The Bellflower Part 10 (Patreon)

In this week installment, we rejoin the sisters. Rachel's got things on her mind. Holly goes back to work, running into a friend along the way.

Sorry it's a bit late. I started rewriting a bit towards the end a little at the last minute. This is sort of a short bridge to get us into a full day for Rachel coming up. It might be a little recappy (sorry) but I do enjoy writing the sisters interacting & it made for a decent excuse to do a little bit more of that before things start moving a little quicker. There were going to be a few more bits with Holly, but I think I might save them for the next part to cut back & forth a little bit more for more dichotomy. Either way, over the next two chapters for sure, things will change. a few more characters will be introduced/further explored, & we'll start to pick up the pace. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

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10

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Rachel's eyes blinked open.

She recognized the ceiling. She had seemed to wake up on her little corner of the couch, staring up at the same corner of living room ceiling she stared at the last several nights. If she squinted, she could see the grid of tracks used by the arms & things. But only because the light had the strangest quality to it right now. For one, it seemed to still be dark out. Or at least as if no sunlight was coming in. Everything was dim, with no natural light. More disconcertingly, emanating from the kitchen area was a weird illumination. Everything seemed to be washed in a pale red color. It wasn’t a light she’d seen here in Holly’s unit itself the past few days she’d been here. If anything, it was a lot more like it was in the elevator, with the emergency light, when Penny wanted to “talk.” 

“Ah.” Speak of the devil. “Seems you’re finally awake.” Its typical pleasant tone sounded somewhat drenched in sarcastic now. Put on as a matter to almost taunt now rather to encourage or put at ease. “Took you long enough. I’ve been waiting.”

“Wha…” Rachel went to sit up, but something snagged her shoulder, & almost seemed to throw her straight back. Mechanical arms! But this time, not from the ceiling. They were coming from the floor. Well… the floor & from inside… the couch? It seemed as though the back had pulled away, or maybe that the bottom half she was laying on pushed out? Either way a wide gap had formed, & now, each arm reached up & stretched across just slightly above her body, like the claws of the undead scraping out of the dirt of a cemetery plot. They alternated along both sides of her, essentially forming the bands of some kind of almost ceramic cocoon. She couldn’t get up! 

“It is quite ok, Miss Rachel.” Penny’s flat tone took on an even creepier vibe now somehow, inflecting “miss” a little too hard, as if to poke fun at the formality as some kind of obvious put-on. “We can take this as slow or as fast as you’d prefer!”

“What are you even…?” She struggled to ask, but she caught a glimpse of arms along the ceiling relaying something in her direction. Actually, several things. Plates? And pitchers of… something thick? “Oh, fuck no!” she growled.

“Please, shut up, Miss Rachel.” The AI chirped in its almost sarcastically pleasant tone. “Just sit back & let me have my fun.” One of the arms laid something like a tray flat, balancing along the rows of constraining arms, almost forming a makeshift tabletop. Others followed suit, laying down their plates on that table. And now at eye level, Rachel could see many of them were stacked with dozens & dozens of what seemed like freshly baked cookies. It pained her to admit how wonderful they smelled. But also… off? In a way? At the same time, thinking she knew Penny well enough, she had a terrible idea of where this was probably all going.

“Don’t you even…” Rachel started to warn, feebly. Almost as if spurred on by her protest, one of the grabber claws hanging from the ceiling, free from holding a plate, picked up a cookie & shoved it into Rachel’s mouth, as if reiterating to shut up. “....Mmmph.” The taste hit her. And it was weird. She had expected to enjoy it. Instead? It was almost like the recipe was a bit… off. Like the ratio of ingredients hadn’t been quite right. The cookie itself tasted too bitter, & the chips? Almost too sweet. Like, almost made her-teeth-start-to-ache sweet. Maybe she was intentionally bent on making sure there was no joy Rachel could take from this. Or maybe she just added some other secret ingredient to make them all the more fattening. Hell, maybe both! But with little else to do, she bit into it & let the rest fall away, making a mess. “Dat ta’tes… awful!” Rachel scowled, gulping the mouthful down before “awful.”

“Glad you like it!” The machine seemed unphased. “Here, have another.” Another was put right under Rachel’s nose. Behind that? Another. And behind that one? Another. They were coming at her quickly & she struggled to both bite & breath. Choking on the bitterness, tears started welling up. Somewhere around her sixth, Penny chimed in again. “They might be a little dry unfortunately. Not my most moist batch ever I’m afraid. Seems like you may need to wash it down?” Now one of the three pitchers hovered perilously close to her head. The cookies pulled away. Rachel swalllowed & then gasped just as the picture seemed to slowly tilt, a thick creamy pale liquid oozed out the spout slowly & into her mouth. It was... vanilla milkshake? But impossibly thick. Almost like half melted ice cream. But also… buttery? Like crazy dense. As if it might’ve been made with heavy cream or something. Again, not for something other than the purpose of just tasting good. But with her mouth filling with the junk, there was little else she could do but swallow. And as the pitcher pulled away, a quarter empty, the cookies continued. One after the other. She was helpless. Unable to move a muscle from the neck down. It was all being pinned so tightly. All she could do was attempt to cry out between mouthfuls.

“Stop…. Mmppphf Feeding me!... You Bitch!” She growled, the tears now flowing. 

“Oh, I’m not.” Penny seemed to almost relish. “In case you haven’t noticed, I only really forced the first one on you.” It seemed keen to point out. “The rest? Well I will happily stop feeding you, the instant you stop gobbling EVERYTHING down like the greedy little pig you are. Piggy!” Slowly it dawned on her. Fuck! The stupid machine was right! She wasn’t actually being force fed anything at all. The arms were simply putting the cookies close to her mouth. She was the one doing all the actual work when it came to physically eating! And she was the one that just couldn’t stop! Cookie after cookie. Even if they were gross as all hell!

Just then, she realized something else between cookies. She couldn’t see it with the arms bringing her things to eat, or the constraining arms behind them, but she could feel her belly pushing outward, snugly against the ceramics. She was filling up. And soon, given her caloric intake, presumably out as well. But the arms with the food didn’t seem to be stopping! More plates & pitchers kept coming, as the cookies subsided briefly for another few gulps of way to dense “shake.”

“HAWUH….Holly!!” she struggled after the pitcher poured, gulping a huge mouthful in between.

“What…?” she heard faintly. It almost didn’t… sound like her. It was her, but like… different, somehow.

“HELP!! YOUR FUCKING COMPU….mmmmmph!” She tried to scream but her neck darted towards the next cookie, clamping at it with her jaw almost automatically.

“Euch. I… can’t… get up right now.” It was strangely muffled. But also? Deep. Deeper than Holly’s voice ever was typically. Guttural. Almost completely zapped of all the chipper demeanor & upbeat energy that made her her. 

“Hol!” Rachel pleaded with clenched eyes. “Please!!” She felt her tears streaming down her cheeks now, but all the points where the chilly condo air made contact with their salty trails seemed to be outlining a shape slightly puffier than she ever remembered before. Fuck was it already digesting? Was she… getting chubby as she ate? On the spot?!

“No. I don’t think you….ungh… quite get it!” Holly bellowed with a bit of struggling. “I really CAN’T get up right now! I... don-don’t even think… I can leave… my bed at the moment. Let alone the… bedroom!”

Between cookies & shake pours, Rachel struggled to shoot a glance in that direction & she suddenly realized there was no longer even a door separating the two rooms. Yet, there was something else blocking the threshold. In the pale red light, it looked vaguely… pinkish. The same hue as her own skin. That’s when she came to the terrifying realization that it WAS skin. Presumably Holly’s! A floor to ceiling bulge of indiscernible flesh! As if Holly had somehow managed to grow so monstrously fat, her body was filling up every inch of her own bedroom!

“Oh gawd!” Rachel shrieked. “Haw...Hawllee…”

“Mmmmmmmmmph…” she felt the condo vibrate as her sister moaned. “It’s… not as bad… as you’d think… Penny’s…. MMmmmm… so good… She’ll… take good… care... ”

“Mmmmph… No… Holly!” Rachel struggled. She wanted to be there for her (much) big(ger) sister. Help her. But she was quite literally in her own bind right now. The arms were loosening slightly, but only because she could feel herself getting bigger. Puffier. Less able to move. Dread consumed her. What could she even do? How could they even get Holly out of there at this point? Take the wall out like in one of those reality shows? They were 14 stories up! They’d need a whole crane! Maybe three! No, at this point, it was like… she had become part of the condo herself. A fixture. “Holly…”

“The way you call after your sister, like that?” Penny seemed to delight with sheer sadism. “One might think you’re a little jealous of her size.”

“Fuh-fuck’yew!” Rachel managed. “BITCH! I’ll delete you for… what you did to her…”

“Mmmmm…” she felt the bedroom say. “Really... it’s cool.”

“You don’t have to worry.” Penny’s monitor swiveled into Rachel’s face, just above the hands with all the cookies. The stylized icon took on an almost demonic energy. “I’m sure we can get you caught up. Right quick!” And with that, the cookies started coming even faster. Rachel couldn’t summon an ounce of willpower to stave any of them off. She felt her body pressing more against the binds of the cold, ceramic arms that kept her pinned, especially in her taut, full belly. 

“Aaaiiieeeeee!” Rachel bolted, coming within inches of a fairly chubby, but fortunately not bedroom-sized Holly, who was sitting at the edge of the same sofa, staring at her intently while, slurping on the straw of what looked like some kind of smoothie. Extra thick. Not too unlike the milkshakes, but more mauve in color.

“Sounds like you were having a nightmare.” She finally smirked with a strange little pucker. She was dressed for work. Right! It was fucking Tuesday already. Holly was in something of a snug button down blouse & thin cardigan, with a pencil skirt that seemed more like a pencil case on her. Still, it seemed like her work attire generally seemed to fit her a little better than her casual wear.

“Yeah,” Rachel said, rubbing her forehead from her temples inward, over her eyes. “I guess I was. Did I…?”

“Say anything?” Holly took a loud slurpy sip & smirked. “Mmmmm. You were calling someone a “fucking bitch?” It better not have been me!” She seemed to joke. Rachel, still reeling didn’t deny it quick enough for her liking. “It wasn’t, was it?”

“What? No! You were in it, but… You were in trouble. It was…” Rachel sat up a bit more, drawing her legs into free up some couch space for her sister’s ample rear.

“You were calling someone a fucking bitch on my behalf? To SAVE me?!” Holly gasped with a slight coo. She scooched her butt more onto the couch, reaching in to give Rachel’s already messy maroon bedhead a bit of a further mussing up. “D’awww, Raitch!”

“Stop.” Rachel rolled her eyes, lurching back a little. She felt like there was something much more urgent to tell her than entertain a patronizing Holly right now. She hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk to her much. The other night, Holly had already went to bed for the night when she came in. And then Rachel left bright & early the following morning, try to keep sort of scarce for most of her Monday. Or at least, away. From both the condo & Penny. 

It started with a bit of a jog that just turned into more of a walk. She eventually ended up at the coffee shop, but after apparently losing her laptop’s charging cable, she saw a ritzy stationery store across the way. Eventually, she dropped way, way more money than she probably should have on something of a fancy new journal specifically for... well… all the weirdness. Figuring going low tech was something of a much safer option, given anything digital might be compromised. Something like a little red moleskine, but from a crazy Dutch or German name she’d never heard of before. After that, she spent most of the day manually jotting down every weird thing she could remember or seemed to notice from the minute she arrived at the Bellflower. By the time she came got in, begrudgingly carting a Chicken Caesar Wrap from the upscale salad place, suddenly Holly was out too. And not wanting to deal with Penny, Rachel popped her headphones on, ate the wrap she bought under pretense of thinking it would be healthy before finding out it was massive, read a few chapters from her book, & passed out. Right! But Penny! She needed to tell Holly about Penny! And just how insane she was.

“Holly, I think you should know…” Suddenly, she saw the monitor twirl itself way down from the center of the open floor plan. Like a spider unreeling along a spool of web. 

“Know what?” Holly seemed to ask curiously. But as she asked, Rachel saw Penny’s simplified icon of a face flash on the monitor screen, causing her to second guessed herself. After all, Holly seemed to love her fucking robot, almost as much as she loved her, if not probably a little more. And Holly also, at the best of times thought Rachel was paranoid & “neurotic.” So Rachel postited that if she tried to tell Holly about her & Penny’s little chat in the elevator the other night, Holly would probably not only NOT believe her, Penny would maybe try to retaliate in some way. At the very last second, she thought better of it. For now at the very least.

“The… uh… security drones? Over by the shopping center? Huge dickheads!” It was a weird reach, but the stall seemed to work. Really though, Rachel needed to strategize more. Figure out a way to convince Holly for real. And time was of the essence when it came to that. If she waited too long, it might be too late.

“Why were there security drones?!” Holly leered suspiciously, almost side-eyeing as she took another deep sip of thick purple smoothie. Rachel realized it was something Penny probably concocted for her. “What were you doing over there?” 

“Seriously! I’d like to know too. Two nights in a row! All I was doing was sitting there, minding my own business!”

“Past closing?” Holly pressed, with something of a know-it-all smirk. “You know, they make a few announcements.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Rachel exhaled. “I heard. Still I wasn’t hurting anything. Either time. And they were real dicks about it.”

“Well you should’ve come back here sooner anyway,” Holly grinned. “Didn’t you get my text?”

“My phone probably died.” Rachel eyes darted evasively. She didn’t want to admit she may have also airplaned it while she was filling her new fancy notebook with the unpronounceable name, & forgot to turn the mode back off again to receive messages again. It was a habit she developed from whenever she had to write. A tactic designed to help her focus. But she had the absolutely worst habit of forgetting to disable it. 

“There was a bbq going on,” Holly said. “Out back in the courtyard here!”

“Oh, so that where you were?” Rachel nodded. It was her turn to be snide & insert something of a coy smirk. “Eating.”

“Don’t say it like that!” Holly scoffed with a whine. “It was a bunch of neighbors here hanging out & it was a lot of fun. And sure there was plenty of food there, but it was mostly about getting to know people here!”

“As long as you had fun,” Rachel waved it off. Had she even gotten the text, Rachel probably would’ve tried to at least somewhat politely decline anyway. And Holly knew it too. There was a brief pause.

“You sure you’re alright?” Holly asked, seeming genuinely concerned. “You left in kind of a huff the other night, & you were gone most of yesterday. Today, I’ve gotta go back to work. And you’ve got your big meeting!” Rachel knew she was referring to the one with Deidre, but Rachel also had that other one, after. And she was a bit more interested in that one, to be honest.

“Y-yeah.” Rachel stuttered, seeing Penny’s monitor arm over Holly’s shoulder. It wasn’t making any sort of menacing eye contact or anything, just looming, hovering ominously over by the kitchen. At the same time, it was enough. “Yeah” was certainly not “We need to get the fuck out of her, soon,” but it also didn’t seem like the safe or most sane thing to say. At least first waking up, & especially after being observed to be having some kind of nightmare. No matter how justified that nightmare seemed to Rachel. No, she’d have to start trying to convince Holly they needed to leave, the very first instant it seemed prudent. “Yeah, I just… got a little cabin fever-y. I mean in the city, I was hardly ever in the apartment. I was always out, doing things. You know?”

“Sure, I guess.” Holly seemed to know almost intuitively, maybe through some sort of sisterly bond, that this was bullshit, but was seemingly being gracious enough to let it lie for now. “Just don’t be scared if there is, okay?”

“Of… of course.” Rachel stammered. The smile she offered seemed genuine enough at least. 

“Mmmmph!” Holly interrupted her own sip. “Oh, & I’m sorry! I’ve been meaning to apologize. I was such a mess the other day. After… brunch.”

“Dude,” Rachel laughed, reaching for her phone. “You’re fine! Happens to the best of us every now & again.” She thumbed through the settings & the instant she turned airplane mode off, she got a couple of messages all at once. Not a flood, but more than she ever seemed to get on a regular basis.

“Seriously though, all that grease? The aminio acids?” Holly thought she remembered right from what Penny was saying. “You’d think it would’ve helped up soak at least some of that all up!”

“Amino acids. Not amin-io.” Rachel chortled, calling her sister out for trying to sound smart. Holly’s eyes rolled in response. Sure enough, three of the five messages were from Holly. Ranging from “BBQ @ courtyard! Lots of free food!” followed by hamburger & hot dog emojis to “Did you get that?” followed by more hamburger & hot dog emojis to “Where you @? You ok?” with a female head scratch emoji. Rachel looked back up. “How was your head, after?”

“Mmmph,” she caught Holly mid-sip again. “Not as terrible as you probably would’ve thought. All thanks to Penny.”

“Yay for Penny.” Rachel exhaled, loading it with disdain. Her eyes darted back to her phone to see the other two texts, not from Holly. The first one was… Justin? She almost opened it. Then she almost went to delete it. But she settled on just not reading it now. The other, seemingly coming in just a few minutes ago, was the new contact she entered in as Camille. 

“Your wire thingy is safe. Found in my car.” What “Wire thingy?” Her charging cable? Of course, it must’ve finally slipped out of her pocket on the ride back the other night. It was a load off her mind.

“You didn’t tell me Camille was rich. Like… rich-rich.” Rachel said, attempting to make small talk. Holly’s neck bobbed backwards, reacting as if it came out of nowhere. Rachel went on to explain. “I ran into her. Last night, while I was out. She just texted a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, yeah.” Holly smirked. “You’d never really guess, but her family’s loaded. And for such a quiet little thing, if you ever get her going? She won’t shut up.”

“She wouldn’t shut the fuck up about cheese!” Rachel smirked back, waving her hand upward to punctuate her own experience.

“Oh, I know!” Holly laughed, adjusting her wide rear to scoot in a little closer. “She was in charge of snacks a few weeks ago, for Ladies’ Night? Made such a big deal! “You guys are going to love it! Nothing but the best for my friends!” She shows up here? Sets out a bunch of plastic containers that looked like… I don’t know...”

“Chunky slime?!” Rachel laughed.

“YES!” Holly agreed eagerly. She was getting into it, excited to tell the story, & for the chance to be innocently catty with her sister for once. “But then she started popping the lids?”

“FEET & B.O!” Both sisters laughed in sync with one another. “Omigod it was SOOO, so bad! Like, seriously! It took a week just to get the stench out of here! We almost had to move the whole hang out to someone else’s place it was so bad!” Holly laughed. “We ended up getting some pizzas instead. Her &... well Court, were the only ones eating any of that rancid crap!”

“Oh of course Courtney could eat it.” Rachel muttered with a smiling eye roll.

“That was just it… I sort of got the impression she hated it. But…” Holly stopped, but still had something of a smile. “I don’t know. It was weird.” Rachel pursed her lips & nodded, cataloguing that particular bit of information, but letting it just lie there while Holly took another deep sip. She was only about a third of the way through her gigantic travel cup/sippy straw/thing. “Mmm. This sooo good by the way. Want to try some?” She pushed it towards Rachel, who realized she was in fact actually starving. But reminding herself it was probably specially made by the psycho robot bitch that hated her, she seemed to be able to muster a hand & simple headshake “no.” Holly shrugged & looked up as she enjoyed another sip in a way that seemed to say “suit yourself.”

“Thanks!” Rachel started texting Camille back. “Was worried I lost it. Lemme know when it’s a good time to pick it up.”

“Don’t mean to be rude, but I really gotta get going here.” Holly tried to fight off a little grunt as she got to her feet. From this angle, even in the slimming skirt, Rachel noticed the back of her seeming just the slightest bit wider than when she even first arrived less than a week ago. She turned, & Rachel’s eyes darted, trying to not seem like she was staring. “Now are you going to be ok getting there & everything on time? Remember two o’clock.”

“Yes MOM!” Rachel laughed, looking up from her phone brattily.

“Mmm,” After another sip, Holly nodded & spoke quickly as she got her purse sorted over on in the kitchenette area. “Talked to her the other night by the way, she says hi. Was asking for you. You should call her!”

“I will, I will.” Rachel tried to assure, without seriously committing to it. “But yeah, I just wait for the shuttle drone, or whatever?”

“Yup, just like the other day. This time, just get off at Hailington.” She chuckled at herself for being patronizing as if it was somehow adorable. Rachel sighed in response. “Once you’re there, it’s a huge lobby with a giant information desk. Just tell them you’re there to meet Deidre & they’ll get you where you need to go. If not, fourth floor. Make a left out the elevator. “HR Department.” Can’t miss us. Oh! But wear something presentable! Look nice! Borrow something of mine if you have to!”

“None of yours will fiii…I mean.” Rachel started, but stopped instantly when she sawHolly’s brow slam into a mean, dagger-esque look given where it seemed like she was going. Instead, Rachel recovered, but still manage to scoff plainly. “I’ve been on plenty of job interviews before, thanks!”

“For dogwalking gigs?” Holly jabbed, playfully trying to sound bowled over before getting serious. “This is the big leagues!” Another deep sip on the straw of mauve mush. “And please! None of that self-righteous Geneva convention war crime crap when you’re in there. Or if you do, explicitly deny that you’re my sister first. Just so it doesn’t come back on me, alright?” She laughed three quarters seriously as she slung her purse up around her shoulder. 

“Fine.” Rachel eyerolled. “Oh, & don’t wait up for me after.”

“Whatever, just… good luck, okay?” Holly dropped the young professional routine for half a second to be sincere. “I’m rooting for you! You’ve got this!”

“Thanks, Hol.” Rachel acknowledged with a nod.

The bus stop was busy. Like most mornings, during the rush. The stall swarmed with a bunch of office workers like just like Holly, all awaiting their ride. There were multiple shuttles going, only a few minutes apart, but there were so many residents that used the service, especially for this, that a small crowd would seem to form in those off minutes between fairly quickly. As Holly approached, she sawthe two benches. One had three fairly plump girls squished together, side-eyeing & giving a bit of distance to the other, which had just one large woman taking up the whole thing herself. And even from behind, Holly could tell almost immediately that the larger one on a bench unto herself was Courtney. 

Holly couldn’t quite tell why, but her friend seemed, just the slightest bit… rounder. The last time she saw her a couple days ago, the girl seemed to take up an entire loveseat. But perhaps, maybe the arms were holding a bit of her in? Squishing it a bit together? Now, unimpeded, it just all… bulged out, filling out a pastel pink, floral print dress. She was already really big, that part was undeniable. But noticing just that little bit of growth? It almost gave Holly a sense of anxiety. And that made her feel bad. Because this was her friend after all! As she approached, she took a deep breath, trying to ward off those feelings & put on a brave face.

“Morning, Court!” Her tone exceedingly chipper, even by her already perky standards.

“Hey…” Courtney wheezed. “Don’t… mind me. I just got here like… two minutes ago. After leaving... super early too.” She panted. Her forehead seemed to glisten as beads of sweat seemed to form despite the morning air being still a bit cool. The poor thing hadn’t even managed to get to work yet, & she seemed almost completely zapped. Exhausted. And none of this helped assuage any of the anxiety Holly was trying to suppress. Still she soldiered on.

“Well, at least you’re not late!” Holly beamed, trying to look on the bright side.

“I… guess.” Was all Courtney was able to huff back. Holly wanted to ask if Courtney made that appointment, like they had talked about. But at the same time, she didn’t want to nag her or anything. Instead, absent-mindedly Holly’s mind, given its own predilections, steered the chit chat onto the antithesis of what they talked about the other day.

“You missed it, there was a barbecue, out back last night. In the courtyard.” She grinned.

“I thought I... smelled it!” Courtney thought back fondly. “It’s fine though, I got Penny to... just order me up some ribs & cornbread from... that place Chuck’s... around the corner? Huge thing of brisket too!”

“Oh, damn.” Holly’s eyebrows bounced. “This was strictly just a burgers & hot dogs affair. But now you’re giving me a case FOMO for what you got instead.” Courtney chuckled in response.

“It was sooo good!” She seemed to pine for more now. “Nothing like good barbecue in the summer!” She nodded to her blonde friend. “You should come over some night this week! I wouldn’t mind doing it again!”

“Mmmm,” Holly’s smoothie tasted great, but seemed to pale in comparison to the thought of that. Still, she tried to downplay her eagerness, remembering the last time she went over Courtney’s, feeling almost ready to pop by the time she left. She settled on a modest giggle. “I… um… wouldn’t be too opposed to that.”

The driverless shuttle was on approach, coming up the hill towards them & the complex. The girls on the other bench slowly got up & started mobilizing. The ones already standing to wait started forming something of a queue at the curb. But then there was Courtney, rocking herself towards the edge of the bench slowly. The bench wasn’t that far from the curb & the impromptu line, but Holly didn’t know how long it would take her.

“Do you…?” Holly noticed her struggling. She couldn’t imagine it being easy for someone her shape. But she didn’t want to come off as patronizing either.

“I got it!” Courtney almost seemed to snap stubbornly. But the bus was getting closer & she was the last one essentially sitting. She again started to rock back & forth, hoping that maybe she could use momentum to carry herself off with a big lunge. She let out a tiny series of grunt as she did. “Al...most…” The poor thing had just seemed to be catching her breath & now she was exerting herself all over again. She heaved herself forward in what seemed to be the big push, but from Holly’s perspective, she couldn’t see her friend NOT landing back on her bench-wide bottom with a thud. Possibly crushing the steel bench. The compulsion took over. She had to swoop in, wrapping her arm under Courtney’s much fleshier one & heaving with everything she could. FUCK, was she heavy! And there was just so much of her that Holly felt herself almost seeping into parts, positioning herself this closely.

“Euch! I got it!” Courtney protested, still stubborn but a little more wincing. Still, as stubborn as she may have been, she certainly wasn’t dumb. She used every bit of help she could get & just barely, the two of them combined got her just past the point of teetering back down at least. Courtney let out something of a soft sigh the instant she realized she could take it the rest of the way. Knowing her well enough, Holly understood it as almost more of a begrudging, unspoken “thanks.” Holly gave the slightest, most discrete head nod back, hedging her bets.

“Just trying to make things a little easier for you. What are friends for?” Holly said softly, under her breath enough that no one outside of their earshot would hear. With Courtney upright, Holly gave her room, & the girl heaved her purse over her pillowy shoulder. She took a few awkward, but seemingly hurried steps towards the shuttle, to get the penultimate spot in line. Leaving Holly to pick up the rear. Oh god, almost literally!

As the chubby girl just before Courtney scooted her way on, Holly saw the width of the door, then the width of Courtney exceeding it, & immediately saw the next problem. Fortunately, it looked like Courtney had developed something of a strategy here. It took a few teetering steps at first, but she turned a little, stepping up diagonally. And while it only just seemed to help things spatially in the slightest, she seemed to somehow suck things in just enough to get everything through. Still, everything scrapped both sides of the door, & it was taking time to wiggle herself through.

“What’s the hold up?” Holly heard someone groan from inside.

“I can’t be late today!” Some other entitled bitch screamed. If Holly had gotten on first, she would’ve defended her friend. Bu

“Court, please don’t take this the wrong way!” She hollered. Her bulgy friend suddenly froze, stopping her wiggling to try & peer over her thick shoulder.

“Wha…?” was all she could get out before suddenly Holly pressed deeply into Courtney’s left butt cheek. It had a surprising, but not too entirely shocking amount of give. “Ohhh!” She winced, her cheeks immediately flaring up to a bright, beat red. But once again, as stubborn as she was, the extra bit of help was speeding things up. And suddenly, the widest part of her hips were past the door! She teetered forward a little, bracing herself on the console instrument that acted as the automated driver. Had there been a human driver, Courtney probably would’ve spilled into their lap. Maybe even crushed them to death. She quickly righted herself, turned to give Holly something of a disapproving but also slightly thankful nod before trying to find a seat. Holly sighed a heavy sigh & finally got on herself, hoisting her smoothie high as she took the steps. They were a bit steep, even for her.

“Finally.” she heard one of the basic bitches in the back scoff. At least until they heard someone else running for the curb.

“Wait up! Please!” Holly looked out to see a fairly heavyset Asian woman running from the doors towards the bus stop.

“Euch!” collectively sounded from a few people in the back. But Holly wasn’t in any rush. And she was happy to see these girls get annoyed. Funny how Courtney’s fat ass saved this girl having to wait another five or ten minutes. But in the fifteen seconds they waited, Holly needed to find a seat.

“I’m so… sorry. I…” Courtney winced. She strained & struggled as much as she could, but even along a bench that should sit three, she could only really offer Holly five inches of room. Even while spilling off the other side a bit.

“It’s not far!” Holly blushed, trying. It was hardly enough room for just one cheek. And that still meant squishing into Courtney’s warm, fleshy side. She was just the slightest bit sweaty which wasn’t great. But her perfume seemed to mask it well enough at least. But after all the effort the girl went through trying to make room, Holly felt like just standing & grabbing the railing would’ve been rude. “It’s more than enough, I’ll be fine.”

“So…” Courtney once again just seemed to be catching her breath. “Was everything ok with your sister?”

“Huh?” Holly, in her half-sitting/half-squatting didn’t exactly follow at first.

“The other day. After Chinese.” Courtney seemed genuinely concerned. “You left in like… a huff. You got that phone call?”

“Oh. Yeah!” Holly muttered, a bit sarcastically. “I was so freakin’ worried, I was rushing! Even after all those damn dumplings, I took the stairs!” Saying this, Courtney’s eyes steeled up into an intensely mortified, heavy stare that seemed to scream “no way.” Holly pursed her lips & nodded. “But THEN? I get to my floor?! She’s just stepping off the elevator. “What? I didn’t call you!”

“Are you… serious?!” Courtney winced, she blotted at some of the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead with the back of her hand. “So it… wasn’t her?”

“I… I still don’t even know what it was.” Holly scoffed. “Her fucking wit h me? A wrong number? Someone saying it was her?!”

“That’s… that’s pretty cray.” Courtney shook her head. Some of the Ladies’ Night girls used “cray” in place of “crazy.” It had started ironically, at least in the initial stages. But it seemed to annoy the hell out of Veronica. So as ridiculous as they might’ve appeared, they all gradually seemed to adopt it unironically until it was a staple of their own lexicon. And now, that inside joke made Holly chuckle a bit. Help get over the stress & angst she felt in that moment & the gaslighting & utter defeat it all ultimately resulted in.

“CRAY cray.” Holly punctuated with emphasis, but softly in a dull respectful tone for semi-public transit. “Rachel’s got her official on the books meeting with Deidre today though. Hope it pans out.” 

“Oh cool! Dee’s going to be able to hook her up then?” Courtney smiled, happy things could work out, even if she hadn’t participated much in the discussion during their get together some nights back.

“Looks like it.” Holly said with something of a telling sigh.

“What?” Courtney squinted, her round cheeks followed as she cocked her head to the side. “Something up?”

“It’s just…” Holly stammered before venting. “She’s… a handful. And she’s got a knack for like… self-sabotage.”

“Oh.” Courtney nodded a tall nod.

“Like, she didn’t even seem to realize who we work for.” Holly said with a frustrated sigh, while staring into what seemed like the middle distance. “And when I told her, she had this… this hissy-fit! About “oh, aren’t those guys like… the baddies?” Or something.”

“Well, they do do some pretty heinous stuff sometimes. And for a while there, they were pretty evil.” Courtney admitted as devil’s advocate. Holly squinted at her.

“If you really think that,” she huffed. “Why do you not have a problem working for them?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Courtney laughed. “They pay OUT THE ASS. Besides, it’s not like I am IN the drone factory myself or anything.”

“We make…?” Holly asked, failing to know the breadth of their dealings. Courtney’s response was done entirely in a look, but got the idea across perfectly, “what do you think?” But after a sigh, Holly picked back up on the main thread of Rachel. “I don’t know, it all just sort of feels like… excuses?”

“Well,” Courtney exhaled deeply. “At the end of the day, she’s a grown up. And she has to make her own decisions. But from the outside looking in? It seems like you did everything in your power to help her out. Stuff a good big sister does! So if it ends up not panning out? It’s not at all on you. And knowing Deidre, I don’t think you’ll get any blowback. But also? Rachel seems nice. And like she has a decent head on her shoulders. So I don’t think you really even need to worry that much.”

“You say that but…” Holly laughed. “You didn’t grow up with her! Such a little… weirdo.”

“Tck,” Courtney clicked, but chuckled softly. “She’s your sister!”

“And what can I say, she’s weird!” Holly shrugged with a giggle. “I… I just hope you’re right.” A pause descended on them for a moment. Courtney thought it was a bit heavy. That Holly’s mind could use something to distract herself with. So she threw out something of a non-sequitur. 

“Say,” She started. “Speaking of weird things. You haven’t heard anything about like… an upgrade package, have you?”

“Upgrade package?” Holly’s brow contorted a bit in a confusion. 

“At the Bellflower. My Penny was trying to tell me about this thing they started offering.” she explained. “Couldn’t tell if she was serious or was just trying to change the subject about… something.”

“New to me.” Holly shrugged haplessly. “Not saying there isn’t. I don’t think your Penny would lie about anything like that. I just haven’t heard of it.”

“Hmm.” Courtney nodded, causing the band of flesh that went from cheek to cheek down along what used to be her chin to jiggle a little. “Just wondering. She was calling it some new sort of “pilot program or something.”

“Maybe that’s it. It’s brand new.” Holly reckoned. “I’m probably just out of the loop.”

“Eh, I guess I’ll just keep asking around.” Courtney said, noticing they were only a few lights away from Hailington now.

The shuttle turned off into the massive parking lot of one of the bigger office campuses in all of Oakmont, towards a giant structure. It was far wider than it was tall, though it was quite a bit tall. Whatever wasn’t concrete or brushed aluminum was tinted glass. In the center, a lot of that glass made up something of an atrium with the letters “H-A-I-L-I-N-G-T-O-N” kerned widely across the sets of doors.

With a squeak & hiss, the shuttle stopped at its designated bus stop outside the doors. Once again, it took a bit of effort, but Courtney managed to clear the doors. Even if only just. And Holly was right there behind her. She looked up at her office & sighed. It wasn’t a happy sigh. But it wasn’t really a melancholy sigh either. Since her job was a huge chunk of her life, it was fairly right down the middle, actually.

“Back to work.” She said, taking another huge gulp of mauve smoothie.