chapter 8

The sun was starting to set, it was getting cool, and the festival was winding down. Mary drove them home, Rob was so stuffed he didn't want to try to drive. Once they pulled into the parking lot, Rob moved gingerly from the car to their apartment. Fortunately, it was only one flight of stairs. Normally Rob wouldn't think twice about bounding up three or four flights of stairs. But not today. They went inside and Rob headed straight for the sofa.

"Oh gawd, Mary. I'm stuffed. I never ate like that before. I can hardly move."

Mary sat next to him and patted his belly, which was pushed out with a food baby. "Did you overdo it today, lover?" she cooed as she rubbed his sore midsection. Rob just nodded. "But tell the truth. It felt good to just let go, didn't it? Just not worry about calories or fat content or anything and just eat whatever you wanted. Didn't it, lover?"

Rob had already admitted to himself that yes indeed it had felt good. Liberating, in a way. So he might as well admit it to Mary. "Yes, it felt good to let go. To indulge myself." Mary gave him a knowing smile. "Once in a while, of course." Mary kept smiling. "Can't do that every day, you know." Mary's smile didn't waiver. "Just as a treat every now and then."

Mary's smile stayed firmly in place. "If you say so, lover. I think I'm going to have some ice cream. Want some?"

"Oh hell, why not, I guess today in my binge day."
They spent the rest of the evening with ice cream and Netflix, until Rob started nodding off. Mary turned off the TV and walked Rob to bed, where he collapsed.

It was Sunday morning when Rob woke up. Mary wasn't in bed. She must have slipped out of bed to let him sleep. He went to the bathroom, and noted that he was feeling the effects of yesterday's gluttony. But actually he felt pretty good. He'd protested the second bowl of ice cream the night before, but Mary had charmed him into eating it, and he had slept like the dead. He put on a bathrobe and slippers and padded out to find Mary.

Mary was in the kitchen, making breakfast. Sausage, eggs, muffins, and of all things, grits. It caught Rob by surprise. Yesterday Mary had fixed herself a huge breakfast while Rob had been on his run, so he wasn't prepared to see another major breakfast. For that matter, he didn't know there were grits in the apartment, much less that Mary would know how to make them. Rob came over to the stove and eyed the grits suspiciously.

"Don't worry," Mary laughed. "I know how to make grits. My grandmother taught me. Of course, they're only good with plenty of butter."

"I thought yesterday was a big indulgence day, babe. I wasn't expected all this..." Rob's voice trailed off as he motioned at the spread.

"Well, let's call it an indulge weekend. You can go back to twigs and leaves tomorrow if you want." Mary finished the eggs and handed Rob a plate. It smelled great, and he didn't want to hurt Mary by turning his nose up at it. So he filled his plate, Mary filled her plate and they sat down to eat. Rob was reminded that Mary was a great cook. He imagined that grandmother of hers was a big woman. He bet grandpa was pretty big too. He finished his plate without realizing it, since it was delicious, even the grits. Mary was just finishing hers, and she picked up both plates and refilled them. She basically took every bit of food that they hadn't taken on the first round and piled it on their plates. She must have seen Rob's eyes widen at the mound of calories, carbs and fats on their plates. "Relax, it's an indulge weekend. Besides, we don't want this to go to waste, do we?"