chapter 1 - the first day

Casey pulled her work blouse over her head, dreading the uncomfortable feeling of the fabric against her skin. Work clothes made her feel unlike herself. She was much more comfortable in a pair of jeans and a flannel, but she was doomed for a life of business-casual attire.

"Babe," she could hear Wendy's voice from the kitchen. "I've got you some breakfast for your first day!" It was Casey's first day at her new job, after a month of unemployment. Her partner, Wendy, was trying to get her excited for an office job, even though she knew that Casey preferred working outdoors like at her old job as a summer camp director. Casey walked down the stairs in her uncomfortable work clothes, and felt a little relieved when she saw the plate of pancakes and eggs in front of her place at the table. "Thanks, hon!" Wendy knew that the pancakes were Casey's favorite, and she really wanted her to have a good day at work. They ate the breakfast leisurely, because Casey was still early, and when Casey left for work, Wendy sent her off with a packed lunch.

When Casey got to work it was uneventful. She met with her supervisor, and she was given a tour of the office. "We have some pastries right here for breakfast if you're interested," her boss, Rhonda, told her. "Just grab some for later, they go quickly!" Casey shrugged; she had just eaten pancakes and eggs, but she couldn't resist a chocolate croissant, and she would eat it later in the day. She brought it with her to her desk, but after a few minutes of working she got bored and started absently nibbling on it until it had disappeared. She hardly noticed--she never cared too much about her body, he was of a fairly average build, not a stick figure, but not what you would call chubby. She swept the crumbs away into the trash and made herself busy for a few hours, until the staff meeting at noon.

She brought her packed lunch to the staff meeting, expecting to sit there nibbling on her tofu salad while learning the ropes. When she stepped into the office, she found that they had ordered deep-dish pizzas and salad. "Do we always have lunch at staff meetings?" She asked someone nearby. Apparently, they only had lunch at the meetings when there were new people, to celebrate them and get to know them. Casey was a little flattered, and she would never eat deep dish pizza with Wendy and her friends because most of her queer friends were vegan or only ate organic foods or gluten-free, or doing something along those lines. She grabbed a slice of the vegetarian deep dish, and enjoyed the feeling of the cheese melting her mouth, filing that craving for grease. "Mm, I've only ever had their gluten-free pizza, I've never had the deep dish at this place!" she said between mouthfuls. "So good!" Her boss told her she was glad that he liked the pizza, and encouraged her to eat more of it. Because they had ordered so much of it, there were leftovers by the end of the staff meeting, and she Rhonda made her take the slices to her desk so as not to waste them. Casey didn't mind--she could use the energy.

Before leaving that day, her boss called her in to the office. Casey was worried that she hadn't been productive enough, or had done something wrong. "Is everything okay?" she asked nervously, wiping her greasy fingers on a tissue that was in her pocket. "Oh, everything's fine..." Rhonda was not very convincing, but Casey followed her anyway. When they got to Rhonda's office, the rest of the staff were there as well. "What's going on?" she inquired, confused. "Congratulations on finishing your first day! We buy cupcakes for our new hires at the end of the day!" Again, enjoying the little bit of attention, especially because she had felt lonely in her office during the day, she loved that they were giving her cupcakes. She ate a chocolate peanut butter one that was incredibly decadent and made her groan a little. She had a huge sweet tooth, and this was really satisfying it. One of the coworkers she hadn't met yet walked up to the cupcake tray to grab a cupcake. Casey wouldn't have noticed, except that the girl bumped her elbow against her. "Oh, sorry!" the woman apologized, turning to face Casey. "I guess you're the woman of the hour! You must be Casey. I'm Lane!" Casey tried to wipe some chocolate off of her lip and hand before shaking Lane's. The girl was a little taller than her, and Casey could tell by her short curls and the tattoo behind her ear that Lane was definitely queer. They exchanged a nod of acknowledgement while shaking hands, and it made Casey more comfortable to know she had a friend at the office.

"These cupcakes are insane," she laughed crumpling up the wrapper she just finished. "I could eat the rest of these right now." Lane grinned, "Well, you are supposed to take the leftovers home...they are yours. Why not just eat another one right now?" Casey looked around, wanting to make sure everyone already had one. "Don't mind if I do!" And she ate a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese ginger frosting. "Mmm yesss," she laughed with a mouth full of cream cheese. Lane seemed amused to watch her childish enjoyment of the cupcake. Casey didn't even notice how much she had eaten throughout the day--it was all sort of a blur, but she was feeling a little sluggish on her way out, and her stomach was feeling a little bloated.

When Casey got home, she had dinner plans with Wendy and one of their friends, who was bringing the girl she had recently started dating. Wendy called her and asked if she wouldn't mind picking up a bottle of wine and meeting them at the restaurant. She was a little disappointed because she had wanted to change into comfier clothes, but she didn't mind meeting them there. When she got there, she met up with Wendy and their friend Jessie; they asked her about work, and she explained that it was a pretty slow day, but people were very welcoming.
"Where's the new boo?" she asked Jessie. "She's getting changed and on her way! Should be here any second!" Casey was facing the door, and to her surprise, in walks Lane! She waved at her, and was about to explain that this was one of her coworkers, when she saw Jessie get up and greet the girl. Apparently, this was Jessie's new girlfriend. They all laughed about the situation, and settled in to the restaurant.
"So Jessie, explain how this restaurant works, exactly?" Casey asked, because she had never been there before.
"Well, it's all-you can eat sushi; we can order as many rolls as we want during each round, and we get five rounds. The only thing is that we have to eat everything on the plate, or else they charge us." Casey was a little nervous, because she knew that Wendy loves sushi and sometimes her eyes get bigger than her stomach, so there will be a ton of sushi to eat. She didn't want to reveal that she had eaten so much at work, but also didn't want to disappoint and make everyone have to pay extra, so she would have to eat her fair share. She glanced over at Lane, who was choosing a bunch of rolls, asking what people wanted. When it arrived, there was a ton of sushi before them. Casey tried to pace herself, especially on some of the heavier rolls, like the ones with cream cheese that she wasn't too fond of. She did love the ones with avocado, so she tried to eat more of those. They ordered a second round, and Casey felt like she could barely eat any more. Lane was the one that commented on how little Casey was eating. "Girl, you have got to be more hungry than that! Here, try this one!" Lane plopped some sushi on Casey's plate, and Wendy looked over at her. "Babe, why aren't you eating?" Casey shrugged, "I'm eating!" she shoved the sushi in her mouth, feeling herself become more filled up with each piece. "I'm just getting really full." At this point, all of the food was catching up with her. Her stomach felt like a rock being pinched by the restraints of her pans. "Soo full," she moaned. Everyone was really full, but kept eating. They had to finish the plate. She felt exhausted. In the end, the group of them finished all of their sushi, but Casey was definitely more uncomfortably full than the rest. She wanted to go home and get into her PJs, but Wendy suggested dessert, to celebrate. No matter how full she was, Casey could not say no to dessert. It was her biggest weakness. "All right," she sighed, feeling her stomach tighten.

They went to an ice cream place, and the person accidentally gave them all bigger sizes than they had asked for, which distressed Casey a bit, making her wonder whether she could even fit ice cream inside of her stomach without needing something to come out. She managed to shove it down, but she felt like she could barely walk she was so full.

When they got home, Wendy got ready for bed and Casey decided to take a shower. She felt puffy and bloated when she got out, and her stomach looked a little swollen. It didn't look too different though. She felt amazed that with all that food sloshing around inside, on the outside she could look almost normal. Wendy was asleep by the time Casey got back to the room. Casey thought she would have trouble falling asleep because of all the food, but she passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

^^ more to come! still working on what happens next