Chapter 1 - The first gift basket

“I love seeing this. Look at the dream team, getting shit done!” The CTO of Biophyle lounged at the doorway to the spacious conference room, her honey blond hair glowing in the sunlight that streamed through a wall of windows. Cassie was one of the best C-suite types Tony had worked for. She was hands on without being micromanaging, generous with perks, and last, but not least, an absolute smokeshow – though Tony would never admit it out loud.

Leigh, a no-nonsense, tiny spark plug of a woman who managed the department’s lab with Kunal, waved at the blonde. “Morning! We’re just wrapping up, I’ll shoot you an email with the notes.”

“Thanks, Leigh,” Cassie said, folding her arms casually across her chest. “Kunal – any time for a check in? I’d love to hear any updates on your project.”

“Maybe this afternoon? I really have to go,” Kunal apologized, gathering his notebooks. “I have to see how the nematodes liked the last round of gene therapy.” He waggled his eyebrows. To him, this task was loads of excitement.

“You mean see if any survived,” Leigh teased, poking at the empty cookie box at the center of the table, hoping there was one left. She scrunched her nose up and frowned, disappointed, before crushing the bag and tossing it away.

Kunal shrugged and nimbly darted around Cassie on his way out. “That’s the name of the game. See you in the lab!”

Leigh pushed herself away from the table and stretched. “Ah the lab, my home away from home,” she sighed as she sauntered off, much more slowly than Kunal and much less caffeinated.

Tony gathered his things, aware that his boss was still quietly standing there. She gave him a bright smile, saying, “Tony, I wanted to check in with you too. How are you settling in?”

“Great,” he said, and actually meant it. “Leigh and Kunal are fantastic to work with, and I think we came up with some great ideas to cut costs in the lab.”

“And generate less waste?” added Cassie, a hopeful little grin on her lips.

He gave her corny finger guns, making her chuckle. “You bet! The report will be on your desk by tomorrow.”

“You’re the best. I’m meeting with Mark tomorrow and I’ll need it,” Cassie said, sounding relieved. “Have a great afternoon, Tony, I’ll check in later.” Her blonde ponytail swung in counterpoint to her hips as she strode down the hall.

“Will do,” he called after her, mesmerized by her toned glutes flexing with every step away from him.

***

The following day, having delivered the promised report by ten, Tony came back from lunch to a surprise. It took him several seconds to process the looming figure by his desk, before realizing it was a remarkably large gift basket. There were a few juicy looking pears with a blushing ruddy skin, two oranges, and a packet of herbal teas, but everything else was pure decadence, sugary, buttery, chocolatey decadence. This couldn’t be for him, could it?

He put his glasses back on and peered at the little card tied to the bow at the top. “Tony - great work today! Glad you’re on the team. Enjoy. - Cassie”. As if on cue, his stomach growled. The sensible healthy salad he’d eaten for lunch suddenly wasn’t quite enough. He shifted the basket to sit down at his desk, releasing a delicious waft of chocolate and vanilla and berries from the cellophane wrapping, and he made a decision: today, he’d live a little.

Tony unpacked the contents methodically, and in five minutes the surface of his desk was covered in the tempting goodies. His mouth watered as he tried to decide what to have first. A chocolate croissant? An apple turnover? No, a brownie, thick and sinfully tempting, with streaks of caramel artfully swirled into the crust. It melted on his tongue, and he let out an involuntary groan of pleasure.

Mouth full, he froze in surprise at his own voice. He looked at the brownie and laughed. “Man, this is a damn good brownie.”After that, he didn’t hold back, little grunts and groans of enjoyment streaming from him with every bite. He steadily demolished brownie after brownie, before deciding to move into cookies.

There was a lovely array: butterscotch, chocolate chip, macadamia with cranberries and white chocolate, and a few snickerdoodles.Tony squirmed in his seat, unable to choose when a wonderful idea occurred. With so many cookies, he had to have milk. The cafeteria was still open, but not for long.

He’d have to hustle. He bounced out of his chair with much less verve than usual — goodness, how did he get so full? He hadn’t eaten that much. It had only been… he realized abruptly he’d eaten six very large, very rich brownies in a quarter of an hour. His hand absently floated over his midriff as he walked to the cafe, burping several times as his overstuffed belly jostled with each step.

He stroked his stomach while he considered the freezer. SHould he get one or two cartons? There were a lot of cookies to eat, but only one carton of skim was left. Well, he rationalized, this was a rare treat. He could live with the extra calories just this once. He picked up the lonely carton of skim milk, then his hand hovered around over the whole milk and the few cartons of chocolate milk left. It was a day of indulgence, why not make it special? He grabbed three: skim, whole, and chocolate and trotted back to his office, high on sugar and anticipation.

His oversized mug from college was the perfect size for dunking cookies in, and he dug in with a sigh of satisfaction. The cookies disappeared at a steady pace, smearing chocolate on his lips and scattering crumbs on his lap. He made much more of a mess than he’d ever intended, but these cookies were so damn good.

He’d never had such delicious baking before, and there were still a few kinds of bars to polish off. He hummed to himself as he considered his next move, feeling rich and happy.

As a kid, any treats at all were rare. Once a year – twice, if it was a good year – he’d have a cake from the grocery store. His mom would set aside money from her meager paycheck for weeks to buy him even the simplest, smallest sheet cake. When he started school, the kids who brought in cupcakes for the class and then had another cake – often a layer cake! – at their birthday parties left him in awe. What would it be like to have good things so freely?

Well, he’d gotten a taste of that now. More than a taste, really. Tony was uncomfortably aware of how full his belly was. He loosened his belt by a notch, but that barely made a difference. At least he had a private office, and the door closed. Carefully eyeing the door, he slid back on his chair to the window and pushed it open, before noisily relieving the pressure in his gut in belches and a few cracking farts.

That was better. Thank goodness for private offices! He massaged his tightly packed stomach, marveling at how much it had swollen. The buttons of his shirt were hanging in for dear life, while his normally flat — scrawny, he’d admit it — stomach bowed out over his belt. It was firm and hard, but looked kind of cushy or cozy, he thought. Not like he had to worry about a gut with his metabolism!

With that thought, and an eye on his painfully stuffed stomach, he wrapped up the remaining treats and stashed them on his bookshelf. Today was a nice little treat, he thought as he belched and rubbed his tummy, I’ll have to thank Cassie for her generosity. And those bars will last the rest of the week!

The following morning found Tony much hungrier than usual. The assurances he’d given himself that yesterday was a cheat day, a rare indulgence, seemed a little weaker as his belly grumbled. One s’mores bar was delicious with coffee, so why not have a second one? The extra sugar helped perk him up and made these spreadsheets he needed to review a much more pleasant task. A lemon bar found its way into his belly, then another, and by the time he finished making his notes, he looked up to see that there were no pastries left.

Tony felt a little embarrassed as he did a little quick math. There had been enough food there for a small party. Six brownies, a dozen of each type of cookie, six of each bar… the gift basket wasn’t quite empty as the lovely looking pears still sat there, but Tony couldn’t quite muster the same enthusiasm he’d had for the pastries.

Leigh and Kunal passed by his office, and she called out, “Hey Tony, we’re headed to lunch. Care to join us?”

“No,” he said. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

“Don’t work too hard!” laughed Kunal, followed by the sound of the suite’s heavy door closing.

Tony massaged his once again overstuffed belly. He wasn’t as full as he’d been yesterday, but he was giving his buttons another workout. He wasn’t sure he could even eat the salad he’d brought. He burped uncomfortably, and let his belt out another notch. There was a small silver lining, he reflected, that at least the gift basket was empty and he couldn’t do more damage to his waistline.

***

Cassie’s day hadn’t been terribly pleasant. Leila had always been supportive of Cassie’s pet projects, but she’d been a bit harsh today. Her former mentor had been sharply critical of Cassie’s attempts to pitch what she called “metabolic healthcare”, or, in plain speak, care that helped fat people stay healthy without radical diets, surgeries, or weight loss.

“Look, Cass,” the older woman’s words echoed in her mind, “I know why this is important to you, but BioPhyle is going to get some real pushback about this. There’s still a lot of fearmongering about the obesity crisis, even these days.”

She knew Leila was right, but it was just so stupid. Her team’s research would undercut healthcare costs overall, and that wasn’t even taking the improved quality of life these meds brought. To Cassie’s thinking, the controversy was a problem for marketing, not for her departments.

In a blue mood, pale blue, just tinging her day a little, she stalked down the hall back to her office when she heard a low belch from Anthony Baker’s office and then a muttered comment she couldn’t quite understand. The door was half open, and with her curiosity piqued, she stopped by. “Hey Tony, how’s the day going?”

A soft tap on the door swung inwards to reveal a blushing Tony looking uncomfortable at his desk. She stepped into the office. “Everything okay? I thought I heard…” Her gaze traveled over his office, small but with a few nice big windows before stopping on the gift basket she’d sent yesterday. It was entirely empty. Tony’s shirt strained around his middle, the buttons looking ready to fly off with a poorly chosen movement. Her words failed her momentarily. “So, ah, how was the… did you throw a little party?”

Tony’s blush deepened until he was deep red. “No, I, ah, I guess I went a little crazy.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t quite hide the surprise that cracked her voice. The feeder within her, much suppressed, roared to life and began clawing at the bars that held it back. Cassie had to find something work-appropriate to say. “I’m glad you enjoyed the gift.”

Perfect, she assured herself. A totally normal reaction from a totally normal person.

“I did,” Tony laughed a little, seeming to be relieved by her response. “Though I certainly shouldn’t make a habit of it.” He patted his belly for emphasis, oblivious to how the muscles in Cassie’s face became strained and rigid. The impact sent a burp bubbling up from his gut, and he covered his mouth too late.

“Oh my God,” he said, wholly ashamed, “That was piggish of me. I’m so sorry!”

It was like every word he said and action he performed was designed to shoot an arrow right at her libido. “No worries,” she said cheerfully, a trace of manic energy in her voice. “I have to run, Tony. We’ll catch up later!”

She was already halfway down the hall, fleeing to her office, by the time Tony wished her a good day. Five seconds after that, her office door was closed, locked, white noise machine on, her knuckle between her teeth, and her rose clit sucker jammed between her thighs.

Visions of Tony’s binge flickered through her mind. At first, the thought of watching him eat enough sweets for a party was enough, but as her pleasure built, wilder, bigger versions of Tony waddled across her imagination. His chest blossomed into heavy, pendulous moobs, while his flat midriff billowed forth in a double belly that hung to his knees. Hips and ass cheeks expanded, giving him a bottom-heavy physique. He galumphed over to a buffet and began stuffing food in his mouth in a gleeful food frenzy, while his gut swelled further and further. As he approached the end of the buffet, the hang of his gut drooped lower, bouncing against his ankles, until it dragged on the floor while he tilted a tray of something fried and decadent down his throat.

Cassie’s eyes rolled back into her head, her mind filled with Tony, swollen beyond recognition, belching, grunting with the effort of moving his vast gut. Her fondest fantasy sent her body thrashing in her office chair, climaxing so hard she saw stars. It lasted for what felt like hours, and by the time her body relaxed, her chest heaved with her panting breath.

A ding from her laptop brought her back to reality, but before she started work again… She clicked over to her bookmarks and dropped down until she arrived at the Pioneer Valley Bakery’s site, a gourmet patisserie out in Northampton that made the densest brownies she’d ever had and the richest cakes.

Tony deserved some goodies, she told herself. And this definitely wasn’t going to spin out of her control.