Chapter 8

Early Saturday morning, Jenna dropped her kids off with her parents for the weekend. Actually, she made plans for her parents to take them for the week. They would be dropping and picking them up from school and their afterschool activities. She told her parents that she was going on a much needed holiday to think things out regarding her marriage. They had known for some time that she and Vince had been having problems. They weren’t surprised. They had never liked him to begin with and never understood their daughter’s affection for him. After taking a good look at Jenna, her mother mentioned to her father, how a break would do Jenna a “world of good”. She looked terrible – not the weight gain, but her washed-out looks and the strain seemed to be showing on her.

Before going to meet with Sloane, Jenna made a stop at the bank and then went to the magazine to drop off a story she had been working on…of course unknown by Vince. She spoke with Keith Jacobs, the editor, telling him that she wanted to accept his offer of a full-time position with the magazine. Mr. Jacobs shook her hand enthusiastically and told her that her starting date would be sometime the following month.

A few hours later she was walking down the street toward the book store she had promised to meet Sloane. She opened the door of “The Poet’s Hut”; her senses assailed by the strong scents of roasted coffee beans. She looked around and saw Sloane on the left, waving at her. She smiled, and walked briskly to the table he was holding. He rose, planting a kiss firmly on her lips.

“I was about to go up and order something. Would you like a coffee and something to eat?” Sloane asked.

Jenna suddenly realized just how hungry she was, so she asked Vince to choose a sandwich for her to go with her coffee. He smiled at her and lumbered out of his seat to fetch them some lunch.

Man, Jenna thought to herself. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or what…but Sloane really seems to have put on more weight than I thought.

When Sloane approached the table a few minutes later with two steaming mugs of coffee, several sandwiches, and some cake, Jenna looked closely at the fact that his jeans were now skin tight - the material stretched tautly over his now beefy thighs. His brawny chest sported a layer or two of extra padding, and his belly was exquisite – a plump ball-belly rounding out more as he sat just opposite Jenna.

She was surprised at herself that she hadn’t noticed the change in him. She guessed that it was so gradual that had missed it, being so close to him now. But, what she was sure of was that he would soon be moving away from this new stage of plumpness and would shortly be approaching a rounder more globular shape…increasing in size and weight…until he truly ballooned…FAT beyond a doubt. And she found herself looking forward to it…desiring to be part of his fattening process. She wanted so badly to see him full…brimming…bursting…so much more than she ever wanted to fill herself. She found him so sexy. So alluring. So enticing. His corpulence drawing her in…pulling her helplessly toward him.

Jenna took a turkey and havarti sandwich on a baguette while Sloane tore into the warm pastrami on thick rye bread. She ate slowly, almost with a kind of precision – arranging the cheese on the meat so that she would get an equal amount with each bite and chewing exactly the same number of times with each minuscule bite. Sloane had wolfed down another two sandwiches, becoming all the time more satiated – so absorbed listening to the poetry being read, the succulence of his repast, and the loveliness of his companion that he was nearly mortified to accept his ignorance of Jenna’s haze which - must been going on for some time before he finally took notice.

He suddenly became aware of her pallor – so washed out with almost an inner exhaustion which illuminated her very being. Sloane was so angry with himself that he had been so oblivious to her distress. He put his hand on her arm. She looked up startled, finally brought out of her stupor – at least somewhat. Sloane discerned that she remained somewhat withdrawn in her countenance. But, she smiled kindly, looking at him amorously. With that longing look, Sloane felt a stirring deep within himself. If he didn’t know it before…he knew it at that moment. He was head-over-heels in love with Jenna.

Jenna pushed the 3 slices of pie in Sloane’s direction. “Really, Jenna, I’m stuffed,” Sloane said, patting his swollen gut.

“Stuffed?” Jenna said, reflectively. “No quite yet, I think.”

“Well,” Sloane remarked. “If you promise to smile more, I’ll eat it all for you.” He slipped a hand underneath his shirt to unbutton his jeans and proceeded to eat everything on the table. His aching belly jutted out and Jenna did have a satisfied smile across her face.