Chapter 1 - Warm Vanilla Perfume

“Hmmm… nice place. I’m surprised, I can’t say I was expecting this from you.” My eyes surveyed the living room as he helped me pull off my leather jacket; tasteful antique decor, retro furniture, and warm lighting occupied the room, with my favorite warm vanilla scent only adding to the atmosphere. I usually prefer a floral perfume, but I knew he’d appreciate a gourmand.

“I don’t know if I should feel complimented, or insulted right now. I guess I’ll just say ‘thank you’ and hope for the best.” He chuckled a bit, and made his way to the record player in the corner of the room. “Any preferences? You can look through my collection if you’d like. I’m quite proud of it.”

“Got ‘Aftermath’?”

“Huh, I didn’t peg you for a Stones fan.” He glanced back quickly and gave me an indistinguishable look before turning back around, shuffling through his box full of vinyl.

“I don’t know if I should feel complimented, or insulted right now.” I started to further wander around, making specific mental notes regarding his tastes and fascinations. I noticed the bookshelf, classic literature and poetry taking up a predominant space, with a couple of nerdy fantasy novels hidden far and few between- a guilty pleasure, perhaps. I noticed binders and folders hastily pushed off to a distant side table- his job had been eating up most of his time, and I assume he didn’t have the time or energy to thoroughly organize. I noticed travel catalogs open to pictures of beautiful beaches and colorful sunsets- a daydream of respite from corporate monotony.

I looked over at him, still fidgeting with the record player and boasting about his collection, before peering into the kitchen.
Although not dirty by any means, it definitely confirmed my suspicions; I noticed the half empty snacks, from chips, to cookies, to candy, to soda- longer work hours had left his body desperate for any form of quick energy.
Unfortunately for him, that was often ultra-caloric, highly processed and palatable snacking food. Unfortunately for him, his metabolism was no longer what it used to be; he had gained a fair amount of weight. Unfortunately for him, I noticed. I notice everything.

I was brought back to reality by Mother’s Little Helper blasting from the speakers, before quickly turning it down. He had a proud grin on his face as he turned to look at me. He cocked his eyebrow, waiting for me to express my gratuity.

“Wow, cool, I was just starting to wonder if we were going to be able to listen to music tonight. Glad you got it figured out.”

He smiled, scoffed, and sat down on his couch. He gestured for me to sit next to him. I really saw it when he was sitting down- the stressed seams, strained buttons, and pants eating into his belly. There was no way he didn’t know, right? Surely, he could tell how uncomfortable his clothes had become- even I could tell how uncomfortable his clothes had become.

I followed suit and sat myself next to him. I positioned myself an inch or two away- enough for a comfortable space, but close enough for something to happen. I faced myself towards him, leaning on my hand.

“You know,” he grabbed onto my waist, “I think this is one of my favorite dresses of yours.” He ran his hand up and down my side, feeling the silk, before pulling me closer.

“I thought so.” I placed my hands on his cheeks, positioning his head to a left angle, before going in for a kiss. His cheeks were so much fuller now, and I made note of his newly forming double chin.

He pulled me on top of him, and started running his hands up and down my chest and waist, tightening his grip every now and then.
I started to slowly journey my hands from his face; first stop was his softened pecs and shoulders. There was probably still some muscle there from his former days of athleticism, but they’ve since been camouflaged and hidden by weeks and months of overconsumption. Second stop was his belly and love handles. I admittedly was a bit too ambitious, rubbing his belly and using his love handles to pull myself even closer to him. His body stiffened a bit here, maybe he was more aware than I had given him credit for. Third stop was wrapping my arms around his back, and breaking away to put my mouth to his ear.

“Hey,” I whispered, “you wanna know something?”

He turned his face towards me, eyes mere centimeters apart. “...What?”

“I think you might be the most perfect man I’ve ever met.” I slowly kissed his cheek, and made my way down to his neck. I shifted my hands back down to his sides as he ran his large hands through my hair. Although they’ve always been rather big, the new fat made his hands look almost swollen; except, they weren’t swollen. It was just calories upon calories, wrapping around every inch of his body.

As minutes turned to hours, as night fell into dawn, and as the light from the soft sunrise brightened the room, we both knew the start of this new day called upon the end of the last. Before I left, though, we allowed ourselves to lie there for a moment, putting off the inevitable. We had jobs, and hobbies, and passions, and appointments, and plans upon plans upon endless plans, yet it all felt so arbitrary. All that mattered right then was taking it all in before it became yet another fleeting memory; the view of the sunrise from the window, the way my back had been aching from sleeping on the couch, the scent of the morning mist wafting in, and most importantly, my arms wrapped around his fat body.