Locked down, and plumping up - part three (filling in on filling out)

chapter 1 - fuller friend

As the lockdown and restrictions continued with no end in sight, a small allowance was made for people who lived alone. They were allowed to form a “social bubble” with one other household of their choosing that they would be able to visit once a week. The idea was to enable the minimisation of spread and easier tracing of any arising infections.

For Sarah and her friend Natalie, who also lived alone, their choice was a no-brainer! Sarah had never been one to go out of her way to make friends at work, she really was grateful to have found her friendship with Natalie. They seemed to have a natural affinity for a lot of the same things, and where they did not they were still happy to open-mindedly listen and support each other.

Life felt so monotonous at the moment. Each day ran into the next, and the only way Sarah was keeping track of them really was by the increasingly large and gluttonous meals she had indulged in. And with her life feeling that way right now, who could blame her for these new habits? She felt like had to provide herself with something to look forward to and enjoy. She had definitely been enjoying her food, which was really showing.

Sarah was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of seeing her friend in the flesh, even though she knew the increased amount of her own flesh probably wasn’t going to go unnoticed. Natalie knew her so well and they usually saw each other so often. The length of time they had gone between seeing each other would only serve to highlight the difference, maybe even being a little shocking.

Not that she thought that her friend would judge, but Sarah did wonder how she would react when she stopped by so obviously plumped up and practically busting out of her tight clothing. She did think that maybe she should order some larger clothes online, but they would take several days to arrive anyway. She also had no idea what size she would need, and had a feeling that it was going to be more than just one size up.

Natalie had called Sarah about five minutes before she intended to call her; they often did this to each other. They decided the time Sarah would visit Natalie’s house the following day. As they were about to hang up, Natalie abruptly said she needed to tell Sarah something.

“You can tell me anything, babe. What’s up?”

“Well…I’ve got really fat.”

While she didn’t want to be insensitive, but she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“I’m so sorry, Natalie, but I really was waiting for you to tell me something serious.”

“But…it is. I have been struggling quite a bit, and you know me, I stress eat like crazy. It’s been more than a month now, and I have just endlessly stuffed my face without noticing anything else. Then one morning I woke up and I realised that I have absolutely ballooned”.

Natalie sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

“Hey…it’s been a struggle for everyone, and we all have enough to worry about already without wondering if other people will judge us. Especially our friends. And anyway, I’ve gained a stack of weight, too. If you continue to worry about it, I will sit on you when I see you!”