chapter 5

After about a week, he began to notice some changes with his fiancee. For one, she was in a much better mood than he had found her a few days ago. No longer distraught at her appearance, Rachel was back to being the upbeat woman he knew so well. She had tried to stick to her diet for the first few days, but this time when she fell from it, she fell hard. The hunger pangs were so much more severe than her previous attempts. She felt that if she didn't eat, she was going to collapse at all times.

When she ate, Tom also noticed that Rachel was no longer simply snacking, munching, grazing perhaps. She was stuffing herself, almost frantically with food. On two occasions she had sheepishly begged him to go out to the store and pick her up a few items. The grocery list she handed him each time consisted of no fewer than 40 varieties of snacks, junk food, calorie laden frozen pizzas, cheese in a can, and pretty much anything unhealthy and fattening she could shove in her greedy lips.

Rachel continued to listen to her audio recordings. She had decided they were unnecessary in terms of helping her lose weight after a few days, but when she tried to stop listening to them nightly, she found that she missed the white noise which helped her fall asleep. One restless night without her earbuds in was enough to make her return to her routine. Two weeks and roughly 10 pounds into Rachel's secret weight gain project,Tom received some unfortunate news. His company had won a new contract, and they needed him to spend the next month and a half out west helping to set up a new project team. He would be away from his bulking up bride-to-be right up until their wedding. Everything was already planned so she didn't need him aside from the emotional support he provided, but he promised to call her every night so they could chat.

With Tom gone, the main cook and grocery getter of the household was no longer in service. Rachel had embraced laziness and gluttony to an extreme, and was unwilling to go to the grocery store herself or cook a meal. This began a month and a half long eating spree of all things delivery. She got into a routine: she would skip breakfast and order enough food for 5 people for lunch and dinner. That way she had enough snacks and meals to gorge on to get her to her next feeding frenzy. Her favorite local delivery places knew something strange was happening when they delivered enough food to feed a football team to an ever expanding 27 year old recluse multiple times per week, but she tipped well and it was great business so of course they were happy to oblige.

Tom noticed while he was away that Rachel's mind had become fixated on food. When he asked her how her day went, she would usually lead off with what she had eaten for lunch and dinner, and whether or not it was good, as well as whether or not it was enough. The amounts Rachel described were increasing in portion the longer he was away, and he began to get somewhat worried and feel guilty about the effect his manipulation was having on his fiancee.