chapter 3

Molly had been nervous about the show all day, worrying that she wouldn't be able to eat enough later that night. She decided to wait to eat till later tonight, then she'd be extremely hungry for the steam. Molly pulled up her size 2 black work pants, fastening her belt tightly onto her waist. She buttoned her blouse, slipped on her black flats, and quickly headed out to the bus stop.

Luckily for Molly, she luckily arrived to the bus on time. Sitting down, her stomach growled loudly, remembering that she had only eaten some soup the prior evening. She hugged her slim self, trying to silence her belly for the remainder of the bus ride.

Opening at work on a Friday was easy since no one typically came to the mall at 8 in the morning. Molly speed walked inside to find her boss, Derren, in the break room with a couple other of the employees. Molly wondered why the break room was so full when she looked around and saw the streamers and the 'happy birthday' banner.

Shit. She forgot it was Derren's birthday.

"Finally, although your on time for once, everyone got here earlier to celebrate." Derren said, standing up. He walked over to Molly, then looked around the break room. "Rachel brought donuts, Kaitlynn brought some bagels, and Justin brought the fruit salad" Derren looked over at Justin, sitting straight up in his chair. Derren continued, "But in my opinion, I'm a fan of the more 'fun' foods."

"H-happy Birthday sir. Sorry I forgot to bring something..." Molly said, whispering the last part. "I'll make it up to you next week, things have been tight, you kno-" She began to rumble when Derren stopped her.

"Thanks, but as orders for my birthday I'm telling you to enjoy some of the food this morning. I bought us a cake too that we'll all share before closing" He started to walk over to the table of food as he spoke, then stopping in front of it.

There were about 5 donuts left, all varying in flavor along with 8 bagels left, with sides of butter and cream cheese. The fruit bowl was halfway eaten, those who were eating it were the smaller employees. Molly grabbed a plate and was about to scoop some fruit onto it when Derren stopped her.

"Like I said, enjoy the 'fun' food, not just have some boring fruit." Molly's eyes widened as he grabbed a glazed chocolate donut and placed it onto her plate. Derren looked at Molly then grabbed another donut, this time vanilla frosted with sprinkles.

"I appreciate the gesture Derren but I've had a big brea-" As she was about to continue her stomach erupted in a growl, causing Derren and other close by employees to glance towards Molly's direction for a moment. She felt the blood rush to her face, not knowing how red it actually had become.

"By the sound of that, it sounds like Molly needs a bagel too, am I right guys?" Derren said loudly, the whole break room erupting into a laughter. As more blood rushed to her face, Molly felt truly embarrassed as Derren smothered a bagel in butter and placed it onto her plate of Extra Large Donuts. With her crowded plate of food, Derren looked at it and back at Molly, then her mid-section, whispering to her. "And by the looks of it, It wouldn't hurt if you ate a little extra than normal..."

Derren walked away after he said that, leaving Molly left with her 'monsterous' plate of food. She sat down noticing that many of her co-workers had the fruit on their plates. Rachel and a few others were the only to be enjoying the donuts and bagels, not even Derren had either on his plate. Only a cup of coffee actually, which was weird to Molly since coffee didn't seem much of a "fun" food.

As her stomach growled yet again, Molly picked up the bagel, looking at the yellow butter thickly spread onto it. Taking a bite, the butter oozed out the edges, forcing Molly to lick the sides of it to prevent a mess. The bagel was amazing, any New York bagel was good. In a couple minutes she finished the bagel, when her co-workers got up to work out front in the store. She got up as well, when Derren stopped her.

"I told you to enjoy the food, you aren't even close to done. It's for my birthday, c'mon. Don't come to the front unless it's all finished." Without an interruption from Molly, Derren quickly went to the front of the store, leaving Molly alone in the break room with her two donuts.

Molly had a sweet tooth, so eating the donuts was no problem for her. She was just worried that later tonight she wouldn't be able to eat as much on the stream as Erin. Looking at the donuts, she picked up the chocolate one, taking a rather large bite of it. The sugary flavor exploded in her mouth. Within two minutes the donut was gone, surprising herself that she finished it so quickly. Picking up the vanilla sprinkle one, she quickly gulfed that one down too, her plate now empty with crumbs remaining.

As she went to throw the plate away she gazed upon the table of morning treats to find herself staring at the donut box. Left was a couple other donuts and a singular Extra-Large Jelly Donut covered in powdered sugar. She knew she shouldn't eat it, but she felt like she could, she was just enjoying the food, as Derren told her to do.

Ever so delicately, she picked up the Jelly Donut, licking a small area of powdered sugar at the top. With a large bite, she reached the jelly which gushed down the sides of the donut. She closed her eyes as the flavor of the raspberry jelly satisfied her. Molly was making a mess as the powdered sugar remained on her hands and the jelly flowed down to her finger tips. When here was half the donut left, Molly just stuck the rest of donut into her mouth, chewing it slowly, savoring the flavor of her favorite treat. With jelly left on her fingertips, she licked them, enjoying whatever sugary bits that were left.

"Glad that you're enjoying yourself so much in here." Derren said as he stood in the doorway of the break room.

Molly's eyes flashed open, eyes darting over to the doorway to find her boss. She looked at her hands seeing the sticky jelly residue left, her black top covered in fallings of powdered sugar and bits of jelly and crumbs. Her face began to turn red, quickly apologizing profusely to her boss.

"Please please, don't apologize. The way you were eating that donut, you truly enjoy your food." Derren walked over to Molly, talking more softly as he got closer to her. "I'd love to see you enjoy my birthday cake like that later today."

"Sir, I've already eaten so much already, I really don't know if I-"

Derren interrupted her again, "And that's an order, consider it a task assignment." He looked at Molly's belt and back at her face, the sides of her mouth tinted red from the jelly. "Feel free to have more, but if you do, loosen that belt. Looks a little uncomfortable. Also come on the floor in 5 minutes, you can't spend the entire workday eating." He left the room, Molly feeling more embarrassed then before.

She looked at her belt, which she has now felt the tightness it caused along her stomach. Her small stomach was squished by the belt, causing it to be squeezed over the belt slightly. She quickly unfastened her belt, the discomfort went away. She chose to fix herself up in the bathroom before returning to work, not wanting to look like a slob amongst her co-workers.

Later, Molly decided to try and eat the smallest amount of cake, she didn't need to indulge this much, especially tonight. That, unfortunately, wasn't the case.