Story scrap - office weight gain

[Onen]

“Where the fuck did it go?”

 

Allie searched frantically around her desk for her gym bag. She knew it was futile though, the bag was hard to miss: it was purple with pink stripes and a patch that said “bad bitch.” Still it had to be somewhere, she left it at her desk when she left work last night.

 

Eventually the search ended, she had to admit it was gone. Where did it go though? Would someone steal it? There wasn’t anything valuable in it except for her running shoes and workout clothes. 

 

Maybe the cleaning crew threw it away by mistake? No, that’s be crazy.

 

Despite the long shot, she sent an email that morning and asked around. No one knew where it went.

 

It was unfortunate because those were her only workout clothes... That fit. She hated to admit the time between jobs forced her membership to lapse, and ramen while cheap caused her to gain a few. Her biggest workout clothes were the only thing that fit her now.

 

She didn’t get paid for another month, so buying new clothes was out of the question, and her regular wardrobe didn’t lend itself to the gym. She spent the last of her extra money on starting the gym membership again.

 

What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t workout in her bra and panties with bare feet. Although that creep Derek at the front desk wouldn’t mind, even if she was fatter than the last time he saw her. 

 

The gym would have to wait until pay day when she could buy new shoes and clothes. Unless by some miracle her bag showed up again.

 

In the back of her mind, she worried about skipping the gym for a month. She was already the fattest she’s been since college. Sure a size 4 is hardly fat, and shape wear works wonders.

 

However, working in an office was new for her. The sedentary job was a change. She spent most of her life after college working retail where she stood for hours and walked miles around a store. 

 

If being out of work and broke for a month brought on this many pounds then what then what would the sudden change in lifestyle do and not working out do? 

 

She heard horror stories about what an office job does to the figure.

 

Flashbacks to her sister’s first job out of college poured in suddenly. Mercedes was rail thin all her life. She even avoided the freshman 15, but when she started working for a CPA firm upon graduating, the pounds piled on. She went from a size 0 to a size 12 by the following Christmas.

 

Allie asked her what happened and Mercedes told her it wasn’t any one thing. It was gradual. “Like slowly drowning in heavy cream and having to drink your way out.”

 

The stress certainly triggered it. Mercedes lived relatively easy until then even with deadlines in college, but the pressure of work revealed her penchant for stress eating. 

 

When you’re at a desk it is super easy to snack, especially if you’re under pressure. There was always a bag of candy, chips or anything else that she could easy pop in her mouth as she worked nearby. That is only part of it though.

 

The lack of time hurts too. You don’t ever have time to cook after a long night or quite frankly the energy for it. So you eat out when you get home. Then you eat out at work because someone is always doing a lunch run. And the last thing you want to do is go to the gym after a long, stressful day.

 

No one ever tells you about the free food either for holidays, birthdays, Monday Motivation, Thirsty Thursdays, Taco Tuesdays, Ice Cream Wednesdays, and Flashback Fridays. Mercedes told her she was surprised she wasn’t fatter.

 

If Allie was honest, she was surprised too after watching Mercedes demolish food during their family Christmas dinner. It was like a black hole devouring ham, mashed potatoes, buttery green beans, yams with marshmallows, and rolls. Mercedes ate fourths of everything including a whole pie for dessert. 

 

Her parents were just happy she was eating being from Italian and Puerto Rican families they though their daughters were always too thin, but Allie thought she’d have to cut her out of her too tight dress. She was in awe. Mercedes giant gut pushed her a foot away from the table slowly rise and fall threatening the fabric of her stretch dress as she struggled to breathe. 

 

The once jiggly belly was rock hard and she moaned softly as she massaged the thick band of fat that used to be her taut midsection. Still struggling to breathe she asked Allie to bring her some ice cream because there were still cracks to fill...

 

Allie shuddered at the memory trying to push her sister’s gluttony and ecstasy from her mind. That wouldn’t be her fate. She couldn’t go to the gym, but she could still make sure to walk, do yoga at home, and eat sensibly at work. Most importantly, no snacking...

 

 

“JFC! Why won’t these go up?”

 

Allie found herself struggling to get the shorts over her thighs, but she managed to pull them up difficult as it may be. She didn’t want to recognize the cellulite forming at the top of them. Getting them past her butt was tougher. She had form a bit of a donk. 

 

Bubble butts we’re in fashion so she wasn’t mad at it, but she couldn’t ignore her growing pooch. It formed a thick doughy roll over the band of the pants the next size up. She gave up on the other pair and had to admit she gotten fatter.

 

It had been over a month since Allie lost her gym bag and just as long since she exercised. Her resolution to walk around and do yoga after work was harder than she thought.

 

Sure she did it for the first few days, but after training ended and the rigors of her job began to make themselves clear. The last thing she wanted to do after a tough day was walk a few miles around her block or pull out her yoga mat.

 

Though loathed to admit it, Mercedes was right about that. While exercise eluded her in favor of binge watching TV to veg out, she did stick to eating sensible for a bit longer.

 

Salads with light dressing, high protein food and a lack of carbs comprised her diet. It didn’t last the entire month, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. A valiant effort alone doesn’t mean much though.

 

Her cubie was a villain in her mind, subconsciously, at least. Katrina was her height a little south of 5’5”, gorgeous, vivacious, and funny. More importantly she was chubby. Easily as big as Mercedes when she saw her at Christmas after she graduated.

 

While Allie loved Katrina and they vibed well as cubies, she was a notorious snacked. There was never a time when her desk wasn’t adorned with mini chocolates, chips, peanuts or any other goodies she could find. 

 

It was a minefield of empty calories that Allie managed to avoid. For a while, at least, but Katrina was charming and persistent. A classic pusher, and she wanted to inject Allie with pure uncut lard, as far as she was concerned.

 

She consistently told Allie she should have a snack. “You’re always so high strung, have a chocolate and it’ll help take your mind off work...”

 

Her resolve was strong for a few weeks, but a few days of tough customers and she had to admit she deserved to treat herself. Katrina with a grin a wider than her expanding behind, happily gave Allie a bowl full of assorted snacks to keep on her desk, “for emergencies...”

 

Scientifically, an object in motion stays in motion. Allie wasn’t one for science having majored in English and philosophy, but if she was able to have perspective she would call this the inciting incident for her Bildungsroman. The little push she needed to fulfill her destiny.

 

At the moment, there was no perspective and hindsight wouldn’t be an option. All Allie knew was she needed relief from her bad thoughts and chocolate was her drug of choice.

 

It was like that first piece of chocolate after weeks of abstaining opened the flood gates. Slowly, Allie began eating out during her lunch break. A burrito bowl at the Chipotle up the street then a burrito before a standing burrito, taco and chips.

 

Her after work eating habits didn’t help either, she began eating out after particularly stressful days. She thought what would make a shit day better? Ice cream!

 

If she ever wondered why she couldn’t fit into her old size before she started her new job then she could blame the nightly pints of ice cream. 

 

What would truly shock her is this would be the last time she ever fit into these new stretch workout pants.