Yawning tiredly, Violet entered her apartment block after a long day at work. She walked past the elevator and to the long staircase that would take her to her apartment on the fourth floor. There was a time when Violet would have taken the elevator without a moment's hesitation, but recent developments in her life, and he waistline, had forced her to reconsider her way home.
Violet gave a tiny sigh as she stared up at the four flights of stairs. From where she was standing, they seemed to go on forever. None the less, she began to climb them.
Violet worked as a Chef in 'Cappello's', a fancy Italian Restaurant downtown. After finishing college three months ago, Violet had been lucky to get a job almost immediately, and she had been incredibly excited to work at Cappello's, which had a reputation for serving some of the best food in the city. She had moved into an apartment with her college friend, Renna, who worked in an office downtown, doing something boring that Violet could never quite remember. While Renna often complained about the dullness of her work, Violet found herself to be in her dream job. She was doing what she had always wanted to do, even if she did come home every day feeling exhausted.
Unfortunately, working in a kitchen had had an unwanted side effect on Violet's body. Being around food all day long had caused an increase in her appetite, and as well as sneaking little snacks during the day, Violet had also found herself eating whole meals which had been returned by customers or ordered by mistake, as well as finishing off any left over food at the end of the day. Violet's increased appetite had inevitably lead to an increased waistline, much to her annoyance.
When she had been in college, Violet, despite her cookery classes and constant baking, had managed to stay perfectly in shape, and had never really had a tendency to overindulge. But over the past few months, she had noticed herself beginning to gain weight. She had initially tried to shrug it off, but as her belly grew larger, and her clothes grew tighter, Violet could ignore the signs no longer. Since starting work at the restaurant, she had gained twenty pounds, most of which had gone straight to her stomach, giving her a rather large pot belly. The rest of her gain was not as noticeable, and she kept it hidden beneath her chef's uniform, but Violet had been horrified by how much weight she had put on in such a short space of time.
She finally reached the last step, and leant against the wall for a moment, out of breath. At the start of the month, she had joined a gym, and her personal trainer, Kevin, had advised her to make some changes to her daily routine - taking the stairs instead of the elevator was one such change. Violet let a moment go by before she headed down the corridor and made her way to her apartment.
Knowing that her room mate would be home, she turned the handle and walked straight in.
"Hey!" Renna called from across the room.
"Hey," Violet said, feeling exhausted. "Good day at work?"
"Meh," Renna shrugged. "Same old, same old. How about you?"
"Busy," Violet said, dumping her bag in the corner and removing her jacket.
Unlike Violet, Renna had managed to keep her college figure. She was a tall brunette, with curves in all the right places. Her work clothes - a white shirt and short skirt - clung tightly to her body. Violet had to admit to being a little jealous of her friends ability to stay slim. What was amazing about Renna was that, no matter how much she ate, how much junk food she consumed, and how little she exercised, she always seemed to stay in perfect shape.
"I ordered us Pizza for dinner," Renna said. "Should be here soon, I got us an extra large one each. It was a special deal kinda thing. You like pepperoni, right?"
"Pizza?!" Violet sighed. "Renna, you know I'm trying to lose weight. I need to eat healthily!"
"Oh come on," Renna smiled. "You've hardly gained any weight at all, and you go to the gym like three times a week."
"I just think I should stay healthy, that's all," Violet said. "I see enough Pizza during the day."
In truth, Violet had not confessed the full extent of her weight gain to Renna. Whenever she was at home, she was either wearing her loose chef's uniform, or her baggy sweats, both of which hid her gains nicely.
"Okay then," Renna shrugged. "All the more for me."
Violet sighed and walked to her room, she was sure that Renna would probably be able to devour every last slice of pizza without gaining so much as a single pound. Entering her room and locking the door behind her, Violet began to remove her clothes. Her white uniform was covered with food stains and dirt, and she tossed it aside happily, piece by piece, until she stood in only her underwear.
She looked down at her bulging stomach and rubbed it gently. She had tried to cut down on her worktime snacking, but had ended up eating two bowls of pasta today, as well as a dozen slices of garlic bread. She just didn't seem to be able to help herself anymore. Violet turned to the side and gazed at her reflection in the full length mirror on her wall - she couldn't believe how much her once slim body had softened up.
When she had been at college, she had actually been a size smaller than Renna, looking at herself now, she could hardly believe that. She wasn't 'fat', not by a long shot, but she was definitely on her way to 'chubby'. Her protruding belly was where most of the weight had settled, and Violet was grateful that the weight had stayed off her face. In college, she had had no shortage of male admirers due to her pretty looks. Her deep blue eyes, short blonde hair and cute smile were her favourite features of hers, and she had taken pride in her attractive appearance before she started putting on weight.
She looked down sadly at her pot belly and grabbed a roll of fat. She didn't seem to be losing weight, despite her constant trips to the gym and use of the stairs, but her gains had slowed down lately, at least.
With one last look at her half naked body, Violet pulled out her dull, grey sweats and changed into them.