chapter 8

“Who are the donuts for?” Kimmie wondered out loud, while a hungry rumble shook her large belly.

“I brought them for you and Janet.” Claire lied firmly deciding that the best way to ensure she didn’t eat anymore was to give them to her fat intern and her fat secretary.

Unconsciously licking her lips, Kimmie begged, “Can I have one now?”

“Of course, Kimmie.” Claire smiled, as she opened the box. Kimmie was quick to notice two donuts were missing from the otherwise full box of donuts, but rather than mention it, she grabbed a jelly filled donut for herself.

“I’m soooo hungry. Those steps killed me.” Kimmie lauded, while she took a big bite and the slow elevator finally arrived and opened in front of them.

Noticing Kimmie had gotten some jelly on her cheek, Claire tried not to focus on it and responded, “Yeah, they are certainly a challenge.”

“So why were you taking the steps?” Kimmie curiously asked knowing full well that it wasn’t her boss’s normal routine.

Closing the doors to the elevator and tapping the button for the fifth floor, Claire did her best to honestly answer Kimmie, “I missed the elevator and I decided that I should take the stairs more often. If I make it a habit, it will help me lose some weight.”

Nodding along while Claire was talking, Kimmie added in a defeated tone, “Losing weight is so hard…”

“Hmm.” Claire nearly laughed, before joking, “Tell me about it.”

As the elevator took them to the fifth floor, it appeared that Kimmie didn’t realize Claire’s last statement had been rhetorical, because she gave a very sensitive and personal response that Claire wasn’t expecting.

With a big sigh, Kimmie explained, “It’s like… Nothing works… I gave up drinking this summer, except for special occasions, and I didn’t lose a pound… I’m still trying to give up coffee this fall, I’m having a hard time, but I haven’t had coffee in two weeks and I am so proud about that. This winter I’m planning on giving up dessert, but I don’t know if I can. I’ve really been thinking about what I put into my body more and what effect it has on me, but I have such a sweet tooth… I’m still a junk food junky with my hot pockets, bean burritos, hot sauce, and grilled cheese but I’m slowly trying to change my ways… At least I’ve still been able to work out four or five times a week… but it’s like the bigger I get, the harder it is for me to do the things that used to be easy for me. Like walking, bending over, putting on clothes. Running used to be so easy for me. My body makes everything harder...”

Unsure of how to treat Kimmie’s sensitive outburst, Claire motioned to the fat intern’s chunky cheeks, where a bit of jelly remained, and spoke in a motherly tone, “You’ve got a little something on your face, but yeah, losing weight is not easy.”

Quickly rubbing her face with her sleeve, Kimmie muttered, “Did I get it?”

“Sure did.” Claire smiled, as the doors of the elevator opened, and the two hefty women started waddling their way to Claire’s office.

Feeling self-conscious in front of her fabulous boss, Kimmie looked at the half-eaten donut she held in her hand and pouted, “I shouldn’t be eating donuts.”

“You wanna put it back?” Claire offered, as she opened the box.

It appeared Kimmie froze for a moment before stuffing the last of her donut into her mouth and muttering with her mouth full, “No, actually can I have another? They are sooo good.”

“Sure,” Claire offered, as she held open the box for Kimmie to grab another one.

“You only had two? Ugh… I wish I had your self-control.” Kimmie lamented, while she took a bite of her second donut.

“Yeah, I only ate enough to keep my belly from growling.” Claire lied. Kimmie really looked up to her and she didn’t want to shatter that admiration with the truth.

As Kimmie continued chomping away at her donut, the large women arrived outside the glass door to Claire’s office. They could both see that Janet was sitting in her usual spot by her desk up front. As Claire pondered what to say to her spunky secretary, Kimmie inquisitively chimed in, “Are you nervous about leading the big settlement today?”

“No. I’m not nervous. I’ve seen Ken run the show dozens of times. Besides, I did all the work building our case. I should have been the lead on this from the start.” Claire replied a bit too bluntly. She was one of the best prospects of the firm, but in Claire’s mind she was never given the freedom to really prove herself on her own.

“Can I sit in and watch you?” Kimmie pestered with her normal excited tone.

“Of course, but just remember to be silent. Make sure your phone is on vibrate.” Claire explained, as she remembered what happened the last time she’d let Kimmie sit in on one of her meetings, “In fact, if you wanna watch just leave your phone in my office.”

“No problem! I’m so excited!” Kimmie jumped in joy, although, jiggled in joy would be more accurate.

“Yeah, me too. Here, give me the files, you take the donuts.” Claire ordered, as they traded what they were holding, and Claire opened the door to her office. Without a second of hesitation, Claire authoritatively roared, “Janet!”

Snapping to attention, Janet’s eyes focused on her boss and she threw her meaty hands upward and shouted, “Woah, woah woah! Hold up, y’know I don’t think Claire has any appointments with any supermodels today!”

“Very funny.” Claire huffed, as she strode over to her secretary’s desk. She had a bone to pick with her.

Janet was an interesting character. The longhaired brunette had been a hooter’s waitress about 270 pounds ago and was now the undisputed fattest woman in the office. Weighing somewhere north of 400lbs, Janet’s 5’6 hourglass frame had exploded outward in every direction. She had a huge belly, massive legs, and humongous breasts. Janet’s carefree attitude about her eating habits and her massive body size reminded Claire of her older sister, Emma. However, Janet reminded her of her sister in other ways too.

Janet, like Emma, was the type of worker with a ton of talent for the job, but a terrible work ethic, sort of the opposite of Kimmie actually. Janet tended to arrive slightly late for work and get all her daily tasks done within two hours of her arrival before slacking off and gossiping around the office. Claire frankly saw Janet as more of a fun friend, than her subordinate, but sometimes she had to lay down the law and remind Janet of her place in the office.

“I’m not joking!” Janet huffed, as she struggled to her feet and took a step away from her desk to check out her boss’s exquisite dress. Laying on the sweetness, Janet lauded, “What side of the bed did you wake up on? Look at you! You look smoking hot boss!”

“Thanks, but what’s your problem?” Claire stood her ground despite appreciating the praise.

“Excuse me?” Janet muttered looking confused in her grossly tight button down and high-waisted dress pants.

“Did you tell Kimmie the elevator was out of order?” Claire spat, while she tapped her foot in annoyance. Her sheepish intern hated confrontation and was literally waiting toward the back of the room for things to settle.

“You fell for that Kimmie?” Janet laughed, while she pointed over to her coworker, “Oh my gosh, it’s sooo not my fault she’s sooo gullible! She makes it so easy!”

Biting her lip in irritation, Claire countered in a stern tone, “I don’t have time to waste today babysitting both of you! Apologize to Kimmie and grab the rest of the files from downstairs while she takes a rest.”

“But Claire!” Janet protested always against doing more work than she had too.

“And don’t take the elevator. Take the stairs. See how you like it.” Claire fired back, as her extremely obese secretary’s jaw dropped. Claire knew how difficult the stairs had been for her to overcome, and she was over 100 pounds lighter than Janet.