The Fatfluencer

Chapter 1 - Flatmates

Tess looked at the chubby bordering to fat Latina girl scanning the significantly smaller room of the apartment. A part of her hoped, the other girl would turn down the room. The rest of her knew, that she was dependent on the rent the chubby Latina girl promised.
Tess’s father had made it very clear, that her dropping out of business school to become an influencer and or model didn’t count as education as far as he was concerned, meaning that he was not ready to pay her rent and lifestyle in the city any longer. Tess shuddered on the inside at the thought of having to go back to the little town she came from without anything to show as a success.
»Fine. Its overpriced, but nicely situated. I will get my stuff and move in tonight.«
Tess looked up and tried not to be intimidated by the heavyset, tall girl opposite her with the raven-black long hair.
»It’s Valeria. You can call me Val. I work for a big company in the complaints department. Here is my contact data and a copy of my pay slip.« With that, Val handed her a neat folder. Apparently, she was tidy.
Tess forced a smile. »Fine. It seems we are flatmates now.« She focused on the pay slip and the desperately needed money, when the other girl shook her hand heftily.

Tess waived her hand at Valeria to signal her flatmate that she was amidst filming a clip for her insta-profile, when the other girl entered the kitchen. They hadn’t become particularly close, but Val respected her line of work. Somehow, it even seemed to Tess, that she was not at all inexperienced with filming, editing and making schedules for planned topics. At the same time, Val was very guarded and often monosyllable as soon as Tess was fishing for more private information about her.
The other girl waited patiently for another half a minute. When Tess was done, Val indicated her iPhone with a nod of her chin. »How are things going?«
Lowly. It did look so easy when Tess followed the accounts of other girls, but creating content, editing and filming in high quality was not easy at all. Since she had started her endeavor, she had barely made enough money to order herself a pizza. »Fine. I think I have added another 50 followers.« Tess pressed on the share button and her video was uploaded to her profile.
»Sounds great.« Val grabbed for a brown paper bag with the logo of a well-known fast food chain. »I am only here for my dinner.«
No wonder she was so chubby. Something else crossed Tess mind. »Wait. Has this been standing here all the time while I filmed?« That was a nightmare. She wanted to appear healthy, fit and desirable. Not like some fast-food addict.
Val shrugged her shoulders. »Sorry?«
Usually, it took hours before people started to like her videos or pics, or to react to them at all, but now, a comment popped up. It read; Finally, a real woman. I pay you 100 bucks if you eat the whole content of the bag and send me the video to a share box.
Tess bit her lip. Was he serious? Of course, she would never do something like that, but the money would come in handy. She needed a haircut and a new coloration and she hadn’t have her nails done in too long either.
»What is it? You look as if you have seen a ghost.«
Without explanation, Tess indicated the comment. »Do you think he is serious?«
»Only one way to find out. Hell, I would eat that in an instant if he paid me money for it.«
»I can’t do that. It feels like selling myself.«
Val raised her eyebrows. »This feels like selling yourself after you post pic after pic and all the video footage about yourself in insufficient clothing like all the time?«
Tess stared at the comment. It would be only this one time, right? »What is in the bag?«
»A double cheeseburger, large fries and a big coke.« Val smiled cruelly. »Time to eat, skinny bitch.« But then, her smile came more genuine. »I will fund your first real earnings with my dinner.«
Val typed something on Tess laptop and opened a website. »Here, you can share special videos and pics. They will be accessible for individual customers only and for a specified amount of time. After that, they are deleted. They are copy protected to make sure, your little films are not shown throughout the internet.«
Within minutes, they had set-up a profile. Tess sighed. »I write him that I will start filming when I see the money on my account.« While she was talking, the app buzzed. »Its already there. Trapped until I upload the video to the share-box«
Mechanically, she adjusted the lighting and sat on one of the bar stools next to the kitchen counter. Tess wanted to protest when Val took her phone, but the other girl waived in appease at her.
»I will film. That way, we can offer more angles.«
Tess frowned. We?
But Val already unpacked the brown bag, arranging the contents in a neat order. »Change into something tight, or better in a crop shirt.«
Surprised at her flatmate’s dedication, Tess did as she was told and shortly after wore a white crop top and her favourite jeans shorts. They opted for Tess workout playlist in the background and Val started filming.
Tess was surprised at how the delicious smell of the burger made her mouth water. She took the huge bun with both hands and made a tentative bite. She needed some time to chew, before she could swallow it down, still at awe over how great it tasted.
Val waved her to eat faster. Of course. They should probably offer some action. She started to eat with more haste, washing down big morsels with huge gulps of coke. In between, she crammed down fries.
After Tess was three quarter through the burger, she started to feel really full. But if she gave up now, the guy would order back his money. Determinedly, she forced down the rest of the burger, feeling more and more uncomfortable. The coke was gone now, but Val handed her a can of beer while making a close up of her face smeared with sauce and grease. Tess desperately grabbed for it and washed down the last piece of burger. It felt, as if her stomach pressed against her belly which in turn seemed to swell against shorts.
Vals lips formed the words: only a little more ... but Tess felt so stuffed. She washed down more fries with a huge gulp of beer and felt something pressing back. A loud belch escaped her mouth and she looked shocked at Val and the camera. Her flatmate gave her an enthusiastic thumb up and smiled.
Finally, she grabbed for the last handful of fries and shoved them inside her mouth. They seem to become more inside her, but after some labored chewing, she made it and swallowed the whole lot. Without realizing what she did, Tess laid her hands on her belly. Her stuffed stomach pressed against the usually flat skin and she half wanted to throw up.
Val ended the video with another close up and started to massage her shoulders. »Well done, skinny bitch. I wouldn’t have thought you would last. How about you order me a pizza, now, that you have made some money with my dinner?«
Still uncomfortably full, Tess reached for her phone. They decided not to edit the material and send the video to the guy more or less as filmed. Seconds later, a smiley appeared on her screen and the money on her account was wired irrevocably.
»I feel disgusting.«
»You have nothing to worry. All of this didn’t come from one burger with fries.« With these words, Val started to dance, thereby wiggling her curves.
Somehow, Tess found it impressive, that the other girl was so confident when clearly, she wasn’t near perfect. At the same time, she had to admit, that Val was funny and had pretty dark eyes. »Fine. You order, I pay. To celebrate our first co-production.«