing herself back down onto the couch beside him. "Besides, you always look happy when you eat. And don't deny it, Martin, I know you too well."

"I don't deny it," Martin returned with a reluctant smile. "But... you know--" he sighed; "Morty wanted me to be fat. He wanted me to gain weight for him... I dunno, it was kind of weird." He blushed.

"You're fine the way you are!" Gwen said at once, annoyed; seizing upon any chance to rail against Mort. "That's no better than Chad, telling you to lose weight, if you ask me."

Martin shifted uncomfortably. "No... it wasn't like Chad. I mean, Mort never made me do anything I didn't want to do... it's not like he forced me. I guess I'm still angry at him, that's why I've been wanting to prove that, you know, I can be thin. Or, well, not fat anyway."

"Well screw what that pervert wants--what do YOU want, Martin? You shouldn't be worrying about pleasing him or annoying him--it's not worth it."

"I know," Martin said quietly.

"You know what I think," Gwen went on, with new determination; "I think you should do what you want. You should eat what you want, when you want. Screw what anybody thinks about it."

"I knew you'd say that," Martin said fondly. "But you know what I'm like, Gweny... I love food. I eat when I'm happy, sad, nervous--everything. I'd probably get huge."

Gwen leaned forward, and refilled her glass of wine. "OK, I'll make you a deal," she said. "How about you eat whatever you want --no more, no less-- for one month. Then, when the world doesn't end, I'll get the satisfaction of saying 'I told you so'."

Martin laughed. "Oh my gosh... um, OK- what do I get from this?"

"I'll let you choose the movies every weekend for that month."

"Every movie?"

"Yep. Must be crazy, but yep." Gwen grinned.

"Oh my gosh. Well, after that last movie that seems like a pretty good deal," Martin laughed. He took up his own glass. "OK... I must be crazy- but OK."

"You are crazy--that last movie was a classic."

They clinked their glasses together, and drank. They had just put on the next movie, when the pizza arrived.
Gwen had ordered Martin's favourite, which he had been denying himself for months: stuffed cheesy crust meatlovers. Martin settled back into the couch and, true to their new agreement, ate until he felt full. He had not felt full since that night at Mort's, and it felt amazing, his belly firm and tight.

Gwen was right, of course; he was happiest with a belly full of food. Still, he couldn't finish the huge, thick pizza, only making it about two-thirds of the way through. Gwen displayed no emotion about this one way or the other--unlike Mort, who would have encouraged him to keep eating no matter how sick he felt. Midway though the movie, he wanted dessert, and went upstairs to get the ice cream from Gwen's fridge. Of course, Martin had enjoyed pleasing Mort by eating--something that was not so easy to explain to Gwen. But, as he ate his way though a large bowl of ice cream, he decided that Gwen was right: he enjoyed pleasing himself more.