Chapter 1

Brad thought about Mary now and then, regretting that their relationship hadn’t worked out. They had been together for about eight months. They had met at a summer festival in downtown Pittsburgh. When they met, Mary was a curvy brunette about five foot four. She was 34 and Brad was 36. She wasn’t fat in Brad’s opinion, but from the start she wanted to lose ten pounds. She was only 150 pounds at the time. Brad on the other hand wanted her bigger. A lot bigger. He had told her repeatedly that she didn’t need to lose any weight at all, that she looked great. When they ate together, he encouraged her to enjoy herself and not worry about how many calories were in each dish. When she put on a few more pounds, Brad told her that she looked great and not to worry. Mary didn’t like the extra weight, the tightness of her clothes, nor the new rounding of her tummy. Brad loved it. The sex was great, and the more weight she gained, the more turned on Brad got.

After eight months together, Mary was up to 175 pounds. At that weight she had a tummy that was rounding out nicely. Her hips were getting broader, with grabbable love handles. Her booty was bigger and jiggled seductively when she walked. She tried dieting and exercise, but being around Brad made it impossible to lose weight. Either he was taking her out for extravagant meals or he was cooking for the two of them. And he was a very good cook. Sometimes Brad invited Mary to bring her daughter with her. That was Sarah who was 17 at the time.

Sarah was a very pretty teenager, a little taller than her mom and slender. Sarah was the product of a marriage too young as Mary had been 17 when she found out she was pregnant. Truth be told, Mary got pregnant while dating a local boy and they got married quickly. As it turned out, the local boy was lazy and in trouble a lot. The third time he called Mary to bail him out of jail, Mary told him he was on his own, she was divorcing him. They had only been married for a year, and they had no property to speak of, so the divorce went quickly. But the experience made Mary wary of men and although she dated, she never got serious with another man. As a result, Sarah grew up without a father figure.

Brad was the first man that Mary formed a longer term relationship with. Sarah liked him and had started to look at him as a father figure. Brad never had children of his own, as his one attempt at marriage hadn’t worked out either. So he was glad to take on the role, maybe not so much as a father, but just an older male friend that she could trust and talk to. Sarah was glad that her mother was getting serious with Brad, although she couldn’t help acting the smartass teenager and teasing her about gaining some “relationship weight.” That irritated Mary no end.

One evening, Brad and Mary were enjoying his homemade lasagna on the balcony of his apartment. His apartment was on the eighth floor in the North Shore area, with a nice view of the city. Brad tried to give Mary a generous second helping.

“Brad, I think you’re trying to fatten me up.” Brad knew that this was a pivotal moment. The only thing to do was to come clean. She had him dead to rights and there was no getting out of it.

“I like your curves, Mary. You’re sexier now than ever. And, you know, if you were to gain a little more, I’d be all into it.” There was an uncomfortable silence while Mary considered what he’d said. Brad knew it could go either way. She might accept his preferences and even get comfortable with gaining. Or she might reject the idea. Unfortunately, she hit the reject button.

“Brad, in so many ways you’re a great guy. And I’ve really enjoyed being with you. But you keep trying to make me fatter. I guess you can’t help yourself, you’re wired that way. But I can’t handle getting fat. The only way I’ll lose this weight is to get away from you. I’m sorry Brad, but I have to end this.” With that, tears in her eyes, she got up from the table, gathered her purse and left. It was over.