Chapter 5

5.
Kumar clapped his hands in front of the grin splitting his face. Rodrigo’s own burned as he stood on the scale in the middle of his office, clad only in a pair of strained underwear. The number blinked up at him, a continuation of the nightmare his life had morphed into.

"204.5! Now that is squarely in the two hundred club. How do you enjoy being fat, tubbs?"

Rodrigo swore he heard both himself and the seams of his underwear groan. This little revenge scheme of Kumars was quickly spinning out of control. The first month of it had been a more uncomfortable experience, but the "developments" since then were somehow more unnerving. Getting used to eating like a sumo wrestler was a painful experience to start. There were days that Rodrigo was brought near tears, forcing down the last bite of yet another ridiculous feast. It may have been brutal, but at least he felt like himself. Clean-eating, gym warrior Rodrigo, forced into a situation his mind and body rebelled against. Now though, even that had begun to change.


"Gurgggggggleee…"
Rodrigo’s eyes darted open as Kumar chuckled.

"Hungry again?"

Rodrigo slammed a hand into the convex curve of his middle. The rumblings had come with real pangs of hunger. He almost wanted to yell at his stomach like it was a toddler.

"You just ate!" Rodrigo pictured himself saying to an anthropomorphic version of his troublesome organ, "you aren’t hungry! You like small portions, remember? You hate all this excess food." In this daydream, Rodrigo’s stomach smiled back at him, swelling to twice, three times its size. He felt the rumble again, deeper this time.

"I’m a growing boy," the stomach said back, swelling even more, "can’t you see how much more I need to be filled?"

Rodrigo shook his head. Instead of the vision of his swollen stomach, an equally swollen Kumar took its place. He'd selected two foot-long subs from a delivery bag, one meatball and one cheeseburger. He plopped them on Rodrigo’s desk and sat in the guest chair Rodrigo kept for colleagues. Kumar’s wide ass poured through the gaps below the armrests, concerning creaks shot out at his slightest movement. Rodrigo felt the blood drain from his face.

"That’s going to be me," he thought, "he’s already taken it this far. If I don’t get fired, I’m going to really be that huge. I’ll never get thin again."

Rodrigo couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t. If he needed to email the office a picture of his butt to avoid gaining another sixty-plus pounds, it might be the preferred option. Anything to look at this gleeful vestige of spite ruin him a little more each day. And what did it matter? Rodrigo knew he was done at Kazyr Industries. After this last fiasco, his once polished image was in the sewer. Rodrigo glared as he sat down. He went to grab a sub and hesitated.

"Eat," Kumar demanded, leaning back in the chair. Rodrigo didn’t waver as a few more metallic creaks rang out. Kumar didn’t either. His smile filled with cockiness as he said it again.

"Eat, or you know what will happen." Kumar spun his fingers in a "chop-chop" gesture.

"What I did doesn’t even matter anymore," Rodrigo said. "Cross won the merger even with the intel I got. It didn't help that I was in a food coma too much to take advantage."

"For the company, sure. But the government might be interested."

Rodrigo sighed and clawed at the varnished wood in front of him.

"Haven’t you had enough? This is already way worse than anything I ever did to you. And that was in a professional environment, I never stooped this low." Kumar’s smile vanished, a solemn line remaining. He put his arms behind his head and leaned back a little more.

"Over the course of ten years? This is nothing. No, I think you know how little leverage you have here and it’s eating you up. Right as you eat yourself up the scale. You see your body growing, the changes starting to become more significant and bothersome. "Got your first stretch mark yet?"

Rodrigo winced, his eyes shooting wide. He had discovered one five pounds earlier on his thighs. He knew it would be the first of many. Kumar saw the look, his grin returning.

"Sorry, Rod. May as well get a few new sets of clothes to grow into. You’re mine. You have no control over your body. Your eating habits will be ruined forever. You’ll be stuck working the dreg jobs like the rest of us fatties. Accept it. There's nothing you can do or say to-"

At that moment, two things happened simultaneously. First, the door opened. Second, Kumar, startled, leaned back a fraction more. His girth collapsed the chair under him, his lard-filled body hitting the ground in an instant. He lay there, rubbing at the spots that hurt as he saw who it was that walked in.

"J-j-j-j. J-j-jessica?" Kumar stammered, his entire body quaking. Rodrigo, clad only in his underwear and about to shove two subs in his face, froze. Jessica looked from Rodrigo to Kumar, to the scale and subs. She folded her hands over her chest, eyebrows cocked. For a moment, no one spoke. Jessica continued to stare at both of them before closing the door. The shift thawed Rodrigo, emotions flurrying around him dizzyingly.

"Jess? But- How did you, I locked the-"

Jessica Parsons dangled a golden key on a chain in front of the men.

"You should know better than to think any doors in corporate are truly locked. Now-" she barked, pointing at a near-naked Rodrigo, "what the hell is going on here?

***

Over the next few minutes, Rodrigo and Kumar detailed exactly what had led to their current circumstances. The corporate theft, Kumar’s extortion, and Rodrigo’s rapid weight gain. All through it Jess was oddly… calm about the whole ordeal. She didn’t seem shocked or angry. More… intrigued. After she was brought up to speed, she walked over toward Rodrigo, poking his newly grown belly.

"You committed a felony, and we still got raked over the coals that badly?" Jessica giggled. "God, he must have put you in a food coma every day to screw up that much."

Kumar tried and failed to suppress a laugh. Rodrigo glowered at him. Now clothed, at least as well as his outgrown garments allowed, Rodrigo was impatient for answers. Everything had all come to a head, but at least now it could be over.

"So, what are you going to do?" he asked. Jessica did the one thing Rodrigo thought was worse than yelling or getting upset. She smiled. And not any smile, the corners of her lips spread wide like the grinches. A look of pure, twisted joy radiated from the woman, who at that moment was far more intimidating than her 5’5 frame.

"Stand up straight. Both of you, next to each other."

Kumar and Rodrigo exchanged nervous glances but did as she said. Jessica stamped her foot. Rodrigo felt a jolt through his spine.

"Heels together, back straight, chest puffed out!"

Both men snapped to attention, nervous as they were confused. Jessica smiled again and strode in front of them. She shot out both her hands, grabbing a fist full of fat below the belly button of both men.

"Hey!" they cried, before their shirts were yanked upward. Jessica looked between Rodrigo’s hairless, rounded ball of a belly and the fuzzy beachball of blubber that hung in front of Kumar. Then she started rubbing them both, hefting, pinching, and poking. Rodrigo noticed her breathing shifted; she even licked her lips. Kumar and Rodrigo slowly turned their heads, matching looks of incredulity on their faces. Eventually, Jessica took a step back, her face a bit pink.

"Well, I have to say, boys, this is the hottest little bit of corporate intrigue I’ve ever come across."

Kumar stood like a statue. Rodrigo’s jaw dropped.

"Hot?! What the fuck is wrong with you? How could you possibly think that?"

Jessica didn’t blink at Rodrigo’s charge. She kept her eyes on the belly in front of her.

"You," she said, pointing to Kumar, "on the scale."

Kumar looked at Rodrigo like he was a schoolchild about to be punished.

"Don’t look at him; do as I say."

Kumar took an uncertain step onto the scale, then a second. The blue digital number began to blink, at which point Jessica stepped over to take a peek.

"282.2? Someone has upped his appetite as well, huh piggy?" Jessica cackled as she swatted Kumar's wide rear.

Rodrigo felt like his heart was going to explode. What did Jessica want? Why was she acting so weird? And more importantly-

"Are we fired?" Rodrigo blurted out. Both Kumar and Jessica turned towards him. Kumar looked terrified, but Jess looked like she had expected the question.

"Fired? No. But let’s just say this is your last day in the corporate offices. I think data entry work in the basement will be more your style for the foreseeable future."

The feeling in Rodrigo’s chest only worsened.

"What do you mean? Why not just fire us or report us to the police?"

Jessica shrugged.

"There's another use I have for you both. I have a certain… proclivity towards watching men indulge. And indulge, indulge, indulge. Rodrigo, you know all about that. Don't you know you have a condition you need to complete?"

Rodrigo nodded slowly.

"And if I remember, you need to get as heavy as this porker here," she said, gesturing to a still stony Kumar.

"Thats… right…" Rodrigo said, not sure where this was going.

"Though, I do think Kumar’s been looking a little skinny lately. I think three hundred and fifty pounds will have him positively glowing, don’t you think?"

Rodrigo’s jaw dropped open. Kumar fell backwards, splintering the desk as he fainted. Heart thundering, Rodrigo felt faint himself.

"No, please, you can’t."

Jessica leaned forward, cradling Rodrigo’s belly in both hands.

"Oh I can," she said, "I’m going to grow this belly until your entire body is dripping with inches of fat. Both of you. You’ll be my fat piggy playthings until the statute of limitations has expired for this serious crime. Ready for ten years of fun?"

Both men stood silent, the situation too surreal to comprehend. Jess didn’t give them time. She grabbed the subs and placed one in each of their hands.

"Get started, and write up your letters of resignation. We start today."