Busman's Holiday
By Stuffa
"William, the whole point of driving a bus is that you must be able to drive it." Laura the depot manager looked at William in despair. He was her best driver and an incredibly handsome man to boot, but his increasing girth had been noted by the bus inspector as interfering with his job. The inspector had caught him allowing the wheel to "hang" on his belly while he turned corners, and had deemed it inappropriate that a stomach was being used as an aid to steering. Laura privately thought that she'd like to see him doing it, but she had been told to speak to him harshly, and harsh it would be.William looked only mildly abashed, and ran both hands over his large belly. "If you upgraded the buses on my route to the ones with both rake and reach steering, I wouldn't have this trouble" he said. Laura looked at him ruefully, noting that he was correct. If William had been provided with the latest equipment he wouldn't be here. But because he had proven to have a knack with the old, temperamental, (smaller) buses he had been stuck with them for longer.
But his route did need updating, so perhaps it would be a reason for her to force the issue. After all, she needed to protect the company from a discrimination claim. And it would ensure that William stayed with the company and didn't diet, which gave her two strong personal motivations.
"I'll think it over, and see what the directors say." she said, waving him away with a hand. She watched him intently as he heaved himself to his feet and waddled off. She considered watching him a perk of the job, one which she was determined to keep. After all, many bus drivers were chubby, but a very few were truly fat. William was one of a minority.
William sat down in the drivers' lounge at the depot, gingerly lowering himself into a chair which felt increasingly fragile under his growing frame. He knew that Laura would do her best for him as far as getting the new bus. In some ways it was unfair, the way he manipulated her, but as soon as he noticed that she seemed to be interested in the growth of his body he began to take advantage of it. He would ensure that he was eating when she passed by the lounge or that he was stroking his expanse of belly, and would watch her from the corner of his eye. More than once she stopped, transfixed while he kneaded his gut with his fingers.
William knew that if he put on a good enough "show" she would fight to the end for his opportunity to drive the appropriate vehicle, so he made a new plan: constant grazing, which would serve not only to give him the gain he was hoping for but keep her interest sharp. "No time like the present." thought William, as he pulled two of the boxes of doughnuts toward him.
Laura spent eight days in conference in the depot convincing the directors that they would avoid a costly discrimination lawsuit only by providing equal opportunities to use new equipment on all routes. Each time she took a break, she found William in the lounge having a snack. As he was officially unable to drive his bus safely he spent his time sitting, watching television, and eating. Privately, Laura hoped that the board would hold out for much longer, as William was going through several dozen doughnuts a day. Unfortunately for her they saw sense and assigned new equipment to his route. It was her pleasure to tell him.
William lumbered into her office on the morning of the ninth day of his route suspension. He looked at her office chair and then sat down on her low sofa, patting his belly in explanation.
"If I'm so fat," he said, "I had better sit down on something that wouldn't collapse beneath me."
Laura watched him arrange his bulk on the couch and decided to perch on the table near him to tell him the news. She moved closer, and William slowly drew his fingers down the ripples of his sides as he settled himself. Laura looked at the buttons on his white uniform shirt and saw definite signs of stress. Only one more size up available in uniforms, she knew, and she waited eagerly for the day when he requested his 8X shirts. And considering how he was stuffing the doughnuts down, that might be sooner rather than later. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the task at hand, only to be drawn again to his belly. His finger had slid between the buttons and into his belly button, then out again, to caress his bulging gut. She took a deep breath and leaned forward.
"William, I've managed to get an updated bus for you. It should allow you to steer properly, but the inspector will be checking on you more often. Please, make it look good, will you?" Laura tried to look into William's eyes, but was drawn once more to his bulging stomach. His hands still stroked his flabby sides.
William watched her eyes following his hand movements. He knew that she must be able to see the ripples his hands made in his soft flesh, especially sitting so closely. He decided to play his trump card.
"Laura, I'm very appreciative of what you've done for me. I and my belly thank you." With that, William grasped her hand and pressed it into his belly, then leaned forward as if to stand up. She snatched her hand back as if it was burned, and he nodded to her and left the office.
Laura sat contemplating the exchange between herself and William. It was the first time she had touched his stomach and despite how firmly full it looked it had felt soft and warm, ready for her to stroke and caress and kiss... She tried to snap herself out of it again, and returned to the paperwork she needed to complete to get the new bus for William. After all, that was priority.
Eight Months Later:
"William, sit down. You're in trouble with the inspectors again." Laura looked over William, now bulging out of his 8X shirts. This time William went directly to the couch in her office and reclined upon it. His belly poked up from between the buttons, testimony to an increased girth. Laura moved from behind her desk to the table, perching in front of him. From here, she could see the pink of new stretch marks between the buttons and knew that his gain wasn't just her wishful imagination but bulging reality. Time to tackle the problem.
"William, the inspector says that the two rides he took on your bus were unacceptably rough, and that you seem to be having a problem with using the clutch and the brake at the same time. Would you care to explain the problem?" Laura forced herself to look at William's clear green eyes, rather than his mounded belly. His hands moved slowly over the pile of flesh that was his stomach, distracting her further.
William smiled, trying to figure out how he could use this to his best advantage. Finally he decided to just tell Laura what the problem was. "Laura, it's like this. You know I'm a big guy, but my stomach is getting in my way again. It's gotten big enough that it hangs down a bit, sort of between my legs. It gets in the way of using the clutch and brake at the same time, but if you got me one of the new automatic transmission buses, I wouldn't have this problem."
Laura looked at him, stupefied. She knew that he had gained weight, but to have his belly hanging down that far simply destroyed her concentration. All she could think about was how far down it would have to hang before he couldn't drive at all. She shook her head, trying to dispel the image.
William watched her, amused. "Of course, if I had that automatic, it'd be great, but otherwise I could diet I suppose."
Laura's eyes jerked to his face. "No." she said hoarsely. "Let me see what I can do." With that she jumped up from her perch near him, and strode out of the room. William took a moment to stroke his soft gut again, marvelling at how much weight he had gained in the last eight months. Of course, it had been helped by the bakery owner who took the bus home every night and brought his day-old cakes and pastries, but he wasn't going to mention that. Or that he had continued his daily grazing, eating as much as he could on each break. Of course, if he had the automatic, he could use one hand to eat... William shrugged off the thought, knowing that he'd get in trouble with the inspector again.
Five Months Later:
William waddled into Laura's office again, his stomach bouncing off of his thighs with every slow step. She looked at him greedily as she noted that he was now wearing his shirt untucked, stomach protruding slightly below it. The 8X was too small, as was the bus according to the inspectors. She had been told to either fire him or get him to move to an office position. She knew which she wanted, but it came down to him agreeing to his new duties.
"William, we need to talk" said Laura, looking at him earnestly. "It appears that your weight has caused another problem, in that you are actually too large to fit behind the seat of the bus now. Do you dispute that?"
William smiled, remembering how his belly had pressed up against the steering wheel. "You are completely correct, actually. I am too fat to drive a bus." he said. Laura sucked in a sharp breath, and nodded.
"I am empowered to offer a different position, based on your long and good service to us." said Laura. She crossed her fingers that the position would be acceptable to William. "I am in need of a deputy depot manager, and I would like to transfer you to that position where your weight would not be a problem. Is that of interest?" asked Laura.
William sat for a moment, thinking about the position. It would involve sitting in a chair all day, quite possibly eating. And a raise. He was interested.
"I will take the position" he said. "But on one condition."
Laura leaned forward. "What is the condition?"
"Doughnuts. I want a few dozen doughnuts included in my pay. Each day. After all, I'm a growing boy, and I don't want to ever be hungry."
Laura raised an eyebrow. "I think we can manage that. Anything else?"
William decided to chance it. "Yeah, one other thing. I want to get to know you better. I think I have something to offer you."
Laura looked at William carefully. "What are you offering?" she said.
William smiled and grabbed a roll of fat around his waist. "I'm offering you the chance to have the man of your dreams, the fat man of your dreams. But you have to make sure I never lose weight."
Laura sat still for a moment, stunned by what William had just offered. Then she leaned forward, pressing her body against his bloated belly and kissed his lips. "You have yourself a deal." she said, pulling herself onto what she could loosely term his lap. She ran one hand over the bulges at his side and the swollen mound that was his stomach. Again she leaned onto his body and kissed him. "You have definitely got yourself a deal."
William lay on the sofa, radio microphone resting on his bloated belly. His new wife Laura worked beside him, placing large bites of doughnut into his mouth and rubbing his beautiful stomach as he ate. There was now no question of him fitting behind a steering wheel, and every morning Laura and William eagerly awaited his attempt to fit into her small car. They both knew that sooner or later he would outgrow it, especially as his belly already strained against the glove compartment. But that was part of the fun, waiting for him to be too big for something else besides his old uniforms. Today they were simply working on him outgrowing his sweatpants, but Laura estimated William would have to gain another 30 lbs for that to happen. Still, that shouldn't take too long considering how he ate. She fed him bites of another doughnut as she stroked his belly, enjoying the mounds and rolls of flesh barely contained within his sweats. Laura offered William another piece of doughnut, which he refused.
Shocked, Laura stared at William, hoping that he wasn't full this early in the morning, but the twinkle in his eye tipped her off. In between giving instructions to different drivers, he took a doughnut from the box and crammed it into his mouth while grasping her hand to his belly. Lovingly she smiled down at him, aware that he had simply been hinting that she wasn't taking care of his appetite fast enough. She looked at his beautiful large body and told him it wouldn't happen again. After all, a deal was a deal.