Chapter 8 - back to work - part 2 - his work week(cont)

His Work Week(cont)

The week progressed, and after ordering more parts and a ton of engineering research, he finally had it coming together before calling it quits late Thursday night.

Friday afternoon was finally here. It had been a productive week for the office, and most everyone had left early for the weekend. He, however, was using the time to put on finishing touches and test his “feeder” out.

The contraption consisted of a pump and tube apparatus attached to any container with the right spigot attached. He had made 3 of the tube apparatus, two with a 2-gallon jug and one with a 5-gallon bucket. The tube apparatus functioned to pump just about any thickness of liquid from the jug to the mouthpiece whenever it sensed suction. The pump was silent, and if one closed their eyes, it would seem like they were effortlessly sucking water out of a straw. He tested it on himself with water and then jello. It worked like a charm. Despite its thickness, it was a smooth delivery system. Both substances were pumped at the same rate and pressure.

The last thing he had to test was the Boost and powder recipe, checking for consistency and how well it might go through the tube. The powder had the potential to clog. He didn’t really want to test it on himself, but he figured he could spit it back into the glass. The first test was one box and one scoop. He mixed it in a glass with an emersion blender and put it in the 2-gallon “funnel” after he washed the jello out of it.

He was just about to put the hose in his mouth when someone knocked on his door, without opening the door, “Hey, boss. It’s Liv. You need anything else from me, or can I call it quits, like the rest of the drones you let go?”

His heart calming down to find out that it wasn’t one of the janitors about to barge in on him in an awkward state. “You can come in, Liv.”

“Whatcha up to boss?” as she popped in with her purse on her shoulder and coat over her arms.

“I am testing out a ‘feeder.’ Just giving it one last test, and it’ll be good to go.”

Completely unfazed, “so this is what all that stuff was for. Need any help?”

He thought about it for a sec, then asked, “Do you want to test it for me? Obviously, you can say no, but there are well over a thousand calories in this thing, and I was going to spit it out.”

She contemplated it for about 3 seconds before, in a super blasé tone, said, “Yeah, sure. Why not?” and set her stuff down. “So, what exactly is this, and what do you need me to do?”

“Awesome. Just sit here and drink from this tube.”

“Do you want me just to drink a little, or should I finish it?”

“Preferably, finish it to make sure it doesn’t clog halfway through. There is a glass here if you want to spit it out, though. Also, I haven’t tried the mixture, so I don’t know if it is too thick or not thick enough.”

Looking at the glass, he was handing her, “Eh, I’ll give it a go. It doesn’t look like all that much. I’ve honestly been curious about funneling, and gainer shakes since our little chat on Monday, anyway.”

A little hesitantly, “Doooo you want me to make more?”

“How about we go with what we got, and if we need to test a different ratio of components, then…sure.”

“Yeah. Makes sense. Also, thanks for helping me out.”

“No problem. Glad to help, and if it works, you’ll have to make one of these for Jen and me.”

“Fair enough. You ready?”

She nodded.

“Suck once to prime the tube and then again as if you’re drinking from any ordinary straw. It'll do the rest.”

She started sucking, and the pump quickly filled the tube. She sucked again and finished it in a few gulps, with a perplexed look on her face.

As soon as she cleared the tube, he asked, “are you alright? What's the look for?”

“Nothing... it's strange...how many calories did you say? It's like it tricked my senses because of how easily it came out compared to how thick it actually was. Like I can tell how gritty it is now, but while I was drinking it, it may as well have been vanilla flavored water. Honestly, I could go for more, but the ratio is off. Too powdery”

“Well, I can halve the powder, or I would double up the liquid for a more accurate measure. Which would you prefer?”

“Aw Hell, it's Friday, double the liquid. Why not?”

“Alright. We’re going for it then,” he said, preparing the next batch. As he started mixing, he said, “you know, I made 3 of these contraptions, so if you wanted to take this one, you could have it. Just make sure to run water through it between uses.”

“Seriously! F@^k Yeah! We are gonna get stuffed this weekend!”

“Well, this batch is ready. Could you do me a favor this time? I also need to test the stopping on this. So, take at least 2 breaks and each time, take the hose out of your mouth. I designed it to come out clean, with no drips if the user stops. You ready?” He poured the mixture in. “For science!”

Without hesitation, she started sucking to prime the tube, then proceeded to drink. After a second, she paused and pulled a clean hose out of her mouth. In between catching her breath, she said, “It still goes down easy, but it is definitely starting to hit me how much I’m consuming.” She stuck it back in and took a few pulls before stopping again. Again, the hose came out clean and put a smile on his face. She took a deep breath, sat up straighter, and went back for the last of it. She was done in less than 30 seconds and clearly on the verge of discomfort.

“Well, I would say this is definitely functional as a dispenser of the occasional gulp, but as a chugging device, I would label it: downright dangerous. On that note, were you serious about me taking this home with me? Because I may or may not already have plans for this.”

“I was serious. It’s yours,” He said, getting up and starting to tidy up the mess made in the wake of his tinkering. He was ready to get this home to its intended user. “And if you want, you can have the rest of that case of Boost. There’s like 24 boxes left, and I have a whole other case anyway.” He only had eyes for his wife but would always lend a helping hand to a fellow feeder.

“Oh, hell yeah,” she said. “Jen is going to explode!”

“I thought the two of you ‘only dabbled’ in this stuff.”

“Well,” struggling to stand up from the stuffing, “after our brief discussion on Monday, it got me thinking, which got Jen and me talking, and she let on that she may have a more significant interest in gaining and stuffing than she originally let on. And then I admitted that I might have more interest in blowing her up than I had been letting on. So, thanks to you, I will stuff Jen silly for a couple of weeks, and then we will see how we feel about it then. And this,” resting her hand on her slightly distended abdomen, “may be more satisfying than I expected, so it could turn into a mutual situation. Who knows?”

“Well, things are looking up for all of us then.” He said as he loaded the contraption in a tote bag, set it on top of the barely used up case of Boost, and walked it over to her.

“Indeed, they are,” as she mindlessly rubbed her barley chubby stomach.

“If you don’t mind waiting for me to gather my things, I can walk this with you to your car.”

“Oh, that would be great, yeah.” She put her coat on and threw her purse over her shoulder. Grabbing the tote bag, “I got this. Could you carry the case?”

He had already packed up his feeders and supplements. He threw his coat on and put the partial case on top of the full one and was about to lift it when his phone beeped.

His wife texting, “Pizza? How much and when should I order it, so it's not cold by the time you get home?”

He quickly responded, “Sounds great! I’m leaving in 5. I can order them, and it should be there shortly after I am.” He would order it from the car.

“Alright, good to go.” He said, with everything he needed ready.

“Yep.” She said it in a partial daze. Her mind already at home.

His phone beeped twice, in quick succession, but his hands were full. He would check it in the car. They silently made their way out of the office, locking it behind them. It was a short walk to her car. Still, in a little bit of a daze, she thanked him, took the Boost off of his hands, and got in her car.

He gave her a “Thank you for helping me test it out. Have a good weekend, and see you Monday.”

She said, “My pleasure and right back at ya,” and shut her car door.

She was pulling away as he got settled and grabbed his phone to order the pizza. Pulling it out, he saw a message from her and a message from the scale app. Hers said, “Perfect! Hurry home. I’m starving!!!” It was the other one that had his heart racing, “251.8. An increase of 5.5 lbs in 4 days 8 hours.”

“Holy Shit! That’s more than a pound a day!” He couldn’t think past his lust or excitement and immediately ordered way too much pizza for human consumption. He hurriedly started the car and peeled out of the parking lot.