Chapter 4 - 4 - stretch goals

The rest of the month ended with no hiccups, other than the ones escaping from Jake’s throat. He dutifully ate his pizza Monday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday’s, while shoving as much leafy greens into him as he could on off days. Luckily and unluckily for Jake, there were no major changes in his life.

The lucky part of that was that for the most part, all the excess eating didn’t seem to have an impact on his figure. He could still fit into the clothes he bought before the pizzas arrived, albeit with more force needed to button the pants past the bloat. Despite some lingering softness around his middle Jake had avoided his nightmare of swelling into a human fat balloon. Unluckily though, his subscriber count also remained mostly unchanged. It was more than just Kayla now at least, but with still under fifty total subscribers Jake was about as far as getting featured on the homepage as he was walking on the moon. The only thing that seemed to majorly change was his appetite. All the time spent stuffing his face had allowed him to put down far more at each sitting. Jake was sure it would go back to normal now that he was done with his contract, but he hated feeling hungry all the time.

With the last slice of pizza was finished, so did Jake think he was finished with Chomp Subs NA. The money was great, but hadn’t been worth all the discomfort and bloat over the last month. Jake had saved every penny to avoid needing another contract, and with rent taken care of Jake was researching ways to self promote his channel when the email came through.

‘Congrats on your 1st contract completion! You are invited to participate in a limited time personalized Chomp Subs NA offer. Become a featured Chomp Subs NA streamer!’

Jake raised an eyebrow and went to click delete.
“Last thing I need is more junk food,’ he thought, but as his finger hovered over the button he paused. The words, ‘featured streamer’, stuck out from the page like they had a spotlight on them. Jake put a hand to his angled chin. Images of streaming fame danced behind his eyes, of packed chat lobbies, rabid fans, invites to conventions. What were a few big meals when compared to that?

‘Well, I was researching ways to get my name out there...’

Heart hammering in his chest, Jake opened the message.

‘First, we at Chomp Subs want to thank you for your first full completion of a Chomp Subs NA streamer contract. We’ve gotten great feedback on your performance! Per a recommendation, you have been fast tracked to join our featured streamer network. Get your channel mentioned by some of the biggest streamers around! Play games with our in network stars and build a following of your own! Great deals on additional offers, all you need are two active contracts at one time to maintain eligibility.’

Jake’s eyes lit up as he read the mail. Featured streamer network? Shout out’s by big names? That was exactly what Jake had been looking for! Though one part, the two active contracts, scared him. Those pizzas were way bigger than Chomp Subs had let on, and Jake had to resort to only eating salad when he wasn’t forcing more greasy cheeses down his throat. He was skeptical, but with the offer he would be making double, even triple what he was on the pizzas, and he’d be launching his streamer career for real! As if on cue, Jake’s chat window lit up.

“Hayy :) i know you were mixed on this, just wanted to give to the recc in case you changed your mind.” Kayla messaged. Jake smiled to himself, already imagining what he could do with all that extra cash.
“Oh I was being dramatic, the pizzas were not thaaaat big :P. I’d like to get some smaller ones since I have to do 2 this time, but I’m down!” Jake felt himself get anxious waiting for Kayla’s reply.

“That’s the spirit! Join usss haha, but really, you’ll like the team! We do fun group games and events and stuff. :) Let me know when your signed up and I’ll let them know!”

Jake felt his mind start to spin. This was all happening so fast. A team, sponsors, group streaming events? It felt overwhelming. Jake took a deep breath and hit, ‘accept’, on the Chomp Subs terms of conditions, where he was prompted to choose his next two eating contracts. An amazon style shop was brought up, and Jake got to scrolling. Within a minute it was clear all contracts offered on Chomp Subs shared a few things in common. They all looked delicious, and incredibly unhealthy. Jake scrolled as far as he could, but even searching the word, ‘salad’, or, ‘grilled’, came up with nothing. All the contracts were full of the processed, fried, and crunchy variety. Not that Jake minded really, but after weeks of heavy pizza he wanted to keep the calorie count down as much as he could.

Jake slid his hand under his shirt and felt the softness gathering around his middle. It was shallow, hardly enough to pinch. In his mind still the result of some bloat, but the thought of another wave of junk so soon after the first made the blood drop from his face. Soon though he shook his head, willing any consequences away.
‘I can always lose weight if it gets to that point, which I doubt. What I can’t afford to miss is a real opportunity like this.’

After some deliberation Jake had added his two contracts to his shopping cart. One was from a breakfast company promising, ‘hearty meals sent to your door, new experiences every day!’ The other promised to take care of lunches, a, ‘satisfying blend of meals meant to satisfy any appetite.’ These contracts went for three months each, and would need to be eaten on camera every weekday.

Jake was apprehensive with their descriptions, but going on the pictures and what Kayla had recommended this seemed like the best choices. Jake let out a relieved sigh. These meals might not be the healthiest, but at least they had some variety. Jake didn’t think he could look at another bacon pizza again as long as he lived. And more importantly, the money was crazy. These deals, exclusive to featured Chomp Subs streamers, each paid double each of Jake’s initial contract.
Jake was about to hit accept when a pop up message displayed. An image of a jovial streamer being rained with gold coins accompanied the text.

‘Have any more room? Consider adding these additional two contracts to round out your order. If applied, the total payout of all contracts in your shopping card will be doubled!’

The two extra contracts seemed innocent enough. A nondescript dinner service and a snacking company. Both would match the length of the two new contracts Jake had chosen, three months. The dinners would be eaten later in the day, with a snack to be eaten before each meal. Jake was a bit hesitant to convert his entire diet to Chomp Subs contracts, but the money he stood to make practically begged him to accept.

‘Sixteen grand?! Not only will I double what I get from this latest round, I won't have to spend any money on food! Think of the upgrades I could make to my computer...’

Jake's heart began to hammer in his chest. Going from one contract to two was enough to scare him off the whole thing just days ago, could he really up it to four? The monetary value he would receive just by clicking accept seemed to take on it’s own life, taunting him.

‘C’mon baby, what's more food? It’s simple, you just have to eat your meals and snacks, you might get a tummy ache but it’s not a big deal.’

Hand trembling, Jake clicked accept.