A Rounding Holiday Part 1.

A rounding holiday Part 1.

GAY WEIGHTGAIN

As quickly as his legs could carry him, Brian hurried with small steps towards the bus that was about to pull up. Running was not his favorite activity. Never been. It was already dark and drizzling, but nevertheless the sidewalk was busy. The lights of his school behind him and the tall office buildings surrounding it reflected in the puddles of rainwater on the ground, which Brian tried to avoid. His new, sporty shoes were nice to look at, but he had recently discovered that they were not waterproof. He clumsily dodged large groups of oncoming people who, just like him, were trying to avoid the puddles and wanted to get home with the same speed. His body was not slender, his movements were not graceful, and the raindrops on his thick glasses obstructed clear vision. It wouldn't be the first time he rudely pushed someone aside. Unintentionally, because Brian was not the type of person who harmed others for his own gain. On the contrary. With a red and sweaty face from exertion, he panted as he climbed the bus and looked for a place to sit. The narrow aisle was not made for his size and many times his body collided with another's. He was used to angry looks, although he preferred to look at friendly faces. Halfway down the bus, near the back doors, there were two spots left, spacious enough to sit down. With a soft groan and clumsy movements, he got the backpack off his broad back, plopped down on the spot by the window and placed his backpack next to him. His heart pounded wildly in his chest and it took a moment for his breathing to calm down enough to supply his body with enough oxygen. The jeans were tight on his thick legs, but Brian had decided not to buy a larger size again. He had already gotten a new coat last week. He could hardly close the old one anymore. After Tobias had pushed hard, Brian had stepped on a scale for the first time in months, perhaps even a year. He weighed 310 pounds. Immediately he’d turned his head and got away from the scale. He was not proud of his weight and serious plans to go on a diet crossed his mind. This time he was really going to do it, if necessary with the help of medication. An appointment with the doctor had already been made. In two weeks, on Monday morning. He also registered online at the local gym a month ago. He had not yet found time to exercise as he was too busy studying software engineering. Or gaming, his favorite hobby. Brian hated the idea of ​​having to exercise. He just didn't like to exercise that much, especially not between those studs you meet in a gym. If only he were more like Tobias. He trained almost every evening. Opposites attract, he had once read. Brian smiled wryly at the thought as the bus drove through busy streets, raindrops on the windows scattering the lights of the city.

Three years ago, Brian had found an apartment not far from a bus stop. It wasn't very big; A bedroom, bathroom and living room/kitchen where the dining table was also used for studying. After all, it was his studies that had lured him to the city in the first place. It had not been easy for Brian, those first three years. Actually it has never been really easy for him. He had always been on the fat side, didn't exercise much and he liked to eat. He weighed 265 pounds when he arrived at the city and he managed to maintain this weight for a long time by eating less than he used to. Sometimes he even ate vegetables. But in the past year he had gained about 50 pounds... Tobias was a sociable, well-spoken boy who had been working for a number of years in the kitchen of Pizza's 'n Donuts, a lunchroom on the other side of the city. He was a qualified chef who liked to try new recipes. Brian had met him by chance, when he was shopping for a new and less tight shirt and ordered a salmon sandwich at the lunchroom. Tobias himself then appeared from the kitchen to serve the sandwich and have a nice conversation. Less than a month later he had moved in with Brian. He still loved to talk about their first meeting and how he saw the most beautiful man he had ever seen walk in from the kitchen. Brian thought it was exaggerated, but Tobias didn't care. With a flourish, Brian threw his backpack on the floor and hung his coat on the coat rack. The white shirt he wore did not hide the curves of his large body. His heavy underbelly hung over the buttons of his tight jeans and his love handles bulged over his wide hips. Two clearly visible breasts moved violently with the movements of his arms. Breathing heavily like a locomotive, Brian moved from the hall to the living room. The smell of delicious food already greeted him. As usual when Tobias got home before him, the dining table was already set and full of steaming pans.

“Hey, honey,” Brian said to the tough-looking boy with short curly, bleached hair and tanned skin, who unsuspectingly sniffed the scent of the contents of one of the pans.

“Hey, beautiful man,” Tobias replied with a broad smile.

He walked over to Brian and gave him a kiss on the cheek with his full lips. It was clear that Tobias regularly went to a gym. His tight shirt showed off well-developed pecs and even some of his abs. Two muscular arms protruded from the short sleeves and with his large hands he rubbed Brian's back and gently squeezed a love handle.

'Flamboyant Brazilian!' Brian thought, laughing as he pushed the hand away. 

Squeezing his love handles made him feel uncomfortable.

*

Tobias looked mischievously over the pans at Brian, who was eating tastefully from the mountain of food on his plate. Tobias had prepared his favorite sausages. Four of them were half-hidden under a mountain of gratinated mashed potatoes drizzled with a thick, flavorful gravy. He had already finished a deep plate of thickened tomato soup with cream and croutons. Smiling broadly, Brian looked back as he broke off a piece of baguette and spread it with herb butter. Rain pattered on the window. A flash of lightning. It thundered in the distance.

“It's going to storm tonight,” Tobias said, after swallowing a slice of cucumber.

His plate was more modest than Brian's. A pile of cooked rice, spicy chicken filet and cucumber slices on a bed of string beans. Brian nodded his head. His mouth was too full to say anything. With difficulty, he swallowed the half-chewed food in one go.

'How was your day?'

A stupid question, because he already knew the answer. Tobias only had good days. Even if they weren't good, they were still good. Sometimes Brian was irritated by his boyfriend's cheerfulness. Nobody has only good days, right? But it was nice that Tobias was never negative. Just like that one time his car broke down and he had to walk home through the pouring rain. He stood at the door with a big smile. Or when he had an argument with his boss and almost got fired. Tobias started looking for other work as if nothing had happened.

“It was a good day,” Tobias replied as expected, after swallowing a piece of chicken.

His eyes followed the movements, as Brian scooped up another heap of mashed potatoes and began to eat it greedily. He seemed pleased that his cooking skills were appreciated. Soon after moving in, he noticed that Brian was a big eater who tried to restrain himself.

They regularly had conversations about Brian's weight and how much he wanted to lose some. His parents even blamed Tobias for his weight gain and he had to hear several times how unhealthy being overweight was. Ultimately, Tobias chose not to be present when Brian's parents came to visit. But he continued to cook delicious food for his boyfriend. As usual, Brian remained seated while Tobias partially cleared the table. He leaned back comfortably, giving his full stomach room to do its work, as Tobias reappeared with dessert. He placed a large bowl on the table with what looked like chocolate pudding.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said mischievously as he returned to his chair and Brian filled his plate with pudding.

Brian looked at him curiously when it turned out that the dessert was not the intended surprise. There was that piercing, mischievous look again.

“I have booked a holiday.”

Brian stood in his bedroom, hesitating. He looked at the clothes in his wardrobe and tried to distinguish between what still fit him and what no longer fit. There were still some brightly colored shirts, but they were from years ago so they could be thrown away. There was an open suitcase on his bed.

“What a fool!” he thought.

“He just booked a holiday without consulting me first.”

Brian knew all too well that Tobias was the one with a job. He was the one who made money. Then he could spend it however he wanted, right? Brian sat down on the edge of his bed. How sweet of Tobias that he wanted to go on holiday with him. Brian often wondered what Tobias saw in him. He was not handsome, not rich, nor very socially skilled. They will leave tomorrow morning. By car. Tobias had heard about a beautiful and nice hotel with large rooms and a swimming pool. Brian didn't want the pool. He didn't like swimming. Then everyone would see his fat body. Brian stood up and put a pair of pants in his suitcase. Tobias could have gotten two weeks off from work, but Brian's studies continued as usual. He thought that was a bit strange, to go on holiday when it wasn't holiday time at all. Tobias insisted he came along. He even got a little angry when Brian asked if they could go on another date. A school holiday suited him better. But Brian hated seeing Tobias angry. He was good for him, so he had decided not to take classes for two weeks. Fortunately, Tobias was okay with taking his study books and notebook with him. Oh, notebook! Brian walked over to the dining room table where he always put his notebook, closed it and carefully placed it on his pants in the suitcase. Tobias had not told them where they were going. That was a surprise. All Brian knew was that it would be about a day's drive. Tobias had already packed his suitcase. Today was his last day of work before the holiday. He worked a late shift. And then he would stop by the gym. He wanted to say goodbye to his friends. Friends who had never understood what he was looking for in such an unhealthy fat guy. Brian had only seen his friends once, very early in their relationship. As he had expected, they were flashy boys from the street. They had looked at him with a dirty look, as if he were a worthless dog turd. He never saw them again afterwards. Tobias himself made sure that Brian and his friends remained separated. He hadn't liked how Brian was being treated either, but apparently he didn't want to drop them. Brian was at peace with it. He didn't want to decide for Tobias who he could hang out with. He was glad that Tobias didn't choose his friends over him.

*

They got up at four o'clock this morning to start the long drive to what Tobias thought was a fantastic hotel. Brian had trouble with it, even though he got to bed early the night before. He preferred to sleep in and was often late to attend early classes at school. Tobias had come home late from the gym. He had had a good time with his 'friends'. Brian hadn't even noticed that he had crawled into bed next to him. He slept too soundly for that. Of course Tobias had woken up before the alarm clock. He had made sandwiches for them to eat in the car. They would have lunch and dinner somewhere along the way. It sounded like a good plan, but the ride so far has been anything but pleasant. They didn't come across many restaurants, so lunch had to be skipped and Tobias took a wrong turn, making the ride much longer than expected. Brian wanted to complete a project for school, but his belly took up so much space that there wasn't enough room on his lap for the notebook. He already thought the car was too small for someone his size. His biggest irritation, however, was his appointment with the doctor to receive weight-loss medication, which could now not go ahead. He wanted to know why Tobias wanted to go on holiday just now, but he didn't answer. For the first time in their relationship he was grumpy himself. Because of his boyfriend's nagging and the long drive. Instead of a day, he had been driving for a day, night and morning. If he had known this, they would have taken the train. In his enthusiasm, he had not checked whether there were trains running nearby when booking the hotel room. The hotel was quite remote, so his thoughts were not realistic. He knew that he saw many things more positively than they actually were and that he was often seen as a funny clown who should not be taken too seriously. But this holiday was real and if the building looked anything like the pictures on the internet, it would be a great holiday. He became even grumpier as the vast countryside around them gave way to dense forests. It couldn't be here, could it? How was he supposed to tell Brian, who had struggled to give up his studies and weight-loss pills, that this vacation wasn't what he expected? Brian also had his doubts. The forest did not look fairytale like and the paved road slowly turned into a muddy sand path. Tobias remained silent as Brian started asking questions. The car creaked because of all the bumps in the road and their suitcases collided with each other and against the roof. For a moment it seemed as if they were stuck in the sand, but the wheels regained their traction and soon they were back on a paved road and leaving the forest. In the distance stood a large building on a hill, surrounded by a huge garden. Behind the hill the sea glittered in the sunlight.

They were both amazed after Tobias parked the car and they got out. A huge building stood before them. It looked like one of those old Victorian manors that you sometimes see in photos or movies. The high walls were made of white painted wood, as were many of the fences and pillars. The roofs looked like gold. They quickly counted the building as being 5 stories high and the tower they saw earlier towered high above them. The tense atmosphere disappeared immediately upon seeing the hotel. “Moonsun,” it said in large letters on the sign, next to an entrance to the vast garden that looked more like a huge park. There were wide walkways between flowerbeds and trees, fountains with benches to rest and bridges over water. The sea could not be seen from the parking lot. Hotel Moonsun was too big to look past. Tobias excitedly pulled the suitcases out of the trunk and hurriedly walked across the parking lot to the entrance of the garden. There he had seen a large door in the building when he drove into the parking lot. That must have been the entrance.

“Wait for me!” gasped Brian, who waddled after Tobias with much shorter steps.

He regretted his mean comments during the ride to the hotel. It looked nice here and it was probably very expensive. With red cheeks from exertion, he kissed Tobias, who was waiting for him with both suitcases in his hands. Tobias was relieved. The building looked even more beautiful than the pictures he had seen. The sun was shining brightly and there was no wind. An ideal moment. He didn't have to make a nasty announcement to Brian and he didn't have to apologize. A dark red carpet led to the large door that Tobias had seen earlier and was indeed the entrance to the hotel. The high and spacious lobby was covered with a soft salmon-colored carpet and decorated with artistic wood carvings, paintings and large pots full of tropical plants. While Tobias checked in with the friendly receptionist, Brian surveyed the people in the lobby. All cheerful-looking men. They wore loose casual clothes, colorful blouses and shorts. Some were in sneakers, others in sandals. They smiled at him, but Brian turned his head shyly to Tobias, who was explained how to find their room. Brian heard about the indoor pool and gym. There was even a cinema and a bowling alley. The outdoor swimming pool was temporarily closed for renovations. Once again Brian stared at those in the lobby. He noticed that many of the men were quite overweight. There were some who were even bigger than him. One was even supported by another man while walking. It was as if he could no longer support his own weight.

“I never want to be that fat,” Brian thought.

Suddenly he was pulled along by Tobias, who wanted to see their room as quickly as possible.

*

“Is this a gay hotel?” Brian asked suspiciously as they stood in the elevator, which was so big it could easily have been a freight elevator.

The curly cast iron railing that served as a door and prevented anyone from falling out of the elevator and the fine decorations in the wood of the walls made him realize that the elevator was intended for people.

“I don't think so,” he replied, looking at the pointer above him that showed which floor they were on.

He had not read on the internet that the hotel was only for gay men, but he had also noticed that there were no women walking around. Maybe the hotel specialized in groups of friends and is gay friendly. Otherwise the website would really say that only gays were allowed. How do you even check if a man is gay? And even if it were a gay hotel, so what? They were gay after all. Brian nodded in understanding. Yet he had no desire to be among gays. He had not had good experiences with large groups of gay men. After coming out, he soon discovered that his size was not accepted by them. He was hardly spoken to in pubs and was made to look like a fool. He also did not agree with conversations about make-up, the latest fashion and 'that handsome boy behind the bar'. Not that he wanted to talk about football and kickboxing, because he wasn't that tough, but something more masculine talk was welcome. With a loud 'ping' the elevator indicated that they had arrived on the third floor. The cast iron railing slid away with a slight rattle and the boys left the elevator, each carrying their own suitcase. Smiling, they looked through the large window overlooking the beach and the sea, after which they started looking for their room. They found it at the end of a long hallway, decorated with small chandeliers and (Brian noticed with surprise) paintings of food, such as a bowl of grapes, a chicken drumstick on a plate, and a roast pig with an apple in its mouth on a table. It made Brian hungry. Tobias waved it away with a smile and opened the thick, wooden bedroom door. They stared wide-eyed into the space beyond. An imposing four-poster bed, complete with dark blue velvet curtains, on a fluffy carpet filled a large part of the room. Just like the bedside tables, wardrobe and desk, it was richly decorated with wood carvings. The walls were emerald green, the curtains and their fringes looked like gold. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling in the center of the room amid beautifully shaped plasterwork.

“How expensive is this man?” Brian asked, after which he kissed Tobias on the cheek again.

Tobias remained silent. This was much nicer than he expected. And it wasn't that expensive at all.

“I'm going to take a shower,” Tobias said, after he had put his suitcase in a corner of the room.

Brian stared out the window. Unfortunately no view over the sea, but over the golden roof of a large space diagonally below them. A weathercock turned smoothly in the direction of the wind. A little further on was a large lake where swans swam, surrounded by benches. It formed the center of the garden.

“Wow, come and have a look!” came the voice from the bathroom.

Brian turned away from the window and looked blissfully into the room, until his gaze lingered over the bed, on a painting hanging on the wall. Like all the other paintings he had seen, this one looked very old. It was a painting of a black young man staring sadly at the bed. He appeared to be standing in a field, in front of a wide staircase leading to the entrance of a large building. Brian felt uneasy about the painting and walked over to Tobias. The bathroom was a large room with a lot of woodwork. The floor looked like marble and the tiles on the walls were like a mosaic showing flowers in warm colors. Above the wooden double sink hung a large mirror, wedged between ironwork in the shape of a fish. Between two wooden walls was a shower, spacious enough for four people, with two shower heads on the ceiling and two shower heads for hand use. The bath was the size of a jacuzzi, also placed between wooden elements, where there was a small staircase to get into it. Ornate lamps on the ceiling provided light and a small window decorated with stained glass provided a view of the woods.

“Wow,” was all Brian could say.

Laughing, he looked at Tobias, who walked naked to the shower, not hiding his thick member, which moved violently with his legs. He flexed his trained pecs and winked at Brian. With a movement of his head he gestured for Brian to come with him. The appearance of the hotel had made up for a lot. Brian no longer worried about school or going to the doctor. So far everything looked like fun. While Tobias was already in the shower, Brian hurriedly took off his clothes. After the awkward and tense car ride, he could use a hot shower. With a rough movement he pulled his shirt over his head and threw it on the bed. With one hand he held up his sagging underbelly so he could undo the buttons on his jeans. This went a little less smoothly than the shirt, but it worked. His whole body moved violently as he took off his shoes, followed by his pants. He farted, but Tobias didn't care. He was used to it. He even farted himself sometimes. It wasn't long before Brian also appeared naked in the bathroom. His dick was much smaller than Tobias's, half hidden in his fat pad and hidden behind his underbelly. He joined his boyfriend and kissed him on the lips.

“Thanks, honey,” he said, rubbing Tobias' bulbous, toned ass.

The warm water slid over his plump body as Tobias grabbed him tightly and gently bit on a large, pink nipple.

*

Tobias lay lazily on the bed, while Brian tried to close a pair of jeans that were slightly too tight.

“I'm really getting too fat, man,” he said, when the pants were closed and he carefully sat down next to Tobias on the edge of the bed, for fear that the button would pop off his pants. Tobias scrambled to get up, lifted Brian's shirt slightly and kissed the side of his belly.

'Be normal. You're beautiful like this,' he said.

In his mind, Brian stared at the painting with the black boy again. What was he supposed to do? He knew he had to lose weight for his health. But he also knew that Tobias didn't agree with that at all. He would never become a slender guy, but a few pounds... that would certainly improve his mobility. And it would become easier to buy clothes. XXL, he had already outgrown that and many clothing stores did not sell clothes that were even larger.

“Do you also think that is a creepy painting?” he suddenly asked.

Tobias looked up and looked at the dark boy, who looked back sadly. Tembe, son of Roda - 1752 he saw carved in the dark, wooden frame under the painting. It didn't seem to matter much to him. A painting was just a drawing. It doesn't do anything else, was his simple thought about it. Brian wanted to get it off the wall, but Tobias stopped him. He would protect him at night, when they would be in bed together. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Tobias shot up and jumped off the bed, while Brian looked at the door in shock. Could they have done something wrong? Standing in front of the door was a man in his late thirties, maybe early forties. His dark blond hair was combed straight back and with a cheerful smile he looked kindly at Tobias, then past him at Brian. He was wearing a black, smart suit and for a moment it seemed as if he was bowing slightly. 

'Is everything to your satisfaction, gentlemen?' he asked.

Tobias watched him as he stood with his body in front of the doorway so that the man could not enter. He nodded and turned his head to Brian, who was still sitting on the bed.

'Sure. Everything is fine here.”

“Good,” said the man.

He put his hands behind his back, stood up majestically and cleared his throat.

“Let me introduce myself,” he began.

“My name is Orlando. Orlando Lucus Tybalt Debois-Jumelet… But just call me Orlando. I am your butler.”

Tobias and Brian looked at each other and had the same thought. A butler? That sounded really cool.

“A butler?” Tobias repeated.

Orlando nodded.

“Or personal assistant, whatever you want to call it. I am here to make your stay pleasant and can help you with any questions or special wishes. Now I have come to tell you that lunch will be served any time and I would like to escort you to the lunch room.”

Tobias scratched his head. He had not expected this and wondered if he had missed something when booking on the internet. Brian got up from the bed and followed Tobias and Orlando down the long hallway to the elevator.

“Not everyone has a personal butler, I see,” Tobias suddenly said, after noticing that Orlando was not taking any other guests with him and they were the only ones in the elevator.

He had spent the entire walk wondering where he had indicated he wanted a butler. Not that he minded (Orlando made him feel very special), but that butler certainly wasn't free. This situation reminded him of the moment he arrived in the city from Brazil and thought he was getting a free bike at the airport. That mistake cost him $800. Or that time he thought he had won a free ice cream, yet he had to pay for that as well.

“That's right,” Orlando replied.

'Not everyone gets a butler. “You booked me during the reservation.”

Confused, Tobias looked from the floor indicator in the elevator door to the butler, then to Brian… and back to the butler.

“I can't imagine that…”

Orlando smiled and looked at Brian, who was watching Tobias with a worried expression. He also understood that if the butler was not booked, a fairly high bill would probably follow.

“Gentlemen, don't worry,” Orlando said with a wink.

'I assure you both that the reservation documents we have received clearly state that the butler has been booked.

“So I won't receive another bill?” Tobias stammered.

Orlando shook his head.

“No bill, I'm sure.”

With a loud 'ping' the lift stopped lowering and the cast iron gate slid open. Tobias put an arm around Brian's shoulder and together they followed Orlando through a series of hallways. He had arranged that well. Brian seemed to like it too, a butler, because he smiled widely.

“You’re mad,” he said softly to Tobias.

'That you arranged all this for me, man! I really feel very special. Thank you.'

Tobias remained silent. Surely he knew he hadn't booked a butler. He hadn't seen the option and even if he had, he still couldn't afford it. Orlando paused for a moment before a grand opening.

“The lunchroom,” he said.

'Follow me'.

Brian looked at the two solid wooden, open swinging doors that provided access to the lunch room. They were decorated with shiny, golden elements and a beautiful pattern was incorporated into the windows of the doors. The floor of the large room was tiled black and white like a chessboard. Large windows brought in lots of light and behind a large wooden counter was the kitchen, full of steaming pans and hard-working chefs. Waiters hurriedly brought trays of freshly prepared food to dozens of round tables set up in front of the windows. Orlando walked to a table on a dais, near a large window that gave a beautiful view of the ocean.

“I wish you a very tasty lunch,” he said.

“If you need me, please use number 1 on your room telephone, or ask for me at reception.”

He pushed back the chairs for Brian and Tobias and disappeared from the lunch room with stately steps.

*

Brian and Tobias sat opposite each other on the white, cast-iron chairs covered with dark red cushions. They gazed excitedly at the seagulls in the sky above the ocean. A personal butler, that was very luxurious. So far the holiday has been very good. A beautiful hotel, a beautiful room and a beautiful lunch room. The round table between them, also made of white iron with many curly ornaments and a stone mosaic in pastel colors as a top, was quite large. All the tables in the room were the same size and many were filled with plates and bowls full of colorful dishes. Brian looked for the lunch menu, but it was nowhere to be found. There were also no flowers or lamps on the table. Just as Brian caught the attention of Tobias, who was still enjoying the view outside, a female server walked up to their table carrying a tray full of small, shiny bowls. Without saying anything, but with a friendly face, she placed the bowls on the table between Brian and Tobias and walked away. Curious, the boys looked into the bowls and saw what looked like jam in different colors. Tobias smelled it. Indeed, jam… and scrambled eggs… and whipped cream. Another waiter appeared with a basket full of assorted freshly baked pastries and a plate full of pancakes. A third brought a bowl full of different types of cheese and a bowl full of different types of meat. Brian and Tobias looked at each other again in amazement. What was this? Within a few minutes the round table was full of lunch dishes. A warm ham had been brought, from which the pieces still had to be cut, and a jar of honey. Potato wedges, hot sausages and different types of fish. Near Tobias was a large bowl of yogurt and smaller bowls of pieces of fruit. This way of serving lunch was very special. They expected a buffet, not that every table would be served like a buffet. Brian hurriedly started making sandwiches and eating them. The long car ride had made him hungry and he had eaten little. Tobias started more slowly with the yoghurt and fruit. Then a sandwich with chicken filet. He was hungry too. While Brian enjoyed his third pancake, alternating with thick slices of ham, Tobias looked at the people in the room. All men indeed, his boyfriend had seen that clearly. He hadn't even noticed. Actually, it didn't matter to him, man or woman, he liked to chat with both. Most of those who were present were older than him, slim build, gray or balding and not much to look at. Some had quite a belly under their shirt or blouse. That was a bit more interesting. There were a few boys his age who also spent a lot of time at the gym, judging by their tight shirts that were nearly ripping due to their bloated muscles. There was a guy a few tables away in a tank top, whose arms bulged so much while using the fork and knife that he surely couldn't fit a sleeve over it. But the most interesting thing was that boy on the other side of the room.

“Have you had enough yet?” Brian asked with his mouth full of smoked salmon and shrimp.

“This is so nice.”

He would never say it out loud so as not to offend Tobias, but he had never eaten such a good meal. Even a sandwich with jam tasted fantastic. The taste of the fruit was so sweet and fresh that it seemed as if the chefs had made it themselves from freshly picked fruits. Tobias didn't respond. He was too busy peeking at that interesting big boy across the room to hear Brian. The big boy had his back to him and he hadn't seen Tobias. The peeking quickly turned into staring, as several men in the room did. What Tobias saw was a back so wide that it hid the entire table the boy was sitting at and it was so thick that his head seemed to disappear into it. He had short, black hair, but his neck and even his ears seemed sunken into his body. The gray sweater he was wearing had reached its maximum stretch and his arms rested briefly after each bite on his love handles, which seemed to be tables themselves. But the most impressive thing was the size of his ass. The chair he was sitting on almost disappeared and even if there had been two more chairs next to it, his buttocks would still bulge over it. The boy regularly pulled down his sweatshirt to cover his high and deep butt crack, but the fabric was too short and too tight around the rest of his body. Brian, who had noticed that his boyfriend was no longer present in his thoughts, followed his gaze.

'My God...!' he thought.

“I'll die of cardiac arrest before I'm even half as fat.”

He looked at Tobias jealously and put another spoonful of pudding in his mouth. Then another bite. Tobias did not realize that he was also being watched and was shocked when a blob of pudding flew against his cheek.

“Do you like him or something?” Brian asked angrily, his mouth full of pudding.

Smacking it, he took another big bite. Of course, Tobias was not supposed to return home with another boy. That was his biggest fear. That Tobias would leave him for someone else. That he found someone better than him.

“No, of course not!” Tobias snapped, wiping the pudding from his cheek with a napkin.

'Look at that man, that's not normal! It looks like an elephant, or a hippo or something.'

Brian said nothing, and cut another piece of the ham. He didn't trust Tobias. That look in his eyes... Apparently he liked fat boys, judging by his own size, and somehow he thought Tobias was okay with wanting to try something more extreme. Brian looked up when one of the waiters took away the now empty bowls with a friendly smile. Not much later, filled bowls arrived.

*

Brian continued to eat, while Tobias occasionally glanced at that enormous boy with a side eye. Sometimes, as the boy bent over to take a bite from his plate, he could look past the fat body to see the burly man he was sitting with at the table, who wore a brightly colored blouse. Even in the lunch room he wore sunglasses.

“What a smooth-talker,” Tobias thought, when the man laughed broadly again at what seemed to be a comment he himself had made.

Unnaturally white teeth became visible. The boy didn't seem to pay any attention. He was too busy eating. Tobias looked at Brian, who was eating warm, freshly delivered pancakes with syrup. A bowl with sausage slices and a bowl with cheese cubes were empty again. He had never seen Brian eat so much before. He himself took a small puff pastry cake, covered with chocolate and decorated with small strawberries. He didn't eat sweets very often, but because of all the well-filled tables and people eating, he couldn't resist the pastry that was on a plate in front of him. He immediately agreed with himself to go jogging along the beach. And then to the gym. The hotel had a spacious and well-equipped gym, he had seen on the internet. Then Brian had time to work on his school projects. 

“Are you hungry, honey?” he asked, after digging a strawberry out of the pastry.

Brian nodded in agreement. The last time he ate that much was at an all-you-can-eat in town on his now deceased brother's birthday, the night before his exams started. His father then decided that he had to stop eating because he was afraid that his son would explode. Brian needed help getting to the car that evening. In the days that followed, he was so ashamed of his eating behavior that he failed several exams. He hadn’t met Tobias then, he didn't come until a year later.

“More!” it suddenly sounded through the room.

Brian and Tobias looked up. It was that huge boy, who was impatiently banging his fists on the table, attracting the attention of everyone present. It didn't seem to bother him as he continued pounding. Only when the empty dishes on the table in front of him were replaced by full ones did he stop. Immediately he started eating again. The man opposite him was no longer laughing. He placed the sunglasses on top of his head and watched in shock as the food was being devoured. Just as shocked, Tobias looked at the empty bowls in front of Brian, who was also eating with a red and sweaty head. Unseen, he had already undone the buttons of his pants. With a big bite, the last bit of scrambled eggs disappeared into his mouth with a piece of bacon, which he quickly swallowed. Groaning, he leaned over to scoop up more scrambled eggs, when suddenly a deep rumbling sound came from his swollen belly and he leaned back with a pained expression.

“I don't feel so good,” he said suddenly.

Tobias gently rubbed Brian's shirt, which was stretched tight around his body. He had placed his chair next to Brian and was looking wide-eyed at the empty dishes on the table. Brian had done his best. Never before had he seen him eat so much.

“I'm bursting!” Brian said softly, between heavy breaths.

“Help me, I can't breathe!”

He agreed with Tobias' idea of ​​going back to the room. There he could lie comfortably on the soft bed while the food was being digested. Fortunately, many guests had already left the lunch room, because it was an embarrassment to get Brian out of the chair. He had eaten so much that he could barely get up. His overfull stomach pressed against his lungs and his intestines. His heart was racing and his legs were buckling under the extra weight. Supported by Tobias, he walked through the room step by step. He supported his blubbery belly with his hands, while his face did not hide the intense pain.

“I can't go anymore,” Brian whimpered when they were halfway across the room.

“I'm exploding!”

After standing still for a few seconds, Tobias urged him to continue walking. A waiter rushed over and offered help, but Brian was too embarrassed by the situation that he declined the help. Only Tobias was allowed to help him and he promised himself that if he survived this, he would never eat so much again. As he passed, Tobias looked again at the huge boy. He was eating like his life depended on it. A waiter again placed several full dishes on the table in front of him. Tobias saw that the boy was not much older than he was. His fat face was also red and sweaty, his chin hidden behind his lumpy breasts. The man in front of him was playing on his phone. Maybe he couldn't stand the boy's eating behavior anymore. Probably not, because when they left the room, Tobias just saw him shove two sausages into the boy's mouth with a fork.

“Shouldn't you be burping or something,” Tobias asked, when Brian leaned forward in pain at the elevator.

“Then maybe some pressure will be released from your stomach.”

But Brian knew that if he burped, some of the meal would come out of his mouth too. He shook his head and stumbled into the elevator, still supported by Tobias. The cast iron gate closed and the elevator went up. Suddenly there was a loud sputtering sound and the air like a freshly churned turd surrounded him.

“You pervert!” Tobias shouted and started laughing knowing Brian just farted.

Brian laughed along cautiously, afraid of feeling pain or, worse, that his stomach would burst. They were both happy when the elevator doors opened again and they could leave the stench. They slowly stumbled down the long hallway to their room. Tobias was strong, but he could not support this weight for long. He helped Brian take off his shirt. With his jeans still on, he now lay on the bed, sighing and groaning, like a bloated whale about to burst and trying to hold his stomach together with both hands.

*

Brian lay on the bed whimpering in pain. His stomach continued to rumble like African drums in the distance and the air in the room had filled with the unappetizing odor of body gasses. Tobias had expressed his concerns. Brian never complained about a full belly, but then again he had never eaten that much before. He didn't want Tobias to call a doctor, as he had indicated. He couldn't have said more because of the pain. Tobias looked at his boyfriend from a chair for a moment and then walked to the telephone. He didn't want to risk seeing his boyfriend die. He called the reception with number 1, as Orlando the butler had instructed, and a very friendly woman answered the line. She did not want to call a doctor, but she would immediately send someone to the room to assess the situation. Less than five minutes later there was a knock on the door. It was Orlando himself, who entered the room with his cheerful smile. He had a tray with him, which he held stately in front of him with one hand. He kept his other hand behind his back. On the tray was a glass of water and two small green pills.

“Gentlemen,” he began, walking to the window and opening it to air the room.

“I understood there is an emergency here.”

Before Tobias could say anything, Orlando walked over to the swollen Brian on the bed. He leaned over and looked at Brian's face.

“A classic case of overeating,” he laughed.

“Nothing serious, more guests are affected by this.”

Brian's stomach began to rumble loudly, and he felt his intestines swell, but he didn't dare fart with Orlando there.

“I'm very ashamed,” he whimpered as he struggled to control the fart.

His hands held his stomach even tighter and his face turned red.

“It's never good to be ashamed of yourself, young man,” Orlando replied in a serious tone.

Holding up the tray, he placed his other hand on Brian's stomach and pressed gently. A loud fart that was certainly audible in the hallway left his body. Tobias laughed at Orlando's cool attitude, who had apparently experienced situations like this before.

“Here, take this,” the butler said, pushing the two green pills into Brian's mouth and handing him the glass of water to swallow.

“Swallow it, I'm not trying to poison you here.”

Brian swallowed the pills with hesitation. Amazingly quickly, the pain in his stomach subsided, but the ceiling above him seemed to rotate. He closed his eyes and barely felt another fart finding its way out. As Brian slowly fell asleep, Orlando explained to Tobias that he had given him sleeping pills, a standard procedure for guests who had eaten so much that they were experiencing stomach upset. He didn't have to worry, before nightfall Brian would be awake again. He advised Tobias to do something for himself this afternoon. Horse riding on the beach, for example, or a long walk in the gardens. The gym was an excellent choice according to Orlando. Tobias quickly took his sportswear from his suitcase and followed the butler to the gym.

The gym was indeed large and well equipped. It was almost better than the gym in town, where Tobias went almost every day. He could change in a large, tiled room, or in one of the wooden changing cubicles, the swinging doors of which were painted in warm colors and had a slightly African look. The wellness center could also be entered from the changing room, but Tobias chose to exercise. He was still a little worried about Brian and wanted to clear his mind for a moment. Dressed in baggy sweatpants and a tight tank top, he ran on the treadmill. The images on the television on the ceiling above him left him cold. He enjoyed the warm rays of sunshine on his face and the view that one of the large windows offered him. Below him lay the large garden. Men took a walk, others sat on a bench. It was quite busy, for a hotel gym. Strong men pulled weights, while slimmer men mainly focused on cardio equipment. Fortunately, it wasn't just older men who trained there. Tobias had bad experiences with older audiences in a gym. Of those men who think they are still 18, while they are already over 50. He knew he wasn't ugly and it wouldn't be the first time some pervert had pinched his ass just because it was kind of…bulging. Yes, old gays. When Tobias had first arrived in the city, he had imagined life there differently. Finding work was not easy and he had to sell his body several times to get money. He wasn't proud of it and didn't like to talk about it. Not even with Brian. Luckily, the half hour was over and the treadmill started to slow down. Tobias was not a fan of cardio training. He found it boring, but necessary to keep his fat burning going. Then you could see his muscles better, was the thinking. In the past, he always wanted to be the slimmer, but nowadays the thought of a slightly bigger body also made him feel excited. He was attracted to a fat body, but still opted for thicker muscles himself. Or thick muscles with a layer of fat over them, like a rugby player or wrestler. When the treadmill was completely turned off, he grabbed his towel from the floor and drank some water from his water bottle, after which he left the cardio section for the strength training equipment. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey yo… how did you get that big ass,” came a voice from behind him.

Tobias turned and looked into the face of the very muscular guy he had seen in the lunch room. He was wearing another tank top, which was tight around his upper body, but loose around his waist. His arms seemed even fatter up close than they had looked in the room. 

“Er… genes,” Tobias stammered. 

'I don't do heavy exercises to make it grow. A bit of squatting, yes.'

The heavily muscular boy seemed interested in his squat techniques and together they walked to a barbell in a corner of the gym, where Tobias demonstrated his technique. The boy introduced himself as Robin and showed Tobias his training schedule.

*

Brian slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Where was he? What had happened? In the distance he heard splashing water. He looked to the left, at the large window. An orange glow showed that the sun was setting. He looked to the right. The painted black boy looked back sadly. Oh yes, the hotel. And ate too much. He carefully got up and sat on the edge of the bed. Strange, his stomach no longer felt full at all. Fortunately the pain was also gone. What time was it? How long had he been asleep? Tobias' sports clothes were hanging over the chair. He was now standing in the shower. Brian yawned loudly and stretched his arms above his head. His breasts were again rippling violently with the arm movements. With a sigh he stood up and tried to button his pants again. It worked, except for the top button. He didn't feel like putting on another pair of pants, so he let his bare stomach hang over his crotch again. No one had seen that he couldn't close a button. Tobias was indeed in the shower. He had just finished when Brian came into the bathroom to put gel in his hair. 

“Are you okay?” Tobias asked cheerfully, happy to see his friend awake. 

“You slept soundly, man.”

He left the shower, gave Brian a big hug and a kiss on the mouth. Brian still needed some time to wake up. Those pills could probably put an elephant to sleep.

“You're shaking all over,” Brian said after the hug, walking to a sink. 

Tobias talked about the gym, his meeting with Robin and the extremely tough training they had endured together. He was quite enthusiastic about it and it had confirmed his choice to get bigger muscles. He would discuss it with Brian later, but he thought it would be better to wait for another time. When Brian hadn't just woken up from his artificial sleep and would hopefully understand him better. Slowly because of his tired muscles, Tobias put on clothes, while Brian tried to wash the sleep from his face with water. It felt dull in his head, as if there were cotton wool in it. There was a knock on the door. It was Orlando, who was also happy to see Brian awake. When asked what kind of pills he had given him, he did not answer. Instead, he asked if Brian had slept well and if his stomach was still bothering him as he straightened the bedding and closed the curtains. It was almost evening and he wanted to get the room tidy for the night, and dinner was being served.

“Food again?” thought Brian, who had missed a large part of the day. 

Tobias would like some food. He was hungry from the hard training and cheerful as ever followed Orlando to the elevator. Brian enjoyed seeing his boyfriend this happy and free. Tobias was not one for a decent and boring life, but Brian was afraid that he could not offer him more than that.

The cotton wool slowly disappeared from his head and in the elevator he asked why Orlando was accompanying them. They had already eaten in the hall earlier and knew the way. Orlando shook his head. It turned out that dinner was served in a different room than lunch. He led the way through the lobby and through wide corridors. Following the butler around the hotel was an adventure in itself. Every hallway was full of paintings, old-looking tables and benches, large windows that gave a beautiful view of the landscape outside and the setting sun. Some hallways were covered with floral wallpaper, others in a deep, solid color. They were all lit by rows of small chandeliers and candlesticks against the walls. A smell of spices and grilled meat greeted them as they walked through a wide hallway, decorated with wooden tables and a large china cabinet, leading to a wide doorway. The space behind it was larger than the lunch room and darker in design and exuded a classic atmosphere. Heavy wooden tables rested on soft rugs on a shiny wooden floor. The seats seemed to be covered in dark leather. Thick, gold-finished pillars supported the high ceiling, decorated with plasterwork in all kinds of round shapes. Colored glass on the chandeliers gave a cheerful light. The curtains on the high windows were already closed and a pianist provided the background music. Opposite the pianist was a bar in the same classic style as the dining room. Completely made of dark wood and the bar stools had dark leather cushions. Three bartenders were ready to pour drinks. 

“We are presenting dinner buffet style,” Orlando said as they walked past the pianist.

He gestured to the four long tables in the center of the room, separated by O-shaped tables in between. There were chefs baking, roasting and grilling hot dishes, while cold dishes were ready on the other tables. There was another table a little further away. “Salad bar” was written on the wooden sign hanging above it. On the other side, in a deep alcove at the front, stood a large stone fountain with brown water coming out of it. 

“The dessert corner,” Orlando whispered when he saw two confused looks.

“That's our chocolate fountain.”

He walked to a table and once again pushed back the two chairs that were next to it. 

'I wish you both a pleasant continuation. Oh, and before I forget, tomorrow at three o'clock there's a barbecue at the indoor pool.”

He nodded to Brian, turned and walked away in a stately manner.

“What kind of shitty comment was that?” Brian asked.

'Did you see the way he looked at me? As if he wanted to tell me to stop eating so much!'

Tobias didn't understand why his friend was so concerned. As if the butler is interested in how much the guests eat. And judging by the size of several guests, they were used to big eaters here. He nodded to Robin, who had just appeared with two other boys who were also muscular, but not nearly as big as him. 

“Maybe he meant that you should eat less for lunch, so that you still have room in your stomach for the barbecue.”

Brian was silent. Maybe Tobias was right. Maybe he shouldn't act like that. But he wouldn't swim anyway. If only Tobias wouldn't encourage him to go to the pool with him.

*

Brian slowly walked past the table again, carefully examining the dishes on it. Glasses of shrimp cocktail, half hidden in a tall silver bowl full of ice. Around it were bowls of fresh green lettuce and spinach leaves, which created a beautiful whole. There were deviled eggs, tomato and potato salads, pieces of melon rolled in ham, beetroot roses, exotic fruits and much more. The starters, that's what Brian called the table. At one end were five steaming pots filled with different types of soup. Croutons, fried onions, cream to put in the soup and 6 different types of sandwiches. Brian placed another glass of shrimp cocktail on his plate, and 3 deviled eggs. Tobias stood a table away and hurriedly read the signs for the dozens of warming containers that were there. Potato gratin, potato slices, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes… Pizza slices, lasagna… the side dishes, he knew. The table further away, on the other side of the live cooking, was the fish table and the fourth table had all kinds of meat in thick sauces, he had already seen. On his plate was a mountain of white rice and pieces of chicken in curry sauce. Curious, he walked to the O-shaped tables. There were many more types of meat and fish, freshly fried. Large shrimps, boar… He was amazed. He had never seen so much food before and there weren't even that many people dining. He ordered a tournedos and a chicken fillet. Brian also noticed that the building, despite its size, did not have an excessive number of rooms. Much of the space was used for recreation and catering facilities, such as the lunch and dinner room. With a smile he looked at the roast pig with an apple in his mouth that adorned the meat table. It reminded him of the painting he had seen earlier. It felt a bit medieval. They both enjoyed their meal at their table. The tournedos was cooked perfectly and the chicken breast was tender. Drinks were fetched for them at the bar and as the evening progressed Brian switched from cola to white wine. He did not drink much, but when he did drink it was sweet wine. 

“Would you like anything?” asked Tobias, when Brian had finished his fifth plate. 

Brian sighed. He had certainly not forgotten his lunch adventure, but the food was delicious and he had already undone some more buttons of his jeans.

“I can hardly get out of my chair anymore, man,” he said softly, but with a smile.

He couldn't resist the temptation to eat a little more. He had seen some dishes that he wanted to taste. 

“What do you want?” Tobias asked.

“Then I'll go get it for you.”

Brian hesitated. If Tobias went to get him food, then where would it end? However, Tobias had already gotten up. 

“If you don't say anything, I'll just bring something,” he said, as he prepared to walk over. 

Brian quickly gave him a small order.

Tobias had returned with a plate full of cakes, pudding and a large piece of ice cream cake. Brian looked at it beaming. It was the third plate that Tobias had gotten and it was full again. He didn't need desserts, but Tobias still wanted to take a look in the desert corner. He himself felt like eating fruit covered in chocolate from the fountain, which he was enjoying. This day he could let himself go, Brian had agreed with himself. From tomorrow on he will be careful and eat normal portions. And maybe even go to the gym with Tobias. Then he could also meet that Robin that Tobias had told about. He had seen them talking together for a moment, near the table with the fish dishes. To be fair, Robin didn't have an ugly face, but there was no need for such a wide body. With difficulty he finished the pudding, with even more difficulty the ice cream cake. It was all delicious. Maybe Tobias could ask for some recipes. No… then he would eat that much again at home. For a moment he thought of his father. What would he say if he saw his son going on a rampage like that? Tobias had finished his fruits in chocolate sauce and was looking around the room. Most people were already gone. He watched as Robin patted his stomach and leaned back easily. He had probably eaten too much too. You did that quite easily here. The boys he was with laughed and gently patted his stomach as well. Tobias thought it was a strange sight. Could Robin be gay too or something? Those two boys were still moving smoothly. Apparently they hadn't eaten that much. With a loud sigh, Brian placed the spoon on his plate. He had eaten everything. Somehow he was quite proud of himself.

“You ate well again,” said Tobias.

'I didn't even know you could eat that much. You never do it at home.'

Brian also patted his overfull, flabby belly. The shirt he was wearing was tight around his body and he wondered if Tobias would help him get to the room again. Then he realized that Tobias' comment was sarcastic. Was he offended? Because the food here was better than his? Brian wanted to say something back, but he was so full of food that it was difficult to breathe.

“Do you remember that really fat guy from lunch?” Tobias said suddenly, as he peered around the room again. 

“I haven't seen him at all.”

While Robin hung with his arms wide in his chair, the boys had opened the buttons of his tight-fitting blouse, so that a hard mountain of flesh now bulged out. Tobias looked at it. Apparently Brian wasn't the only one who could really stuff himself with food. Robin's appearance made quite an impression, as the few guests in the room looked at him. The huge boy Tobias was looking for was not in the room. Not even behind one of the pillars. Shame. He would have liked to see him eat dinner. 

“Can you help me again?” Brian stammered, trying to get out of his chair uncomfortably. 

He clearly hadn't learned a lesson from the situation after lunch.

*

Groaning, Brian walked through the dining room, supported by Tobias. His hands held his swollen belly firmly again. Some guests still present laughed. They had also seen him walking with such difficulty after lunch. 

“Don't care about them, honey,” Tobias said. 

“You had a nice meal, there's nothing wrong with that.”

He gave Brian a kiss on the cheek, who burped softly and sighed. In the hallway they were slowly overtaken by Robin, who tried to walk upright, but was also supported by his friends. 

“My god, that was so good,” he smiled. 

“I see your friend enjoyed it too.”

He winked at Brian, who staggered along, panting. There was a loud fart. Robin's friends laughed. 

“Sorry, I needed some pressure off my body,” Robin said, as he and his friends continued walking towards the lobby. A little later, when Brian and Tobias were also walking through the lobby, Brian gestured for them to sit down on one of the armchairs. He had a strange feeling in his intestines, as if they were being crushed by his heavy stomach, or as if the digested dinner could not pass through properly. Or both. He contorted his body, as if that would help digest the food faster. 

“Shall I get Orlando?” asked Tobias, who sat down opposite him. 

'Maybe he still has one of those pills. At least you can sleep well now.'

Brian nodded, rubbing his stomach again. 

Tobias walked to the reception and waited until the receptionist had finished with the guest in front of him. 

“Is Orlando around?” he asked. 

“He’s in his room,” the receptionist replied.

"He's probably already asleep." Orlando always goes to bed early, he likes to be awake on time, well before the guests wake up. To prepare everything for the new day.' 

Tobias nodded understandably and wanted to walk back to Brian, but apparently the receptionist had noticed the worried look on his face.

“Is something serious?” she asked. 

Tobias said that his friend had eaten a lot again and that Orlando gave him pills that afternoon that put him to sleep. 

“The blue one, or the green one?” the receptionist asked quietly, as if no one should hear what they were talking about. 

'The green.'

The receptionist opened a drawer and took out a white pill box. Hidden behind the counter she took out two green pills and gave them to Tobias. With a finger to her mouth she gestured for him to be quiet about it. Tobias nervously walked back to Brian. What kind of pills are these if they weren't allowed to be talked about? Was it illegal or something? Just as he had helped Brian up again, a loud shout suddenly sounded. 

'Where is he! What did you do to him?” 

A man walked from the hotel entrance to the reception. He shouted loudly and waved his arms. He seemed panicked. Or evil.

“Where is he?” he shouted again.

The receptionist who had just helped Tobias stood up and tried to calm the man down. Some men in the same clothes as Orlando and, according to Tobias, must have been butlers, came running and held the man tightly while they pulled him away from the reception, towards the exit. Tobias had recognized the man. He was the one sitting across the table from the huge fat boy. The one with the sunglasses and unnaturally white teeth. 

“He's dead!” he heard the man shout as he disappeared through the exit. 

'You destroyed him. I heard his stomach pop as he screamed for help. My poor boy.”

The man disappeared and Tobias helped Brian to their, where he gave him the pills. Brian immediately fell asleep, but Tobias thought about the man. Would it really? Oh no.

gonna need another set of hands to help with this growing gut

Ok, first personal goals are set

I love the way fat feels, how heavy it all is and how much I can make it jiggle and sway like jello 😳💦

Looking forward to having hundreds more lbs worth of this wonderful feeling packed onto my overstuffed, blubber-bound body. I yearn for ever increasing obesity and hedonism 🥵

All rise

The side job

GAY WEIGHTGAIN

With the toothbrush still in his mouth, Max looked over the light pink flesh of his stomach at the digital numbers on his scale. 276 pounds. He frowned and turned back to the sink. His moobs moved violently while brushing his teeth and washing his armpits with a bar of soap. In the mirror above the sink he examined the scratch on the side of his left breast. He didn't know it was there and had just seen it by chance. It must have happened during his sleep, because he had not worn any outer clothing today and he had not encountered anyone on the way to the bathroom who had scratched him without being noticed. It often happened that he suddenly had a scratch or a small wound, so he didn't pay too much attention to it. He quickly washed the underside of his breasts and stomach, then pulled up his jeans and buttoned them. It wasn't as tight as the last time he wore it. He even had to buy a belt to keep his pants from falling down. Clothes, he didn't care about them at all. He wasn't like the popular boys at school, who always wore the most expensive clothes to impress the girls. 

He would rather spend what little money he had at the Bacon Factory, a fast food joint a ten-minute walk from his room. He thought for a moment to make sure he hadn't made a mistake. Today he had a day off. Yes, there were no classes today and he had agreed with himself to look for a part-time job. His mother's new boyfriend had been difficult from the start about her contribution to his studies and home. Last week she announced that she would partially stop making that contribution. She would continue to fund his studies, because that was important for his future. He would be responsible for the living space himself from next month. Nice, such a mother. If only she had some more guts, she would go against that friend of hers with his strange comments and ideas. Max hadn't liked him from the start, that flashy Judo teacher. That he will bore his own children. But they have not had contact with him for some time. That will also have its reasons. He could no longer ask his father for help. He had died suddenly of cardiac arrest five years ago. As Max opened the gel jar, there was a loud knock on the door.

“Will it take long?” came a catty female voice. 

'You don't live here alone. I have to join too!'

It was Clarissa, he recognized the voice. She was often the one to get up first. Not only because she temporarily had the house including the bathroom to herself, but also because her lessons started early almost every day. She was the type of student who didn't want to miss a single class and would rather be there an hour early than 5 minutes late. She was also the least friendly of his housemates, he thought. Cold and hard and incredibly meddlesome. Before she left the house, she assigned tasks she made up herself and left them on pieces of paper on the kitchen table, even though she herself was always too busy with her studies to help with those tasks. Without contradicting her, Max opened the bathroom door and a thin, young woman with dull brown hair stepped in. She smelled strange as always and her clothes seemed to be from a time long gone. Clarissa was the 'very eco responsible' type, complete with veganism and a hard fight against animal suffering. Max quickly put a dollop of gel in his blond hair and shook it into shape with his hands. Yes, this is fine. He never spent much time on his hair. They never stayed in place the way he wanted them to and now that Clarissa was there he wanted to leave the bathroom as quickly as possible. 

“Can you hold that belly for a moment?” she said, looking at his body with a dirty look on her face. 

She had never hidden her disappreciation of a fat body and tried to walk behind Max to get her smelly organic perfumes, which were on a rack in the corner. Max, in turn, had no use for a body so thin you could count the ribs through a dress. And he wasn't into women in general.

“I just found out I've lost 20 pounds in the last few weeks,” he said, holding his still-present belly over the sink so Clarissa could pass him. 

He did not wait for an answer, because no matter how kindly or well he tried to do it, Clarissa always gave a mean answer in return.

It was quiet in the hallway. Did the others also have a day off or did it start late? It was not usual for the 5 housemates to share their schedules with each other. And that wasn't necessary. They were roommates, not friends. Ah, Joseph lay with his muscular body on his bed with headphones on, he saw as he passed through the slightly ajar room door. He was glad not to be alone with Clarissa. Normally he didn't wake up very early either. His lessons started later and he didn't have to attend them all, he thought. Lying in bed is much nicer, but the tension of looking for a part-time job had woken him up early this morning. He had a room to himself, which had been his only requirement when he started looking for a place to stay while studying just over two years ago. It was a small room with only a bed, a desk and a wardrobe, but that was all he needed. Max was not a cleaner. There were more clothes on his bed and on the floor than in the closet. His trash can was overflowing with empty bags of chips and packages of cookies and cake, but he wasn't interested in that. If it got too messy, he would clean up after himself. That didn't have to happen every day. He opened his laptop and hesitated for a moment about putting on a shirt. It was hot and no one saw him behind the laptop, so he left the shirt off and immediately started looking for work.

*

Warehouse worker… No, he did not aspire to a physically demanding job in a warehouse either. It was not easy to find a nice part-time job that also paid well. Max had seen many job vacancies. Window cleaner's assistant, which seemed too dangerous to him in a metal container hanging from a high building. He didn't become a lifeguard either. Not that he was ashamed of it, but not everyone needed to see his whale body. Sales employee in a furniture store… No, that seemed too boring to him and besides, it earned almost nothing. Cleaning in a hotel did not pay well and was also hard work. Max had hoped that something would be available in an office, but that required a lot of experience. And something about video games, there was no offer. It was five in the afternoon when he closed his laptop and put on a baggy shirt that did little to hide the contours of his belly. It had become too big and wide for that. His stomach growled. He had been so busy looking for a part-time job that he hadn't eaten a decent meal yet. There were two empty packages of cookies and an empty bag of chips on his desk. Those had only been snacks to temporarily stave off hunger. It was time to go to the Bacon Factory and place a large order. He thought he deserved that after a day of looking for a job. Without saying a word, he walked past the kitchen, where his housemates had gathered to listen to a sermon from Clarissa, who wondered why certain tasks had not been done. In any case, Max couldn't listen to it today and was glad that his presence had not been noticed, so he could leave the house quietly. However, he had not taken the heavy downpour into account. He didn't dare go back to grab an umbrella. What if Clarissa saw him? He pulled his hood over his head and walked over. It was quiet on the main street of Carlhein, a suburb of Dwindledon. Normally there were more cars and cyclists. Maybe people stayed longer at work and school, waiting for the rain to stop. Max didn't complain. Now he could cross the street safely and without having to run too much. And the Bacon Factory was already there. 

Pink and green, the color of pigs in the grass. They were also the colors of the Bacon Factory. Large posters of drawn pigs and grass complete with the fast food joint's logo decorated the walls of the canteen-like space. The Bacon Factory was not part of a larger chain, Max had figured that out a while ago. Some Jacob owned it. Thanks to the rain shower, which became increasingly heavy, it was not busy. Max walked down the row of ordering posts to the young woman behind the cash register and greeted her. He thought that was the nice thing about often going to the same place. At one point he was recognized and that made it easier to contact the employees. He had also experienced it at the game store in town. 

“Just have a double bacon burger menu, with large fries and a banana milkshake,” he started his order after briefly talking to the young woman about the bad weather. 

“A double cheeseburger and two portions of fish fries.”

As he grabbed his wallet and the young woman took his order at the cash register, his eye fell on an A4 sheet of paper on the counter, held up by a plastic stand. STAFF WANTED, began a short piece of text typed on it and ended with the announcement that application forms could be collected at the cash register. 

“That's a good thing,” Max thought, wondering if this moment was really real. 

Normally he wasn't so lucky. Maybe this job wasn't for him either. What if the work, coworkers, or management were terrible. Then he probably wouldn't come back to eat there again. Oh well... He didn't have to work here even if he had filled out a form.

“You're looking for staff,” he said, handing the young woman money. 

She nodded affirmatively. A few colleagues had resigned and now they were looking for new ones. Max decided not to ask why the colleagues had left. It could mean that working at the Bacon Factory isn't very pleasant, but it was too early to make that out. With an application form and a pen in his hand, he took a seat at a table by the window. His order would be brought. In his mind he stared out the window at the few people walking through the large puddles left by the rain. His stomach rumbled again. It didn't take long before his food was brought to him by a tan boy. 

“New colleague?” he said, laughing. 

Apparently Max looked at him a bit strangely, because the smile disappeared and the boy walked over again with a contorted face. Tensely he started filling the form with his details. Fortunately, the burgers tasted fantastic again. That made the difficult task of telling something about himself a little easier and it made him feel less rushed. In the end, he had until after dinner to fill out the form. 

“It's not an exam!” Max said when he caught himself taking too long to answer the questions. It didn't have to be perfect. But secretly it would be nice if he could work here, in his favorite fast food joint. Half an hour later all the food on the tray had disappeared in his stomach and he nervously walked back to the cash register, where he handed the form to the young woman.

*

Max cheerfully walked past the ordering posts to the counter of the Bacon Factory. The day after completing the application form, he had already received an email stating that he had been accepted, with some instructions for his first day at work. He had not had a job interview at all. He didn't complain about it. This went easy, which is nice sometimes. He reported to the tall, lanky boy who was running the cash register today. Joe, he knew. A while ago he had had a conversation with Joe about the lizards he kept as pets. Max himself had never had pets. A goldfish in a glass bowl that was way too small, but he didn't consider that a pet. With a smile Joe saw him approaching. 

“Your first day at work,” he said. 

'I thought that was you. The boss knows you too.”

Max felt honored. Could they really have been talking about him? He looked around curiously at the attendees eating their burgers and fries at the tables. Then to his new colleagues in the kitchen. Who's the boss then? He decided not to ask for fear of making a bad first impression. 

“He's not here right now,” Joe responded, apparently noticing that Max was looking for him. 

'Come on, I'll give you the work clothes and you can start working straight away. It's already quite busy and it's going to get even busier. Saturdays are by far the busiest days.'

He opened a gate in the counter and walked past Max into the kitchen. He gestured with his arms for someone to take the cash register from him. In an office he pulled a shirt out of a closet. 

'I saw it said Large on your form. Try this one. They run a bit small, but I don't see anything bigger anymore.'

While Max changed shirts, Joe continued searching in the closet. Not much later he placed a typical Bacon Factory hat on the desk. He couldn't have found a bigger shirt. The large shirt was a little too tight, but it covered his entire upper body and with the cap on his head Max followed the tall boy to the kitchen. After a short introduction explaining the most important rules, Max could start putting fries into a special cardboard box. Joe turned out to be not only a cashier, but also a team leader. That was a nice introduction, knowing that his team leader for the day was a nice guy. It didn't take long before he met Laura, the young woman who had received his application form a few days earlier. She explained how the fryer worked, so that he not only had to scoop fries, but could also fry them. This first day seemed quite relaxed. It wouldn't make him very tired and although he had his lunch break later than what he had been told due to the crowds, Max kept it up just fine. 

With a triple hamburger, a banana milkshake and a double portion of fries, he sat at the same table where he had filled out his application form. The morning had gone well. He had received no complaints and Joe had been happy to see that he had quickly mastered the fries making process. According to Max, it was super easy. All equipment in the kitchen was already adjusted to the products they had to make, so with the push of a button the fries became golden brown. Most colleagues had brought bread to eat during the break. Max thought a hamburger was much better. It had been a pleasant surprise that he got a discount on his order. But then… He made the fries himself. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked into the friendly face of a man somewhere between 40 and 50 years old. He reached out his hand as he took a seat on the chair next to Max. 

'You're Max, I believe. I'm Jacob, the owner.'

Max hurriedly swallowed the fries in his mouth and introduced himself. Jacob didn't look familiar to him. He hadn't seen him at the Burger Factory before. Of course he will often be in the office to place orders, Max thought. And you can't see the office from the dining area. 

“Do you like it?” Jacob asked.

Max nodded. His mouth was already full with a big bite of the burger. He only had a fifteen minute break and then his food had to be finished. Jacob waited patiently until Max had finished his mouth. He didn't seem to mind that Max continued eating and listened with interest to Max's findings between swallowing large chunks of food. Max really enjoyed the work and Jacob was pleased to hear this. He said that not everyone appreciated this work. That there were people who thought the work was dirty and undervalued. He also said that he had no hesitation in hiring him after Joe reminded him what Max looked like. Jacob had seen him before at the Bacon Factory. Max thought more deeply, but couldn't remember Jacob. Max stood up, the break was over, but Jacob gently pulled him back onto the chair. 

“That's the advantage of being an owner,” Jacob laughed, after Max had made it clear to him that he had to stick to the break time. 

“I now decide that you have an extra 5 minutes break.”

Max laughed along with him. Of course, Jacob made the rules. Not Joe or Laura. And certainly not on his first day at work.

“I think you're a nice guy,” Jacob said. 

'Someone who stays here longer than one day. I don't have it with me right now, but I will give you a key to the building soon."

Max felt honored by this comment. So soon? And by the boss himself? Then he could open and close. Perhaps there was also a nice salary increase attached to it. 

“Then you can eat here as much as you want after work or school,” Jacob added. 

'Free'.

*

Jacob kept his word. He hadn't said too much about the meals that Max could pick up for free. He often ate it at the Bacon Factory itself. He didn't want to share anything with his housemates. They had to work for that themselves. Only when he knew he would be alone in the house did he want to take the bags filled with burgers, shakes and fries to his room. Sometimes Laura or Joe would give him something extra if it was about to expire or if it had been prepared incorrectly. The other team leaders he worked with were all young, nice people who didn't mind providing him with a snack or a drink. Especially when something new came on the menu, they wanted to know his opinion. Soon Max was working there not only on weekends, but also several evenings a week, after school. Sometimes he chose the Bacon Factory over his studies and skipped a day of school. The work not only provided an income, but also structure, useful use of time, nice colleagues and a hamburger or two. Max ate and ate and ate… After school, after work. He placed his orders there at least five days a week. Sometimes even every day. There were days when he would turn on the fryer and grill after closing hours and prepare a meal himself. He had the key after all. Occasionally he would place an order after work and came back the same night to make something tasty, when he could not fall asleep or when he suddenly woke up in the dark. No one said this wasn't allowed. Even Jacob, who was not present very often because he preferred to go on holidays and city trips with his wife and children, agreed with him. The opportunity was presented to him and he was pleased to see it was taken advantage of. Max grew steadily. Fortunately, Jacob had ordered new XL work shirts in time, because the shirts he received from Joe no longer fit after three weeks. Just to be sure, there was also a stack of XXL shirts ready on Jacob's desk. Unfortunately, he had to buy trousers himself. All the extra work meant there was no shortage of money, but Max hated shopping for clothes. He would have liked to order new trousers online, but he didn't have that time. His pants seemed to shrink by the day and the only pair of jeans that still fit him tore at his butt while bending over to pick up a dropped hot dog bun at work. That was a moment of shame, but even then he was supported by Carl, the team leader of that day, who gave him the afternoon off to buy new trousers. That was about a month ago now. Max really enjoyed it. He liked the job much better than he expected when filling out his application form. 

Max walked happily from the bus stop to his home. He was breathing heavily and his movements were slow and labored. The backpack filled with books he needed for school seemed small compared to his broad back. The new yellow jacket he was wearing was already tight around his body and the jeans were well padded with two sturdy legs rubbing against each other with every step. Today was a special day. Clarissa had left the house this morning. She could no longer tolerate her chores not being done and felt like no one was listening to her. No one had tried to stop her when she started looking for another student accommodation. They had even helped with the search, which was not appreciated. Max wouldn't miss her, with her mean comments about his weight and size. She suddenly even tried to decide for him what he could and could not eat, pushing for a vegetarian diet. He felt liberated, knowing that he did not have to avoid her when entering the house to avoid a sermon. He would leave his backpack in his room and then go to the Bacon Factory to get food. He was free this evening, so he could play games on his laptop this evening. That was a long time ago. The muscular Joseph sat at the kitchen table with the equally muscular Pedro. Max heard them talking about Clarissa's departure and how quiet it was in the house. Pedro came to live there a little later than Joseph and the two boys quickly became friends. Despite their different studies, they were welcome guests at the gym at the edge of the city center. 

“Gosh, how heavy are you these days, man?” Joseph asked as Max walked past.

With difficulty he moved his fat body through the narrow hallway, but turned back to the open kitchen door and looked at Joseph. What was he getting himself into again?

“320 pounds,” Max replied. 

“Weighed this morning.”

Pedro started laughing nervously. Apparently he was shocked by Max's high weight. Joseph started to talk about all the risks of being overweight, but Max cut him off. 

“I'm glad Clarissa is gone with her meddling,” he began. 

"You don't have to take her over, do you?" 

Joseph nodded understandably and quickly added that he too was happy with Clarissa's departure. Max had never had a good relationship with Joseph. He was a relaxed guy, but also a huge showman. And Pedro, he had no opinion of his own. He followed Joseph and tried to do cool things too, but somehow he always came across as clumsy. 

“Sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry,” Joseph said. 

'If you ever… um… want to go to a gym or something, you are very welcome. I wanted to let you know.”

Max turned back to the hallway with a thin smile. A gym? Not really. He had never seen the inside of a gym before, he was not sporty enough for that.

“320 pounds man, that's really heavy!” he heard Pedro say.

*

The alarm went off, but Max couldn't open his eyes. There was wool in his head and his body felt like he had been hit by a train. He turned over under the covers one more time. He tried to shake the sleep from his mind and with the help of the light of the morning sun shining through his window, his thoughts began to flow. He rolled back onto his back. What time was it? He had to go to work. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked to adjust to the light. Oh, only 7 o'clock. He still had time. He was expected at the Bacon Factory at 9 o'clock. Luckily he didn't have to open it, so he was able to stay in bed for a while. He had not had a good night's sleep again. He didn't know why, but he had been having trouble sleeping in recent weeks. He often couldn't sleep. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night. Then he stopped by the Bacon Factory to get a snack. And there were those nights like now, when he fell asleep on time and didn't wake up during the night. But then he had problems waking and getting up. Maybe he had eaten too much the night before. His stomach was still full of it now. In addition to his order, he had received an extra bag full of products that would expire. He had shared the contents of that bag with Pedro and even Joseph had eaten a double cheese hot dog from it. Ilse had stayed in her room all evening. She didn't like being the only woman now that Clarissa was gone. Maybe the bad nights were due to the stress of school. The exams are coming again. He had already indicated to the team leaders that he would be less available in the near future. They didn't make it a problem because they understood that working at the Bacon Factory was just a side job. Half past seven. Max got up with a groan, but was pushed back onto his back by the size of his belly. With some effort he rolled to the edge of his bed, threw his legs over it and got up. His belly hung between his spread legs and his moobs rested on it. Not much of the underwear he was wearing was visible anymore. The fabric was hidden between thick lobes of fat. The day had barely started and his body and face were already sweaty. It was warm in his room and as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes he decided to go to bed without a blanket that night. Due to his big body he no longer had much room to turn around in the bathroom. No one could go behind him to grab anything anymore. His belly hung on the edge of the sink as he washed his face. Nice and refreshing, that cool water. Not only his moobs, but also a large part of his belly moved while brushing his teeth. The buttons of his jeans were no longer visible through the flesh hanging in front of them. He hadn't used the scale for a few weeks. Part of him was afraid that the thing would break under his weight. He  slowly walked back to his room and put on a shirt, after which he made a hearty breakfast in the kitchen. The others weren't awake yet. They used this Saturday to catch up on sleep. They were right, Max thought. He would also have liked to be in bed himself. 

It was already getting quite busy in the Bacon Factory when Max had positioned himself behind the grill plates. He was a little late, because immediately after arriving he had received XXL shirts from Joe. They fit better. Max hated shirts that were too tight, especially around his arms. He wanted to be able to move his arms freely, especially at work. Fortunately, Vanessa had taken over the grill plates in his absence. Not that Vanessa was the nicest colleague. Once again she looked at him with a dirty face, because she had had to work extra hard. Finally, she was also responsible for the fries today. Soon after the first meeting, Max had wondered where they had gotten her from and what she was doing there. She wasn't much older than him, about 19, with painted-on lips and a thick layer of makeup on her face. Her skin was sunbed tan and her long blonde hair was pinned up high. A popular slut, that's what Max thought of her. When Max wanted to leave the kitchen with a tray containing his meal to start his lunch break, she spoke to him. 

“Would you do that, eat that much?” she said. 

'You'll soon drop dead from all the fat in your body. And it looks dirty too.”

Max didn't know what he heard and placed the tray on the counter. Vanessa, however, quickly turned back to the fryer and, as if she hadn't said anything, continued making fries. Max walked to her and asked for clarification. What was the point of saying something like that and why did she work here if she saw the food she prepared as something bad? Patricia, an older colleague who always kept aloof for fear of doing something wrong, intervened and tried to calm the conversation. Max's voice was also so loud with anger that the customers at the cash register heard that an argument was breaking out. When Patricia could not deny that he had gained a lot of weight since his first day at work and that too much Bacon Factory was unhealthy, Max walked over. He took the tray from the counter and, his heart pounding with irritation and injustice, he walked to a table. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Joe watching from behind the register, but he paid him no mind.

*

“Here, two more hot dogs,” Joe said, trying to place the two paper bags that held the hot dogs somewhere on the already overflowing tray. 

'You deserved that. I think it was a bit of a bad day for you.”

Clumsily to prevent the hot dogs from sliding off, Max balanced the tray as he walked to a table. It had indeed not been a nice day. It had been super busy and Vanessa's comments really bothered him. And then that stupid Patricia. Why did she suddenly start getting involved? Luckily they both went home straight after cleaning. Joe had another drink with Laura at the counter. Then they would go too and Max would be allowed to close, he knew from experience. His mouth watered as he looked at the lavish meal in front of him. Four boxes containing his favorite hamburgers. Two double bacon, one triple cheese and one double cheese. There were also two portions of fries, a banana and a strawberry milkshake, a portion of fish fries, a portion of spicy cheese balls and unexpectedly two hot dogs. Max started eating it with pleasure. This food never got old. Grease dripped down his chin as he started the second double bacon burger. Joseph and Pedro cycled past, he saw from the window. They probably went to the gym. Fortunately, they had not seen him sitting with the mountain of food on the table in front of him. Otherwise they would probably make another comment about it. Max knew he ate a lot, but it was very tasty. A container of fries was already empty and a hot dog was already gone. He drank the banana milkshake in large gulps. With his mouth full, he waved at Laura, who left the building. Joe disappeared behind the kitchen into the office. He probably still had to process some paperwork. Max loved being alone in the large room after work. The tables had been cleaned and the chairs had been moved. It looked fresh again and the mixed smell of cleaning agent and fried fat cheered him up. One by one, the spicy cheese balls disappeared into his mouth, after which he opened the box that contained the triple cheese burger. First a sip of milkshake to wash down the last cheese ball.

Max ate the second hot dog. It still tasted good to him, but his stomach was overfull. There were only empty boxes and bags on the tray in front of him. He kept his legs spread to give his stomach all the space it needed. This had been a good meal, but those hot dogs were just too much. Suddenly the front door rang and Jacob's cheerful face appeared. Max tried to sit up straight, to make a good impression on the owner, but failed. The food in his stomach was in the way. 

“Good evening,” Jacob called as he walked to the counter. 

'Are you still there? Enjoy your meal.'

He leaned away from the counter and walked over to Max. 

“Enjoy your meal,” he said again as he sat down next to Max. 

“What do you think of the hot dogs?” I find them a bit too salty myself.'

Max liked them, although he understood what Jacob meant. He agreed with the idea of ​​replacing some salt with something else, a spice or sauce, because without salt the sausage was very bland. Max liked to be honest, but he wondered if it was wise to be honest with the boss. He was surprised when it turned out that he was not immediately demoted or fired, but that Jacob actually thanked him for his opinion. When Jacob talked about his idea for a new kind of sorbet and jumped up to make it, Max stopped him. He was already way too full from all the food. Another time he wanted to taste it so they made an appointment for the following Wednesday. Max had the evening shift again and Jacob would be there too.

“Why are you here now?” asked Max, who was sure that Jacob had not come back on a Saturday evening specifically to have a chat with him. 

If he wasn't mistaken, Jacob would be visiting his family on the other side of town with his wife and children sometime this weekend. There was a family weekend, or day, or something. He was right. Jacob chuckled strangely. He had indeed returned from the family weekend after receiving a call from Joe. It sounded important and he didn't enjoy the family weekend that much. He was actually happy that he could drive back after dropping off his wife and two sons at his parents' place. 

“And how are you doing?” he asked when he had finished talking about his annoying parents. 

“Your appetite hasn't deteriorated, so I assume the food here is still good.”

With a big smile, he gently slapped his hand a few times on the empty hot dog bags on the tray in front of them. Max did not deny that he still found the food delicious after all these months. But when he started talking about Vanessa's comments and how Patricia had supported her, Jacob's face fell. 

“Oh,” was all he could say. 

Nodding understandably, he listened to how Max had experienced the altercation, after which Jacob expressed his dissatisfaction. The Bacon Factory must be a nice place to work for everyone, regardless of age, sexuality, origin and body type. He was sorry to hear that these important rules had been violated today. He thanked Max for the conversation and reminded him that the appointment was set for next Wednesday. After that he got up and walked to Joe in the office. Max decided to go too. It was already late and the next day he would be back in the kitchen.

*

Sunday. Why hadn't he taken today off? He had had a lot of trouble getting up again this morning. For the first time since he worked there, Max didn't feel like going to the Bacon Factory. Luckily he didn't have to open the door today either and he had extra time to wake up. He had seen on the schedule that Vanessa would be there again. Where did she get the nerve to say that he was dirty because he liked the food there and had a bigger body. Even Clarissa had never made such statements. She wasn't nice either, but at least she let it be known in a gentler way that she didn't like fat people. It was a pleasant surprise when Max walked through the gate in the counter and couldn't find Vanessa anywhere in the kitchen. She must have called in sick again. Immediately he became a lot happier and started energetically grilling hamburgers. 

“Do you think you can do the fries today as well?” Joe asked.

'As you can see, we are missing someone. If it gets too busy, I'll help out.'

Max nodded doubtfully. In the evening he often grilled hamburgers and fried fries, but then it was not as busy as during the day. On a Sunday it wasn't as busy as Saturday, so Max went to try it. 

“Is Vanessa sick again?” he asked cautiously, because it wasn't really any of his business. 

Joe started laughing mischievously and his face showed he was hesitating to say something. 

“You have to keep this quiet for a moment,” he said softly and mysteriously. 

“It's not official yet, but Vanessa has finally been fired.”

Max frowned. Why? She should have been fired long ago, he thought. Why now all of a sudden? Joe said that this morning when she came in she was already met by Jacob. With few words he had made it clear to her that she could leave immediately and never have to come back. 

“But why?” Max asked curiously. 

“Because of you,” Joe replied, still softly. 

“You told Jacob she was acting so strange.”

For a moment, Max felt a moment of pride. It was amazing that Jacob had listened to him and that he had taken action because of this. There was no remorse for what he had done to Vanessa.

“Thanks,” Joe whispered. 

“That bitch wasn't in a good place, but she was pretty good with one of the other team leaders and I couldn't get her out of here.”

Joe hinted that he called Jacob yesterday regarding Vanessa and Patricia's comments. Apparently Patricia was now in Jacob's office, where she was told not to get involved in disagreements between colleagues, but to call in a team leader. Joe quickly walked back to his spot behind the cash register to help a group of waiting customers. Max turned to the fryer with a smile. It took at least an hour before Patricia appeared again. She said nothing and hardly dared to look at Max anymore. Jacob stood in the doorway of the office. He winked and gave him a thumbs up. 

That evening Max had eaten more than he normally did. He felt good and had a victory to celebrate. He had had to work hard to keep up with all the orders, but he had not needed any help from Joe and had therefore proven that they did not need Vanessa to run a good production. He had opened a few buttons of his pants to get all the food into his stomach and he staggered panting through the narrow hallway of the house. Joseph and Pedro sat in the kitchen. It looked like they had gotten into a serious conversation, but when Max wanted to continue walking, he was called. Fortunately, they made no comments about his weight, size or difficult gait. Joseph had found another home, closer to the gym. Apparently he had changed his studies some time ago and the new home was also closer to the new school building. Wow... Even though Max had little contact with him and Joseph wasn't his type of person at all, he was still a bit shocked. Two people gone in a short time. He hoped that the landlord did not suddenly increase the rent to compensate. And it was always a matter of waiting to see who would come back for it. Joseph himself did not mind leaving. There were many more girls in the other house. Beautiful girls that he wanted to be seen with. Judging by his face, Pedro thought it would be nice to take a look there too. Max kept aloof. Pretty girls weren't for him. Not pretty boys either. He was too busy with his studies and work to worry about relationships. He wished Joseph good luck with his new studies and new home and left for his room. Somehow he felt sorry that Joseph was leaving. He lived there before Max came and became something familiar, like the old sofa in the living room. He never sat on it, but he would be sad to see it go. After Joseph’s departure, Max would be the one who lived there the longest. If only he didn't have to accommodate all those newcomers. They were allowed to find their own way. His bed creaked violently when Max collapsed on it. Wonderful, this soft mattress. It wasn't long before he fell deeply asleep.

*

“This is really delicious!” Max exclaimed with delight as he tasted the new sorbet that Jacob had presented to him.

There was already a tray on the table in front of him with empty packages of bacon burgers and fries. Jacob watched proudly as the sorbet was quickly devoured. It was a new product that would appear on the menu from next week. A strawberry, orange and kiwi variant. Jacob was actually a chef who enjoyed experimenting and mixing different types of ingredients. He enthusiastically went into the kitchen to make another sorbet for Max to taste. It had been a good choice not to be scheduled this week, so that he had time for his studies and for himself. He still got the free meals, but nothing more. Today was his appointment with Jacob, in the evening after closing time of the Bacon Factory. Jacob wanted privacy. No one was allowed to know about his new products until they went on sale. He had sent the others home immediately after cleaning and locked the front door just to be on the safe side. Max still had to eat, so he prepared the fries and burgers himself, while Jacob prepared the sorbets. Max now understood why he got along so well with the different team leaders. The owner himself was a nice man who considered his values ​​very important, as was evident from Vanessa's dismissal. He had gotten into an argument with his wife by driving back to the business and leaving her with his parents last weekend. They turned out not to be nice people and somehow they reminded him of his own mother and stepfather. It was raining outside, he saw through the window. The sun had almost completely set, making the already dark sky even darker. Jacob appeared from the kitchen. On the tray he was carrying was a glass filled with the kiwi sorbet and four hot dogs neatly placed next to each other. Max enthusiastically tasted it. Besides the sorbet, Jacob was curious what Max thought of the new hot dogs. Less salt, but full of other flavors. Two hot dogs were approved straight away, the other two were still a bit bland. And the sorbet was good, but he liked the strawberries better. Jacob nodded understandingly. He wasn't angry at all, because Max gave honest answers. After a short chat about Max's studies, Jacob disappeared back into the kitchen. One more sorbet to taste. Max was overstuffed again. He shouldn't have eaten those four hot dogs. A few bites of each would have been good too. He laboriously lifted his underbelly to open a few buttons on his pants. In the kitchen there was the sound of the whipping cream beater and the sizzle of hamburgers on the griddle. Startled, Max looked at the heavy rain in the deserted street. Jacob wouldn't let him taste more new products, would he? He was slumped lazily against the back of his chair, pushed back by his swollen stomach, when Jacob returned with the last of the sorbet and three double hamburgers. He thought he had improved the recipe and was curious about Max's opinion again. Max got up with a sigh. He was not an accomplished food critic, but felt honored to be able to express his opinion again. Especially because he knew that his opinion was listened to. The intended few bites per hamburger quickly turned into a binge. All three tasted even better than they did before. Jacob looked on beaming, realizing that his recipes had been approved. Max asked himself why he couldn't just stop eating? His stomach ached from all the food it had to digest, but he kept eating. The orange sorbet was the best of the three, but after a few bites he pushed the glass away and fell back against the back of his chair. 

“You don't like it?” Jacob asked. 

Max made it clear with gestures that his stomach was too full to say anything. 

Jacob laughed and reached for the sorbet. 

“Open your mouth,” Jacob said, holding a spoon full of ice cream and whipped cream in front of Max's mouth and choking it down as soon as he opened his mouth.

Oh, how wonderful that was! Sitting on his chair like a bloated whale, Jacob shoved one spoon after another into his mouth until this glass was also empty. Jacob gently patted his stomach. 

“I'm glad you like it all,” he said. 

“By the way, I have something for you.”

Max tried to relax so as not to feel the pain in his stomach when Jacob disappeared into his office. Not much later he came back and threw a larger size shirt on the table. 

'Just try this one on. I'm curious if it fits well. If so, I'll order more.'

Max gestured with his hands that he should take a break from the meal, which Jacob understood. He had nothing planned this evening, so there was plenty of time. After a while, Max groggily reached for the shirt on the table, but his stomach protested, so Jacob handed it over. Max burped softly. Phew, all that food was heavy on the stomach. Groaning with effort, he tried to take off his shirt while sitting, because he could no longer get up. He would prefer to go home and sleep. 

“Did you eat a little too much?” Jacob asked with a broad smile as he helped take off the shirt. 

Suddenly he rubbed Max's leg and gently squeezed an exposed roll of fat.

“You fat boy!”

*

Max had closed his eyes and was too dazed to realize what exactly was happening, but when he felt a kiss on his cheek, he wanted to leave. He tried with all his strength to get up, but his stomach was too full and Jacob pushed him forcefully back into his seat by the shoulder. Suddenly his shirt was pulled over his head and he felt his stomach being played with. 

“What a nice body,” Jacob said, squeezing the fat with his hands, as if he were kneading dough. 

Max groaned. His stomach ached too much to say anything, but relaxed a little with the kneading motions. There was a rumble, then a burp. Another kiss. On his mouth this time. In disgust he felt a slimy wet tongue finding its way inside. He tried to push Jacob away, but he was too weak and he still couldn't get up either.

“You pig!” Jacob said, panting with excitement, after gently pushing Max's stomach away and sitting on his lap. 

He slowly started licking and sucking the two large, pink nipples. Max groaned again. This was not good at all. Jacob had a wife and children. He didn't expect this from him. Goddamnit! Why did this have to happen to him? He felt dirty and hoped someone would come and save him. That someone saw Jacob using him through the windows. Or that Joe had forgotten something and could be next to him at any moment to knock Jacob away. A tear slid down his cheek. Of course, Joe had known this for a long time, he realized. That's why he gave him so much food. He was like a real pig that had to be fattened for the owner.

“You've really gotten fat,” Jacob said with his mouth still on a nipple and a finger in Max's navel where it completely disappeared. Slowly his hand slid down the underbelly to the fat pad under his belly and he fiddled with the small glans protruding from it. It felt warm and sultry as Jacob squeezed the soft flesh. He kissed Max again, jumped up from his lap and pulled down his pants. The imprint of his erect penis was already visible in his underpants. Panting, he took it out and put it between two lobules of fat, while he held as much of Max's body as possible in his arms and started sucking on the nipples again. Like a dog Jacob moved his body violently back and forth. The fat surrounding him rippled vigorously. Max just let it all happen. There was nothing he could do but focus his thoughts elsewhere and hope this would be over soon. Suddenly Jacob started panting and moaning even harder and Max felt a moist substance squirt against his body. As quickly as the moment came, it ended and Jacob carefully pulled his penis from between the two lobes and patted it dry with a paper napkin.

“That was nice,” he sighed. 

“We should do this more often.”

Max remained silent. He still kept his eyes closed and heard Jacob pull up his pants again. Suddenly there was a firm pat on the back. 

“You understand that this will remain between us,” Jacob said in a serious tone. 

“Otherwise there will be… consequences.”

Max thought back to everyone who had stopped working there when he filled out his application form a few months ago. Now he understood why. Would Jacob want to fatten every newcomer to abuse them?

'I am leaving. We'll see each other again soon.'

Max heard the front door being unlocked and opened. After a soft click as the door closed again, he opened his eyes. He was alone. His stomach was still full, but he felt empty. He rubbed Jacob's semen away from between his fat rolls with a napkin. He left the new work shirt on the table. He won't need that anymore, because he won't ever work at the Bacon Factory again. He struggled to his feet and put his own shirt back on. Then he flopped back against the backrest and closed his eyes again. 

Max stared at the ceiling of his bedroom. He felt dirty. The first rays of sunlight shone through his bedroom window. Fortunately, he didn't have to work and he skipped school today. What was he supposed to do? Report to the police? He had no evidence to accuse Jacob. He thought it wise not to complain to Joe or other colleagues. They wouldn't believe him or even worse, they already knew that Jacob couldn't keep his hands off others. How could he have let it get to this point? Why hadn't he noticed earlier that something was wrong. Was he so addicted to the food there that he didn't want to see it? Did Vanessa and Patricia tried to warn him? If only he hadn't eaten so much, he would at least have been able to defend himself. He probably would have gotten up and walked away. For the first time, Max saw himself as a dirty, fat pig who no longer had control over his eating behavior. He felt sick to himself. Maybe he should go to the gym with Joseph and Pedro to lose a few pounds. Hamburgers and fries, he would never eat them again. Certainly not at the Bacon Factory. This afternoon he would return one more time to hand in his resignation. Then it was a bit busier and his colleagues could not ask difficult questions. He slowly got up and exchanged his bed for the office chair. From a drawer of his desk he took a pack of chocolate chip cookies. He was hungry and thought about where to get his meals from now. The Bacon Factory was no longer an option. Maybe he should buy groceries more often and cook for himself. No more free meals. And no more job either. What a mess!

*

The smell of freshly baked pizzas still clung to his clothes as Max maneuvered his fat body through the narrow hallway of his home. He had found a small pizzeria two blocks away that sold crispy pizzas for not too much money. He had already been there six times in the past two weeks and had endeared himself to the waiters and chef by placing large orders. Here too they made no comments about his weight and he did not have to be afraid of being assaulted since the whole family worked there. No one at the Bacon Factory had reacted strangely to his dismissal. He gave the reason that he was busy with school. There was no point in involving Jacob. Joe had nodded understandably, as if he knew there was more going on, and once again Patricia had not looked at him. A few other colleagues, who had not worked there for long, were sad that he was leaving, but they understood that his studies came first. Joseph had moved to his other home a few days ago. He had been looking forward to it and being among the girls was more his thing than sharing a house with three boys, one of whom was anti-sporty. Ilse was also looking for another home. She didn't like being the only girl left and slept more with friends than in her room. She had never been very social, so she was not missed by Max and Pedro. 

“Are you coming to dinner?” Pedro called from the kitchen, after he heard the front door close. 

“I made something delicious.”

Curiously, Max looked at the large, steaming bowl on the counter. The oven was still warm, so he assumed it was an oven dish. It looked like cheese macaroni. And even though it looked delicious, he declined the offer. He had an appointment an hour later that he wanted to get ready for. When Pedro asked if he would like to keep him company during dinner, he decided to take a plate anyway. Pedro also had to get used to it, now that Joseph was no longer there. Before, they always ate together. Healthy and protein-rich meals that made their muscles grow. No cheese macaroni. It turned out that Pedro had made this meal especially for him. He had noticed that Max had been a bit down in recent weeks. Max searched for words to thank him for this unexpected gesture and took another plate to show that he enjoyed the meal. Pedro proudly filled the plate again. He apparently saw Max as a real food connoisseur who knew what was tasty and what was not. Max decided not to say anything about the reason for his gloomy mood. No one needed to know that he had been sexually assaulted by a lunatic who mistook him for a pig. When the third plate was also empty and Max indicated that he had to leave for his appointment, Pedro asked if he could cook and eat together more often. He enjoyed it and Max had to admit that he had misjudged Pedro. He was not a womanizer at all, but a gentle boy looking for friendship. He was simply influenced by Joseph's behavior. He agreed. That meal tasted pretty good. Max took his backpack to his room and left for his appointment.

In the months that followed, they often ate together. Pedro turned out to be a very good chef who had never used his talent before. He himself was most surprised when a previously unprepared dish came out of the oven looking appetizing and also tasting good. He seemed to really enjoy it when Max complimented him on the successful meal. He was seriously considering following Max's advice to do more with this hidden talent. Maybe he should switch studies and train as a chef. The room of the muscular Joseph and know-it-all Clarissa were still not filled. Their rooms were empty and although Max didn't mind being mainly alone with Pedro, he had briefly felt a fear that the house would be used for other purposes. Only when after a month and a half he had not received a letter or phone call from the landlord did he assume that he did not have to leave his room. The exams were over and luckily he didn't have to retake any. The past period had been tough enough and now he could finally enjoy the well-deserved school holidays. He had not yet found a nice part-time job, but he had not seriously looked for it after he left the Bacon Factory. Towards the end of the holidays, he will start looking again. He had no holiday plans anyway and lying in bed all day didn't cost any money. It was quiet on the bus and on the city streets, as if everyone had traveled to a distant and warm country at the same time to spend their holidays. Max waddled laboriously across the sidewalk. The bus pulled away behind him. He had just gone downtown to look for new clothes. In vain. Regular clothing stores didn't sell his size. Breathing heavily, he crossed the street where his house was located. Oncoming traffic avoided him, others watched him. The meals Pedro made for him, his lunches at the Pizzeria, the mysterious appointments he had almost every day and his low physical inactivity had left their mark. Max had grown to 400 pounds and was still growing. He could no longer zip his coat and his stomach hung low over his crotch. The shirt he was wearing was too small and he knew his underbelly was showing, but he liked the cool breeze and besides, he couldn't find a bigger shirt, there was nothing he could do about that. He had now become accustomed to people staring at his staggering body. His face was red as a tomato as he walked through the doors of the Bacon Factory. Joe was waiting for him with a smile and walked over with two trays full of hamburgers, fries and milkshakes. 

“It's safe,” he said. 

“Jacob isn't here.”

Max crammed his fat body between a bench and the table and began to eat greedily from the trays that Joe had placed in front of him and looked around nervously. No one needed to know that Joe had made arrangements with him the week after he resigned. That Joe let him know when Jacob wasn't there so he didn't have to miss out on his favorite foods at the company's expense. Especially not Pedro, because then he might not want to cook anymore. Max gobbled the burgers away in large bites, fearing that someone would take them away from him. Joe watched from a distance, smiling broadly. Behind him, Patricia shook her head disapprovingly in the kitchen, after which she disappeared behind a wall.

Big Bobo

GAY WEIGHTGAIN

“Oh finally, food. I need it!' Bobo parted his plump, brown lips and flashed his big teeth as the ordered food was placed on the table in front of him. The boys started eating with great pleasure.

There was talk about business deals, women and planned vacations, but Bobo didn't listen to it. He was too busy eating the king prawns and the carpaccio, two starters he always ordered when he went to this restaurant with Maverick and his friends. He eagerly picked apart the loaves of bread from the bread basket and ate them, spread with or without garlic butter. He was the youngest of the group, but that didn't matter to him. He was happy that he had found people who cared for him. Or rather, those people had found him. Exactly one year ago today, Bobo arrived in Europe after a long and dangerous journey with the hope of a better life. Ever since he was a child, he had big dreams of making a lot of money to support his family and dear friends, but as he grew older he discovered that his home country Ghana did not offer the economic opportunities to make his dreams come true. He helped his father and brothers on the withered land, the produce of which was barely enough to feed his family. They had no money and it was a miracle that Bobo was the only one of the children who had attended a primary school for a while, in a nearby village. He had to walk miles every day for this. Nowadays he sometimes wondered where he got the energy from back then. Bobo was eight years old when his mother died of an illness. He left school and helped his father in the fields again. When he was 15, two older brothers left for Europe. Life would be better there, they had heard. His father had tried to stop them, but his brothers went anyway. They would not survive the journey. A few years later his father died. A broken man who had lost too much. Then the civil wars started due to discontent and political instability. Bobo said goodbye to his remaining brother and sisters and despite their warnings, he too decided to seek fortune in Europe. He was almost 19 years old at the time.

“Look at him eating like a hog again!” said Steven, who looked up from his own plate and stared at Bobo.

The plate on which the shrimps were placed was already empty, as was the bread basket. The carpaccio was almost finished.

“Don’t you give him anything to eat at home?”

“It seems like it's getting worse,” Erik added, laughing.

He had followed Steven's gaze and looked at Bobo, who was trying to chew a big bite of the carpaccio with chubby cheeks.

“Oh, he's like a bottomless pit,” Maverick responded disinterestedly.

“No matter how much you give him, it's never enough.”

He carefully took another bite of the hot mustard soup he had ordered.

Bobo chuckled softly at the comments. He was already used to it. He simply liked food and enjoyed eating it. There were no signs that Maverick's friends found his eating behavior disturbing. Rather, they seemed surprised at his appetite and made him feel like he could do something special and that it was actually pretty cool. Steven looked at the empty bread basket and Bobo's chubby face for a moment, until Erik caught his attention with his own holiday plans and they too continued eating their starter.

As his father had warned his brothers, the journey to Europe did not go smoothly. Bobo was betrayed at the national border by other refugees, whom he had come to see as friends. He was arrested and tortured for days. The scars were still visible on his dark skin. It was pure luck that he was able to escape when he was being taken somewhere by truck. Several times he had had to hide in fear, without hope of help, not knowing where his journey would end. With wounded feet from walking for weeks, he finally reached the coast. The crossing was also not without danger. The sea was rough and the boat far too small for the number of refugees trying to reach Europe. Many people died of hunger, or fell overboard and drowned. But Bobo survived the crossing. Emaciated and with injuries, he reached the mainland again. Miraculously, his asylum application was approved. But Europe turned out not to be the paradise his brothers had told him about. It was difficult to find work and make new contacts. He discovered that not everyone accepted a dark skin color and that white natives were clearly favored. After wandering the streets for a few months, he met someone who could provide housing and a job. Giovanni was the first European to take care of him and even though he was a pimp who let his boys have sex with often much older men for money, Bobo felt safe with him. He discovered that Europeans thought he was a beautiful, black boy, with a large, meaty penis that more than made up for the scars in his skin. His swollen cockhead was especially appreciated. Customers regularly asked for him specifically and there were some who offered more than the price set by Giovanni. He had a lot of sex. Often unsafe, but he had never contracted an illness from it. He didn’t make many friends there either. His colleagues were not the most likeable guys and jealous of Bobo's member and profits made them want nothing to do with him. One day Giovanni called him over and introduced him to Maverick, a school friend. They clicked immediately and he was given away as a kind of gift. By now he knew that Maverick had bought him from Giovanni, but why? In any case, they had never had sex. Bobo didn't complain. He had a nice room in Maverick's villa, no longer had to have sex with strange men and was regularly asked out for dinner at Maverick's expense. So he didn't need a job. And after dinner he drove back to the villa with Maverick. 

Bobo got into the car with an overfull stomach. The food had been too good again and most of the guys’ talk was about nothing. Maverick took the time to say goodbye to his friends. The sun had already set when they finally drove along the highway to the residential area where they lived.

*

Irritated, Bobo threw another shirt on his bed and dug through his wardrobe for another shirt. He was looking for something that still fit. He had gained a lot of weight in the past six months. There was nothing left to see of an emaciated body upon arrival in Europe. He didn't know how much he weighed at the time, but the scale in the bathroom now read just over 220lbs. The clothes he wore at the time were still in a corner of the closet as a reminder, because they no longer fit. Maverick with his dinner parties all the time! This was his fault! Bobo smiled when he saw his body in the large mirror that was diagonally next to the wardrobe. He turned his body for a moment and looked at himself from the side. His stomach bulged considerably. He didn't mind having gained weight. Fat people are fat because they are doing well, he had learned from his parents. He was doing well too, but he found clothes that were too small annoying. He didn't want to walk down the street with a belly bulging under his shirts. And buttons popping off his blouse, he didn't want that anymore either. The boys had laughed at him when he ate so much again that his stomach looked like a big balloon and felt so hard you could break a brick on it. He had only worn that blouse once before. It still fit then. He bought trousers a size larger in advance, because he now knew that he would grow into them anyway. Those dinners were just too delicious to pass. Bobo was not the only one who saw that he no longer had the slim figure he used to have. The boys frequently commented on his weight and size. He was not only the youngest, but also the heaviest of the group. He wasn't very tall either, at 5'9. Erik had once indicated that he thought Bobo looked better than when they first met, but that was 2 months ago when he was 20lbs lighter. Steven, who was the tallest at 6'3, often called him a little black ball, but Steven was always sarcastic and a bit arrogant. What he said should not be taken too seriously. Fortunately, Bobo didn't mind. But wait, speaking of Steven... Steven had brought an oversized shirt from America where he was on a business trip as a joke for him. One of those shirts that bodybuilders wear. Bobo dug around in his closet again, behind the shirts that probably no longer fit and took out the beige oversized shirt. At the time he didn't know what to do with it, but now… He pulled the cloth over his head and helped it over the rest of his body. It looked pretty good, he saw in the mirror. Still a bit too big, but not disturbing. And it was no longer noticeable that his stomach was bulging considerably. Bobo proudly left his bedroom and took the stairs down.

'Hey Bobo, friend! Are you coming out to dinner with me and the boys again tonight?”

Maverick sat on the large white couch and glanced up from behind his tablet, waiting for an answer. His hair was combed back tightly again and the clothes he wore were always from a well-known, expensive brand.

Bobo sighed.

“Eating out again?” he thought, realizing that he had just found himself throwing away half his wardrobe.

'Where are you going?'

“To that burger joint on the Mall,” Maverick replied, looking back at his tablet.

'Nothing fancy. You don't have to come along.'

Bobo sighed again and walked to the kitchen to pour himself a drink. That burger place was very good. Much better than a McDonalds or a BurgerKing. His stomach began to growl softly as he thought about it.

“Oh, how weak I am,” he thought.

'I'm coming along. Nice to see the boys again.'

The first time he met Steven and Erik he thought they were strange guys. He had only just moved to Maverick after a period of prostitution and had to get used to the customs of European people, the food and the climate. They were also in a restaurant at the time and, he later realized, Maverick had not informed them at all about his new roommate. Steven addressed Bobo as 'blackie' or 'brownie', as if he wanted to make it clear that he was a superior, until Maverick confronted him with his foul language. At times the two seemed to be engaged in an eternal power struggle to win the title of 'Alpha'. Yet they were two very different types. Steven was a married businessman who traveled a lot. Maverick was a rich man's son, had no partner and no business, although he said he always had projects underway. Erik was a completely different person. Much softer and a dreamer. From the beginning he was interested in Bobo's stories, who had shared bits of his past and his journey with him over time. Erik didn't have a partner either, but he didn't mind being single. He enjoyed the freedom that this brought. When Maverick thought Erik was getting too close, he confronted him, saying that he had paid for Bobo and that Erik shouldn't take all the attention. Even though he didn't understand where the comment came from, Erik did as he was told. He wasn't rich and knew that sometimes it was wiser to blindly do what Maverick said than to go against it.

*

“Ah, that's my shirt!” Steven shouted through the burger joint, as he stood up from a bench against a wall behind a table with a big smile.

Some people looked at him, clearly wondering why the man was screaming so loud. They followed his gaze to Bobo, who followed Maverick through the restaurant, pretending not to be stared at. After a year in Europe, he still did not feel comfortable being the only colored person among white people. He looked at Steven with a fake, broad smile and nodded once.

“Be normal, man!” said Erik, who was so shocked by his tablemate next to him, he had spilled coke on his pants.

“It's just a shirt.”

“Well, I really like this,” Steven said when Maverick and Bobo had taken their seats across from him.

“I thought you didn't appreciate the joke and threw it away. It's cool that you're wearing it now.'

“And it looks good on you too,” Erik added.

“Guys, I'm hungry,” Steven said before Bobo could respond.

He took the brightly colored menu that was on the table in front of Erik and started going through it, as if it was his first time he ate at this burger joint. From the other side, Bobo eagerly looked at the photos of the burgers and side dishes. His mouth watered at the thought of his favorite burger. Or would he go for a different one this time? Or would he order his favorite burger and another?

“I'll pay,” Steven said suddenly, after he had made his choice and given the menu to Erik.

“I'm in a good mood today, so take advantage of it.”

The others looked at him in surprise. Steven was normally not a generous giver. It turned out that his cheerful mood had nothing to do with the shirt Bobo was wearing, but with a million-dollar deal he had managed to make yesterday and the associated commission. Erik and Maverick quickly made their choice. Especially now that they knew Steven would pay, they had opted for a more expensive version of the hamburger they normally chose. Bobo was still deciding between his favorite hamburger or another one. He thought both were rude to Steven, but Maverick urged him to have two burgers. After all, he didn't have to pay for the change.

“Just get three,” Steven said suddenly, annoyed by Bobo's indecisiveness and therefore having to wait longer for his food.

Bobo looked at him questioningly. Did he mean that?

“Yes, get three,” Erik said enthusiastically.

Maverick followed suit and urged Bobo to order three burgers and some sides.

Three burgers and side dishes? Bobo reeled at the thoughts. All those goodies, just for him. He hurriedly looked at the menu again, when Steven indicated that if he didn't make a choice quickly, he would do it for him and when the waiter came, Bobo quickly gave his order.

The boys looked curiously at the three large plates in front of Bobo, as if they were all thinking the same thing; is he going to eat it all? To save space, some smaller bowls with ordered side dishes such as extra fries, chicken wings and spicy cheese balls were placed on the plates. It just barely fit on the table. Bobo didn't give the boys much attention. His thoughts were on hamburgers, all of which looked delicious. While Maverick, Erik and Steven took their knife and fork, Bobo grabbed the first hamburger in his big hands and took a big bite out of it. What a party! Only after he had eaten half of the hamburger, alternating it with chicken wings and cheese balls, did the others start eating and the usual conversations about business deals, women and vacations started. Every now and then they watched from the corner of their eyes as Bobo feasted on all the food. The first plate was empty again. Even the fries and garnishes had disappeared into his stomach.

“I'm going to film this,” Maverick said suddenly, taking out his phone.

Bobo looked up, startled. Was it so special that he ate hamburgers? With a chicken wing half sticking out of his mouth because his cheeks were too full of hamburger and fries to fit in completely, he looked at Maverick. His phone was almost shoved in his face and the boys laughed.

'Look at that man. Can you push it in even more?' Steven asked.

Bobo swallowed the lump of food in his mouth with difficulty and pushed the chicken wing down. He smiled. This was so delicious that it demanded to be eaten quickly. The boys had finished their plates when Bobo started on the third burger. Most of the bowls were also empty and the waiter had already removed them to create space on the table. Bobo sighed. He was actually already full and had unseen unbuttoned a few buttons on his pants.

“You'll eat it,” said Steven, who had noticed that Bobo had already reached his limit.

“I don't mind paying, but I do think it's a shame to throw that hamburger in the trash.”

“Come on Bobo,” Maverick chimed in.

With his phone he zoomed in on the hamburger, then on Bobo's sweaty face and then on his swollen belly that was clearly visible even through the large shirt he was wearing.

“You're not a sissy, are you?”

“Do I look like I'm not going to eat it?” replied Bobo, who was still looking forward to the hamburger despite the pressure in his stomach.

He took the burger from the plate with one hand and took a bite.

“Oh, wonderful…” he thought.

As his stomach protested, there was only one thought in his mind; more!

He greedily ate the hamburger, the fries and the garnish.

While the boys cheered him on, Bobo continued to eat until he swallowed the last bite. Panting slightly from exertion, he leaned back and gently rubbed his stomach. It felt like it was filled with cement, inside and out. The large shirt was tight around his waist. The others ordered another drink. Bobo skipped for fear that his stomach would burst after just one sip. He had eaten too well and was uncomfortably full. Even breathing became difficult because his stomach pressed against his lungs and he was happy when it was decided to go home. Not only the boys, but also others stared at him as he passed by. He looked pregnant with triplets. Steven made a sick comment about it, Erik supported him and Maverick had taken out his phone again to film Bobo struggling to get to the car.

*

The next morning, most of the pressure in his stomach had disappeared and Bobo was longing for a tasty breakfast again. While getting dressed, he thought back to those rare moments in Africa when there was enough food. A big eater, he had apparently always been that, evident from those moments. People would gather around him and cheer him on. When he was 10 years old, he ate so much at a cousin's wedding that everyone thought he needed to go to a hospital. But hospitals were far away, so his father had carried him home, fearing for his life. Bobo had been very ill for several days and despite his family fearing for his life, he had recovered well. But how angry his father had been. Not at Bobo, but at the family members who had encouraged him to eat more. They had promised him not to do it again, but it happened more often in secret. Especially the cousins ​​who were under the age of 20 loved seeing how much he could eat and despite the near death experience and the painful feeling of too much food in his body, Bobo continued to eat whenever he had the chance. Especially when he was encouraged. Erik had once suggested that he should participate in eating competitions, but that idea was immediately dismissed by Steven, who did not see the point of such competitions and steered the conversation to famine in third world countries. Bobo thought it was hypocritical that he came up with this. In the end he also sat with them at a restaurant at least once a week, helping himself to meals that others would not have thought possible. Bobo knew all about it. In Europe everything was more extensive and bigger than in Africa. He had not accepted Erik's idea. Despite being African himself, Bobo did not take famine into account. He had suffered from hunger himself and was grateful that this was now over. However, he had difficulty being encouraged by strangers. In his experience, eating was not something to be seen as a competition. You have to enjoy it. Besides, there were no eating contests in the area. He had quickly looked that up.

His memories of earlier times were rudely interrupted when Bobo walked to the kitchen to make breakfast. Maverick sat on the white couch and immediately made it clear that Bobo would have to eat breakfast somewhere other than the dinner table or the living room. He was expecting a visit from Steven and private matters needed to be discussed. Bobo looked up, somewhat startled. Since when was he not welcome when Steven or Erik came to visit. They didn't come that often as they mostly met in a restaurant, but until now Bobo was always allowed to be there. They were his friends too, right? But it was still early and he didn't feel like arguing, so he made a breakfast consisting of a large bowl of yogurt with slices of fresh bananas, eight slices of bread with butter, a thick layer of peanut butter and a slice of 'normal' cheese and a large glass of orange juice. He hardly ever drank coffee or tea. The doorbell rang as Bobo prepared to walk back to his bedroom with a large and full tray. While eating, he thought back to the good times in Africa and wondered if he would ever see the family members and friends he had left behind again. When he had finished eating, he pulled a thick bar of milk chocolate from a drawer of his desk that was full of chocolate bars, and ate it with gusto.

Maverick was talking to Steven in the living room. He had his best friend come over to discuss an idea with him that had been on his mind for the past few weeks. After living with him for six months, the excitement was gone. He was referring to Bobo. And that's why he thought it would be a good idea to revive the excitement with a force feeding session. Bobo loved to eat, right? Steven remained silent for a moment, then burst out laughing. A what? Force feeding is what they do with geese. Maverick also admitted that he posted the videos of Bobo during dinner on a closed YouTube channel. He showed Steven the reactions of people who were shocked by his appetite. Yesterday's video, in which you can see how Bobo ate two hamburgers and the knowledge that he had also finished a third, is especially popular.

“People are not right in their heads,” Steven said.

“How can this be popular?”

“No, that stupid nigger,” Maverick replied.

'He just keeps eating, man. Might as well make it commercial, right?”

Steven confirmed this line of thought. If you could make money somehow, then you should do it. It was clear to him that the excitement that Bobo once brought was now gone and if his schedule allowed it, he would be present at the force feeding session. He would also invite Erik so that Maverick could concentrate on organizing it. After briefly talking about some of Steven's business associates, he said he might know of a way to increase the excitement in Maverick's life again. Giovanni has found a new boy. A sturdy Surinamese who turned out to be quite smart.

*

Bobo rubbed his stomach painfully and yawned loudly. He didn't sleep well last night. Several times he had woken up to the smell of his own farts and had to exchange his bed for the toilet. He had probably eaten something bad the night before, during a dinner with the boys, or perhaps he had eaten too much again and his body could no longer cope with the large amount of food. More and more often they would encourage him to chew down three, four, and once even five plates of food. He succeeded again and again, but not without consequences. The scale today read 243lbs. His jeans were all too tight, so he only wore sweatpants. The stretch fabric stretched comfortably with his growing size and the large oversized shirt Steven had given him was quickly becoming too small. His stomach started to gurgle violently again while putting on bright yellow sweatpants and with his buttocks clenched, Bobo stumbled to the toilet. Erik had said that bright colors looked good with his black skin color, but he didn't have much time to think about it. With a symphony of gurgling sounds, Bobo emptied his bowels again, wondering how there could still be so much in them after all the toilet visits he had already made. With difficulty he wiped his anus clean, because not only his belly had grown bigger, but also his buttocks. The painful intestinal cramps disappeared and although Bobo hoped that this outburst in the toilet would be the last, he was also looking forward to breakfast. Clumsily, to prevent his underwear from rubbing against his chapped anus, he walked downstairs to make breakfast in the kitchen. The shirt he was wearing was a little too small, exposing a bit of his underbelly, but Maverick didn't comment on it. He seemed busy at the dining table, taking notes on a writing pad. Bobo was surprised that he was not using his tablet, but when he wanted to see what Maverick was writing, he quickly closed the writing pad.

There were voices from the kitchen and the clatter of metal pans. Bobo saw that the door at the back of the kitchen, which led to the chef's kitchen, was open. Strange, because since he moved in with Maverick, that kitchen had never been used.

“Are we having a party?” he asked as he walked to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Maverick had opened his writing pad again and was looking for the page he was writing on.

“Yes, certainly,” he replied without looking up from his writing.

'A very special party. I'm excited.'

Otherwise he remained silent.

Bobo shrugged. Why was Maverick doing strange again? He didn't want to say what the reason for the party was, but when Bobo curiously stared from the doorway into the chef's kitchen and saw three chefs busy, he knew that the party would cost quite a bit. With the large tray filled with a large bowl of yogurt, 8 thick slices of bread, 6 pancakes with blueberry sauce and a glass of orange juice, he walked to the dining table. Maverick still didn't say anything, so Bobo started eating his breakfast in silence. After the last bite, his stomach started to rumble again.

Bobo had spent most of that day on his bed, until suddenly there was a loud banging on his bedroom door. It was a happy and excited Maverick, who came to get Bobo for the party. Bobo preferred to stay in bed. He wasn't feeling well and wasn't in the mood for a party, but when Maverick hinted that he had organized the party for him and that there would be lots of good food, Bobo had no choice but to leave his bed. Maverick pulled him by the wrist into the hallway before he could put on the sweatpants he'd thrown on the foot of his bed. According to Maverick, clothing was not necessary. The skimpy underwear he was wearing was enough. Bobo protested, but was rudely pushed down the hall, down the stairs, through the living room and past the kitchens where the cooks were still busy judging by the sounds coming from them. Maverick chuckled softly as they reached the stairs leading down to the basement. Before Bobo could ask anything, he was almost pushed down the stairs. The basement was dimly lit and Bobo wondered what was going to happen. He thought it was strange that he had to go there in just underwear. This way everyone could see his fat body, something he preferred not to do. Then he saw a large wooden table, well lit by the lamp hanging above it. The table was full of food and dishes. A whole turkey, nicely browned, lay in the center like a showpiece. Now Bobo could smell the wonderful scents coming from it. Four guys sat at the table. He recognized Erik and Steven. The other two were unknown to him. They wore normal clothes. The atmosphere was electric, as if something exciting could happen at any moment. Maverick led him to the largest chair and took the seat next to it himself. What a strange party, but all that food looked very good. Bobo's mouth watered again and he immediately wanted to taste what was in the bowls and of course that beautiful turkey, but all eyes were on him, making him feel uncomfortable. Maverick had placed his phone on the table in front of him and everyone seemed to be waiting for a speech.

*

“Eat…eat…eat!” the guys shouted in unison, while Bobo shoveled another spoonful of potato gratin into his mouth, followed by a piece of salmon steak.

He had not been given a plate, so he ate directly from the bowls. Maverick had not given a speech. A party for Bobo, where he could eat anything he wanted, was all he said. The two new guys had briefly introduced themselves, but what they were doing there and what their connection was with Maverick, Bobo didn't know. The guys had enthusiastically pushed some bowls and plates in his direction. That was the moment Bobo couldn't hold back anymore and started eating. He had never seen so much food in one place. The colors and smells drove him crazy. It really tasted fantastic. Much better than the burger joint and actually better than many restaurants he had eaten at in the past six months. Maverick must have rounded up the best chefs to prepare this for him. Bobo felt special. Never before had anyone arranged something like this for him. Large chunks of meat on one of the skewers disappeared hastily into his mouth. Another salmon steak and a big bowl of fried rice. Then a piece of the turkey. It tasted heavenly with a juicy and soft texture. A good combination with a piece of the roulade, which he had found behind the plate of salmon steaks. He carefully took a small sip of Coke. He didn't want to have to give up all the tasty food because his stomach became full of carbon dioxide. The guys kept shouting at him and Maverick had turned on the movie camera on his phone from the beginning. Sometimes he would get up and walk around Bobo with the device to film him from a different angle. Bobo was the only one who ate. He had asked if the others wanted anything, but they unanimously quoted Maverick. It was his party today. Actually, Bobo didn't mind not sharing his food at all. This was all just for him and no one else.

“Okay guys, what are we betting on?” Steven suddenly shouted enthusiastically across the table.

“I'm sure he'll never finish it all,” one of the new guys replied.

“You guys talked about him, but that's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?”

“I think he'll clear this table,” Erik said.

"I'll put in 1,000 euros."

Maverick looked at his guests.

'I'm sure he'll eat it all. Including dessert. 10,000 euros'

With a wicked smile he looked at Steven, who looked back with a dark look.

The guys discussed maximum human eating limits, exaggerated expectations and their commitment to the bet that quickly ran into thousands of euros.

Bobo didn't care about it. He quickly continued gobbling the food, afraid that it would cool down. Suddenly one of the chefs appeared at the bottom of the cellar stairs and replaced the empty dishes with full ones. New dishes that also had to be tasted. The boys encouraged him again, even more wildly than before, because now there was self-interest involved. Everyone wanted to win the bet. The new guys still joined in, expecting Bobo to never finish all this food and dessert. Maverick was walking around the table with his phone, when Bobo leaned back in his chair and rubbed his overfull belly.

'I can’t anymore!'

The guys shouted even louder for him to continue eating and banged their fists wildly on the table. Bobo let out an almost inhumanly loud belch, which echoed through the empty basement. A silence fell. The boys looked at each other in shock, afraid Bobo had already eaten himself to death. As nothing weird had happened and massive belches were a most normal thing, Bobo reached over to the table and put another piece of meat in his mouth. The boys shouted enthusiastically again.

“Now I'm really full.”

But before he knew what was happening, Maverick tied his wrists and ankles to the chair and kicked off phase two of the party. The guys got up from their seats, took some of the dishes on the table in their hands and gathered around Bobo. While Maverick filmed the scene, the boys started stuffing the food into Bobo's mouth. Bobo struggled as much as his tense stomach would allow, as handful after handful of food was pushed into him. The boys laughed out loud with excitement. They seemed to enjoy feeding someone to an explosion level. It didn't take long before the plates and bowls on the table were empty and even most of the turkey had been eaten. Bobo didn't get much rest. While he was panting hard from exertion, with a belly as big as a beach ball and hard as a rock, he was hidden behind a sheet, when a chef brought dessert. A large bowl full of custard pudding topped with whipped cream and different fruit sauces was placed on the table. Maverick motioned for the chef to go. He was probably afraid that Bobo would start talking and that his party would be discovered. But Bobo didn't talk. He was so painfully full that he couldn't say anything anymore. When the chef left, the boys dived for the bowl to be the first to feed Bobo.

“Look, that thick black belly button is completely popping out!” shouted one of the new boys.

“Yes I see. I'll stop,” Erik said.

'This isn't fun anymore. A bit degrading even."

He walked back to his seat and started playing on his phone.

Bobo felt his growing belly pressing on his thighs. He could hardly breathe, but the boys kept feeding him. His head was spinning.

“Just keep going guys,” Maverick shouted, laughing as he zoomed the camera out so that Bobo was completely in the frame and only his friends' hands were visible near Bobo's mouth.

'He doesn't have to survive. His body is being stored away, that has already been arranged. Don't be afraid and just keep going. You too Erik!'

But Erik pretended not to have heard Maverick and remained with his phone in his hand. Every now and then he looked up at the boys and Bobo's visibly expanding belly.

*

How Bobo managed to get it all away is still a mystery, but he was still strapped to the chair and had not burst. The bowl was empty and the boys looked at each other, then at Bobo's face covered in pudding, then at the huge belly. The skin was stretched tight, like a balloon with too much air in it and ready to burst at any moment. As a precaution, the boys had gathered behind the table where they could take shelter if necessary. Maverick had won the bet, but he still didn't seem satisfied. Bobo was still breathing. He had his eyes closed and was no longer aware of what was happening in the basement. Steven gathered his courage and walked to Bobo, after which he carefully placed his hand on his stomach. Immediately there was a loud gurgling sound. Steven ran back to the others and hid behind the table. A deafening belch, even louder than the first, escaped Bobo's mouth. Startled, Maverick looked at the basement stairs. If the chefs came to see where the noise was coming from, they would catch them. With wide eyes they looked at the large, black mountain with a bulging navel, from which a deep and loud rumbling came. Bobo opened his mouth and another loud burp made the guys look up in shock.

Unexpectedly, a thick stream of yellow pudding sprayed from Bobo's mouth through the room, over the table and onto Steven. Gagging at the filthy scene, he tried in vain to wipe the yellow blobs off his clothes. One of the two new guys screamed. Bobo hung lifeless in the chair like a rag doll with an absurdly large belly. His stomach continued to rumble loudly, as if a drum band were passing by in the distance. Maverick had hidden in a dark corner of the basement, his phone still ready to film what would happen. Another loud burp and a thick jet of pudding flew through the basement, which the guys dodged just in time. Erik had already taken cover under the table with one of the new guys. They waited anxiously. For a moment, Bobo's stomach was still, and just when they thought the danger had passed, there was an unnatural roaring sound, growing louder by the second. In a reflex, the almost unconscious Bobo clutched his stomach. Steven and the other new boy also dived under the table.

'Oh shit! Now it's happening!' shouted one of the new boys.

Bobo groaned painfully and tried to sit up. He failed due to the size of his gut and a lack of strength. He gasped for air as he fell back into the chair. He groaned again, loud and painful. The roaring sound in his stomach filled the room, then something happened that neither of the guys expected. First came the gurgling sound of an unhealthy fart. As if Bobo's intestines had separated from his stomach and were filled with fluid. It gave off a pungent smell of rotting meat and eggs that made Steven, who was still covered in pudding, gag again under the table. Now that the fun was over, the guys had only one wish: to leave the villa as quickly as possible and never return. Then they could pretend this never happened. That they had not deliberately led someone to death. The only one who seemed to enjoy it was Maverick, who was still standing in the dark corner. Occasionally his soft chuckle was hearable. It was quiet for a moment, but when one of the new guys attempted to crawl under the table and leave the basement, another burp sounded, almost immediately followed by a fart. A soft one this time and just when the guys thought it was over, Bobo opened his eyes wide and shot up as far as the straps holding him to the chair would allow with a loud yelp. Under high pressure, a brown liquid sprayed from between his legs into the room. Volley after volley, heralded by a primal scream, the brown goo flew in all directions. Over the table, over Steven and the new guys under the table, but most of it flew into Maverick, who had not taken shelter and was completely covered. A foul smell like that of sewage filled the room. Steven threw up on the new guy sitting next to him. The other new guy started to cry. Only Erik remained calm. He was lucky to be in the right corner where he didn't catch as much of the diarrhea as the rest. Except for a few brown spots on his pants, he stayed dry. A smile of redemption appeared on Bobo's face.

“Greak nigger!” Maverick shouted from the dark corner in which he stood.

He briefly wondered whether he should continue filming while he tried to avoid the splashes. He wanted to punch Bobo, but the shit just kept coming. It took at least 5 minutes before the jets of diarrhea diminished in strength, but by then everything was already covered. Now that the cramps were gone, Bobo was slumped back in his chair. The two new guys ran out of the basement, away from the villa. Maverick could only hope the chefs hadn't seen them. He clumsily kicked the ankles of a fainted Bobo. He was supposed to die that night, not shit on everyone. While he made a plan with Steven to clean everything up without being noticed, Erik opened the straps that held Bobo's wrists and ankles to the chair and carefully pulled him to his feet.

“What a scandalous evening this was,” he said with a smile, as if he had really enjoyed it.

Bobo slowly opened his eyes when he heard Erik talking to him. With his help he got out of the chair, but his stomach had become too heavy to walk properly. His legs could no longer hold the weight so Erik supported him. Maverick and Steven paid them no attention as they laboriously climbed the basement stairs. While Bobo recovered from the climb on the top step, Erik dismissed the chefs and helped Bobo to his room.

*

Bobo lay helpless on the bed. His whole body ached, especially his stomach that towered over him. He was shocked when he felt a strange lump on the top of his stomach and thought it was a hernia. On closer inspection it turned out to be his belly button, which bulged out quite a bit. He had discovered it by feeling, because he could no longer get up. Erik had helped him onto the bed and then left again. His heart was beating wildly and he could hardly breathe. He felt his strength draining away and he was at the mercy of the elasticity of his stomach and his body's digestive mechanisms. With his eyes closed he thought of Africa. Of his parents, whom he missed terribly every day. Of the simple life he had there, on the land. He wondered if his friends still played football. If they were even still alive. He had seen many people die there, from hunger or from corruption. His friends and family members were no exception. One day he wanted to be rich, to be able to provide for them all. He was proud when he was accepted at the University of Ghana, shortly before he left the country. He was the only one in his family who would attend university. His father would have been proud too, he was sure of that. Soon he became part of the university's athletics team. He was by far the fastest. He had always had a strong, athletic body because of his hard work in the fields. And he was also quite good at learning. Until he was caught in the toilet with that boy... When he decided to flee to Europe, the intention was to one day return to his native country, with enough money to support his family and friends. He would have his own business in something and everyone would be proud of him. However, he now realized that he might never return to Ghana and that he would never see his family and friends again. They would never know that he had died from an extreme amount of food. They wouldn't even know he was dead.

Bobo thought back to those scarce moments he ate so much in Africa. How he was encouraged by his cousins. How his father had saved him that one time and how, against all odds, he had not died of his own gluttony. Now he lay there on the bed, dazed. How could he have let it get to this point again? With his eyes still closed, he touched his belly. He himself was shocked by the size. A large ball that was quite in the way, that's how he experienced it. A large ball filled with bricks. He briefly fiddled with the bulging navel. This couldn't be healthy anymore. He slid his hand down to his much thinner chest, where he felt his heart pounding hard. There probably wasn't enough blood to keep his body going. As he had done after the near-death experience in Africa, he promised himself never to eat so much again. If necessary he went to a psychologist. If he could survive this evening. His stomach gurgled again. His body clearly wanted to get rid of all food, but he did not dare to throw up. Then you could suffocate, he had once seen on television. He groaned softly, spread his legs and felt his bowels empty again. Bobo just made it happen. He no longer had the strength to stop it. There was no one around to see it anyway.

“He doesn't have to survive.”

Maverick's voice echoed in his head. Had he heard that right? Bobo didn't know it anymore. His head was spinning. What a strange evening. Who were those two strange guys, why was Maverick making videos, why a dinner in the basement and why had he eaten so much again? Why was he fed? To the point of exploding...

“He doesn't have to survive.”

Bobo farted. Damn, what a smell! As if there was a carcass next to him. Bobo tried to get up. His underwear was wet and the smell of diarrhea on the bed and against the wall and the fart smell together was nauseating. But Bobo could no longer get up and he could do nothing but accept that something inside him was rotting. He thought of Erik, who was the only one kind enough to help him. All this time he had thought that Steven was also a friend, albeit a sarcastic one. Erik had always been friendly to him. He had never made a comment that made him feel bad. Bobo hoped that Erik's kindness wouldn't get him into trouble. Maverick wasn't always nice. He could be mean, especially when he didn't get his way. Fragments of the evening flashed through his mind. The table full of dishes, the chefs who kept replenishing the table. Blurred images of Steven covered in pudding and Maverick covered in shit. He would probably have problems with that himself. Again, Bobo tried to get up, but suddenly his eyes went black.

*

In the living room, Maverick and Giovanni, an apparently smooth boy in a sharp suit, stood in front of the large white couch. They laughed together and talked as if they were good friends. Giovanni didn't like to sit. It wrinkled his pants and besides, many couches were bad for his back. Business was going well, he reported. New boys arrived almost every day. Not just refugees. They were mainly boys from the city, who wanted to earn more than what they get as a shelf filler in the supermarket. He smiled showing his white teeth. In the past, no one wanted to be a prostitute. It had a bad name and everyone was afraid of being recognized. Now the business is booming and he could even turn away the ugly guys. Maverick walked to a glass case and took out two champagne glasses.

'I heard from Steven that you have a Surinamese boy. Solidly built and smart'.

“He is sturdy,” Giovanni replied.

'Not just fat, there's also muscle underneath. He's a powerful boy. Appears to have been living here on the street for a while. He has no parents or anyone to care for him. Nice and easy. Smart, I don't know yet. He will undoubtedly be smarter than Bobo. His cock is bigger too.”

Maverick shook his head. He didn't care about the size of a cock. Although Giovanni was convinced that he too was gay, Maverick knew better. No, he couldn't do anything with a cock other than his own.

“When can I see him?” he asked as he walked into the kitchen and took a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator.

“Tomorrow night is possible,” said Giovanni.

“But first make sure you make room for him. Two of my boys in one house, I can't allow that. They will soon start conspiring against me.”

Maverick nodded in agreement. Bobo must have left the house before the other one came. He filled the two champagne glasses and the two toasted to another pleasant collaboration. With a bit of luck, Bobo wouldn't have survived the night and he'd already been rid of him. But this was not to be. The glasses were half empty when Bobo suddenly appeared in the living room. He looked good for someone who thought he was going to die from a food overdose the night before. His stomach was still swollen, but a lot less than last night. His belly bulged out a little from the shirt that was too small and the sweatpants he was wearing were tight. Fortunately he was able to move again. That was the most important thing to him. Giovanni complimented him on his performance the night before, which Maverick had told him about, and smiled sultrily. Bobo was silent. Giovanni was no longer his best friend, he could see that now. Although Maverick signaled to Bobo with head movements that he had to go, Bobo remained standing. It was clear he wanted to speak to Maverick, who ignored him and tried to start a conversation with Giovanni. The tension rose and Giovanni drank the remainder of the champagne in his glass in one gulp. He had decided to go. The agreements with Maverick had been made and he had no desire to sit between the two arguing guys. Maverick walked with him to the front door.

“Stupid nigger!” Bobo heard him say.

Giovanni just chuckled.

It took a while for Maverick to come back. Just when Bobo started to think he had left the villa with Giovanni, he reappeared. Bobo was still standing at the couch. For the first time in months he didn't feel like eating breakfast. With a piercing gaze he followed Maverick, who sat down casually on the couch and took a sip of champagne. There was a moment of silence as the guys looked at each other.

“If I tell you to go, then you have to…!”

Maverick was interrupted by Bobo, who stood over him menacingly with his hands on his hips.

“What was that yesterday?” he asked with a harsh tone and anger in his eyes.

Startled by this outburst, Maverick almost dropped his champagne glass on the floor. He had never seen Bobo angry before and knew he had to change the situation quickly. He didn't want to be contradicted in his own home, especially not in such a harsh tone. For a moment he wondered why he hadn't hit Bobo hard on the stomach last night. Then his stomach would certainly have burst and he would have gotten rid of the misery.

“You ate way too much again yesterday, that's what happened,” Maverick replied as coldly as he could.

But he was angry too. It had taken him most of the night to get the basement clean. Steven had helped briefly, but the pungent stench had caused him to quickly leave.

"You shit on everyone!"

'Yes, because I was tied to a chair and was fed more and more food. And I wasn't feeling well yesterday."

Irritated, he watched as Maverick drank his champagne with an arrogant attitude. As if he didn't care about what Bobo had to say.

'What did you actually mean by; he doesn’t have to survive?”

Maverick sighed. Did that idiot really not realize anything?

“I want you to go,” he said.

'I don't like living here with you anymore. To hang out with you.”

Bobo looked at him in surprise. He had not expected this reaction. What had he done wrong? Dozens of questions ran through his mind, but none left his mouth.

“Where… where should I go?” was all he could say.

Maverick drank the bottom of his glass and walked to the kitchen.

'I do not know. What I do know is that you can't go back to that whorehouse where you came from, with that fat body of yours.'

Bobo didn't know what he heard. How could Maverick just throw him out of the house? He was too proud to beg to stay and he knew there was no point in talking any further, so he left the living room to prepare for his departure.

*

The park was the ideal place for a good walk or run on the winding paths. The variety of flowers, shrubs and trees attracted nature lovers and the slender, romantic bridge over the pond was an ideal location for wedding photos. People gathered in the park for open-air concerts, nice chats on the benches or on sunny days like today, for a family picnic. In the shade of a thick tree, tucked behind dense undergrowth, Bobo sat on a bench. He didn't want to be seen by the people on the busy lawn some distance away. Next to the bench was a small blue suitcase. Inside were all the belongings he could take with him; too small shirts and two pairs of sweatpants. He was wearing the oversized shirt Steven had given him. It no longer fit loosely around his body, but showed the round shape of his stomach well. Even the indentation near his belly button was clearly visible. His bomber jacket was open. Not so much because of the warm weather, but he could no longer get the zipper over his stomach. He sat there bent over and with his face in his hands. He cried. What should he do now? What had he done wrong? His stomach growled with hunger. Maverick had not given him any money. Nothing. He thought back to the time when he had just arrived in the city. It had been so hard to find a job. And it was even harder to get housing. He couldn't go back to prostitution. Maverick was right, he had gotten too fat. No one wanted to sleep with him anymore. In fact, he did not want to return to prostitution. He was too proud for that.

Suddenly he felt a hand gently rubbing his shoulder. Bobo looked up with wet eyes and tried to hide his tears when he saw Erik. He smiled kindly and sat down next to Bobo on the bench. Bobo continued to cry. He was ashamed of his situation, but also happy that it was Erik who was now sitting next to him, and not someone else.

“It's not your fault,” Erik said.

'I have known Maverick for a very long time, since primary school. We were good friends then. Both wealthy parents who were more concerned with their careers and ambitions than with their children. Maverick and I understood each other and spent a lot of time together.'

He rubbed Bobo's shoulder again to calm him down. It helped. Bobo stopped crying and Erik handed him a clean napkin that had been in his coat pocket since the last dinner.

'You know, at some point I made the choice to leave my parents and choose my own path. They didn't like that of course. I don't speak to them anymore because of that choice. Maverick had more difficulty standing on his own. I asked him to come with me, but he refused. He got no love, only possession. A villa, a big car, expensive clothes... you know him. But I've also seen him start to behave more and more strangely. You know, boredom. Someone who gets everything and never has to take responsibility looks for excitement. And he found that excitement in you for a while.

Erik moved his hand from Bobo's shoulder to his leg. Bobo allowed it. For a moment he felt safe. Erik had always been kind to him and somehow he enjoyed hearing his story. If only he had told it earlier, different choices would have been made.

“Again, it's not your fault, it's Maverick's own dissatisfaction. After six months he gets tired of his play things. You're gone, the next one is probably already standing in line. He did everything to mainly entertain himself. To feel smart and powerful. It would never have been a friendship.

Hearing all this made Bobo wonder why he didn't realize it sooner. Was he also so blinded by all the splendor that Maverick possessed and of which he himself was a part for a while? Or had he been looking for acceptance? Maybe it was better to go back to Africa and give up his dreams. He had almost died, none of this was worth it. But how did he get back? Perhaps Erik would like to lend him money, but he didn't have the courage to ask. He had already made too much use of other people's money. A tear slid down his cheek. He was disappointed, but also angry. He took Erik's hand and removed it from his leg, after which he indicated that he wanted to be alone.

“What are you going to do?” Erik asked as he stood up.

'Where are you going?'

Bobo shrugged. He probably sat on the bench until he fell dead of hunger. He did not have much hope for a better prospect. Maybe he went into town looking for work. Maybe he had better luck with somewhere to live. Maybe not. He didn't know.

“You can come live with me for a while,” Erik said.

'I don't live as big as Maverick, but I have a spare bedroom. You can use it until you have found work and a home for yourself.'

Bobo looked up.

“Why?” he asked.

“How do I know you won't take advantage of me?”

Erik laughed.

'We don't know each other very well, but we're not strangers either, right? Come with me and if you don't like it you'll be gone in no time. No problem.'

Bobo smiled back. This came very unexpectedly, but at the right time. Erik had of course known about Maverick's plan to evict him for some time. With some disbelief he picked up his suitcase from the floor and followed Erik to his car. On the way to his house, Erik told some stories about Maverick and about himself as a kind of introduction. He was very proud of what he had achieved without help from his wealthy parents. His life could have been much easier. He earned his money by working in a luxurious lunchroom. He was actually a chef, but working in a star restaurant caused him too much stress. He had lived for years in a simple house in the suburbs. When Bobo had put his suitcase in the hallway and hung up his coat, Erik led him into the house, where the dining table was already full of homemade dishes...