chapter 1

Uncharacteristically, Hannah had left for work that morning without eating breakfast. It was her first day at a new job. After spending longer than usual to get ready, Hannah felt she didn't have enough time for breakfast at home.

Luckily, traffic was cooperating, but her appetite was demanding. So, Hannah risked stopping through a drive thru for a breakfast combo meal on her way. A few minutes later, Hannah, her breakfast sandwich, hash brown, and sugary iced coffee were on their way.

With five minutes to spare, Hannah arrived at the office, finished the rest of her coffee, and disposed of her breakfast rubbish in an outdoor trashcan before heading inside.

This was her first time seeing the office-- a law firm on the ground floor in an upscale area of town surrounded by trees. Her interview had been virtual, and Hannah was now impressed with how stylish the building was.

"Good morning, you must be our new accountant!" beamed a young woman with a dimple-cheeked smile from the secretary's rotunda at the front door as Hannah walked in.

"I am, good morning!" Hannah replied. "You wouldn't happen to know which office is mine do you?"

"I might," the young woman answered again as she began scrolling through e-mails on her computer for the answer. "Oh, I'm Cindy by the way. It looks like we've got a couple for you to choose from," she concluded before picking up the phone and pushing a few more buttons. "Good morning, Betsy. Your new co-worker Hannah's just arrived. Would you like to give her the tour?"

"Alright, I'll let her know," Cindy said as she put the phone down again. "Betsy's going to come out and show you around. I hope you enjoy working here, we're all really glad to have you come on board!"

"Thanks Cindy!" Hannah acknowledged as she noticed a slightly-older, rubenesque woman with dark hair and thick red glasses approach.

After taking a tour with the woman who indeed turned out to be Betsy, Hannah learned that she would be taking Betsy's old office.

"I can't believe I'm going to have such a huge office with front-facing windows all to myself!" Hannah exclaimed.

"You deserve it," Betsy smiled, "you've worked hard to get here, and we like our perks in this office. Speaking of which," Betsy paused as she pointed toward a plain-looking door just outside Hannah's office. "That leads to our small, secondary copy room, you can use that for your copies, but just through there is the backdoor to the second kitchen."

"Second kitchen?" Hannah asked incredulously.

"This used to be two offices, but we joined them together when the firm expanded. So: two kitchens. Speaking of which, normally we get everyone in the office cake on somebody's first day but it's Cindy's birthday, so the office manager ordered catering from a local pancake place-- you're going to love it. They serve it with the hot syrup, and they've got a million different types of pancake batter."

"Oh my god, Cindy didn't say anything when I met her this morning."

"Well you've get plenty of time to introduce yourself. I did feel bad, though, that you wouldn't get a personalized cake for your first day, so I baked a little something for you," Betsy explained as she leaned over by a mini-fridge in Hannah's new office that she had yet to notice.

When she came back up, Betsy held out a homemade sheet cake with the words "Happy to have you with us, Hannah!" written in icing.

"You shouldn't have!" Hannah exclaimed, "this is gorgeous!"

"It was my pleasure, I love baking!" Betsy assured her. "I hope you brought your appetite to the office," Betsy chuckled.

Hannah's head was absolutely swimming thinking about all the sweets her new employers had prepared for them today. Even though she had just eaten, Hannah's mouth had begun to salivate just then.

"I actually skipped my breakfast this morning," Hannah lied, "so I can't wait!"

"Well," Betsy said with an impish look in her spectacled eyes, "this cake goes great with coffee, and we've got some time before the pancakes arrive. You want to slice us a few pieces while I go get us some coffee?"

"Definitely," Hannah agreed greedily.

By the time they had finished their coffee and their cake, another co-worker popped their head into Hannah's office to announce that the pancakes were ready in the main kitchen.

"Just in time!" Betsy cheered. "Let's go, Hannah! I hope you weren't on a diet or anything; they're pretty hard to stick to in this office!" Betsy chuckled again.

Before the flustered Hannah could even answer, Betsy was moving surprisingly quickly towards the main kitchen. Hannah kneaded her bloated stomach for a moment and pulled her tight skirt down a bit for just a little more breathing room. Hannah wasn't sure how she was going to make it out of the office with her button still in tact, but she was certainly interested in finding out!