The Diva, Chapter 2: Tabloids (Patreon)

Chapter 2 of my 8th stuck story, The Diva. 

CHAPTER 2: TABLOIDS

Before Clementine had ever seen Regina Belaire on TV, she’d seen her on magazine covers.

Specifically tabloids.

Specifically tabloids sensationalizing Regina’s weight.

Through the 90s and aughts, Regina had gained and lost and gained again Clementine’s entire body weight several times over.

Every pound gain was documented with unflattering candid paparazzi photos, every pound lost was documented in celebratory before and after weight loss photos.

Clementine always reversed the before and after images in her imagination.

It was Regina Belaire that had made Clementine realize she liked fat women. Before she’d even realized she was attracted to women.

Still buried in the closet of her childhood bedroom was an old magazine documenting Regina’s weight at her then peak, almost 300 pounds and the story she told in the interview of having to renovate her bathroom because she could no longer fit into her shower. Clementine learned how to masturbate to that article.

But you can’t say that to a celebrity. She could lie and say Regina was her first crush back in the 90’s when she was on Postal and thin. But that wasn’t true. Postal aired when Clementine was a kid, she only really watched it for the first time in reruns when she was older, excited to see the various costumes and props they used to hide Regina’s constantly fluctuating waistline.

Clementine wondered if Regina was over 300 pounds now. Seeing someone in person is so different then seeing them on the big screen or tv. They’re never the height you expect (Clementine was shocked to realize she’s taller than Regina) and in this case, much MUCH fatter than you expect.

As Clementine hurried towards craft services she tried to figure out the logistics of what she was doing. She’d only be able to carry a few things in her hands, and Regina didn’t sound like she’d be satisfied with only a few things. But she couldn’t make multiple trips or she’d surely be caught. And the way she overheard the producers talking about Regina’s weight told her she didn’t want to be caught bringing her anything besides coffee and diet cola.

Then she spotted it.

In the adjoining parking lot, a supermarket. If Regina wanted all of craft services, Clementine would only have one chance, so it would need to be all at once. Unlocking a shopping cart with a quarter, Clementine rolled towards craft services, stopping behind every truck to make sure the coast was clear.

The only person in sight was Cordelia the hair and makeup artist, an older woman who was always smoking and cursing and telling the best Hollywood stories. Clementine decided to go for it, hoping Cordelia was out of fucks to give about a PA feeding a star the producers already thought was too fat.

As quickly as she could Clementine rolled the cart to the craft service table and lifted entire trays of food into the shopping cart until it was overflowing. Catching a bagel that had fallen off the top, she realized that’s as much as she could manage and pushed the cart in the direction of Regina’s trailer.

And straight into Cordelia.

Clementine opened her mouth but couldn’t think of any reason why she’d have craft services in a shopping cart, “I-I-“

Cordelia took a slow drag of her cigarette.

That was it, she was going to be fired and sent home, before she could even see Regina squeezed into the booth again.

Cordelia took a croissant off the top of the shopping cart, “tell Reggie not to worry, when I heard she’d been cast I ordered a makeup chair with fold down armrests.”

Without waiting for a response from Clementine, she took her croissant back to the hair and makeup trailer.

Her heart racing Clementine ran with the shopping cart to Regina’s trailer.

No time to knock Clementine threw open the trailer door and started unloading the cart into the trailer as fast as she could.

Regina was in the process of attempting to extricate herself from the booth again, “Jesus, you gave me a heart attack!”

Clementine finished throwing the food in the trailer and pushed the cart into the bushes behind the trailer, running in and closing the door behind her.

“Not very inconspicuous.”

Clementine caught her breath, “no one saw me. Well, that’s not true, Cordelia saw me-“

“Cordie! I’ve worked with her since Postal, she used to keep a secret stash of candy for me when producers put me on a diet, she’s on our team.”

“She told me to tell you not to worry, she got a makeup chair with fold down armrests.”

“HA! The last show we did together, Jesus was it ten years ago? I couldn’t fit my damn hips in the damn makeup chair. We had to stack apple boxes in front of the mirror to give me someplace to sit for hair and makeup. I can’t believe she remembered that.”

Between the sneaking and the running and the worry of getting fired and listing to Regina tell a story about not fitting in a seat while very clearly not fitting in a seat right now, Clementine was having trouble calming down. Her heart was still racing, her cheeks were still flush.

She tried to busy herself with sorting all the food she’d brought back from craft services, placing some on the table in front of Regina and organizing the rest on the tiny trailer kitchenette.

Regina took a bite of a bagel and cream cheese, but immediately put it back down, “this isn’t going to work.”

“What’s not going to work? Do you prefer sesame seed, there’s a sesame seed one here.”

“Not the bagel, this-“ Regina shoved at the table that kept her trapped in the booth.

Clementine didn’t know what to say, “S-Sorry -um…”

“I want to eat, I want to let loose, I can’t let loose like this-“ she grabbed her upper belly that spilled onto the table, “get me out of here.”

Clementine came over and took Regina’s extended hand, was she supposed to pull?

Regina almost pulled Clementine over. Clementine gathered her senses and planted her feet and pulled, Regina bounced in the booth, trying to scoot closer to the edge, huffing and puffing but not budging.

“Pull Clem, pull!”

Clementine put one foot up on the table for leverage and pulled as Regina heaved herself out of the booth.

Regina fell against Clementine, pinning her against the wall of the trailer. She leaned on Clementine for support as they both caught their breath.

Clementine noticed her arms couldn’t reach around Regina’s circumference. Regina’s head was on her chest, they were in an embrace of sorts. Clementine wanted to kiss the top of Regina’s head, she wanted to kiss her.

“Whatever they’re paying you, it’s not enough” Regina laughed as she patted Clementine’s hip.

Regina stood up straight and stuck out her round belly, patting it, “that’s better.”

She picked her bagel back up, taking a bite, “lets bring this to the bedroom shall we?”

Regina turned herself sideways and struggled to scoot past the bathroom that divided the kitchen half of the trailer from the bedroom half, “I really can’t catch a break today.”

Clementine was gathering script pages and food to bring to the bed when she noticed Regina struggling to squeeze through the hallway to the bed.

Not waiting for orders this time, Clementine hurried to Regina’s side, placing her hands gently on her ass and belly and giving her a firm push.

“OOoof!” Regina fell out of the hall and onto the bed.

She flopped onto her back, catching her breath. Clementine still stood in the hall. Regina thought she looked like a lover, about to crawl on top of her.

“Come here.”

Clementine was like a deer in headlights. Regina scooted over and patted the bed beside her.

Clementine did as she was told and crawled beside Regina. Regina left her fat arm out for Clementine to lay her head on, like a pillow. Her hand shaking, she placed her arm around Regina’s great belly, resting it down on her softness.

Regina put her hand over Clementine’s hand. Clementine didn’t know what this meant. Was this just plutonic feminine camaraderie? She’d been confounded by straight women before.

She’d known Regina was popular in her gay community, but so were a lot of fat straight women. Was she just an ally? She’d never heard anything about her being gay, she knew she’d been married to men a few times but hadn’t been attached to anyone for years. She couldn’t tell if she was getting a vibe or if it was just the over excitement of sharing an enclosed space with her childhood crush.

Clementine had never been so intimate with someone so fast. Regina was vulnerable in front of her, Clementine had placed her hands on her in a familiar way, they were in bed together, snuggling. Was this gay? Or is this just what actors are like?

“What did you study in school?”

The question caught Clementine off guard, “uh, film?”

Regina laughed, “No shit film, what was your focus, cinematography, directing, editing?”

“Writing, I write” Clementine was suddenly struck by a mortifying memory of writing erotic weight gain fan fiction about Regina’s character in Postal when she was in high school.

“Jackpot, you got your laptop with you?”

Clementine lifted her head up, “it’s in my car.”

“Great, get it, we’re going to rewrite this script, it’s fucking terrible.”

“Yes Ms Belaire.”

“Clem- do you mind if I call you Clem?”

She hated when people shortened her name to Clem, but she loved hearing Regina say her name in any form, “Clem’s fine.”

“Clem, call me Reggie.”

“Yes Reggie.”

Clementine hurried to the trailer door.

“Wait.”

Clementine poked her head back in. She saw Regina sitting up on the bed, legs spread with her belly hanging down between them. She was pointing at the hallway.

“I’m not getting back through there alone, can you bring the food to me?”

Clementine couldn’t contain her smile, “sure thing, Reggie.”

She filled a tray with food and placed in on the bed beside Regina, absently kissing her on the top of the head, immediately horrified by what she’d just done.

An awkwardness hung in the air between them. They both looked at each other with poker faces, neither giving the other any kind of hint. Was that okay? Did she cross a line? She definitely crossed a line but was Regina okay with that line being crossed?

The brief intimate snuggle on the bed had messed up Clementine’s sense of boundaries.

Clementine stepped backwards towards the door, “I’ll just- I’ll just go get my laptop.”

She turned and ran.

Regina laughed to herself, crew members had made inappropriate passes at her her whole life, but this, this was something else. Clementine’s hands pushing her fat through the hall were gentle. The kiss on the top of her head was tender.

Regina made a mental note to share this moment with her therapist this week.

But in the meantime, she picked up a bagel with cream cheese and took a giant, happy bite.