MsCezanne's Odyssey

Karen had gotten to the club rather early this particular Thursday. The outfit she had on was much tighter than she'd thought it would be, and she didn't want to give her roommates a chance to taunt her about it. She didn't really mind gaining weight, but she was still self conscious about it around her lithe roommates.

She caught Tim, the bartender, by surprise; normally he had a drink and a small snack ready for her, but he was still setting up when she walked up to the bar. He smiled at her and headed over to get her a drink, "to what do I owe the pleasure of such an early visit?"

Karen sighed as she took her drink, "I just needed to get out. I don't fit in at home so much any more, but I feel better here."

Tim nodded knowingly. He tended bars on the weekends too, and he knew Karen's friends who came in on those nights. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Some people just can't appreciate good curves like yours."

Karen smiled back, "thanks, but when is Michael going to notice?"

"Oh, you've still got a while to go before he's going to pay you much notice." Tim looked her up and down, taking in how tight her outfit really was, "on the other hand, you are progressing quite nicely!"

Tim continued to set up the bar as the rest of the staff got the club ready for the night. Slowly people trickled in as the lights went down and the music was turned up.

Just as Karen was ready to head to the dance floor, a group of girls came in. A few of them were chubby, but none of them very big, maybe a few pounds bigger than Karen. One of them was quite slim though, and reminded her of the friends she'd left back home. "Who's the twinkie?" she asked to Tim.

He laughed, "They used to call you that you know."

Karen turned to look at Tim, not sure what to think.

He continued, "They started coming in Fridays about when you stopped. Most of 'em were gaining weight, not having much luck, so I told them to try Thursdays. Figured they'd be happier. Didn't think the twinkie would come though. But I've been surprised before." He winked at Karen again as she headed out to the dance floor.


***

Karen waddled up to the bar, catching Tim by surprise. Normally he didn't expect her until much later, once the lights were down and the music was pumping. He was still setting up.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of an early visit?" he asked while getting her a drink ready.

"The grocery shopping didn't get done this week! I didn't have anything for dinner, I was wondering if you could hook me up?"

"Well," Tim thought for a moment, "the kitchen is just getting going. I haven't even put in your order yet. They're normally pretty busy Thursdays, I'm sure they'll have something together for you, if you want to wait a few minutes."

"You're the best Tim!" she called as he headed back to help her out.

He came back a few minutes later with a double cheeseburger and fries. He set it down and pointed at the empty pretzel bowls in front of Karen, "Hey, I just filled those!"

Karen just grinned as she reached for the burger.

Tim came around from behind the bar to help getting the club ready Karen could hear him stop behind her. She turned and saw his mouth slightly agape. "What's the matter? Did I pop a seam?"

"I, uh," Tim stammered for a moment. "I just haven't seen you in the full light in a long time, I'm just a little shocked to see how big you've gotten! And sitting down, my God, you've gotten so wide!"

Karen smiled, "thank you!" and then turned back to her burger.

Karen kept Tim company as the lights went down and the music came on. People started to come into the bar. They both knew it would be a while before Michael came, and so it would be a while before Karen started dancing on the risers. The kitchen was ready for her though, and she was well fed as the evening wore on.

About the time that she would normally arrive Karen turned around to survey the bar. Plenty of guys had their eyes on her. She was used to that, but a lot of other guys were watching a girl on the risers. She was dancing pretty well, better than the other girls up there. Her clothes were tight, as though she was about to outgrow them. She was also quite large. Not in Karen's class, but not very far off. She turned to Tim, "Who's that there?"

"You don't remember her?"

Karen shook her head.

"She started coming in here a while ago, with her friends." Tim pointed at a knot of chubby girls talking with some guys.

Karen recognised them immediately. "What happened to the Twinkie who used to hang out with them?"

"Who do you think's dancing on the riser?"

Karen looked. Sure enough, now that she got a good look at her, there was a glimmer of recognition. "How come I haven't seen her before?"

"She normally clears off before you get here."

"I can't believe she got so fat so fast!"

Tim just smiled and winked at her.

Labels: FA, fiction, Karen, Michael, weight gain