Chapter 4

I was right, it didn't take long before the fruits of my gluttony were manifest. My flat, toned stomach was . . . somewhat less so. I watched in an almost morbid fascination as a very thin layer of softness slowly gathered around my waist. It was barely enough to pinch, barely enough to blur the definition, but I knew it was there. For several weeks I ate like a madman, stupidly stuffing myself at every turn, bombarding my system with calories. It almost seemed that my metabolism was going to overwhelm the onslaught.

But then one morning I stumbled out of the shower, pulled on a pair of boxers, then slid up my slacks.

"Huh?" I mumbled out loud.

I looked down at the button on my slacks. It was about an inch away from the button-hole. I shook my head, impossible. I had worn these just two weeks ago. I re-tucked my shirt, stood up straighter, and tugged again.

"Huh," I muttered again.

Still no success. So I sucked in, something I had never before done to button up my pants. It was actually kind of exciting.

"Huh!"

That was weird. I told my stomach to suck in, but it barely budged. What was going on here?

"Need those pants let out, mister?"

I turned to the door, Shannon stood there with a smirk playing on her full lips.

"Did you shrink these?" I asked, immediately feeling quite foolish for asking.

"Guess again," she smiled, her eyes full of mischief.

I looked back down and realized what was different. It wasn't the pants. It was the fact that my abdomen was no longer flat from sternum to groin. It now curved outward. How very odd. I patted it gently with my hand, it felt strangely soft yet solid.

"Lot of big meals lately," Shannon teased. "You know what that does?"

"What?" I asked, playing along.

"Weeeelllllll," she drew the word out, putting her finger to her mouth in a thoughtful pose. "Some of those meals start to stick around. Little by little, ounce by ounce, they start hanging out around that flat little stomach you have. Sorry, had. At first they're easy to ignore. But then, if you keep stuffing your face, they start inviting friends to stay over. And then you can't ignore it anymore, no matter how much you've been sucking in lately."

"I haven't been sucking in," I protested.

"Oh no?" her eyes glimmered and her mouth quirked. "I've been watching you lately. It was about two weeks ago that you started standing a little straighter. About two weeks of fiddling with your belt and running your hand down your stomach to make sure it didn't stick out. When you fell asleep on the couch last Saturday your stomach muscles relaxed and your little tummy actually hung out over your belt a little."

I was taken aback. Could it be true? Had I subconsciously been sucking in, trying to conquer the effects of my day-long gorges?

"You know what just happened here?" Shannon asked me.

"No, what?"

"Your stomach muscles gave up. They quit. All those big meals have not only stretched out your actual stomach so you can eat more, they also weakened your stomach muscles. They stretched them out so much they can't contract as well anymore. And now that little belly you've grown is out there for everyone to see."

"What do I do?"

"Wear your other tan slacks, they have a stretchy waistband. I'll take these to the tailor today, have the waist let out."

"Or I could just lose weight," I offered.

"Can you?" she asked, smiling at me.