chapter 4

Three months after moving into the house, Justin was no better. He felt like he was living in a permanent haze of sleep deprivation. He could not concentrate properly. His memory recall was poor. He could not remember the details of the products he had to sell.
As Christmas approached, most of the furniture department was taken over by a massive toy fayre. It was an annual thing, nothing new. Justin was selected to transfer to the toy department for a few months.
He found the switch was much better for him. The faster pace meant he did not have time to be tired, although by the end of the day, he felt physically and mentally drained.
As he looked around the food hall for something to eat, he could hear the voice again. Instead of the ready meals, his feet took him towards parts of the food hall he had never visited before. One day he bought a massive twelve inch meat feast pizza, yet he could not recall putting it in his basket. When he got home, he'd find he'd visited the sweet cakes aisle instead of the yoghurt one and found a packet of four chocolate eclairs in the bag as well.
He did not like to see good food go to waste. He had nothing else in the cupboard.
He put his pizza in the oven. He could have half today and half tomorrow, he told himself. As it was heating up, he thought he'd try just one of the cream eclairs.
Mmmmm! It was so creamy, so sweet. It was soft, but crisp. He felt decadent, but it was a one off. He'd leave the rest for his flatmate to have when she came in. Well, maybe he'd just have one more... but that was all, because his pizza would be ready soon.
He bit into his second cake. He deserved this he told himself. After facing hoards of temperamental kids all day, this was the least he deserved.
He already felt full when he took the pizza out of the oven. He cut off a few slices. He would never get though all this! He would still be eating pizza with his flatmate this time next week!
But he tucked in as he watched the news on the telly. He finished the first few slices and went back for more, wiping the greasy stains from his fingers onto the back of his trousers.
After the second plate full, he felt bloated. His trousers were tight, yet he still filled his plate with more.
He loosened his belt, his button and his flies. Now he had more room! He ate and ate until all the pizza was gone, then polished off the last two cream cakes as well!
He must have dozed off afterwards because the next thing he knew was his flatmate was coming home after a late shift. He sprung up onto his feet! He had to hide the evidence! He pulled his shirt down and stuffed the empty boxes into the bin. The bin was not full, but he took the bin liner out, tied it up and put it in the outside bin. By the time his flatmate got to the kitchen, he was replacing the bin liner and washing up his plate. He was not in the mood to socialise. If he did, she might somehow be able to tell how greedy he'd just been. He made his excuses and headed off to bed for an early night.
He had the best night's sleep he'd had in months! In the morning, he felt refreshed, raring to go for another round in the toy department. He thought he'd skip breakfast. He was still feeling full and heavy after his huge meal last night. He would not be eating that much again in a hurry!