chapter 3

Hilly discovered that everything Brad said about moving in together at his place was true. The hospital WAS within walking distance of his penthouse apartment on the Gold Coast. That is IF you thought two and a half miles one way was within walking distance. Hilly didn't mind the distance and she certainly could use the exercise, but there was one teeny tiny hitch. Due to a change in her schedule, her working day started at six in the morning. This meant she'd have to leave the house at 5 A.M. at the latest which meant she'd have to be up at around four in the morning. As much as she might have craved exercise, she didn't want it THAT bad!

Brad's apartment complex had a modern, up-to-date gym, so Hilly could at least get a good workout there. Except that the hours were somewhat limited. She'd get home sometime around 7:30 or 8 o'clock. But then Brad would have dinner waiting and by the time she changed her clothes, sat down and ate dinner and digested his super-sumptuous meals, it was past nine o'clock, just when the gym locked its doors.

What Hilly DIDN'T know was that it was Brad who had her hours changed and it was Brad, as President of the Building Owner's Association, who made sure the gym was securely locked at 9 P.M., without exception. And so it was Brad who undermined Hilly's every effort at losing weight, or at the very least, controlling it. More to the point, Hilly was totally in the dark about how Brad was subtly maneuvering her, perhaps not FORCING her to gain weight but very definitely enabling her gain.

And gain she did. As an official spokesperson for the hospital and one of its highest ranking officials, she was expected to attend all sorts of charity affairs and gatherings. Very often she'd come home, nosh down one of the snacks Brad invariably left out for her, and then attend a gala dinner, usually catered by one of the better Chicago restaurants. What Hilly DIDN'T know was that Brad used his connections with the Chicago food scene to make sure that Hilly got especially large and especially fattening meals at these events. By the time they got to their six month anniversary, Hilly weighed in at a hefty 168 pounds, more than she had EVER weighed.

Of course this meant she needed a whole new wardrobe and naturally Brad very gallantly offered to pay for it. What Hilly hadn't realized is that Brad studied her psychological reaction to certain situations. Right off the bat, he noticed that Hilly had an exaggerated sense of gratitude. This made her VERY loyal to virtually anyone who did her even the slightest favor. So everything Brad did just made Hilly more and more dependent on HIM.

The next couple of weeks at work were very stressful for Hilly. It wasn't how she did her job that was the area of concern, she was one of the better human nutritional scientists in the Midwest. But by now her weight gain was becoming an issue. More than once she was called into the office of the hospital's President, Father Arthur Lee Minogue, and sternly lectured about how her appearance reflected badly on the hospital. How could a nutritionist who should know better allow herself to go from slim, trim, tight and toned to, well, in Father Minogue's words, just plain FAT?

Each time Hilly left Father Minogue's office she was more and more upset. And each time Brad was there with some kind of comfort food, calming her down and telling her that Father Minogue was full of beans, that she had never looked better a day in her life. And Brad wasn't lying either. From HIS perspective, Hilly never HAD looked better. But then, Hilly still wasn't aware of just what that perspective came from. But she'd find out. Would she ever!!