chapter 6: control

Another month had passed by; seemingly all too quickly. Luckily, she never needed to work alone with Jeremy again. He was still awkward at times, but he kept to himself more; even talking to Stan less. He probably noticed that her and Stan were getting closer. They flirted with each other more often, and they talked every day before and after work on facebook.

She was so infatuated with Stan, in fact, that she was already past outgrowing her newer uniform. She completely forgot about exercising, and was definitely not dieting anymore. The only time she remembered about her dieting was when she had to throw out all of the healthy food she had brought previously. If anything, it made her eat at work more because she was afraid she’d waste money on food again. She ate almost entirely at Dairy King, minus when she’d bring home food from there.

It was an hour before Ambers shift started. She had lost track of time playing a game called Valheim. Since no jobs seemed to be really hiring, she got back into video games. It helped cure her boredom at home, and she really did miss it when she had gone to college. She was in the middle of cooking food in her game when she heard her phone go “P’TING!” It was Stan.

“Hey! :D” he messaged.

“Hi! Oh my God! I’m sooo bored!” She replied.

“Same. What are you up to?”

“Playing Valheim. It’s pretty fun; just finished making a base and making food now!”

“I love that game! And you make plenty of food at work!” Stan messaged back quickly.

“Haha, you’re not wrong! I can’t wait for work today!” Amber paid little mind to her game.

“I just started a bit ago. I’ll make sure there’s some fresh food when you get here!”

“Thank you! See you soon! :)” she replied.

She laid back in her computer chair and gave out a light sigh. She was starving. She was already in uniform ready for work, and she was getting tired of playing her game all day. She saw that Sarah was online and decided to message her.

“Hey Sarah; I’m bored. Want me to come in early?” She waited a minute or so before Sarah replied.

“Sure, no harm in an extra hour's worth of pay!”

Amber tried to jump up from her chair, but was slowed down by her newly formed gut. She pushed forwards without noticing, and headed for work. Amber was blinded by her infatuation with Stan. She thought about him every day, and she wished he would just ask her out already. She was growing impatient. They flirted daily, she felt each day would be the day he’d ask her out. Instead, the flirting continued, as if to tease her.

She was just about at Dairy Kings door when she caught her breath.

“Phew!” She thought. “I must have been in a hurry.”

She went behind the work counter and passed Jeremy, who gave a surprised look. She rounded the corner and into the kitchen where she saw Stan on his phone.

“Hey!” Amber said in an attempt to startle him.

“Oh! Hey!” it worked.

“So where’s the fresh food?”

“Well, you ARE an hour early, so it’s not ready.”

Amber made an exaggerated frown.

“BUT” Stan noted. “I can make you something now?”

“Can you?” Sarah had just come out from the back room, placing what looked like a new uniform bag into the trash.

“Oh… uh…”

“It’s fine, I don’t care. Business is so slow that we can just count any food we eat as a loss we were going to take anyway.” Sarah cut off Stan’s attempt to answer.

“Then yes I can!” He said gleefully.

Sarah had really grown lax in managing. She was already a chill manager, but she had caught the two of them eating several times but never made a big deal about it. If anything, she joined in sometimes. It was apparent too. She had grown a little wider since Amber started. Amber assumed she started eating her feelings since her break up. She felt sorry for her, but Sarah looked much happier now.

Stan had already started cooking after Sarah had basically announced free food for everyone. He made enough for everyone, including Jeremy, but he simply grunted and went back to staring at his phone. Amber noticed he was watching them as they ate, which made her feel really uncomfortable. Sarah ate a surprising amount, but not too much that she outshined Amber.

“Damn guys! Leave some for me!” He laughed.

“I’m sorry, I had to take advantage!” Amber laughed back.

“Couldn’t help myself either. Anyway, I have some more paperwork to attend to.” Sarah said while walking back to her office.

Stan and Amber continued to laugh and talk about their days. Amber talked more about playing Valheim, and they both reminisced about their time in game. Stan made more food for the imaginary rush of business they were going to get as they continued talking about their adventures.

“You play on a server with anyone?” Stan asked.

“Oh, no, not really! I just started getting back in to gaming, so I’ve been on my own.”

“Want to play with me sometime?”

Amber blushed. She tried not to, but she couldn’t help it.

“Y-Yea! Sure!” She tried to hold her composure. Stan smiled at her response.

“Do you have a voice chat you prefer?”

“I haven’t used it in awhile, but I have discord!”

“I’ll send you mine later after work!”

Jeremy groaned in the background loud enough for both of them to hear.

“Fuck this place.” Jeremy exclaimed.

He stormed away from the drive in window and out of Stan and Ambers site. They both looked at each other, then back at the window. They were shocked.

“Did he just…” They both went to look. Sure enough, Jeremy had gotten into his car and drove off in haste. It was obvious he was jealous, but to outright quit just like that? Jeremy had been loud enough for Sarah to hear, which prompted her to come out of her office.

“Is everything okay?” She asked.

“Jeremy just walked out!” Stan replied.

“Wait, What?!” she was startled. “He’s been here for years and he just quit like that?!” She was mad and upset. “Well, I’ll have to email a couple people about this and see about hiring someone else. Until then, Stan, I’ll need you to man the window for the last hour of the shift.”

“Yes ma’am!” Stan saluted and went straight for the window.

“That leaves you in the kitchen” She said to Amber. “Prep some food for the rush.”

“The rush?” Amber replied.

“Just in case” Sarah winked. “Jeremy was a dick anyway. If anything, this is a cause for celebration.”

“Hell yea!” Stan shouted.

Amber did as she was told. She got to making food for the imaginary rush. She made all her favorites and made some for everyone else as well. Sure enough, no one came to order food, and the three remaining Dairy King employees ate. Both Sarah and Amber ate a ton, with Stan having only a little bit.

“You guys are really celebrating!” He said.

“He was SUCH a creep!” Amber said with a mouthful of food. “I’m GLAD he quit! Good riddance!”

And with that, Amber swallowed another bite of a fry. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. In that moment, her button popped and shot past Sarah and Stan. Her gut plopped out, her shirt rode up, and revealed a belly with just a couple light red stretch marks. She looked down in horror, and then back up at Stan. He was looking down at her stomach. She quickly tried to pull her shirt down, but it was pointless. It had been riding up at the start of the day; it would NOT go down now. She looked at Sarah.

“Stan, start cleaning up; just a few minutes to close.” Sarah took Ambers hand and took her to the back room. By the time they got there, Amber was already crying.

“I…” she sobbed.

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t worry.” She pointed at some boxes. “We have more uniforms here.”

“I don’t WANT another uniform!” She cried. “I want to fit into THIS one!”

“Hey, I’m in the same boat; I just had to get a new uniform today too; except I can just go get one.” Sarah tried to comfort her. “I’ve done nothing but eat at and off work since I got dumped. Don’t feel bad; we can work at trying to lose together.”

Amber was still upset, but she was starting to feel better. She at least stopped crying. Still, she was so embarrassed that Stan had seen. He didn’t even say anything; he just stared. Sarah handed her her new uniform and walked out to let Amber change. Amber took off her clothes and looked down.

What happened? How could she not see how fat she was getting? She looked into a mirror that was back there. Her breasts, which were once perky, were starting to sag slightly. Her stomach was poking out far; almost as far as her chest, and her ass had grown larger and wider. She still had a curvy figure, but it was definitely exaggerated. She reluctantly put on her new uniform and walked out.

Sarah was over by Stan; it looked like they just had a talk.

“Stan finished all the cleaning, so we’re good to go!” Sarah exclaimed.

“Ok.” Amber said in defeat. She wanted to leave immediately; which she did. She walked out the door and headed straight home. She could feel everything now. Her stomach jiggled at her heightened pace back home. She heard Stan try to call out to her, but Sarah seemed to have stopped him from continuing.

Amber tried to rush home, but her newly added weight was slowing her down. By the time she did make it home, she was panting. She was so out of shape. She went to her apartment, and realized she was starting to have trouble with her stairs. Stairs? She never really noticed the stairs. She always flew up them before, but now they were seemingly a chore. She started to tear up again.

She went to her bathroom where her scale was, purposely avoiding the mirror. She was almost too afraid to hop on the scale, but she had to see. She stopped for only a mome