This choice: Alice tries to avoid overeating by keeping up conversation with Jack • Go Back...Chapter #9Alice Attempting to Avoid Adipose by: Dr. Faustus   “First a little apéritif, dear guests, my beloved,” Jack smoothly took over the host role, “to whet our appetites. Cheers! To old friends… and new,” he winked at Alice. “The first course is Mexican, just some small hors-d'oeuvres. I hope you'll enjoy.”
Perhaps his perspective was skewed by living with Sam but there was nothing small about tacos, fajitas and who knows what else on large platters that were brought to the table by two maids (one was Carmen, Sam called the other, even plumper one Teresa). They both returned to the kitchen twice before they filled the entire surface with food. This was to be first course? At first Alice thought they'd never be able to eat all that but when she had a look at Sam she realised how wrong she was.
Sam ate like a woman possessed, as if she hadn't eaten for days, no, weeks. At first she made a couple attempts at small talk but that soon gave way to piggish grunts and other gluttonous sounds as she was scarfing down everything in her reach and stuffing herself even further, paying no heed to her guests.
Alice felt somewhat embarrassed by that shameless display of gluttony. And a little alarmed, when she noticed Sam's appetite was rubbing off on her too. She put down her second taco, reminding herself she wanted to slow down. She'd already crammed her stomach full today, no need to stretch it even further. She knew she had to find a diversion so she turned to Jack. “So how did you two… get to know each other?”
“Oh, that's an epic tale,” he smiled a little, “and rather too long for this small dinner, I am afraid. But I can give you a short digest, at least. One day I was returning back to Abercrombie from a business trip and only when my plane landed, I realised I messed up. You see, I always call my chauffeur to pick me up at the airport but that one time I forgot. Luckily, as it turned out. Oh, by the way, have you tried our fajitas yet? They're to die for, Maria – that is, our cook – is a wonder. Here, let me get them for you.”
“Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, at the airport, with no way to get home. Oh, sure, if I called Mike, he'd jump into the limo but it would take him at least an hour to get there, even if he broke all kinds of speed limits. And I didn't want to wait that long. Burritos, Zack?”
“I didn't want to wait at all, I was feeling restless, so I went to the airport Hertz office. It must've been fate, eh, darling?” Sam just grunted. “I went there and behind the counter I saw a woman so striking, so… original that I just stood there staring...”
***
The large dining table was strewn with remnants of the last course. There had been half a dozen desserts to choose from and although Alice had tried to exercise her self-control, she still managed to taste all of them. But now she was well beyond full and couldn't swallow a single bite more. And from the looks she'd exchanged with Zack he felt similar. Jack, too, ate only a couple pieces but there was no need to worry about leftovers.
Their humongous hostess was so stuffed her stomach turned into a perfectly spherical shape, all its rolls and creases smoothed out. Sam's face was flushed, red and sweaty, she must have been far past the point of sating herself but her greedy gut wouldn't let her stop. She groaned and moaned and kept stuffing cheesecake into her mouth.
It was almost revolting and yet somehow entrancing, too. Alice placed both her hands on her stuffed tummy to prevent them from reaching for another morsel, started gently massaging that hard ball. “I'm glad I won't be the one driving home,” she noted to Zack sotto voce.
Zack let out a heavy sigh but their little exchange didn't escape Jack. “Oh, there's no need to overexert yourselves, either of you,” he rushed to assure them. “You can leave your car here, Mike will take you home in the limo. Huh?”
“We don't want to be a bother,” replied Alice immediately.
“Oh, no bother at all, trust me. You can pick your car tomorrow evening or some other day. That is, unless you need your car right in the morning?”
“No, no, I can take the bus to work,” Zack assured him. “I usually do anyway. And so does Alice.”
“I see. Well, in that case...” he let it hang in the air.
Alice had another look at Zack and his painful scowl. “Yes, we accept. You have our gratitude. And Zack's too busy at work tomorrow but I'll come to pick up our sedan.”
“Excellent! Tell Mike and he'll pick you up tomorrow in the city. Well, then,” Jack smiled warmly at both of them, “I'm glad that's sorted out.”
“I am afraid it is getting rather late and Zack has a morning shift so...” Alice shrugged, looking at her old friend, still stuffing her face.
This finally broke her trance. Sam took several deep breaths before they heard her deep voice again. “OK, girl, but remember, you can come anytime.” And her next sentence proved she'd been following their previous conversation, certainly to some degree: “And we'll continue our little chat tomorrow.”
“Sure.”
“Well, I'll take you to the car, no need to bother Sam with getting up right now, eh, dear?”
“You betcha, lover!”
“Thank you for coming and just like Sam said, you're always welcome here – that goes for you, too, Zack,” the smooth businessman slipped between them, hooked an arm through theirs and guided them towards the main entrance. “Mike! I have a small errand for you. Can you take our guests home?”
There was a small grunt but then the unseen chauffeur answered, “Sure, boss.” And in no time, a large limo stopped right in front of them.
“See you tomorrow, Alice,” Jack opened the door for her, “and you, too, hopefully, Zack.”
“See you.”
“Yeah, maybe. Bye. Oh, God!” Zack plopped down on the plush back seat and unzipped his pants. “I thought I was going to die. I couldn't eat another bite.”
“Me neither,” Alice couldn't bring herself to unzip her skirt, as much as she'd have liked to.
“So that's your bestie, huh? She's...” Zack became aware of chauffeur's presence, “an interesting girl.”
“Yeah, that she is. She's always been.” Alice wasn't inclined to discuss Sam's expansion either, certainly not here.
“They're both very nice but, ughh… I don't think I'll be coming here often.”
“Yeah, me neither, except I have to pick our car. Oh, this reminds me, Mr. uh, Mike? Jack told me you could pick me up tomorrow and drive me to the Spencer residence.”
“Sure, Miss, just tell me where and when.”
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