Chapter 3 - 3 caught

Jack's head was pounding. The third burger was seasoned with Italian spices and slathered with a creamy, garlicky pesto sauce. It was topped with sautéed peppers and onions, fresh basil, and melted mozzarella and some other Italian cheese Jack couldn't name. He was definitely sweating now. He felt sauce dribble down his chin. He could barely chew, let alone swallow. He laid the burger down to loosen his belt before it popped when the delicious Italian treat was right back under his nose. Lily has picked up the slack.

Jack groaned, in pain now, trying to be as silent as possible to avoid arousing the interest of any coworkers. He tried to keep from breathing too heavily, but the weight of all the food was laying so heavily, so uncomfortably on him that he felt that he would collapse.

Lily reached down and unzipped his pants all the way. Jack turned bright red- what if someone saw?? She began to work her magic on his fat, stuffed gut- at first slowly feeling the taut surface, then instinctively using a firm pressure to rearrange the contents of his belly and expel all of the air he had swallowed along with his food. Jack burped as quietly as he could, but he was still convinced that at any moment, his boss would appear around the corner, coming to check on him.

The last bites of the Italian burger disappeared and Jack felt marginally better. He was so incredibly grateful to Lily for relieving that painful pressure from his gut that he felt like bursting into tears of joy.

Jack was hot, dizzy, and nearly delirious with the effort it had taken to stuff three sizeable gourmet hamburgers into his already partially full belly. He panted and groaned and silently cursed himself for not calling Lily on time. He felt beyond nauseous, but HAD to keep his food down, because he felt that it would have been physically impossible to run to the bathroom to be sick, and the alternative (puking in his trash can) would have DEFINITELY attracted some unwanted attention.

Lily interrupted him from his brief, blissful repose again, delicately unwrapping yet ANOTHER delicious burger with a devilish, sadistic smile. Jack surprised himself by eagerly wondering which flavor this one would be, then immediately scolded himself. What was he thinking? This wasn't supposed to be fun, it was TORTURE!

It was a southwestern chipotle burger, with spicy mayo, hot peppers, and a crispy-fried corn-and-bean fritter smothered under melted spicy cheeses. It smelled heavenly, even though Jack was way past full.

He looked down at his straining, churning gut with trepidation. He had been so shocked to see the results of the morning's stuffing; what would his belly look like now with the partially-digested breakfast AND three....no, three and a quarter now... giant hamburgers? His belly had expanded its way right out of his remaining shirt buttons and had pushed the zipper of his pants down the rest of the way. It was so round, so tight, glistening with sweat. It took up his entire lap and pushed into the arms of his desk chair painfully. Jack actually felt like he was stuck.

He felt miserable. What was happening to him? He couldn't make sense of it all- Lily, the constant stuffing, the feeling of shame when he failed to remember to do the 'right' things for Lily, the fear of being discovered by his coworkers. Jack shut his eyes and worked his jaw, praying that soon it would be over.

His eyes snapped open instantly, however, when he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching his cubicle, in which sat an immensely bloated, partially-unclothed Jack, 6 hamburgers, a garbage can full of wrappers and ...wait, where was Lily? Jack panicked and spun around just in time to see a glimpse of red hair and a devilish smile disappearing around the other corner of the cubicle. She gave him a quick silent wave, as if to say, "have fun!" before disappearing completely, leaving a feverish, petrified Jack to deal with the approaching guest.

He tried to shove the burgers in a desk drawer, but then turned his attention to his unzipped pants...! What would his boss say? His coworkers? The sight of a disgustingly stuffed, bloated jack with his clothes undone and huge gut hanging out, huffing and puffing and sweating and heaving, practically stuck in his chair, and with SIX MORE BURGERS on his desk? There was no way to explain it.

He tried vainly to stuff his gut back into his pants, but the zipper wouldn't move. The steps were so close now, any second he would be found out! Jack pushed and pushed on his big, fat gut, but to no avail. It wouldn't move at all!

It was in this position, futilely tugging on his zipper and grunting pathetically in desperation, that Joan the secretary discovered Jack when she rounded the corner with a handful of his mail.

The letters dropped to the floor as Joan gasped in shock at what she saw: Jack miserably heaving like a beached whale, wedged in a chair and weighed down by....oh my God, was that his BELLY?

Her shock and disgust must have showed, because Jack blushed all the way up to his ears and looked like he was going to burst into tears.

The sweet, pretty secretary felt sorry for him. Whatever was going on, he was certainly embarrassed about it. She decided not to make things harder on Jack, who looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. She calmly assessed the situation and took charge. Reaching behind Jack's chair, she efficiently removed his jacket from the back of the chair where he had hung there this morning. She draped it over Jack's engorged, exposed, impossibly huge belly, and her heart melted when she saw the mute look of extreme gratitude in his eyes, like a spaniel.

"Thank you so much," he said as she retrieved the fallen letters and placed them on his desk next to the...six hamburgers?

Joan had no idea what was going on. She saw Jack's face fall and look panicked again. Though she wasn't sure she understood or approved of what was going on, jack was clearly very upset and needed some reassurance.

She gave him a smile, put a finger to her lips, turned, and walked away. His look of relief made her feel like she had done the right thing.

She smoothed her pale hair behind her ears as she made her way back to her desk. Joan resolved to have a talk with the man's wife that afternoon. She hoped that the couple wasn't having marital problems.

Jack, meanwhile, was again almost in tears for the umpteenth time that day. He was so relieved, so happy that it had been Joan who had discovered him, and that she had behaved so graciously. He was in such a state of euphoria (life is good! I'm not going to get fired! Joan is the greatest person in the world!) that he didn't feel the buzzing in his pocket right away.

Quickly he pulled out his phone and his joy was momentarily forgotten. It was a text from Lily.

"You have til the rest of the day to finish them all. Be home by 6."