Two fat girls (part three)

Chapter 1

“Hey Alex!” said the bespectacled young man as he came charging through the front door of the donut shop, busting with nervous energy. “How’s the donut biz?”

“Hey, Barnaby,” Alex said with a cordial smile, not looking up from her paperwork as she stood behind the shop’s counter. “It is what it is. What can I get for you?”

“The usual,” said Barnaby. The usual for Barnaby was a half-dozen plain cake donuts. It might seem to be a bit of a boring order, especially considering the wondrous variety of textures and flavors available as Alex’s donut shop, but then Barnaby was not exactly the most exciting fellow on the block. He was a rather pedestrian looking fellow, always wearing the same suspenders and bowtie with a paisley shirt and an old worn-out cardigan sweater that looked like it held over from the Eisenhower administration.

Besides, anyone with eyes could see that Barnaby was far less interested in Alex’s donuts as he was in Alex’s partner Constance.

Alex began maneuvering around behind the counter, taking care not to bump into anything. Over the past year since the business had become so successful, Alex’s waistline had grown as much as her bank account had. Her hips were getting wider, her butt was getting bigger and her belly was simply growing out of control. It seemed as though she couldn’t waddle more than three feet without bumping into something and knocking it over, as if she hadn’t yet gotten used to how much more space her body took up around her.

“Oops,” she said as her backside brushed upon against the papers she’d been looking, sending them flying through the air and scattering them about the floor.

“Here, let me get those,” Barnaby said with a smile, stooping down to collect all the papers.

“Thanks, Barnaby,” Alex said with a chuckle, “it’s a hazard of the job, I guess. Who would have imagined that working around delicious fattening donuts all day would make you get fat?”

“Ha, that’s okay,” said Barnaby. “You look great, Alex. You know most guys would rather have a lady with some extra meat on their bones anyway.”

“I’m glad you approve,” Alex said sarcastically before turning back to the large rack of freshly made donuts behind her.

As big as Alex had gotten, her friend and business partner Constance was the one whose weight had really gotten out of control. Gone were the days when Alex first met the young and pasty blonde little waif from Manhattan’s upper West side. Her inability to resist Alex’s temptingly sweet and filling donuts had turning Constance into giant ball of blubber, and she didn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down.

“Is Connie in today?” Barnaby asked eagerly, shuffling about in his shoes as he watched Alex grab a box and start filling it with donuts.

“I haven’t seen her,” said Alex, grinning to herself as she went about filling Barnaby’s order, “just like I didn’t see her yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that.”

“Where has she been?” Barnaby asked, sounding a bit dejected.

“She’s just taking a little time off,” Alex said as she stuffed the last of Barnaby’s six plain cake donuts into the box, slapping it onto the countertop before finally ringing up his order. She said that, but the truth was that she actually had no idea where Constance was. She hadn’t seen or heard from her in weeks. Ever since she had started going out with Jeff’s friend Clay she had become very aloof and distant, almost completely cutting herself off from the business and her friendship with Alex.

Alex told herself that she didn’t really care all that much, but the truth was that she missed her friend and she was more than a little concerned about her.

“Well, when you see her please give her my best,” said Barnaby as he handed over his debit card and took hold of his donuts. “Let her know I’ve been asking for her, and that I miss seeing her.”

“Sure thing, Barn,” said Alex, sporting a brave face.


Not long after Barnaby left the shop did Alex get a text from her boyfriend Jeff. He was asking her about a party that the two of them were supposed to attend at a museum opening. While they were chatting, Alex decided to take the opportunity to release some of her concerns about her friend Constance.

“Hey, how do you know this guy Clay?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Jeff replied.

“Well have you talked to him lately?”

“No, I guess not. It’s been a few weeks anyway. Why?”

“Well I haven’t heard from Constance in at least that long, and I know that they have been spending a lot of time together, ever since you decided to play matchmaker and introduce them.”

“When am I going to learn?” Jeff responded. “Every time I try to do something nice for one of your friends it gets me in trouble.”

“You’re not in trouble,” replied Alex, “not yet anyway!”

“Whew! That’s good!” Jeff responded along with a smiling emoji.

“I’m just worried about her. She hasn’t been showing up for work and she hasn’t been staying at the apartment. She’s not answering her phone and no one seems to know where she is.”

“That is concerning,” Jeff replied. “I’ll give Clay a call and see if he can tell me anything.”

“Thanks!” Alex replied before putting her phone down and returning to her paperwork. Hopefully Jeff would be able to get some answers from Clay about what happened to her friend.