BEFORE AND AFTER
by B J Morris


He passed the contract over to her. "Take a moment to read through this before you make your decision. It states that you agree to be our exclusive postergirl for a period of not less than eighteen months and not more than twenty-four without a renewal contract. During this period we agree to pay you forty thousand dollars a year salary, provide you with room and board as well as a rather extensive health plan, and you'll be eligible for a major bonus at the end of the year."

"And all I have to do is be your postergirl? I don't have to do speeches and tour the country do I? I'm no good at making speeches..." she said, anxiously. Candy bit her lip. She hoped she hadn't just blown the deal. She really needed the job.

Ed chuckled. "No, you won't have to tour the country or make speeches. We only want you to pose for pictures in our ads. We'll write all the copy for you. You just have to be our Diet Away Girl."

"That's the part I don't understand. You want me to be the girl in the ad who lost all the weight with your program, right? But where are you going to get the 'Before' picture?"

Ed shifted. "Well, that's what you'll be doing to earn the bonus..."

"I don't get it...I only weigh 105 pounds. How am I going to look like the 'Before' girl...?" Candy's eyes grew wide.

Ed nodded. "We'll work with you to help you gain enough weight so that we can do the diet ad in reverse. Then, when the project is over, we'll help you to get to your perfect weight. All free of charge."

"You want me to stuff myself so that you can sell your diet pills? Why that's crazy! Why don't you just get a fatty to use your program?"

"It would take too long and we'd never be sure if she'd lose the weight in enough time. You see, we've got to get the product into the market twelve months from now. This way we can be sure. Once we have the program going, we'll use real case studies in the ads. You'll only be there in the beginning, to get the ball rolling and to help all of those poor overweight folks."

Candy bit her lip. "You want me to stuff my face until I'm...I'm as big as a house...then you'll take my picture and pay me all this money...?"

"A little crudely put, but that's about the size of it," Ed agreed.

She sat there wringing her hands. "I don't know....you see, I want to be a model but they said I need experience. That's when I saw your ad...but now I don't know..."

Ed reached out and picked up the contract. "You didn't read about the bonus program."

Candy kept wringing her hands without looking at the document. "...and if I gain all that weight I'll never be a model..."

Ed interrupted again. "We will pay you a bonus of one thousand dollars for each ten pounds that you gain."

She stopped wringing her hands and looked at Ed."A thousand dollars...?" Candy said softly.

"For every ten pounds you gain," Ed finished for her.

Candy reached out and took the contract from Ed's hand.

Ed smiled as Candy began reading the contract in earnest. "And we guarantee at least a hundred pound gain. Anything less than that would not suit our purposes. You must agree, therefore, to follow our instructions to the letter."

"What about clothes? If I do this I'm going to outgrow everything I own!"

"A customized wardrobe will be furnished you throughout the project."

"And you'll help me to lose the weight afterwards?"

"We agree to help you get to your perfect weight once the project is over."

"I can't let anyone see me while this is going on. Or find out about it later. I'd never get a modeling career!"

"We will conduct our business in the strictest confidence. A house will be provided for you during the life of the project."

"Room and board, a good health plan, custom-made clothes, forty grand a year for two years, and a thousand dollars every time I gain ten pounds?" she said disbelieving.

"Exactly."

Candy stared at the contract, shaking her head. She looked up at Ed.

"Where do I sign?"

* * *

Ed felt the snow crunch underfoot. He opened the door to the house and stepped into the welcome warmth. A fire was crackling in the next room. After hanging up his coat and scarf, Ed entered.

Candy sat on the couch, watching TV and munching on a bag of chips. A gentle roll of stomach pushed at the belt on her too- tight jeans. Ed pursed his lips. "Hello, Candy."

She looked up at him for the time. "Oh, hi, Ed," she said a little guiltily.

"Where's Tony, Candy?"

"I think he's in the study," she replied, biting her lip.

Ed went out of the room and up the stairs to the study. A handsome man of thirty with curly brown hair sat at the desk, glasses perched on the edge of his nose. With just the desklamp lit, he poured over the file splayed out before him. He didn't hear Ed approach from behind him until the older man cleared his throat.

At the sound, Tony looked up with a start. "Oh, hi, Ed," he mumbled, tiredly.

"That's what our house guest said." Ed's voice was as cold as the wind blowing outside.

"Oh." Tony shrugged. "You've already seen Candy, huh?"

"Yes, I've already seen Candy. What's going on, Tony? You two have been up here for five months and I don't see the kind of results I expected."

"Yeah, well she's been a little difficult to work with. She complains that she can't eat as much as we want her to..."

Ed started pacing. "Tony, she looks like she's only put on about twenty pounds..."

"...twenty-seven..." he interrupted. Tony winced when he saw Ed's face.

"Okay...twenty-seven. You know that's not enough for five months! She should be up to one fifty or one sixty by now!" Ed paused. He sat down so he could look his partner in the eye. "Come on, Tony. There's a lot of money riding on this and it's not our money. We can't blow this deal!"

"Yeah, I know. But I've tried everything I can think of! I even think she likes me so I keep telling her how much better she'd look with a few extra pounds...hell! I'm even prepared to go to bed with her if it will help and you know how I feel about skinny broads!" Tony shook his head.

Ed reached into his suit pocket. "I think it's time we took stronger measures." He removed a white bottle of pills. "We discussed what these are for."

Tony looked at the bottle in Ed's hands. "I guess that's all we have left. Come on, let's go talk to her."

The two men went downstairs. When they entered the room Ed took a seat across from her and Tony walked to the TV. He turned it off. Candy looked at the two men. "What's...what's going on?" she asked, nervously. Tony sat down next to her and took her hands in his.

"Candy," Ed said, softly. "Things haven't been working out as well as we planned."

"I've been trying, Ed. I really have! I've gained almost thirty pounds already."

"I know. And that's good. It's just not good enough."

"But I tried! Tell him how hard I tried, Tony! It's just that I can't eat that much food..."

"There, there, Candy," Tony soothed, putting his arm around her. "Take it easy, girl."

"We know you've done your best, Candy, and now we're going to help you." Ed handed her the white bottle. "These pills will increase your appetite. They're a by-product of our research. Take one before each meal and everything will work out fine." Candy looked at the pills. "Remember," Ed said, gently. "You signed a contract to gain at least a hundred pounds, you know. We need you at that weight by summertime."

"Summertime?" Candy asked like a frightened bird. "But that's only seven months from now."

"That's right. But don't worry. Tony will help you." Ed turned to Tony. "Walk me to the car."

Outside, Ed handed Tony a box from the trunk. "More pills?" Tony queried.

"Yeah. You shouldn't need this many but..." Ed got into the car and started the engine. "Anyway. Get her started on them right away. Do anything you have to. Get her fat!"

Tony went back to Candy and set the box down on the table. She looked miserable. Tony lifted her head. "It's going to be okay, you know."

"Oh, Tony, I don't know how I'm gonna do it..."

"Hey, come on," he smiled. "Tony knows best. Here." He opened the bottle and shook out a pill. She took it from his hand and swallowed it half-heartedly. "That's a good girl. Just think of the bonus! Why you've already made three thousand dollars bonus and you've been banking your paycheck. You're going to be rich!" She gave him a wan smile. "That's better. Now let's go eat dinner."

Over the next couple of weeks, Candy slowly started to eat a little more. Tony prepared a healthy portion for her at each meal but unlike before Ed's visit Candy was now able to choke down the portions. She made progress but it was slow and she continued to complain about feeling stuffed. By the third week Tony put her on the scale. Candy weighed in at one hundred forty one pounds. He grimaced. At this rate, she might just squeak by the two hundred five minimum but Tony wasn't sure. If she should backslide at some point she wouldn't make it. And Ed had always said that two hundred five was just the bare minimum; two thirty or two forty would be much better. And there was no way Candy was going to make that on her own.

So Tony decided to tilt the odds in his favor. He ground up one of the white pills at each meal and mixed it in with Candy's food, hoping to speed up the process. He watched her at each meal dutifully swallow her pill and clean her plate. Tony waited for her to display ill effects from the double dose but there were none. In fact, things began to work out very well. It wasn't long before Candy was asking for snacks late in the night and Tony happily supplied them.

By the end of the seventh month, Candy had achieved what it had taken her five months before. He eagerly reported to Ed that she had gained twenty-eight pounds and now weighed 160. Her body was becoming chubby and Tony found he liked the change.

The changes were noticeable to Candy, too. Of course, she noticed her clothes becoming tighter in spite of the larger sizes Tony replaced them with. But she found herself anticipating each meal, each morsel put before her. The pills had removed all the discomfort she had felt and gave her the appetite to enjoy eating the giant meals. She also found that they had done something she hadn't foreseen. As her body swelled ever larger, she caught Tony's eyes following her as she waddled around the house. So she decided that if Tony liked her big, then she would please him in a big way.

Late one night, she snuck down to where Tony kept the pill bottles. Careful not to be caught, Candy stole four bottles out of the box and hid them in her room. Then, before taking the ritual pill with Tony at each meal, Candy took an extra one in her room. The results were almost instantaneous. She found herself still hungry after wiping her plate clean so she started asking for seconds. The scale, too, indicated her increasing intake as she gained six pounds in one week. Six pounds! She couldn't believe the excitement she heard in Tony's voice when he weighed her. Immediately, Candy went to her room and popped another pill in her mouth. If these little white pills were helping her get bigger and bigger then she would start sneaking them whenever he wasn't looking. Soon Candy was raiding the refrigerator constantly.

Tony couldn't believe how fast Candy was gaining weight. Not that he wasn't pleased but the blouse he had just bought her was already too small. The buttons had popped off while she had finished the box of doughnuts at breakfast! Her breasts had grown to the size of footballs and her belly rolled well over her waistline. And when he weighed her at the end of the month, he was in shock: she had gone beyond the minimum weight gain three months early! Candy now weighed two hundred six pounds; but not for long, he thought, as she seductively waddled out into the kitchen for another snack.

* * *

Ed knocked on the door. He hadn't been here since that fateful winter day. Tony had said that Candy was measuring up and that was enough for him as he had the ad campaign to manage. But now it was time to bring her down for the photo-shoot. He hoped Tony wasn't feeding him a line of...

The door opened to a surprised Tony. "Ed! I didn't expect...I mean, I thought it was the grocery boy. Come on in." He stepped aside as Ed came in.

"When I called last week I said I'd be up, Tony."

He closed the door. "Of course, of course. Must have slipped my mind." Tony smiled. "How have you been Ed?"

"Busy. I trust all my work hasn't been for nothing...?" he inquired.

Tony laughed and slapped Ed on the back. "Far from it, my friend. I think you'll be pleased. Drink?"

"Scotch, thanks. I better be, Tony. Our investors have been getting antsy." Ed sat in the leather chair opposite the couch.

Tony sat across from him, handing Ed the scotch. "Don't worry." He turned and called out. "Honey, we have company! She's in the kitchen." he explained. Tony gave Ed a knowing wink.

"Well, I hope she's been doing more out there than dishes...." His voice trailed off as he looked over to the doorway, his jaw falling open.

"Hi, Ed," Candy giggled, mischeviously. "Like what you see?"

Ed couldn't believe that the enormous woman in the threshold was Candy. Her high cheekbones had plumped out to the size of large plums, riding above cavernous dimples. Two thick lips glistened above a chubby double chin. Her gigantic breasts stretched mightily against the halter she wore, its single metal clasp seeming to strain with the load. Candy's buddha-belly hung over the waistband of her tight, tight stone-washed jeans. Thighs bulged beneath a bulbous belly like over-inflated inner tubes. The jeans looked like they might burst at any moment. Chubby little feet with red-painted toes padded across the room to crowd Tony on the couch. A loud whoosh was heard as she sunk into the padding.

"My God..." was all he could manage. Tony and Candy laughed.

"I'll take that as a yes," Candy said.

"How much...much do you weigh?" he finally stammered.

"Three hundred twenty-two pounds," Tony replied, a glint in his eye. "And still growing."

Ed gulped his scotch. After a moment he started babbling excitedly. "This is great! Better than we ever hoped! Okay. We'll get you down to the photographer...no, no, we'll bring him here. Do the layout, run the ad, and then the money'll..." He took a deep breath, calmed himself looking into Candy's eyes. "And then, of course, we'll start you on your diet."

Tony and Candy looked at each other for a moment. "We want to talk to you about that," Candy stated simply.

"Talk about what?" Ed was confused.

"Ed," Tony said. "The contract says: '...help you to get to your perfect weight. All free of charge.' Right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well," Candy said smiling, "we're going to need another box or two of those pills you gave us and a bigger account at the supermarket. You see, Tony and I think that my perfect weight is somewhere between five and six hundred pounds..."