Chapter 7 - the friendly wager

"Oh. that sounds like a challenge."

"I thought you werent the competitve type." She threw her gaze to the waiter returning with what looked like a vase of creamy coloured milkshake. It was twice the size of his normal pint glass. Red felt a rush of blood. He wanted to impress to show off. But this was too much, he didn't have practice."

The waiter placed it on the table with a satisfying clunk "Enjoy." He beamed politely.

"Erm... wow... thats all milkshake"

Carla nodded. "I'll pay for us if you manage, you pay for us if you don't"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Thought you liked free food"

"Sure..." He stared at the thick liquid, trying to do the maths... how much could the human stomach take? how much was left of lunch break?

"Good! I know you can't." She looked around "Hi waiter. Another cappucino for me please, since my friend is paying." She took a bite out of here crepe. "Mmm. don't forget yours." and she pointed to his pancake.

Red's mind went a little blank. She had tricked him into either drinking a literal bucket of milkshake or paying for her to get tanked up on expensive coffees.

"Thanks." He picked up the plastic spork and took a few bites from the crepe, as he ate, he told himself "this is different. Don't enjoy this, face it as a challenge. Go slow, but not too slow, don't think of the taste... breathe in and breathe out between mouthfuls. You had a whole pizza last night, this isnt that different."

Carla was taking it slowly, sipping coffee and looking a little smug. "Do you like the crossword?"

"Yes, I sometimes do it at lunch." He replied whilst making good work of the crepe.

"Yeah me too." She took out her phone and started apparently searching for it online, she had seemingly finished here crepe, there was just a little corner left on the plate"I like the city news crossword, its easier. Its the only one i've ever beaten."

"I do cryptic".

"Oh don't be a show off." She made a fleeting glance between the nearly finished crepe and the still full milkshake glass. "Sorry. There's nothing wrong with being able to finish the.. crossword."

"It's ok. Nerdy hobby I guess." He finished the crepe, it went down easy enough, it was really tasty too, thankfully not overly filling. He picked up the straw, it looked much wider than normal cola straws... he wondered if that would make this easier or harder, it probably wouldnt make any noticable difference. He stuck it in and began to suck.

Carla was seemingly fixated on the crossword on her phone, but kept taking shifty peeks over the top at Red. "Seven down..." she said.

"mmmph." red slightly spluttered on a mouthful of milkshake... "That's not really a clue! Go on, tell me."

"Oh, its... a deep philosophical thought, or the act of chewing the cud. Ten letters... Starts with R."

"That will be rumination."

"R.O.O.M..."

"No, its R.U.M..." He was several mouthfuls in... he could feel the cold dense liquid running down his throat. He could sense how filling this was going to be. He hoped the crossword would help keep him distracted enough to get through his creamy dessert.

"Oh, i've never heard of that... chewing the cud is something to do with cows, isnt it."

Red nodded "Its where they cough up their..." Carla looked slightly disgusted. "Nevermind."

She chuckled. "something gross i guess.... don't let it put you off that monster in front of you."

Red kept drinking the shake. They were both quieter. He decided to take his phone out and check the headlines to keep him occupied. He was already starting to feel a little full, his stomach was cold on the inside and getting a little tight. He was probably nearly a third of the way down.

"This one was dumb... I checked it. The answer was hoi polloi... complete guess tho, just lucky." She said out of the blue.

"what was the clue?" he found the pressure in his stomach made it slightly harder to talk.

"Common people, masses... three, six."

"I would have guessed The Public. You beat me there." He replied, then made the mistake of looking at the milkshake. Not even half done and ten minutes had alread passed. He was starting to feel the food settle, sitting down was feeling uncomfortable, his belly had swollen a little tighter into his waistband. It was alright eating the pizza like this in sweatpants, but this was another unforseen obstacle.

He drank a little more, he fidgeted in his seat, trying to displace his waistband somewhere less obstructive. He thought he had a sixth sense for Carla secretly peeping around her phone, watching him, knowing what he was doing. He paused from drinking for a moment and took a couple of shallow breaths. The coldness was making his thoughts a little fuzzy. "Any more clues?" he asked

"Oh? Needing a break? ... Yes, thirteen across Crane's Bill plant, eight letters. No idea, is that a crane driver? a plant that looks like a birds beak?"

"Its... give me a moment."

She laughed "Oh dear. Brain freeze? You're doing well, oly a third to go... the point of no return." she said the last part emulating a spooky voice and wiggled her fingers magically.... "Another coffe please waiter. Americano this time."

Red tried to think of the answer, but he just felt like fidgetting... his brain was telling him to undo his trousers button to loosen the pressure. He felt strangely thrilled at the idea of doing it... Would it look obvious? did he want her to see? or do it carefully and not draw attention to it.... He knew she kept spying on him.

"Geranium! cranes bill is a common name" he said.

"Thanks, it fits"

Red though "I know something that doesnt fit" and squirmed a little... whilst Carla was keying in the answer he quickly reached his hand down, flicked open his trouser button and made sure his polo shirt was pulled down over it.

Carlas dark cheeks reddened a very small amount and there was an almost imperceptible quiver in her bottom lip. She knew what he just did... At this moment however, he felt lighter. His stomach was free to expand more and a sensation of euphoric comfort swept over him as it bulged. Maybe more psychologically than physically he felt able to continue the final part of the milkshake. He took another gulp.

"Oh my God, you're actually going to finish that, arent you?" Carla sounded shocked "you have to be more milkshake than man."

Red nodded and forced a smile. He was starting to slump and tilted the glass towards him to get the most out of the straw. He felt the scratchy fabric of his shirt draping over his tight, rounded belly. He was getting a minor headache and wanted to burp, but he held back, knowing that would seem impolite.

He finished. He did not ever remember feeling this full it was intense... he thought to himself to act casually, act like this is nothing. He did not want to move, his stomach felt so heavy... how many pounds of ice cream was that?

"you finished?" Carla looked genuinely shocked. She really did not think he would. "I should have guessed. It's always the skinny Japanese ones who win all the eating competitions." She beamed as she found her composure.

Red did not feel skinny, he knew she could not see his stomach swollen was touching the side of the booth table, but he was aware of it. "Im not Japanese." he replied, knowing that was a stupid thing to say, but he felt like every part of him was filled with milkshake, even his mind. He felt both incredibly lethargic and restless. "I mean... challenge accepted, challenge won. That was your round."

"Damn, im always getting you food, anyone would think i was fattening you up... like the wicked witch, Mister Hansel." the joke seemed nerveous, as if she was compensating for the truth.

Red laughed a little "Don't eat me."

"I pinkie swear I wont" and she held up her little finger. "We need to get back to work, come on, lets go."

Red was dreading this, he was happy crashing out in the sofa, but he slid out and pulled himself up. As he stood, his trousers must have slid a little bit from being undone and maybe an inch of the lowest bulge of his newly rounded had curved out. Carla stared at it momentarily and looked flushed.

"Excuse me, i'm going to the restroom." She left a small pile of money on the table.

Ten minutes later they were driving back to the office. They were both not talking. Red was feeling tired, plus he felt distracted by the seatbelt. He had never properly noticed it before, but now he was aware of the straps pushing down on his stomach, it was uncomfortable, he wanted to undo it, but would be in trouble if seen doing it in at the office. He gently wiggled so the lower strap went under the gut, this emphasised its size, he almost hoped Carla was concentrating on the road rather than trying to stare at it in the rear view mirror.

Back at the office they said their goodbyes for now

"Catch you at the rode on Sunday" she said

"Yes, thanks for lunch!" And they both went to sit at their desks.

At home time, Red was feeling better, the food was settling. The afternoon had gone by incredibly slowly, he was thinking more about Carla and his own belly... He wished he could ask her to rub it and kiss it better, but that would have been very awkward to ask.

They waved goodbye to each other as they left. Red got on his bike and very slowly managed to cycle home.