chapter 2

Half a dozen or so chocolate chip pancakes later, and Hannah was back to work shadowing Betsy, who began teaching her the ropes. Sitting behind Betsy, unseen, Hannah was busily massaging her overgorged stomach while taking the appropriate notes. Hannah had worked in an office before, so there really wasn't all that much that was new to her. Growing bored, Hannah gestured toward a large candy bowl on Betsy's desk, and asked, "do you mind if I have one?"

"They are hard to resist just sitting there, aren't they?" Betsy smiled. Grabbing one for herself, Betsy passed the entire jar over to Hannah and jumped back into her demonstration.

Like popcorn, Hannah absent-mindedly shoveled handfuls of the sweets into her mouth over the next hour. By the time her already full stomach began to feel sick with sugar, Hannah realized she had lowered the level of the candy in the jar by a good inch or two. Shyly, Hannah replaced the jar back on Betsy's table and crumpled the collection of left behind wrappers into a tight ball in her hand. Scanning Betsy's office briefly, Hannah found the waste bin and placed her shameful wrapper inside only to watch in mild horror as the candy wrappers un crumpled themselves and began growing inside the bin. "Just like my stomach must be doing," Hannah mused to her self as she considered all of the delicious calories she had consumed today.

"And that just about covers it," Betsy concluded, which snapped Hannah from her gluttonous reverie. Hannah watched as Betsy's eyes clocked how many wrappers were in the waste bin. Her eyes seemed to stroke across Hannah's softened stomach before making eye contact once more. "Did you bring your lunch?" Betsy asked. "We should probably get you some real food before Cindy's birthday cakes arrive."

"Cakes? like plural?" Hannah asked, mouth watering. "No, I was running late. First day and all."

"Yeah we usually get a few dozen individual bundt cakes in multiple flavors," Betsy explained. "That way everyone gets what they want and we don't have to wait on anyone to make slices."

"Smart!" Hannah commented. "So is there anything good to eat around here?"

"Oh, loads!" Betsy replied, "we keep a bunch of coupons and delivery menus in the second kitchen, but you might want to see if Cindy and some of the other youngsters like yourself are going out for Cindy's birthday. I remember you said you wanted to wish her a happy birthday. Let me IM her real quick and see if they've left yet," Betsy offered.

With no objections from Hannah, Betsy got to work and within a few minutes Hannah was joining Cindy, Rebecca, Allie, Pete, and Addison on their way to a nearby ramen spot. After wishing Cindy a happy birthday, Cindy introduced Hannah to Rebecca, one of the paralegals, Allie and Pete, the two new associates, and Addison, a clerking law student.

"I'm so glad we're finally going to this place," Allie beamed. "I've been dying to go since I've heard about it."

"Is this that anime-themed place you were telling me about?" asked Pete.

"Yeah, but I hear it's not a gimmick or anything. The chef's a legit ramen guy, he just happens to be a huge weeb too." Allie explained.

"Can confirm: their ramen is so fucking good," Addison chimed in.

"And the real reason you want to go is because you're also a weeb, right?" Pete questioned jovially.

"Guilty," Allie laughed.

"So, how long have you all been with the firm?" Hannah asked.

Eager to answer, Allie explained: "I've only been here a few months, and Pete and Addison started a little while after I did. Becca, you and Cindy have been with the firm longer, right?"

"I've been here the longest," Rebecca replied, "but I want to say Cindy started two years ago?" to which Cindy nodded in agreement.

Over the course of their lunch, Hannah couldn't help but take stock of her peer's appetites and figures. Did everyone who worked at the firm long enough eventually have a figure like Betsy's? Hannah's inquiring mind needed to know.

Addison went pound for pound with Hannah in terms of appetite, which definitely showed in the law clerk's round belly. Hannah learned that Addison had a few children, and was one of the newest employees, so she wasn't the best indication of the office's effect on one's waistline.

Allie and Pete were also new to the office. While Pete sporting something of a "starter belly," his appetite was as strong as anyone else's at the table. Allie, on the other hand, was a svelte little thing with a flat stomach and a killer ass. Apparently she had been practicing a disciplined diet for her upcomming wedding, but she too was digging in to the delicious ramen they were all enjoying.

The best example then, of what the office might do to her own figure, were Cindy and Rebecca. The birthday was about as small as Allie, but with a softer, more evenly proportioned figure. Rebecca on the other hand, was about as tall as Hannah and sported a "starter belly" much like Pete's, but also had full breasts and the beginnings of a double chin underneath her soft jawline. Unlike Cindy, who barely touched her food, Rebecca was enthusiastically eating her ramen.

"I could get used to eating like this," Pete commented as he neared finishing his ramen.

"Me too!" Rebecca agreed, just barely getting the words out with a full mouth.

"As soon as the wedding gets here," Allie joked, "then I can do this everyday."

Hannah could feel herself getting warmer as her co-workers began speaking about their appetites so openly like this. "So this is a pretty irregular day, I take it? What with Cindy's birthday and me starting?" Hannah asked.

Rebecca and Cindy looked at each other, before Rebecca replied, "It's more normal than you might think."

"Yeah," Cindy continued, "it seems like we've got a birthday or two every week, and the partners do like to buy lunch for everyone pretty regularly."

"Definitely," Rebecca agreed. "I may not look that skinny, but I was getting pretty chunky before I got some help from Allie," Rebecca chuckled as she pinched an inch or so of flab from her middle.

If Hannah had not been so busy looking at Rebecca's gesture and been so excited by the answers she had been given, she would have noticed that Pete too was observing Rebecca's display with great interest.

"Not like you needed it," Allie assured her, "Your boobs were huge. I mean, I'd kill for the boobs you have now, but still," Allie laughed.

"There are some perks to being chubby!" Rebecca chipperly agreed.

"Wait, so when's the wedding?!" Hannah asked quickly. If she was going to retain any amount of composure, Hannah was going to need to change the subject away from everyone's expanding waistlines.

"Three months! I'm so nervous, but also really excited!" Allied replied.

"I'd bet!" acknowledged Hannah. "You'll have to tell me all about it later."

"Don't worry about the bill, anyone," Cindy announced pulling out a credit card. "Birthday lunches are on the company dime!"

"Hear hear!" celebrated Addison.

When the group returned to the office, they were greeted to a box full of individual-sized bundt cakes waiting for them on Cindy's desk. Grabbing a white chocolate raspberry cake, Hannah went back to her office and got started on her first project.

After finishing her bundt cake, Hannah opened the calorie tracker app on her phone and began inputting everything she had eaten so far that day, just out of curiosity. To her amusement, it took quite a while to list everything she had stuffed into her belly by 3 pm. The total finally on the screen in front of her, Hannah's eyes widened to see that she had already eaten nearly 4,000 calories so far! An accomplishment like that had to be celebrated, Hannah greedily thought to herself.

Picking up the empty bundt cake container, Hannah made her way over to the second kitchen to throw it away and take a look to see what she could find to snack on. Unsurprisingly, Hannah found that the second kitchen's fridge was fully stocked with sodas, tiny cheeses, fruit juices, yogurts, and so much more. Even the the freezer was well stocked, and Hannah discovered a box of ice cream pops with a "free to take" label.

"It's my favorite too," Hannah said aloud with fake disappointment as she took one from the box.

"Me too, please," politely asked a voice from behind Hannah, causing her heart to nearly jump out of her body.

Coming back to her senses, Hannah realized that Rebecca had walked into the second kitchen after her. "Of course," Hannah chuckled as she passed the treat over before getting herself another one.

"You want hang out and sit with me while we eat our ice cream?" Rebecca asked.

"Sure!" Hannah agreed as the two took a seat. "I don't have much to do right now anyways. Still my first day and all."

"How are you liking it so far?" asked Rebecca.

"It's been great!" Hannah replied, "everyone's really nice, the office is beautiful, the benefits are great. I can't think of anything I could complain about."

"You mean like the ice cream benefits?" Rebecca joked.

"Hahaha! Yeah, those too!" Hannah chuckled. "The food's been so good today. Betsy even mentioned to me this morning that this place is murder for a diet."

"Ain't that the truth," Rebecca agreed. "This ice cream probably doesn't fit with the diet plan Allie gave me, does it? Oh well, too late now!"

"Probably not," Hannah smiled. "Your secret's safe with me!"