Autumn (chapter 18) (Patreon)

After a Starbucks run, Mike parked in the cell phone lot and waited while the gray sky darkened into night. The woman in the Subaru Forester next to him cracked her window and lit up a smoke.

God that smell.

Since quitting he seemed to be able to detect the scent of cigarettes everywhere.

It was the odor of temptation and he wanted one so bad he could almost taste it.

Fuck they were hard to quit though.

He didn’t want to go through that again no matter what and his envy of the woman soured into pity.

But once a smoker, always a smoker. At least that seemed to be the case for his girlfriend.

Autumn wasn’t going to just merely be his girlfriend for long though.

During his month alone he came to an understanding that obsessing over Autumn’s body was stupid, selfish and immature. He had even warmed to the idea of seeing her at a lighter weight again. It wasn’t like that was a bad thing. She’d still have her otherworldly curves, her gorgeous face and hips. He wondered if her ass might look even better and appear more prominent if she ended up shedding inches from her waist.

Appearances aside, there were other perks to dropping a few pounds. They could do more hiking together and more motorcycle rides. She would have more energy, more pep in her step, more stamina in the bedroom, and most importantly she would be an overall healthier person. Whatever happened it wasn’t up to him and for maybe the first time in his life, Mike understood what it meant to be truly in love.

He recalled the bible verse from his Sunday school days as a kid.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others and it is not self-seeking.

He looked at the iced venti caramel mocha in the cupholder. He figured Autumn would be tired and thirsty after a long flight and he didn’t want to pick her up empty handed, but a part of him worried that she might now scoff at such a grossly American drink and accuse him again of trying to make her fat.

He took a deep breath and felt a calmness throughout his body, then his phone buzzed.

Autumn had landed.

He pulled up to the curb at airport arrivals and jumped out of the car. His heart was racing. He felt as nervous as he did when he met with Autumn at that art theater coffee shop back when they lived on capitol hill.

Jesus.

That was almost 3 years ago.

For what seemed like an eternity, he scoured the sea of strangers moving in and out of the terminal's automatic sliding doors and along the sidewalk and then, about a hundred feet away, sticking out like a flower among weeds there was a very attractive woman in a black dress, toting a purple suitcase on wheels. With gorgeous shoulder length auburn hair and milky white skin, she was extremely well endowed, yet clearly very overweight. She was the hottest fat girl he had ever laid eyes on, or perhaps the hottest woman he had ever seen period; an embarrassment of riches in the form of ample, plush and wobbly curves so prominent that her severely feminine walk appeared tiresome and labor intensive.

That black dress covered her like a sheet, but despite its flowy looseness, it could not disguise the lush opulence of her uncommonly generous proportions.

Autumn wasn’t that wide, was she?

Weaving through the crowd she came closer until the outdoor overhead lights illuminated a face that Mike would have recognized anywhere.

Goddamn.

It was her.

They locked eyes and her pouty unhappy lips flipped into the prettiest smile imaginable. She powered towards him and it looked for a second like she was making an attempt at breaking into a slow jog before thinking better of the idea; instead continuing that ultra sexy wiggle until stopping just feet away.

Time stood still and the bustling frantic noise of cars and people seemed to fade into dreamlike silence.

With her weight on one hip Autumn stared at Mike and in a breathy voice said,  “Could (pant) you have parked any further away?”

Mike erupted into an unrestrained grin. “What? You said United didn’t you? This is United.”

They gazed into each other’s eyes as if frozen in space, then Mike lurched forward and embraced her in a most delicious hug.

With her lips near his ear Autumn whispered, “Did you (pant) miss me?”

He squeezed her tighter and took in the familiar scent of her captivating essence. “Holy fucking God yes.”

“Come on, (gasp) let's get out of here, I need a cigarette so bad I could die.”

Mike clung to her for another few seconds, savoring the sound and feeling of her heavy breathing before reluctantly releasing. He took a step back and examined her.

Despite the travel fatigue, she looked stunning as ever, but to his surprise didn’t appear to be any slimmer than she was a month ago. On the contrary, and although it was difficult to decipher, she seemed bigger than she was before she left, but that had to be merely wishful thinking.

He threw her luggage in the back, then like a gentleman, opened the passenger door and she climbed in. Her hips were so wide they spilled over both sides of the seat and she needed to re-adjust her position several times before Mike could get her door closed.

Damn.

Since when did she have this much trouble with his car?

Once back behind the wheel he watched her struggle with her seatbelt. “You got it okay?” he said.

She squirmed like an overgrown jellyfish, tugging on the belt and stretching it as far as she could towards the buckle which was wedged uncomfortably beneath the left side of her hip. “Yeah (pant) I just, (huff) fuck, (gasp) what is up with this thing?”

Mike leaned over to help, grabbing the latch and pulling the strap taut across her lap. A sense of panic rose in him as he realized it wasn’t long enough.

“Scoot back,” he said.

“I am (pant) scooted back.”

“Just try.”

She gave him an aggravated look, then pressed her hands against the glove compartment and wiggled and shimmied her butt around until she was shoved as far backwards as she could go.

Mike yanked on the seatbelt again and finally managed to click her in, although the gray polyester straps looked to be digging painfully into the fluffiness of her swelling flesh.

She fanned herself. “Fewww! (gasp) I think we might need a new car.” She turned and noticed the expression of contentment on her boyfriend’s face. “What?”

His eyes drew down, then up. “Nothing. I just like how you said we.”

She stared at him blankly and fluttered her dark eyelashes, then with straining effort, reached forward and took the Starbucks beverage from the cupholder. “This for me?”

“Yes baby.” He put the car in drive and weaved into the left lane. “You wanna go I-5 or the fun way?”

She took a long pull from her straw then put the drink back. “The fun way, (pant) but can we pull over somewhere please?” She began digging into her purse.

“It’s okay,” Mike said with one hand on the wheel and the other dangling against her thigh.

“It’s okay what?”

He shrugged. “You can smoke in here.”

“No way (pant) I couldn’t do that to you, (cough) that’s just cruel.”

“It’s alright, trust me,” he said. “ I actually kind of enjoy the second hand smell.”

“I don’t want (cough) to be a bad influence.”

Mike gave her a brief glance as he exited the airport. “Just have one already, I'd rather you be comfortable, I remember how it is after a flight.”

She sighed. “Okay.” She took out her pack and quickly lit one up. “Thank you.”

“Dunhills?”

She cracked her window and blew smoke into the starless night. “Yeah, London rubbed off on me. I don’t know why but these seem a little classier.”

“You didn’t tell me you were in London.”

“Yes I did, went there on a weekend when I was in Ireland, and (cough) I flew out of Heathrow remember?” She took another sip from her sugary latte.

“Oh yeah that’s right.” He turned onto a main avenue which was packed with an array of fast food places and strip malls on both sides. He gazed at her, noticing the way her breasts and belly jiggled with every bump in the road. He swallowed nervously.  “Are you hungry?”

“I’m starving,” she said.

His eyes widened. “I can stop wherever, what do you want to eat?”

She flicked ash out the window. “I don’t care, just whatever, something that doesn’t require me to get out of the car.”

He scanned the surrounding neon lights, shining brightly against the night sky. “Umm, Wendy’s okay?”

“Sure.”

In the drive-through line, she ordered a Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich, fries and a chocolate frosty, much to Mike’s astonishment.

He could feel his instincts fighting with his willpower as his fixations and obsessions over her weight came flooding back.

He longed to ask her if she wanted chicken nuggets with her meal. He longed to ask her if she wanted him to feed them to her, stuff her face, rub her belly and grab her ass. He wanted to ask her if she had gained the weight back and was over 300 pounds again; but he restrained himself.

After pulling out of the drive-through he parked in the lot to give her a chance to eat and relax in the comfort of a stationary vehicle. He had yet to kiss her lips since she left for Europe, and he suddenly somehow felt as if he were on a first date with an arrestingly beautiful woman that was out of his league.

“So what was your favorite place, what did you like best?” he said.

“I don’t know, (chew) maybe Vienna.”

“Was it like Before Sunrise?”

With her mouth full of fries, she smiled as much as she could. “Yeah I (chew) guess, (munch, chew) been a while since (chew) we watched that though, so I can’t remember.” She finished chewing and licked her lips. “I mean I love Paris too, but Vienna was just easier, less crowded and touristy. I don’t know, it was hard because I had to work all the time, and then my co-workers wanted to go out every night and I didn’t have good shoes for walking so I mostly took Ubers.” She bit into her chicken burger. “But (munch, chew) oh my god (chew) the bakeries in Paris were incredible.”

“I can imagine.”

“I have to say though, (chew) being there for so long made me appreciate America more.”

“How so?”

She continued eating and talking simultaneously. “Just like, (chew, much) everything over there (chew) is so slow, lines at every restaurant, every coffee shop. I feel like the states are more progressive and accommodating towards women in a lot of ways too.”

“Were you able to sleep on the plane?”

“Yes it was lovely, took an edible, had a couple glasses of champagne and I was out cold.”

“Did you get first class again?”

She nodded with her mouth full. “Mmhm.”

Mike smiled, amazed. “How do you always do that?”

“It was all (chew, munch) I could find and it’s a business expense so why not? Plus there’s no way I (gasp) could handle a 10 hour flight in coach.”

“Good job baby.”

“Mmm (chew, munch)...let’s go, (chew) I can eat while you drive. I’m excited to see Samson and sleep in my own bed.”

Mike merged onto the 509 freeway while Autumn continued to devour her food. When the familiar Columbia Tower dominant skyline of the emerald city came into view she had consumed the entire meal, frosty and Starbucks iced latte included.

Mike was in a state of mind somewhere between confusion and euphoria. The way she looked, the things she said and the way she ate told him her days of gaining weight were far from over and the mere thought of that sent a wave of mad passion down his spine.

Finally back home together in their apartment, Autumn kissed Samson’s furry little head and then set him down on the sofa. She turned towards Mike in the kitchen, stretched her arms out wide and slowly sauntered his way.

She smiled with a heavy layer of seduction beaming from her eyes. “You know (pant) what I missed most of all though?”

Mike let her fall into his grasp. He kissed her neck and brought his smirking mouth to her ear. “My dick?” he whispered.

With her head resting on his shoulder, she whispered back, “No, you’re big fluffy German pancakes.”

He let her belly and breasts squish into him and his knees began to tremble as his temperature rose. “Didn’t they have stuff like that over there?”

“Not as good as the ones you make.”

“I’ll be sure and make you that for breakfast then.”

She pushed him in the chest and took a few steps back. “No, I want one now for dessert.” She turned, bent over to grab her cigarettes from the coffee table then gazed at him with a haughty and sublime expression. She lifted her ankle-length dress all the way up to her waist to reveal her dimpled thighs, naked ass and absent panties. “Big and fluffy like my butt.”

Mike was speechless, and for a moment he wondered if he was dreaming. He couldn’t contain his raging urges for a second longer and lurched forward and kissed her lips. Her pack of Dunhills fell to the floor as he cupped her softened jawline and let his tongue dance against her’s, relishing in the warm pleasing taste that he so sorely missed.

After making out with the unbridled candidness of two teenage lovers, Autumn finally came up for air and peered into the intense focus of his eyes. “I’m sorry baby but (pant) I've been a bad girl.”

“How so?”

“I think I gained some weight in Europe. (gasp) Everything we did there revolved around food and when we were not out in restaurants, I was stuck in my hotel room binging on kraphens and cream puffs in the middle of the night just to fight off the boredom.”

He squeezed her ass with both hands. “Oh god baby, you’re going to kill me.”

She smiled. “What, (gasp) am I too sexy for you?”

“You are way too sexy, but please don’t stop.”

She gazed up at him. “Does my ass feel bigger?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything, I mean…you know, didn’t want to be rude.”

“I honestly didn’t mean to, (gasp) but I was so lonely for you and I just couldn’t seem to stop eating. It made me feel closer to you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She sighed and clawed her fingers beneath his white t-shirt. “Oooh…I almost sent you some selfies of my stuffed belly, (huff) but then I decided it would be more fun to surprise you.”

“You get off on teasing me don’t you?”

“Only as much as you get off on teasing me.” She smiled, released herself from his groping clutches, then bent over again to pick her pack of smokes off the floor. With a deliberate fling of her hair she stood up straight and stared at Mike. She placed her fingers on his chin, lifting his jaw shut. “You better get started on my dessert you lazy bum, (gasp) I won’t be long.”

She turned away and wiggled towards the outdoor balcony and Mike’s jaw again fell open in awe as he watched her go.

When she returned there was a lit vanilla scented candle next to a glass of red wine on the coffee table.

She removed her jacket and tossed it on the sofa. “Oooh, what’s this?”

In the kitchen, Mike shut the oven door, wiped his hands on a dish rag then hurried towards her. His eyes burned with an adorable nervousness that Autumn found almost irresistible.

She gazed at him inquisitively. “Why do you have to look so handsome all the time?”

“I um…I’m not very good at this,” he said, reaching into the right front pocket of his jeans.”

“Michael?”

“I had planned to um, do this later, but I just can’t wait a second longer.”

He dropped to one knee, holding a little velvet box in his hand. He opened it with trembling fingers and looked straight into her eyes. “Autumn Murrell, will you be my wife?”

Her nose scrunched and her hands flew to the sides of her cheeks. “Are you serious right now?”

“Dead serious.”

Mike could see the defensive walls that had surrounded her heart for so long come crashing down in the form of a single tear rolling down her face.

She turned away to hide her eyes, waving her arms at him in a fit of emotion. She then looked back and burst into a giggling smile.

“Yes Mike,” she said. “I would love to be your wife.”

“Will you marry me?”

She kicked his shoe playfully. “Yes!”

Mike stood and Autumn threw herself into him.

He took the ring and brought it to her outstretched finger.

He slipped it on. It was a perfect fit.

“It’s beautiful,” she said with a sniffle.

“So are you.”