Autumn (comic 88) (Patreon)

Mike may not have been much for breakfast, but he made up for it by being a dessert fanatic. With COVID-19 still spreading like wildfire, and a return to work nowhere in sight, he had gotten in the habit of not eating anything during the day, and consuming all of his calories in the evenings.

He liked this routine because it made Autumn less self-conscious about matching him in portion sizes at dinner time, and it seemed to give her a sort of self-appointed permission to indulge in dessert every night guilt free, if for no other reason than the fact that her slim, trim boyfriend was indulging right along with her.

After all, if he was eating it, how bad could it be?

It didn’t matter that they didn’t always like the same things. Mike was a big fan of pie and stuff like self-serve donuts, while Autumn, in her sophisticated way, was more fond of ice cream, chocolate, cream puffs, cheesecake, cupcakes, or any cake for that matter; and although she was consuming a massive breakfast each morning, Mike liked to make sure that she still had her dessert, every night before bed. After all, seeing her gain weight was becoming an obsession, and he wanted more.

Autumn scraped another forkful of creamy cake from her little plastic container and took a bite. “All of these (chew, chew) Planet Earth shows are really just about sex.”

Mike set his half eaten slice of cherry pie down, scooted to his right and put his arm around her shoulder. “Animal instinct I guess.”

It was now July, and they were enjoying another quiet night together in front of their fairly new Philips 65 inch flat screen after a dinner of takeout Thai food. They already burned through their favorite British TV dramas and were left with mostly nature documentaries, travel and cooking shows.

Autumn pointed with her free hand. “The females don’t even have to do anything. Look, see they just sit there and wait while all the males fight over her.”

Mike turned the volume down a few notches then gave her arm a loving squeeze and smiled. “Just like humans.”

She continued to clean the bottom of her container with her fork as if she was trying desperately to get every last morsel of whipped cream into her already bloated looking belly. “Not really.”

“What do you mean?”

She licked her lips, leaned forward and put her now empty container on the coffee table in front of her. “Are you kidding? Girls are always in the gym, trying to change their bodies, all because they’re competing with each other to attract men.”

Mike stared at her like a man in a trance. It hadn’t gone unnoticed to him that she was eating much faster than she used to. Her body had become accustomed to a diet of high glycemic foods which no doubt caused fluctuations in her blood sugar, creating a vicious cycle of a subconscious, yet constant craving for more carbs.

The extra ten pounds or so that she had added to her figure in the past month, was to Mike, very much evident. Dressed in skimpy loungewear shorts and a matching spaghetti strap top, she was leaving little to his imagination.

“Yeah but girls don’t need to,” he said. “ They only think they do because society makes them think that. You know, because society can make money off people’s insecurities and stuff.”

She tossed a wisp of hair away from her face and batted her eyelashes. “Do you really believe that?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“What about me?”

“What about you?”

She curled her legs beneath her butt and adjusted her posture so that she was facing him more directly. “Do I need to workout? Do I need to lose weight to attract you?”

Her thighs were squished together and her shorts were riding up her hips. Mike remembered when those very same shorts fit her the way they had been designed, loose and lax. Now they were so small that the hems were digging into her flesh like a second skin. He  lowered his head and kissed her just above her knee like a man in deep worship. “I think you know the answer to that. You don’t need to do anything.”

“Really?” She slid backwards, placed her hand on her belly and looked at him blankly. “Because I think I’ve officially gained the corona 15, maybe even the corona 19.”

He gazed into her eyes, recalling a time not so long ago when she complained of the relationship 15. “You look beautiful.”

- Autumn (chapter 8)