Chapter 2

Then came the ultimate eating experience – New Year’s Eve. The morning of New Year’s Eve, we got up bright and early. The day started as always with a big, hearty breakfast cooked by Gary: eggs, bacon, toast with marmalade, cream of wheat, and coffee. He encouraged me to finish everything he put before me since he said we had a great day ahead of us. He wanted to take me someplace special. I filled up on breakfast, washing it down with two cups of coffee.

After we got dressed, we got on the subway and headed downtown. He took me window shopping – consignment shops, used bookstores, and then to a boutique a friend owned. My first surprise was that he wanted to buy me a dress to wear that evening. I was thrilled. He threw some dresses he liked over his arm and I added a few. Shortly, I was shown to the fitting room. I modelled a few for him, but we both liked a smart, jersey knit dress in a deep burgundy. It had a low neckline with long sleeves. It was a soft knit; a little closer fitting than I usually wore showing off curves and my rounder belly. I wasn’t so sure of this selection because of that, but Gary persevered saying I looked wonderful in it.

I had put on a few pounds in the past few months and it was becoming more noticeable. It was definitely true in this dress and also in the jeans I was wearing that day. I had refused to go up a size telling myself that I would lose the weight and instead just squeezed into jeans that were obviously too small for me.

These were the only pair of jeans that still fit – thank goodness for lycra. The others wouldn’t stretch across my blossoming belly. Since staying with Gary at his apartment, he’s been doing my laundry and he put my only pair of jeans in the wash and then the dryer. I usually would line dry them so I could breathe in them. I was going to wear a nice velour sweat suit, but Gary threw the jeans my way saying that I should wear them – better for what he had in mind, which I didn’t fully understand then.

So, I went through the ritual of lying on the bed, sucking in my breath, and buttoning my fly. It was two tries before I could close the buttons. My legs looked like sausages and my belly pressed roughly against the material forcing a large roll of flesh out the top. I wished I had brought another shirt, but only had a pretty orchid silk sweater that was cropped and not at all forgiving. It showed every hill and valley and if I extended my arm too much, it would ride up showing all. So, I camouflaged myself by wearing a heavy zip down fleece sweatshirt.

Luckily, my jeans had loosed up a bit with wear because there was nowhere to lie down in the fitting room. I had to press my back against a wall and flatten out my gut and then put on the silk sweater and zipped up the fleece. Gary was waiting for me at the door with my purchase.

We strolled arm and arm for a while until we hit our next surprise destination – Chinatown. Gary escorted me to what he described as one of his favourite haunts. He was quickly greeted by the door by name so I knew he frequented this place. The waiter showed us to a table in the very centre of the establishment.

“They have the best dim sum in all of Chinatown here,” he beamed at me.

Servers began almost immediately to buzz by with steaming carts with large bamboo containers. Gary expertly chose for us. There were dumplings in all varieties and combinations of pork, chicken, beef, seafood, and vegetables. I especially liked the one with the quail egg. Gary demolished dozens of the neatly formed dumplings. I didn’t do a bad job myself taking everything he offered me. The only problem is you don’t realize how much you’ve eaten until after you’ve eaten. The savoury little dumplings really add up after a while and your stomach feels like lead. One second I was devouring everything at a quick clip and the next minute I was struggling to eat what remained on my plate.

“You must be hot,” Gary said; sweat dripping down the side of his own face. “You should take off your sweatshirt. I don’t think it’s just the cart they’re bringing around. I think they have the heat up too high.”

I lied telling him I was fine. In truth, I had been suffering from the heat from the beginning of our meal. But, I could also feel how constricting my clothing had become. My expanding girth was trapped. I could feel my flesh swelling over the top of my waistband. I think I was struggling to breath more because of the intense pressure of my tightening clothing. Gary would have none of that. He made a show of standing up behind me and helping me off with my sweatshirt, so I was forced into compliance.

“I guess I ordered too much,” he joked, sitting close and rubbing my belly lightly.

“This is really embarrassing,” I said. “I really didn’t want you to see that I’ve put on so much weight…BRRPP…excuse me.”

“I don’t mind that you’ve put on weight, Liz,” he replied. “You’ll always be beautiful to me. But, you’ve got to learn to pace yourself like me.”

“I really couldn’t eat another bite. I’m stuffed,” I admitted.

“I’m sure if we waited a bit we could create some more room,” he smiled.

When I began to reject the idea, he coaxed, “I just love a woman with a big appetite who isn’t afraid of eating with abandon.”

He sat back rubbing his belly. “I think it’s so sexy,” he whispered into my ear.

A short time later, Gary ordered some lichee nuts, cookies, and a selection of bite-sized cakes for dessert. When I began to protest again, he said, “Come, come, my dear, everyone has a room for a little dessert. Besides you don’t look full yet.”

I groaned as I slowly ate. My stomach protested at every bite. I felt incredibly heavy and bloated by the time we got up to leave. As we walked the few blocks to the subway, I could swear that my buttons were dangerously close to bursting. But instead of going to the subway, Gary hailed a cab and we got off at Dean and Deluca’s. He explained that he wanted to pick up a few things for later. He purchased Foie Gras, bottled water, fruit, and some pastries. He paid for everything, we got back into the cab, arrived back at his apartment, waved at the doorman, took the elevator up to the 8th floor, and settled down to watch TV until it was time to get dressed and go out on the town.