Too fat for Heaven?!

Chapter 3 - Cookies and talks

Once the tea was ready, they both went in the living room. As Heather placed two cups of tea and a canister of cookies on the coffee table, Ezekiel sat down on the couch, sinking in the cushions; he sighed, finally his legs could get some rest.

Heather smiled at him and sat down as well, calmly taking a sip of her tea "This is one of my favorite blends: Peach and roses... I hope you'll like it as well".

Ezekiel took the hot cup of tea with his pudgy hands and smelled it; the tea had a very sweet aroma, just what one would expect from that kind of blend. He blew on the beverage to cool it off a bit and then took a sip; he widened his eyes, it was surprisingly good! He took another sip, letting the tea warm him up from inside; he closed his eyes in pure bliss and placed a hand on his tummy. "Wow... this is delicious!".

She grinned, taking a cookie from the canister. "I'm glad! I always drink this when I come back home exhausted from university".

The blonde boy looked at her "University?" he asked slowly grabbing a cookie as well and nibbling on it, holding back his urges to eat that buttery goodness whole.

"Yes, I'm currently studying psychology, I want to become a therapist and open my own office someday" she explained pushing up her glasses.

Ezekiel saw her eyes gleam behind the lenses and couldn't help but smile at how honest her passion seemed to be, he really hoped her wish was going to be granted. He crept his hand in the canister, pulling out two more cookies and said: "That's really interesting! It sounds difficult though...".

Heather sighed "It is... but not for the amount of studying I have to do. It's just because I have to work as well in order to pay rent and it's kind of hard to juggle both things".

He tilted his head in confusion... what was that 'rent' thing she was talking about? He had never heard that word before. He bit down on the sweet and asked: "I know it's probably a silly question but... what is rent?".

She just stared at him baffled "Y-you've never heard of rent before?".

Ezekiel shook his head a bit embarrassed; that seemed to be a big deal. He remained silent and let her explain what she was talking about.

"Alright wow... ok, basically rent is a sum of money you pay each month to the landlord in order to keep your house; if you don't you'll be evicted and will have to find a new place to stay", she paused for a moment then added: "Actually that's why I was looking for a roommate, so we could split things and make life easier".

He lowered his glance, taking a handful of cookies. "Oh... I kind of... don't have a job at the moment" he muttered as he ate his food with a bit more gusto than before.

Heather sipped on her tea "I know that, it was mentioned in the letter your orphanage sent to me, but it's alright, I'm not really struggling at the moment, you have some time to find your own job... but you'd better find it" she concluded in a serious tone.

"Yes, of course! I would never want to be a freeloader!" he exclaimed with his cheeks full of cookies, then he put a hand on his mouth, slightly embarrassed, gulped down what he was eating and finally asked: "Just out of curiosity... what's your job?".

She gently placed her teacup on the coffee table and crossed her legs, then she answered: "I work as a waitress at a club named 'The Golden Droplet', it's not the best job out there, but it pays well. However I don't know if that would be the right place for you, I think you should look for something more chill".

Ezekiel's mind got stuck on a single word: 'club', he had heard that word before; Michael had talked to him about clubs once... they were like cafes with music, but they were only open at night, and what was worse, all kinds of different sinners gathered there every night to drink, get wasted and do other unmentionable things! There was no way Heather actually worked in a place like that; she was too polite for that kind of job! "Why a club of all things?" he accidentally said out loud.

Heather looked at him, she didn't seem angry at his comment, almost as if she expected such a reaction on his part. "When I had just moved here I was in desperate need of a place to stay and a job, and the owner of that place decided to hire me, and helped me out a lot during these years. I can't simply leave the place after all he's done for me, besides, I like my job", she explained with a bright smile.

Ezekiel however still didn't look convinced and was munching on his last cookies with a skeptical expression on his face. How could the owner of a place like that be a nice person? How could she like that job? Was Michael wrong? Were clubs actually not as bad as he imagined them to be?

The girl rolled her eyes "Alright, fine, how about you come with me at the Golden Droplet one evening? I'm sure you'll change your mind once you experience that nice atmosphere!".

He glanced at Heather "I-I'm not sure... I feel like that would be too overwhelming" Ezekiel said looking down, he really didn't want to have to deal with sinners, even though right now he was part of them because of his gluttony.

Heather looked at him kindly with her golden eyes "If you feel uncomfortable you just need to tell me and I'll bring you back home. But you should at least try it out first, you might make some friends!".

Ezekiel sighed "Okay, I'll try..." he then put his hand in the canister again, but this time something felt different... the canister was empty! Where had all the cookies gone? He looked down and, surely enough, the answer was plain to see: his belly was visibly peeking out of his shirt. He let out a small squeal, catching Heather's attention, and tried to pull his shirt down from the front, only to have it ride up his sides.

"Ah! Come on... this isn't seriously happening" he mumbled to himself, a red tint spreading on his cheeks and ears as Heather just stared at him with a slightly amused face.

He struggled with his clothes for a bit more, until he managed to cover his stomach again "I-I'm sorry you had to uh... witness that" he said, stuttering a little, his face still red from embarrassment.

But Heather didn't really seem to be bothered, "No worries, I'm happy you liked them so much; I made them myself!" she said smiling sweetly.

Ezekiel widened his eyes, those cookies were homemade? They tasted just like the ones you'd get in a refined pastry shop! "Wow... yeah, they were delicious, good job! I'm almost... a bit sad I finished them so quickly" he confessed smiling sheepishly.

The woman laughed "Thank you! I can always make more if you want".

The young angel stopped for a moment, remembering the reason why he was there in the first place: drop those extra pounds and go back to Heaven- he couldn't indulge himself with sweets! But... were a couple of cookies really going to make the difference?

He gave Heather a shy nod, brushing back his hair "Y-yeah... that'd be nice".