chapter 2 - broadening horizons

June, 2011.


After that night, it became common for Chloe to bury her boredom with food. And she got bored a lot.

She attended her Spanish classes two hours a day, Monday to Friday, from 4 to 6 in the afternoon. Since she had nothing to do during mornings and Roberto was working, she decided to use them to update her portfolio. However, her motivation towards it hadn’t recovered yet. And after a couple of days with no progress, she gave up, placing her pencils and papers in the dark of a big box on top of a bookshelf. Roberto downplayed her little creator’s block.

“Give yourself time, cariño. Take some ideas and try it again in a few days. I’m sure your inspiration will be back soon”, he said, but her inspiration couldn’t find its way back to her. So, most of the time, she ended up getting up late and spending the rest of the morning watching TV, reading a book or buying clothes online. Always with a snack in her hand.

She felt like Emma Bovary, but with her desire to live lost in the translation of Madrid instead of the incomprehension of the small village of Yonville. After her classes, she waited at home until Roberto returned from the gym, and afterward, they dressed up to go out to dinner at some new restaurant. Immersed in their routine and almost without realizing it, during the month that followed the party, Chloe putted on 10 lbs, which brought her weight up to 140 lbs.

One day, Carla called and invited her to spend the morning shopping with her. She even came by and picked Chloe up in her luxury sport car.

‘She likes everything expensive’, thought Chloe when she stepped into the car and greeted the voluptuous girl. Besides her chunky body, Carla had a cute face and abundantly curly hair.

“Oh, Chloe, you are a life saver. I’ve this date with a very hot guy I just met the other night and I could use your fashion advice buying a dress” said Carla in her high pitch tone as she sped up through the road. She wasn’t a slow driver.

“I’m happy to help, but I’m sure you don’t need me at all, you have a great taste yourself!”

“Aww, thank you! You are such sweet talker. No wonder Roberto is so in love with you. I think I have a good taste, but, sometimes, I can’t help but pick something too… slutty. Hahaha. A veces me visto muy zorrona. Did you understand that?”

“Sí. Perfectamente. Haha.” answered Chloe in Spanish, happy with her small linguistic achievement. They both share a laugh.

“You dress sooo cute and stylish. And I could use some of that on this date. I think he is a keeper!”

“Don’t worry, I’m here for you. I will make you look like a hot girl that goes to the church on Sundays”.

“Amén!” shouted Carla.

At the mall, they had a blast visiting some expensive shops. Their eyes sparkled with the same brightness as kids in a candy shop. Apparently, Carla came from a wealthy family. The type of people that never ask the price of things. Chloe’s family was like that up to a point; however, Chloe never liked relying too much on her family money, and always tried to be as independent as possible. Yet, feeling a bit down during the past few weeks, she determined to treat herself, and race with Carla on her shopping spree.

After finding a very nice floral night dress that would spotlight Carla’s best attributes during her date and purchasing a couple of bags full of clothes each, they decide it was time for some lingerie.

“I can’t believe it! I’ve grown a size again” said Carla while she failed to button some spicy corset, “Chloe, could you please help me?”

Chloe stepped into the fitting room and gave Carla a hand. She had a hard time trying to not stare at her boobs. They were massive and poured over the garment.

“You are not complaining, right? I mean… girl!”, said Chloe, still tantalized.

“Not really, haha.” Carla got rid of the corset; put on her huge bra and started buttoning her never completely buttoned blouse. She always left the right opening for a good peek. Winking at Chloe, Carla said, “You can’t complain either, huh, you have a nice pair for being that skinny! At your weight, my tits weren’t even half size of yours”.

“Th-Thanks” Chloe blushed.

“You just need to put on some relationship weight”

“Don’t talk to me about weight... I’ve put on a lot of weight in the last month. The worst thing is that I don’t even know how much it is since we don’t have a scale at the apartment”.

“Well, I’m sure Roberto is quite happy about that, huh?” Carla said as she pinched Chloe’s ass.

“Wh… What do you mean?”

“Really? Are you serious? Don’t you know it? Roberto likes chubby girls. At least, he liked them back, when we were together. I know it was a while ago… maybe five years? But those things don’t change overtime, right? It’s like being hetero or homosexual. Just the way you are. Nothing you can do about that.”

Chloe remained silent.

“Wait. Didn’t you already know that?” asked Carla.

“Ah! Yeah… yeah... He had told me, of course. How couldn’t he? I just didn’t hear you well” Chloe managed to lie, while her brain tried to process all this information. In her mind, she was screaming, ‘What the actual fuck?!?!?!’

“I think it’s quite adorable what you are doing”

“Doing what?” asked Chloe. Still in shock.

“The weight you said you are putting on. Oh, come on, girl! Don’t play dumb with me! You are getting some more meat on your bones for him, right? Becoming a fatty for your man. Is there something more romantic than that?”

“Yeah… I guess”

“So, I will buy these two but in a bigger size” said Carla picking two of the bras she just tried on. “And let’s grab something to eat, ok? I think you still could use a burger or two. I’m sure Roberto will thank me later, haha”.