Chapter 1 - Part 1

THEN: His leg muscles pumped with the fury of pistons as the soles of his running shoes slapped the pavement. His breathing was quick and tight as he came upon the end of his third mile.

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NOW: He gets winded waddling to the fridge.

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THEN: Grabbing a hand towel off the back of a kitchen chair, he dabbed his forehead to clear up a thin sheen of perspiration, squeezing a thin stream of water from his bottle into his mouth.

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NOW: His chubby hand wraps around the handle of a gallon jug half full of chocolate milk. It rests against the convex curve of his pillowy belly as he unscrews the cap and brings the spout to his lips. He chugs and gulps as thin streams trickle from the corners of his mouth.

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THEN: Jogging into the restroom, he turns on the shower and lets the water warm up while he kicks off his running shorts and pulls off his shirt.

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NOW: He squeezes through the bathroom doorway sideways, his belly and love handles brushing against the frame. He pours into the bathroom, stumbling forward as he successfully clears the doorway.

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THEN: He scrubbed his tone and slender frame, washing quickly yet thoroughly to waste as little water as possible.

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NOW: He lowers his considerable ass onto the toilet seat, cracked from an earlier moment of relief. He takes a deep breath and rubs what he can reach of his belly to stimulate the process of making room for his next meal.

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THEN: Drying the water from his torso, neck, underarms and groin, he took a deep, refreshing breath, feeling polished and energized. After he slid on a pair of boxers, he walked over to the phone on his nightstand and swiped the screen.

[Benny's @ noon?] it read, sent from his friend Chuck.

[Cool,] he replied, tossed the phone on his bed, and finished getting ready.

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NOW: Emerging from the bathroom, the lampshades and dishes rattle with every step he takes toward the living room. Slowly rotating, he lines his enormous backside with the center of his couch and begins his descent. His rear sinks deep into the cushion, nearly flattening it. He leans back and rubs his belly to ease its hungry moaning. It isn't used to being empty for very long.

His phone buzzes and with a grunt, he leans forward. His chubby hands picks up his device and he swipes the screen.

[Hungry?] the text reads.

He licks his lips and hurriedly replies. [Starving.] His *** groans as it farts deeply in agreement.

[I ordered you a pizza. Should be there soon. And I'll be there shortly after with snacks.] She included a little pig face emoji.

[Mmm! Can't wait!] He places the phone down and daydreams of his next meal.

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THEN: The bell by the door rang when he entered the restaurant. He scanned for a moment before spotting a chubby, bearded gentleman waving him down: Chuck.

He nodded in acknowledgement and approached his friend.

"Tommy!" Chuck said, extending his hand. Tommy grabbed it with both hands and shook with excitement. "It's been a minute! I got you a beer!"

"Thanks, man!" Tommy said, taking a seat. "How's Marie?"

"Oh she's good, she's good! She's an accountant now with Bachman & Timm. How about Lisa? My God, she was beautiful. You ever tie that down?"

Tommy paused. His smile weakened but sustained. "It, uh...it didn't work out."

"Aww man, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"No, it's fine. It was for the best. It would've happened eventually. We just weren't compatible."

"How do you mean?"

Tommy chuckled before continuing. "She umm...she was a feeder."

"A feeder?"

"Yeah, you know, she had a thing for fattening guys up. She liked big dudes, but I think she only liked the ones that she made big," Tommy explained. "And I do everything I can to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Keeping my body in shape is very important to me. I can't change that."

"Oh man, that's too bad. You guys were great together," Chuck began but quickly caught himself. "But you know, screw it. Seven billion people on the planet, why not keep your options open?"

"Yeah," was all Tommy could say. He grabbed the neck of his beer bottle and tipped it back.

Chuck saw the dismay in his friend's face and attempted to cheer him up: "Besides, with a body like that, you'll have women knocking down your door in no time."

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NOW: There's a knock at the door and he begins to shimmy his massive bulk to the edge of the couch. With a heave, he's on his feet, wondering if the person on the other side of the door can feel the tremors of his footfalls.

He opens the door, revealing himself to the petite lady in a Vivaldi's Pizza uniform. Her eyes go wide for a moment, but she quickly composes herself and unvelcro's the thermal pizza sleeve.

"Hi! Two extra large pizzas for Tommy?" she asks rhetorically, pulling the two, stacked pizza boxes out and handing them to him.

Tommy licks his lips and wraps his fat digits around the edges of the boxes.

"Thanks so much!" the delivery lady sings and bounces off.

"You too!" Tommy calls after her and bumps his hips into the door, swinging it shut. He wobbles back to the couch and places the pizzas on the coffee table. He crashes into his seat and leans forward, past his breasts to lift the box's lid, revealing a 2D planet of bread, sauce, and cheese. He twiddles his fingers beneath a slice, stretching the cheese into strands as it pulls from the rest of the pie.

Folding his slice, Tommy brings the pizza to his lips and takes a large bite. The hot, gooey bread and cheese blended in his mouth with the sweet and savory tomato sauce, spreading and contracting with each chew. As his first bite was being swallowed, he was already tearing into another, moaning in the combined ecstasy of substance and flavor.

The front door opens and light spills into the living room. A woman's silhouette looms over Tommy as he sheepishly looks up from his meal.

Two large and grease-stained fast food bags weigh each of her arms down as she smiles at the sight.

Tommy swallows his bite and gulps. A rumbling in his belly precedes a deep and drawn out fart that tells the woman at the door everything she needs to know.

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THEN: Tommy and Chuck exited the lunch spot and gave each other a brotherly hug. They made vague plans to do it again soon and each walked to their respective cars.

Tommy turned the key in the ignition and his car breathed to life. He paused for a moment before taking the car out of park.

Lisa. He honestly hadn't thought about her in a while. Sure, she had put a few pounds on him, but he had long since returned to his toned, pre-Lisa physique. He grabbed his phone and swiped it awake. "Has she changed numbers?", he wondered. Though it had been deleted from his contacts in a drunken demonstration of closure, he still remembered it.

He tapped the icon for a new text message and typed her number in the "To:" field.

The cursor blinked as he considered how to begin. He stroked his chin as if he were Indiana Jones studying a potentially dangerous situation. He typed, he deleted. He typed again. He deleted. He typed and typed and again, deleted it all. Then he shook his head to get out the unnecessary and debilitating thoughts and decided to keep it simple.

[You free?]

Hesitation.

Sent.