Chapter 4 - thickness

“So, how is the job hunt going?” asked an impatient and uninvited Aunt Mildred. She looked disapprovingly at Jennifer and her eyes wandered down frequently to the woman’s new tummy. Inside, Zach cringed, knowing that his wife’s recent weight gain was not lost on her.

“I’m just relaxing at the moment, enjoying the redundancy pay,” Jennifer replied, as if completely oblivious to Mildred’s hostility.

“Well, I think it’s time you started looking for something! It’s not good to be sat around all day doing nothing. I can already see you’ve put on quite a bit of weight,” she nodded towards Jennifer’s middle.

Zach silently cringed again. He would have said something, but Jennifer did not seem phased at all. She reached her hands down to her swollen stomach and finally came to rest them on her new, wider hips; unintentionally stretching the material of her dress even more across the soft expanse. “Yeah, my body is finally starting to recover from the stress of that job,” she nodded, as if she was pleased. “I always used to be 40lbs heavier, before I trapped in that awful company, ten years ago.”

Zach thought back to pictures he had seen of Jennifer in her late teens, before she had met him. His wife wasn’t wrong; she had indeed been a little chubbier in those days. Did that mean that this new thickness was here to stay? Zach had never considered how this break from work might affect his wife’s body like this; but in the years that he had known her, Jennifer hadn’t gained even a little holiday weight before. Her weight had always been so consistent. But was that really just the stress of her hateful job?

Even with Aunt Mildred there, Jennifer gorged herself like she hadn’t eaten all day, slipping back into the kitchen for extra bits over the entire evening. Zach watched as Mildred stared disapprovingly at every mouthful Jennifer was taking; begrudging her all of it.

“You need to get that girl on a diet!” Aunt Mildred snapped harshly as Jennifer retreated to use the bathroom. “I’ve never seen anything like it! She’s far too comfortable sat on her fat rear all day!”

“Mildred!” Zach protested at her rudeness. But as he stared into the unapologetic and unrelenting face of his mother’s sister, he sighed in defeat. “I know,” he nodded, already having predicted that this lecture was coming. “I’ll have a word with her,” he whispered, trying to keep Mildred quiet before Jennifer heard them both discussing her like this.

“Just make sure you do!” she glared, challenging Zach to put his foot down and stop whatever was happening to his wife, before things got out of hand.