Chapter 4

4.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen of the board, is why this merger will take Kazyr Industries to the next level of corporate performance."

A group of business people collectively glared at Rodrigo Tortella from various points along the boardroom table. Some scowled, others smirked, but all of them alternated looking between the disappointing numbers on the screen and Rodrigo's swollen belly. Rodrigo was breathing heavily, his antiperspirant failing. Every twitch, every movement, he felt his stomach jostle. It was like everyone in the room watched it bounce like some sort of bloated bobble-head doll.

"As they should. I look grotesque," Rodrigo thought, cursing his situation. The stares Rodrigo received like daggers were not just because of his new paunchines. Cross Unlimited had added language into the merger contract at the last minute that would severely cut into the profit margins garnered from the deal. Word had leaked to the press about the terms, as well as who the lead was. Now it was all Rodrigo could do to try and save his job.

"Why wasn’t this caught before signing day?" A gray-haired chairwoman barked, her glare so severe it looked like she might combust from the strain. Rodrigo swallowed. He knew full well why he hadn’t caught that language. He had eaten menu items one through five of the Wendy’s drive through menu the night of review, and was so beyond stuffed that he had fallen asleep on the floor. Rodrigo went to puff out his chest when he felt the buttons on his shirt strain. He put his hands on the table and spoke as calmly as he could.

"Rest assured, we had our best people review the deal. This was an unprecedented last-minute addition."

It wasn’t. Most of the people in the room knew that. An incensed murmur permeated the air. Rodrigo felt his guts churn, a sensation like vertigo coursing through him. Was this what it was like to crash and burn? The merger review meeting crawled along for another grueling forty-five minutes. Rodrigo would have rather been flayed alive. A series of riffs on the general theme, "you cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars and market leverage," were shot at him, which Rodrigo did his best to stammer through. The lies were better than the truth. Rodrigo had been so over full of food the last three months that he had been unable to apply his usual laser focus to all aspects of the transaction. Kumar had pressed more food on him seemingly every day, Rodrigo's stomach stretching further to accommodate. Now, the buttons of his shirt barely hanging on, Rodrigo was looked at as a loser who ate himself through his failures.

"That marks the end of the presentation," Rodrigo said, barely above a whisper, "we will circle back on this."

The majority of the business people had already stormed off. Those who hadn't gave him parting glares and shuffled to their next call. Rodrigo sighed as he pinched his nose. This was a disaster. He had already been taken off the follow-up project, and there was talk of demotion. He had slipped into being overweight. His job was in jeopardy, and there was nothing he could do about it. Rodrigo's life was circling the drain, all because of the sack of blubber grinning in the seats ahead of him.

"You enjoy that?" Rodrigo quipped. Kumar laughed, hefting his globular belly.

"Not as much as you enjoyed the buffet. Really got the crowd in a good mood, I think!"

Rodrigo cringed. He looked down, spotting a series of stains from the fifteen buffalo wings Kumar had forced him to inhale in front of the board. There had also been ten mozzarella sticks and two sodas. As he had eaten, Rodrigo's now considerable stomach pressed up against his shirt. He had never seen so many looks of disgust levied his way. He had to admit he would have done the same. Rodrigo looked ridiculous. Covered in sweat and wearing clothes two sizes too small, it seemed like he had developed an eating disorder over the course of the project, the results of which were piling up on his frame for everyone to gawk at.

"You got what you wanted," Rodrigo yelled as he slammed his laptop. "I'm fat, my career is in the toilet- hell, no one will even look me in the eyes anymore."

Kumar smirked.

"Aww, was someone too stuffed to get his work done? Getting treated like a fat guy? Tough. I get it worse than you. C'mon, let's measure."

Rodrigo felt himself getting hot.

"Seriously?" He gestured at himself. Prominent man breasts sat atop his once toned torso. His sides had softened, love handles sprouting. Rodrigo looked every bit the man who had eaten himself silly every day for three months straight.

"I'm already huge, over two hundred now. Can we finally be done with this? I'm about to lose my job."

Kumar looked unmoved. He folded his flabby arms across his chest.

"You might want that if you don't want to get any bigger. This ends if you are fired, but not until it's official. Besides, they almost always send people to IT instead of full termination. Hey! We would work together again!"

Rodrigo shuddered. He supposed this nightmare could still get worse.

"Now then," Kumar continued, "we have business to get to. Your office?"

Kumar went to stand but froze. He looked like he had remembered something important.

"But first, exhale."

Rodrigo blushed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kumar grinned.

"Yes you do. Now exhale, let it all out, fatty."

Rodrigo glared but did as he was told. He unclenched his abdomen, feeling a shocking tide of flesh push forward. The relief was immense, but Rodrigo felt the cloth around his middle pull tighter and tighter, until-

"pop!"

The sound of pattering plastic shot across the room. Rodrigo's eyes went wide as Kumar clapped his hands together.

"My my! Someone is really turning into a porker."

Rodrigo looked down, blood fleeing his face. He saw flesh poking through the now wide gap in his shirt. He poked it. The reality that he, a toned gym god, had popped a button was so absurd it felt very far away.

"Let's go. Don't want anyone to see that gut, do you?" Kumar asked. Rogrigo snapped out of his trance and stumbled toward his office. It was getting to the point where he hoped he would get fired. Anything to end this torture. Rodrigo couldn't even accept another job, he had asked. Kumar would just release the report; the only way out of this mess was to be fired or get as fat as he was. With Kumar giggling behind him, Rodrigo closed his office door and stepped on the scale.

***

From her spot sitting in her office, Jessica Parsons frowned.

"Wednesday again," she mumbled, looking at a feed of security camera footage. On it, Kumar Chadha followed a significantly heavier Rodrigo Tortella into his office. Jess had replayed today's footage a few times now. She wanted to verify her findings first, but she also paused the video at various points to take screenshots of Rodrigo. Head on, profile, side, and back, of course. He was really packing on the inches everywhere. It amazed her that he continued to squeeze himself into the same clothes he always wore. The button popping today was the best footage Jess had gotten yet, but it was how his ass was about to destroy his pants that made her drool. Jess saved the images and turned back to the screen.

"Now, why have you turned into such a pig, and so quickly?"

Jessica knew something was off soon after the merger had been announced. Rodrigo, always her most cold-blooded executive, was floundering out of the gate. He was making rookie mistakes, and worse, he always seemed to be belching. At first, she thought it was the stress. Until Jessica noticed Kumar was hanging around their floor more often. Weeks went by, pounds were added around Rodrigo's middle, and a pattern began to present itself. Kumar and Rodrigo would meet in his private office every Wednesday. This was despite them not working together on any projects, and not being on the same team for years.

If the merger had gone through smoothly, Jessica would have been content to sit back. Seeing Rodrigo swell up like a balloon was positively delicious, but he had fucked up and heads needed to roll. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't have any fun now, could it?

Jessica grabbed her laptop, brushed her hair back, and strode toward Rodrigo's office. Today was going to be an interesting day.