chapter 4

Indeed, she got him to eat a bowl of gelato. Of course she had to eat one too, so as not to be too obvious about her plan to fatten him up. Matt wondered idly if she realized that she would probably put on some weight, too. Unless she had an exercise routine he didn’t know about. He knew that she used her elliptical for half an hour after work most days, but that wouldn’t be enough to burn off all of these calories.

They cleaned up after dinner, which was pretty easy. Dishes into the dishwasher, a cover on the lasagna, bread into a zip up bag, done. They watch some television and finished their wine. In fact, finished the bottle. After an hour or so of TV, Matt was stuffed and little drunk. He stumbled off to go to bed. He took time to wash his face and brush his teeth, since that was his normal routine. He lay down in bed, a little gingerly since he was so full. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought about how good it felt to go to sleep with a really full belly.

When he woke up, he was a little worried about Brittney getting up early and fixing him a huge breakfast. But she hadn’t. She got up when he did, and they went through their normal routine. Some oatmeal, some yogurt, some fruit. Well, that made sense. She thought that she was playing him, and if she had followed a big heavy dinner with a big heavy breakfast, he would get suspicious. She didn’t know that he knew exactly what she was up to. But he was also just a little disappointed. It had been since college that he’d gorged at dinner and then gorged again at breakfast and he wondered if he could still do it. Well, of course he could. College wasn’t that long ago.

Matt went to work, as usual. It was a Tuesday, and normally he went to the gym after work on Tuesdays. He wondered how, or if, Brittney would keep him from going to the gym. At 4PM, he found out. Brittney called him.

“Babe, I know you normally work out, but you know that cruise are we were thinking about taking? Jenny can meet with us at five to go over some options.” Well played, thought Matt. She had called late enough in the day so that if he asked if they could meet later, Brittney would tell him that is was too late to change the appointment. He made himself sound reluctant when he told her he’d skip the gym and meet her at the travel agent’s office.
He got there a little after five, and as it turned out, Jenny had a last minute deal on a cruise. It was five days in the Caribbean, leaving out of Port Canaveral, Florida. All inclusive, of course. Last minute meant that it left on the Saturday after next, and they had to book it immediately or lose it. But it was 50% of the normal price for a balcony cabin and they both had the vacation time available. Mike smiled to himself once again. Brittney was really playing this well. Six days with all the rich food you could possibly eat meant that she was planning to jump start his weight gain. Well, he would make sure that worked better than she would ever expect. He figured that by the end of the cruise, she would be so shocked by how much he ate that she would give up on her scheme and they’d go back to normal diet and exercise.

So they told Jenny that they’d take it and paid for it with their credit card. By that time it was after six. As they walked out, Brittney said, “I haven’t made anything for dinner, babe. How about we stop at the new Oriental Buffet for dinner? Celebrate our upcoming cruise?” Matt thought about how much damage he could do to an all you can eat buffet, plus beers.

They got to the Buffet and got seated. Brittney ordered a Singapore Sling, and Matt ordered Sapporo Japanese beer. After their drinks came, they headed to the buffet. Matt followed Brittney through the line. She filled her plate pretty well. Matt piled his high, balancing two egg rolls on top of all the oriental dishes that he’d covered his plate with. They sat down and worked their way through their feast. Matt ordered a second beer as he finished off the last of it. “Man! I’d forgotten how good these buffets are. That was great! I think I’ll get a little more!” Before Brittney could say anything, he was up and headed back to the buffet. If she thought he’d get a more modest serving this time, she’d be mistaken. He came back with another mound of oriental food piled as high as the plate was wide. He carefully set it down to keep from spilling any.

“You must be really hungry tonight, babe,” Brittney observed. “I don’t remember the last time I saw you eat like that.”

Between bites, Matt answered, “Well, may as well get our money’s worth, since it’s all you can eat. Aren’t you having some more?”

Normally Brittney would be able to resist, but seeing Matt with a second huge helping made her feel like she could afford another plate. After all she wouldn’t pile it nearly as high as Matt did. When she came back, Matt was halfway through his, and seemed to be slowing down. Still, he finished before she did, leaned back and patted his belly. Brittney wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, or did Matt have a food baby? “Wow, babe. That was really good.” He rubbed his tummy, which did look slightly pushed out. “I’m glad you said you wanted me to fill out some, sweetie. I think this buffet did it to me!” he chuckled. “Hey, they’ve got one of those soft serve ice cream machines. I think I’ll get a chocolate cone. You want me to bring you one?” Brittney hesitated, and before she could speak he was up and off to the ice cream machine. She was surprised at how well her plan was working. She was also surprised at the little thrill she felt when he rubbed his food baby. Did the idea of Matt getting a belly excite her? That was a total switch from everything she thought she believed. She needed to think about that. In the meantime, Matt came back with two cones, both with a tower of soft chocolate ice cream on them. If she didn’t watch out, Brittney thought, Matt wouldn’t be the only one with a food baby.