I thought about Dmitri's line that women loved big guys, and the thought of finding another job seemed like more trouble than it was worth.
“I guess I can give it a try,” I said, hoping I sounded more committed than just 'whatever.' “I just hope you don't expect too much of me right away.”
“As long as you're willing to try,” Kenny said. He turned to Amber.
“Yeah... No. I get where you're coming from, and it's not like I'm horrified at the thought of gaining a few pounds, but having to get fat just to keep a job seems sketchy. Forget if this is even legal, I just don't like being pushed into this.”
Kenny sighed, though he seemed satisfied enough to have at least one of us staying on.
“I understand. If you need a reference when applying to another job, I'll be happy to vouch for you.”
The meeting over, Amber and I stood up.
“Conrad, if you want to get started now feel free to grab whatever you'd like and head to the break room. You're still on the clock, so don't forget to sign out for lunch.” He chuckled as he said that last part.
I went to the burger assembly station and began building a burger. But then I considered if that was enough. In the past I'd been content with just a burger, fries and soda on my meal breaks; Polyburger prized itself on selling burgers that were way larger than average, and I had always felt I was eating more than I needed to with just the one.
But now I was going to be trying to gain weight, and money was even less of an issue than usual since I'd be eating so much for free. If I was going to keep this job – and why try if I wasn't going to commit – I needed to push my appetite as far as it would go.
I built a couple other burgers. Reggie, working the assembly station today, looked at me and said
“Skip breakfast today, Conrad?”
Reggie wasn't a guy who skipped any meals, it looked like. Taller than me by a head, he weighed more than three of me.
“Kenny wants me to, how did he put it, fit the Polyburger image. So I need to get big, and fast.”
“Oh! Why didn't you say so?” Reggie's face lit up. “You go back to the break room. I'll make sure you're fed. Anything in particular you want?”
“You know what? Just work your way through the entire menu. If I'm going to be getting big off this stuff, I might as well become familiar with all of it.”
“That's the spirit.” He clapped one fleshy hand on my shoulder, knocking me off balance slightly.
I took the food I already had to the break room, turning on the small TV and biting into my first burger. There was nothing interesting on, but I found an old movie entertaining enough to distract me from my food.
After a half hour Julie, the other worker on shift, waddled in with a tray stacked ridiculously high with burgers, fries, nuggets, as well as a four-drink holder with the largest size cups we had. Turns out they were milkshakes, thick and creamy.
“Kenny told me about your special project,” she said, smiling. “Glad to have you on the Polyburger team proper. Enjoy.”
I was about to protest that this was way too much food, but then I looked down and saw my first tray was empty, and I realized I wasn't full in any way. Shrugging, I picked up a basket of bacon-ranch fries and continued eating. If I had room, I'd fill it, I resolved.
It took a lot more to fill me than I could have predicted. When the movie I was watching ended and some repeats of the original Addams Family started to run, Kenny came in to check on my progress.
“Looking good,” he said, noting all the empty wrappers and baskets. I followed his gaze, and saw that at least half of the tray Julie had brought in was gone now.
Looking at my belly, swollen out and filling my shirt taut, I could see where it had all gone. How much had I eaten? I looked back at the wrappers, counting them up. As if reading my mind, Kenny said
“Here's a tip: don't think about how much you've eaten. You're subconscious will start to think you should be full, and your body will follow suit. Just sit back, think about something else, and continue eating or at least noshing. You'll be surprised at how big your capacity actually is, and before you know it you'll be packing on the pounds.”
I didn't actually believe Kenny, but the one point about continuing to nosh made sense. Every little bit counts, right? So I moved my chair to the side of the table, rather than behind it, and I kept my eyes glued to the TV. I would grab a burger or something else whenever I realized my hands were empty, forcing myself to take bites or nibbles even when I felt properly stuffed.
At the end of my shift I saw that I had, amazingly, cleaned the entire second tray. I had eaten everything Julie had brought me, plus a few extra shakes she had delivered over the afternoon.
My belly looked like one poke would make it explode. I shifted the waistband of my pants beneath its curve and let my shirt, bunched up over the dome of my stomach, sit there as I leaned back and digested.
I almost fell asleep sitting there on the hard plastic chair, my eyelids becoming as heavy as my gut, but if I was going to slip away to slumberland I wanted to do so on my nice soft bed instead.
Standing up jostled my gut, and I noticed my breathing was deep and slow. I cleaned up the trash, carried the trays back to the floor, and clocked out.
“See you tomorrow, Conrad,” Reggie said, getting ready to hand over to the evening shift and leave himself. I waved meekly, afraid to open my mouth to even speak, and limped out of the restaurant.
When I got home I felt a little energized by the walk, but I was still so full I didn't want to think about a proper dinner or anything except lying down and closing my eyes. I was out in seconds.
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