Belly Literary Universe (part 2)

Jackie's Duty Part 12: The Price

Jackie spent the weekend trawling social media with bots looking for data on the Secret Advisor, but came up empty. Marvin's urges for her to get more information weighed on her mind. That's what she wanted out of all this. Data. Information. That was the reason they were dating after all. Despite her focus on the mission, in the wee hours of the night, she couldn't separate her growing affection from her actual goal. A distant weekend left her longing. When Monday morning came around, her heart ached as much as her body did from her workout routine.

Valerie seemed surprised by her eagerness in suggesting they go out to lunch.

They escaped work and headed to the Highstone Bakery and Dinner: A small mom and pop place not far from the research hospital they worked at. Nestled in the back, behind walls of fake foliage, they slid into a well worn booth. Jackie slid in on the same side of the booth as Valerie.

They ordered, then resumed their conversation from the car. Immediately the topic shifted. It was the influence of the earthy scent of bread that made them both think about food.

Valerie gripped and rubbed her tightly contained belly. With a demure smirk at Jackie, she asked her about it. "I feel bigger after last week. That was so much food. It's such a strange feeling. It's just... Bigger. Rounder. Does it look like it?"

Jackie coughed a little bit, and took a quick glance. "I don't know. Can't tell."

"I'll have to show it off for you later. So you can take a closer look."

Contrary to how she felt at the start, the prospect of giving Valerie a thorough gawking didn't bother her. She even smiled. Just a little bit though.

Valerie poked lightly at Jackie's stomach. "I can see a little something forming there too. I think it's cute."

Jackie jumped in her seat, shocked and embarrassed. "What?"

Valerie laughed. You've been working your ass off, and you still put on a little weight. I love it. Even with how little it is."

Jackie looked down at her almost completely flat stomach. "I - uhh - it's just a pound."

"I would have guessed a little more. But you told me you had your genes altered. Right? Like mine. Remember? One pound isn't a lot, unless you put it all in one place." She gave a loving pat to Jackie's midsection.

"Yeeeeah." Jackie grunted.

Valerie ran her fingers through her black hair, and let out an approving grunt. "My plan is working. Even if it's going slow." A sly smile crept across her face. "I can not wait to keep cooking for you. Anything you want in particular?"

Jackie started to sweat. The reality of the situation weighed on her. Okay. Okay. Focus on the mission. "Uh. Nothing in mind. Anything is good. But uhh - I'm curious how'd you got started with all this... You know, the fat stuff?" She knew she had to keep her cover. She reached over and gave Valerie's belly a quick rub.

Pleased with the touch, Valerie leaned back against the booth's faded cushion.

"I was looking at your social media this weekend -"

"Because you missed me?"

Jackie blushed. "Yeah..." It wasn't entirely a lie. "But I mean, a few months ago you were skinny. What changed?"

"Well... I can't remember a time when I didn't feel like I did. Lunchtime and dinner time were always my favorite times as a kid. As soon as I could walk I helped around the kitchen. I can still remember how happy my dad looked the first time I made him scrambled eggs all on my own. Hah. Of course I gave them to him on a paper plate, so he had to eat them quick. But he was so proud. As I got older that same sort of pride and joy morphed."

"And this thing?" Jackie poked Valerie's stomach again.

Valerie leaned her head on Jackie's shoulder.

Feeling comfortable again, Jackie put her arm around her.

"I make food for people I care about. And if they get fatter because of it? It's just like it's a physical manifestation of my care for them. It's intoxicating. Addictive too, I imagine. Feelings bleed together. But it's a pretty strong taboo. And that kept me from really acting on anything. Until Kelri."

"Your boss? With the belly?" Jackie raised her voice into a high question.

"Do you know any other Kelris?"

"Uhhh. No, I don't think so."

"Yeah. I watched her go from skinny to - actually I don't think she was every fit. Just skinny. But she put on a lot of weight. In a few months. She got in trouble for it -"

"What?" Jackie pulled her head off of Valerie's. Oohhhh. All those nude pictures and videos she posted... She played ignorant. "How does someone get in trouble for putting on weight?"

"Our old boss was an asshole. He had a habit of hiring women he thought were attractive. Kelri stopped being that woman and so had a problem with her. He tried to get her fired for some bullshit reason. That's it really. It didn't work. But that's not what you were asking about. Seeing her blow up, then see her defy Hugo like that? It broke something in me." Valerie laughed. "Well, it didn't break anything. I just realized I didn't have to care what people thought. So I let myself eat. Seeing Kelri boosted my confidence."

This is it. I can poke at this. Come on girl, give me the details. Jackie thought to herself. "Sooo, you and Kelri are friends then?"

"Yes and no. We're closer now. At the time we were just co workers who saw each other at monthly meetings."

"So how did that happen?"

"We got connected through a friend of a friend."

"Do they work in the same department too?"

"I don't know actually. Why?" Valerie sat up and gave a suspicious glance to Jackie.

Jackie clenched her body to avoid panicking. "Oh. Ya know. It's just funny that two people with the same genetic history and same fetish end up friends in the same office. Isn't that weird?"

Valerie gave another devilish smirk to Jackie. "You're so curious... I like that. Buuut I'd like it more if you were a little bigger."

Jackie stammered, but couldn't get any words out. She tried to laugh it off.

Valerie twisted in the booth to face Jackie and crossed one leg over the other. "If it's such an important question to you, I'll answer it. But I need to get something out of it too. It has to be fun. For both of us."

"Uhhhh okay..." Jacki bit her.

"Let me fatten you up..." Valerie stared intently. "Just a little bit. If you put on ten pounds for me I'll answer any question you want. I'll be honest and wont hold anything back." She shifted in her seat onto her knees and interlocked her fingers.

"Uhhh..."

"Now I'm not asking you to stop exercising. I know it's important to you. Though cutting back would make it easy. You can burn what? Around 500 or 600 calories in an hour? I can feed you that in 5 minutes. And you ending up with a soft sexy little tummy won't make running all that harder..." As she talked, Valerie's breath became deeper and quicker. Her pupils dilated. "Please. I would love nothing more than to help you indulge..."

Jackie gulped.

"Please, you don't have to choose now. Think about it. The deal is on the table."

"Yeah. I'll do that. I'll think about it."

***