Chapter 3 - working but not working out

My new job was rewarding but exhausting. I was working 12 hour days and was absolutely wiped when I got back to our apartment. It was getting hotter out and our air conditioning sucked, one underpowered window unit. Beth had taken to lounging around in a tank top and panties, she wore at least modest underwear so I didn't feel like I could complain. But I was now seeing a lot of her big tree trunk thighs rubbing together as she typed away on her laptop. I was toasty in the apartment too but I remained fairly clothed, I didn't want to give Beth the wrong idea about our purely platonic relationship.

I was usually too exhausted from my job to go for a run after I got home. I at least tried to cook my own meals but spending 30 minutes to an hour making dinner was taking up all the energy I had left. After a long day of work, I came home to find Beth making burgers.

"Hey roomie, want a burger?" she asked.

The idea of being able to eat right now and not cook was just too appealing. I said yes. Beth fixed me up with not just a burger but a bacon cheeseburger, the patty alone must have been half a pound. On the side was a generous amount of chips and creamy pasta salad.

Beth and I sat down and talked over dinner. It was nice to have a good conversation with her again, I missed having human interaction outside of work.

"I have to say, Beth, that was an amazing burger," I said.

"Do you want another one? I think I'll have another one," said Beth.

"No," I said, "I am full."

"Oh, okay." She sounded really disappointed. Ugh, this has been such a nice meal and a good talk, I don't want to make this awkward.

"On second thought, make me another burger," I said, unbuttoning my pants in advance.

She smiled.

After that, Beth had dinner ready every night when I got home. Everything she made was really heavy but she was an amazing cook. I convinced her to let me make my own plate so I could at least attempt portion control but I often ended up eating seconds anyway.

Beth was really fun but I needed to get back into exercising, I was starting to gain weight. My belly was getting a serious pooch to it. One night, as we shared a second bottle of wine following Beth's homemade chicken parmesan I tried to see if Beth would be interested in joining me on some light exercise.

"Do you have any interest in losing weight?" I asked, I figured we could be honest at this point, we were getting close and had the benefit of some wine.

"Not really, I like the way I look," said Beth.

"Really?" I said, more curious than disbelieving.

"Yeah, there's something I like about going against society's standards of beauty. Going directly against the grain of an ideal I don't believe in," said Beth.

"I thought you just didn't like salads," I said. She almost spit her wine on the carpet. "Split that wine and we are never getting the security deposit back."

I always just thought Beth was lazy, I never thought she liked being fat.

"So you are a rebel," I said.

"Well, I also really love to eat a lot," she said, laughing.

When I went to bed, I looked at myself in the mirror. I grabbed my now grab-able squishy belly. Why do I care about this? It doesn't look bad, in fact, it is kinda cute. Do I like my little belly? Nah, I gotta go to sleep.

I made Beth breakfast the next morning.

"I've got to do something to thank you for all the dinners you've made me. You are really good at cooking so much better than the crappy meals at the cafeteria at work. I'm usually starving by the time I get home," I said.

"Oh, that's too bad," said Beth.

After I got out of the shower, I found that Beth had made me a sack lunch. A couple roast beef and horseradish mayo sandwiches and a half dozen cookies. That's too much food for lunch, I figured I could at least share the cookies at work.

But I started snacking on the cookies, they were gone by 11 AM.