It was nearly the end of the workday for Evan. Needing to relieve himself, he made his way into the men's restroom. The moment he opened the door, he heard a tragic moan from one of the stalls. Toby had been in there since lunch, and the laxative he laced his "lunch" with were still doing their work. As he washed his paws, Toby continued to bellow in agony. Evan smiled as the door shut behind him, though there was a twinge of guilt in the pit of his stomach.
The next day during his lunch break, Evan came into the breakroom with a sackful of burgers from the Burger Barn next door. As usual, Toby was alone and currently devouring a small mountain of burritos.
"Here," Evan said, holding up the sack of burgers up to Toby. "Truce?"
It took the obese snow leopard a minute to put two and two together and realize Evan was the reason he had spent half a workday in the bathroom. He grabbed the bag with a fat paw and looked inside. "Fine. Truce." he muttered. From the bag, he pulled out a couple of greasy cheeseburgers and tossed the bag back to Evan. The lion almost dropped it. "Take the rest," Toby said as he unwrapped a burger. "Looks like you need them more than I do."
Evan shrugged before sitting down at the table with Toby. The two felines ate the rest of their fast food fest in silence.
***
As Evan walked out of the Qual-U-Tech offices one Friday, he tore open his paycheck and was delighted to find that it was much larger than he anticipated. Examining the pay stub, he found that his hourly wages were set much higher than he thought he'd be getting.
"Did my dad, uh, 'fix' your paycheck?" asked Toby as he waddled up to the fox.
"Did he...wait, did you have anything to do with this?" the lion asked Toby, waving the check around.
"Let's say I pulled a few strings. But don't let anyone else know."
"You're secrets good with me!" replied Evan. "Wanna grab a bite to eat? My treat?"
"Heh, sure. But I'll pay more myself," said Toby. "Otherwise I'd eat your whole paycheck away."
Soon, the two felines were at Purgatory Pizza with two enormous pies sitting in front of them. Toby had already demolished nearly an entire pizza on his own. Evan ate quite a bit, though his belly was started to strain the buttons on his shirt. But he had gotten used to that feeling. His frequent fast food lunches with Toby were starting to fill him out. And the lion ventured he put on forty pounds in just a month. This would have worried him had he not been in Port Zaftig. Even if he had several more months like that, he'd still be a wisp of a fur compared to the rest of the town's population. Evan carefully untucked his shirt, giving it a bit more space to accommodate his swelling belly as the lion reached for another slice.
Right when Toby was about to grab the final slice from one of the pizzas, a phone rang. The snow leopard sighed as he fished his phone out from the pocket of his tight dress pants. He glanced at the screen before answering. "What do you want dad?...I'm having dinner with a friend, so I'll take care of it whe-...Yeah, I said a friend...Guy from work...Evan... Administration or something...I mean, I guess." Toby handed the phone over to Evan. "He wants to talk to you."
The lion was caught off guard, quickly swallowed the pizza he was chewing on, and took the phone from Toby. "Hello, uh, hello Mister Toby's Dad?"
The fur on the other end of the line chuckled. "You're a funny one, Evan! You can just call me Edgar. Is my son being truthful? Are you his friend?"
"I suppose so. I don't see why not." Toby wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was starting on the other pizza.
"Oh, oh blessed be," Mr. Edgar said. "My son... isn't the most social boy around. Never had many friends growing up. Acquaintances, sure, but never friends."
"Well, he seems to be a cool enough guy!" said Evan. At this point, Toby was eating slices stacked on top on each other.
"This may seem unusual, but I'm passing through town on my way to the annual Qual-U-Tech shareholders meeting. Would it be possible for you and I to talk in person for a few minutes?"
"Uh, sure. I don't see why not?"
"Wonderful, what's your address? My car can pick you up tomorrow..."
By the time the phone call was over, Toby had managed to squeeze himself out of the both and order another pair of pizzas.
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