Chapter 2 - daily snacks

About a week later, Daniel was trying to button his work jeans and he was struggling. He fought to get the too-tight denim over his ass and thighs, but now that he’d gotten to the button he was really having trouble.
Parker walked into Daniel’s room curiously after hearing him cry out. He was greeted with the sight of Daniel, red in the face, jeans ripped and button missing. Apparently, Daniel had tried pulling the waistband together so hard that he managed to actually rip the jeans and simultaneously pop the button off of them. All Parker had to say as Daniel tried peeling the remaining fabric off of his legs was “Maybe lay off the calories, bro.” Daniel ignored him and decided to just say fuck it and pull on a pair of joggers. He was already almost late, no point in trying to go the extra mile.

Daniel worked at the local mall. Specifically, in a little kiosk in the middle of one of the busiest parts of the mall. He got a decent amount of business, and was actually pretty good at his job. He got discounts at a couple of the surrounding shops and usually had a pretty decent amount of interesting conversations with people on a daily basis. But his favorite part of his job, by far, was the fact that he was located just around the corner from the food court. He would drop by a different place before his shift, during his lunch break, and right after his shift every day. Daniel loved it.
He pulled his shirt down for the fifth time on his walk to the food court and paused. Chinese or Italian? Chinese now and Italian later, he decided. He quickly ordered his food and shuffled to the side of the line so he could check his phone.
The hours passed unbearably slow once Daniel had gotten to the kiosk. His Chinese was long finished and his stomach was beginning to demand more. Impatiently, he checked the clock minute after minute, and the second it was time for his break Daniel was already walking to the food court.

Parker nearly choked when Daniel walked in the door that evening. He was carrying an armful of fast food and what looked like two boxes of donuts.
After the day he’d had, Daniel had decided that he deserved a treat. More Italian and more sweets, that is. He set down his goodies on the coffee table and laid them out. A dozen breadsticks, an order of fettuccine alfredo, an order of pasta carbonara, an order of pasta with pesto and chicken, three bowls of soup, and a tiramisu from the Italian place alone. The boxes were in fact donuts. Two dozen to be precise. One assorted and one all classic glazed. Daniel settled into the couch and got comfortable.
“You want any?” He looked to Parker.
“Uh, nah man…” Parker looked nauseous just from the sight of all that food. “I’m not bulking right now, I really can’t.” Daniel just shrugged and turned on a show as he dug into his feast.
A while later, all that remained was the alfredo, three breadsticks, the tiramisu and the donuts. Daniel looked positively winded and stuffed to the gills, and Patrick looked on almost in awe as he continued his way through the rest of the meal. Slowly at first, he took bites of the pasta, dipped breadsticks in the sauce, and eventually got to the sweets. At least the tiramisu, he reasoned. Gotta finish the Italian.
Daniel’s stomach was round and bloated. He had long untied the string on his joggers and the elastic waistband was starting to push against his gut uncomfortably.
“Ugh, hey…” He lamely motioned at his roommate. “You wouldn’t mind if I took these off, would you?” Parker just shook his head and continued watching from the other end of the couch. Daniel lifted himself up just enough to slip the joggers down his legs and kick them off in a huff. He paused to rub his stomach a bit and groan. God that was so much food…
Picking up a plastic to-go fork, Daniel started to dig at the rich-looking tiramisu. The first bite hit his tongue and he moaned. The Italians really knew how to make a dessert, huh? With renewed vigor, Daniel eventually finished the sweet treat and sat back, rubbing circles on his stomach. He pressed a bit into one of the circles and let out an impressive burp, which made him feel immediately better, if by a small margin. He continued to do this until he felt like he could stand back up and go to bed.
Parker stared at his roommate in silence as he waddled back to his room for the night.