Richard

chapter 1

Richard had it all. A nice house in a suburban neighborhood, a beautiful wife, two lovely children and a new job at a local Donut store.

Him losing his last job as a construction worker had come as a surprise, but they had managed to find him something new. He was now in his early-forties, and it was not easy to retrain at that age, but it had been necessary.

Years of physical work had left Richard in great shape, and he was proud of how he looked. He wasn't ripped, nor did he show abs, yet you could still tell that he was very fit. Age had robbed him of his once full head of hair, but his wife insisted it looked cute, and he didn't argue.

His first day at his new work began with a kiss from his wife, Susan.

"Hey sleepy, I made you breakfast"

Richard got up to join her downstairs, to eat the regular healthy breakfast she always made for him, consisting of oatmeal and some fruit. Leaving for work, he got kissed again and his wife handed him a lunch bag, the sort that she always gave him to eat. He didn't particularly like the low-fat meats she used to make his sandwiches, but he could tell she made them with love.

It was a sleepy autumn morning, and Richard was driving along a busy road. He thought about the meal Susan had packed him, and for a moment, he imagined if he would be able to eat a donut with it. No, that would be stupid. He had to be on a stricter diet, now that he would be working in a donut shop instead of a construction site. He had to resist the temptation he might get. Not that he liked donuts that much anyway.

But soon after arriving at work, those thoughts had been washed away. He was welcomed warmly, shown around, instructed about the tasks that he would be doing. Standing at the cash register, greeting customers, putting donuts in the oven. That sort of stuff. The guy showing him around seemed nice, he was not older than 25. They started chatting a bit. His name was Josh, he had been working there since he got out of school, and it had been good.

"For example, employee policy is not very strict at all, we can wear what we want under our apron, we pay less for the product here, and they let us eat some during the day." Josh was telling him.

"Hm well, I don't really like donuts that much anyway" Richard repeated what he had told himself during his drive to work.

"Are you sure? Everyone likes them"

But Richard just shrugged. To be truthful, he hadn't had any in years, Susan didn't allow him to eat unhealthy stuff like that.

"Well, if you change your mind, we have a tray in the back room with Donuts that got smushed a bit or something, most of them are actually just regular ones that we lay out for ourselves."

But Richard stayed strong, and got through the day without thinking about eating donuts more than three or four times.

The next day was rather harder. Susan had packed him a vegan sandwich, and it did not fill him at all. Oh well, he thought, one donut won't hurt. Looking around to be sure no one was watching him, he went to the back room and got himself a donut. He looked at it curiously, as if he could find something about that donut that would prevent him from eating it. He couldn't. Biting into it, he was surprised at how good it was. It was fluffy and light on the tongue, and filled with delicious vanilla cream. He nearly had a second one, but Josh came back, foiling his plans.

"I thought you didn't like donuts?"

"Well, I said I don't like them that much, but I guess I do like these ones." He added sheepishly.

"good for you. You can take more if you want of course. I'll grab one myself now that I'm already here."

Richard was glad that he wasn't put to shame for indulging himself here, and after Josh closed the door behind him, took another one for himself. Ok from tomorrow on, I'll only have one a day. He thought to himself as he was chewing on the sugary treat.

But that resolution didn't last forever.