chapter 29

While the aeroplane was being refuelled at one of Prince Khalid's private airfields, I used the telephone and rang Paul. One of Khalid's staff explained to him where in Scotland the airfield was and I arranged for him to meet us there. He was rather confused when I told him to leave the Bentley and instead go to an address in London which Khalid had given me and hire a van with certain modifications to the back.

"I can't explain at the minute," I said. "Just do it, please."

Paul had known me long enough to trust my judgement, but I realised that perhaps I should have explained what had gone on to him as, when he saw Carolyn helped down the stairs from the plane his face was a picture of horror. We opened the back of the van and helped her inside and she sat on a large chair that had been especially fitted, breathing heavily from the exertion of walking the short distance from the runway to the small customs building where we were given all the necessary paperwork with no questions asked as promised.

The chair was in the centre of a U-shaped table which had been filled with cakes, pizza, pasta and rice dishes, all on non-slip plates with raised sides, ensuring they did not spill as we drove around. Carolyn was so used to over-feeding herself that she spent the nine hour journey back to London eating, and I began to wonder just how fat Prince Khalid liked his women! Paul kept looking in the rear view mirror as if he could not believe his eyes at the difference he saw in Carolyn's body.

Eventually, we got home, got Carolyn settled and I collapsed into my bed exhausted.

Life over the next few days was quite surreal. Carolyn had a room downstairs which she barely left, spending most of the time sat up on the bed watching television, eating or sleeping. Occasionally I stuck my head in to see how she was, but she just nodded and smiled at me. She barely spoke. Sometimes, I would massage her belly, enjoying the warm softness, but if I tried to initiate anything more intimate, she pushed me away.

"Maybe when I finish eating," she said. In reality, with the constant flow of food into her room, I could not see that happening. However, I was very surprised when I went into her room the next day. Carolyn was stood against her bed slowly attempting to perform standing push-ups. Her breakfast was on the table barely touched.

"I thought I was not going to be able get out of bed this morning and I realised that if I carried on, I was getting to the point where if I laid down, I would never get back up again," she said sadly. "I have decided that I really need to lose this weight."

"Okay," I said, slowly, hoping my disappointment would not show.

"In fact," said Carolyn looking at me thoughtfully, "why am I even doing this? You can pay for me to lose this weight; you made sure I gained it after all! First you need to get me some cigarettes."

"You quit smoking..." I began, but Carolyn cut me off.

"Actually, I was made to quit because your friend stopped giving me them and made me eat instead. So I am going to smoke instead of eating and that will stop me gaining any more weight. And then you can pay for me to have gastric surgery or liposuction or something."

"But don't you think..." I said slowly and Carolyn interrupted again.

"This is not something I wish to discuss. I've told you what I want and you always said you would give me anything to make me happy."

I nodded. "I will ring Abigail and see what she thinks. I don't know enough about the medical side of what you are asking."

The doctor was back in her office and was decidedly cold towards me on as we spoke on the telephone. I arranged for her to visit the next day, and although she was reluctant, I persuaded her by telling her how much Carolyn had been eating and that I thought she had gained more weight since we left the island.

I could barely sleep that night and in the morning I was watching the clock, willing it forward and feeling sick from nerves. I had set up a reclining chair in the lounge room, somewhere Carolyn could sit in comfort while the Doctor spoke to her about her diet, exercise and surgery programme. Abigail arrived about ten o'clock and I led her into the lounge in silence. I tried to be pleasant and polite, but she did not reciprocate, giving one word answers, and only if she really had to.
We were served with tea and toast as we waited for Paul to bring Carolyn from her room.

"You don't need to impress me with your servants," said Abigail. I knew why she was angry, so explained.

"I had to leave quickly," I said. "I had to get Carolyn away from the Duchess."

"Yeah - get Carolyn away."

"The Prince was there to make sure you were safe."

"I know! That's not the point is it?"

I didn't know what else to say, so we sat in awkward silence until Carolyn was brought into the room, breathing heavily. She had to turn sideways to get through the door, and I saw the interest on Abigail's face.

"I think you are right," the doctor said to me. "She has definitely gained more weight." The excitement at Carolyn's fatness seemed to be over-ruling her anger. I helped Carolyn turn and stand in front of the recliner, but didn't let her sit down so Abigail could measure round her huge belly.

"Tell me about this weight loss programme," said the Doctor as she walked round Carolyn, measuring her arms and thighs both with a tape measure to find the girth and using the callipers to measure the fat content.

Carolyn looked at me and said smugly, "He's going to pay for me to get thin again". Abigail nodded but did not answer; she stepped back making notes on her tablet. I looked between the doctor and Carolyn and thought back over the last few month. Carolyn's perfect face and body had been so attractive when we first me, and now, after being fattened, she was more beautiful than ever. I considered the difference between her and Abigail. The doctor always looked happy to see me, even when I had been stupid, but Carolyn really only spoke to me when she wanted something. I had a bit of an epiphany, and was lost in my own thoughts, until I heard Carolyn.

"He told everybody on that island that he loves me!" she said, "and he will do anything to make me happy!"

"There is a funny thing about love," I said. "I am sure the doctor here will agree that it is just a chemical imbalance which makes us act in ridiculous ways. By definition, it's a mental illness." Neither Carolyn nor Abigail looked impressed at my opinion.

"Anyway, Carolyn," I continued, "When I first saw you at Heathrow, I was besotted. You were probably the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and I just had to get to know you more. Then you started gaining weight, just a little bit at first, and I found that really exciting! The bigger you got, the more I loved you. But now I have realised that this wasn't love; it was infatuation and you took full advantage to get everything you wanted. I was an idiot, believing you when you kept saying we would be together."

"But you told me..." began Carolyn.

"Please let me finish." I said. "Love is not about what you say, but about what you do. It's the person who will take a risk to help you; it's the person who will stand by you even when you are being foolish. It's the person who will laugh with you, cry with you, fight with you in private and for you in public." I looked at Carolyn. "You may have an amazing smile, but you don't have true beauty."

"But you are still going to pay for me to get thin?" asked Carolyn. I shrugged.

"My grandmother once told me that the most important thing in a relationship is a shared interest." I said. "It doesn't matter what, as long as there is at least one activity you can enjoy together. You didn't listen to me, Carolyn. I didn't say I wanted to save you because I loved you; I said I wanted to bring you home for love."
I turned and smiled at Abigail, and as I did, I shoved Carolyn in the middle of her chest and she stumbled backwards. Her weight did the rest; she fell into the reclined chair and her huge stomach pinned her down so she was unable to get back out, no matter how much she struggled.

"Abigail," I said taking the doctor's hand. "You once told me that you never got the chance to see how much you could fatten somebody, so Carolyn is my gift to you." I grinned widely and added, "I thought she could be our shared interest."

Abigail smiled back at me and I realised what a truly beautiful smile was. Everything else faded until there was only Abigail and her smile left in the world. Together, still hand in hand, we turned to Carolyn who had realised what was happening and was shouting, crying and cursing, desperately trying to get out of the chair.

"Please be quiet," said Abigail. "Or I will have to sedate you. In fact, I may do that anyway to stop you moving about too much. I would like... WE would like you to gain as much weight as possible, as quickly as possible now."

"But I am already too fat," sobbed Carolyn.

Abigail laughed. "Well, I will admit that you have become quite plump on the island," she said, stroking Carolyn's huge, round belly. "But we don't just want you to be plump; we want you nice and FAT! So sit back, relax and prepare to start eating more than ever. I have finished playing nicely with you, and now, the real fattening is going to begin!"

THE END.