[Story] Business Causal

“Shit,” Dustin whispered under his breath. He wiped the blob of ketchup off his white button-down shirt. “This was my last clean shirt.”

“Bad luck,” Jason said with a chuckle.

Jason was Dustin’s first friend at his new job. Jason was a big man with a big appetite, yet somehow it was Dustin who was wiping food off himself. Dustin watched Jason’s big belly wobble as he laughed. 

“Sorry, Dust, not trying to make you feel bad. I know how you feel.”

“I need to buy more work shirts. I just wore a uniform at my last job.”

Jason’s eyebrows perked up. He finished chewing and said, “I’ve got a great recommendation for you.” 

Dustin pulled out his phone and prepared to search.

Jason’s eyes twinkled. “Phatter brand—spelled with a ‘ph.’”

“Phatter?” Dustin tried not to look at Jason’s fat belly as he spoke. “Sounds like a big and tall brand.”

“I was worried about that when I made my first order, but I didn’t have any problems.”

“Why were you worried?” Dustin said with confusion. “You’re bigger than me, no offense.”

“No offense taken, my friend. The answer to your question, however, is this.”

Jason held up his work badge. The first thing Dustin had noticed when he met Jason was the curious mismatch between his work photo and his current corpulent appearance, but this was the first time he had a chance to really compare the two. 

“I still get looks from security when they see this handsome devil,” Jason admitted.

On the badge was a photo of a slim man with a chiseled jaw dusted with faint stubble. Sitting before him was a man with a face chubby enough that his chin always doubled. Between his plump cheeks was a smug grin partially covered by a bushy mustache.

“You, uh, changed your facial hair.”

Jason erupted in a fit of laughter, in which Dustin found himself unable to resist joining.

“Yes, I grew a mustache, that’s the only difference.”

“Well, and you’ve put on a few pounds.” Dustin smiled at being invited to observe such an intimate detail. “But why don’t you get a new badge?”

“I’m not sure. It tickles my fancy, somehow.” He glanced at the photo and scratched his chin. “But say, were talking about something else.”

“Shirts.”

“Oh, that’s right. My point is, I haven’t always been fat. These shirts are good for anyone. Feel the sleeve.”

Dustin leaned over and touched Jason’s arm. The warmth of his skin beneath the smooth, pliable fabric sent a relaxing sensation through Dustin. 

“Great quality, for sure.”

“Online order only, but worth the wait.”

“Do you know if their sizes run big or small? Sometimes I’m a small, and sometimes I’m a medium depending on the brand.”

“Oh man, I remember that struggle.” Jason paused to eat a french fry. “But their sizing doesn’t work like that. You just punch in your measurements. I’ll warn you now what they send you will look too big, but believe me—they’ll fit just right.”

Dustin looked at Jason more closely. He was right: the shirt was snug, but the buttons didn’t strain around his middle. Sure, the snugness didn’t leave much to the imagination, displaying prominently the effect of Jason’s gastronomical predilections, but then again his exuberant personality was suited to a declarative style of dress. He wore his clothes and his body loudly. Perhaps that’s what drew Dustin to him in the first place.

“You’re right, that shirt fits you perfectly. Really accentuates your positives.”

Jason struck a pose, his belly jiggling as he shifted his weight. “Why thank you. But that’s not all: they also sell pants.”

Dustin eyes moved down. Snug without being tight. It didn’t make sense for a fat guy to look so dapper. Well, he thought, if these clothes worked so well for a fat dude, how much better would they fit on his toned, slim figure?

“What the heck, I think you’ve sold me.”

“Let me know how you like them,” Jason said. “You know, I’ve never recommended this brand before.”

“You seem to love it.”

“I really do, but I never remember to tell people about it. You must have jogged my memory. In fact, I think I have a coupon. I’ll email it to you.”

~

Dustin opened his laptop and opened Jason’s forwarded email: Fill Out The Finest Business Wear With 30% Off, the title read. Dustin read the forward note from Jason:

Hey bud,

Enjoy treating yourself! You’ll love how you look in these.

- J

The attached email was full of neutral, masculine coded designs. Indeed, there seemed to be no indication of clothes catered to anyone but men. There were four links: Phatter Shirts, Phatter Pants, Phatter Accessories, and Phatter Clearance.

Dustin began with clearance. Even without the coupon, the prices here were reasonable. He began to place shirts in his cart. As Jason said, there were no size options, just a disclaimer saying that sizing would be taken care of later in the checkout process.

“Love these patterns…” Dustin said under his breath. Before long, he had over $400 of clothes in his cart. After twenty minutes of hand-wringing and bargaining with himself, Dustin had worked himself under $200. Truth be told, Dustin’s wages would have supported either amount, but the thought never crossed his mind.

He clicked the checkout button. A page labeled Sizing came up. 

Phatter is dedicated to providing the perfect fit for every customer. We guarantee that every order we fill you will fill out to perfection. Please enter your information below and Phatter will take care of the rest.

Height:

Shoulder Width:

Wrist Circumference:

Dustin scrolled down. There were no other options. He could not understand why the clothing company would only ask for those three stats. Perhaps they really had perfected the process. He failed to consider that he and Jason’s statistics in both categories were very similar. His trust of his coworker was enough to carry him through to the final page: payment.

Your order will be delivered in 6 to 10 business days.

Dustin closed his laptop with a sense of satisfaction. He would be looking as snappy as Jason in no time. 

~

Dustin eagerly opened the box. His enthusiasm was temporarily dampened as he held up a pair of pants for inspection.

“What? These are huge.” 

Indeed, the pants looked to be far wider than anything Dustin currently wore.

He pulled out one of the shirts. It too was far too big to fit Dustin’s slim figure.

“Goddamn it,” Dustin swore quietly. 

In frustration, he threw the clothes back in the box and opened his laptop. He clicked through his emails and clicked Problem with your order?

It didn’t take him directly to a page for returns, but a splash page with a single disclaimer:

Before contacting us, all we ask is you try on your order first. Thank you for giving Phatter a chance!

Dustin got up and eyed the box.

“Jason did say they would look too big. Whatever, it can’t hurt.”

He picked up one of the shirts. It has blue and brown vertical stripes with smaller white stripes between them. He pulled the baggy garment around his torso and started doing up the buttons.

“Nope, too big.”

Dustin felt a warm sensation in his stomach. He shook his head and walked into the bathroom. He looked at his reflection.

“Unless they shrink in the wash…”

The warm feeling expanded out from his stomach to every part of him. His skin felt like it should be sweating, but he was perfectly dry. He unbuttoned his shirt to let his skin breath. He let out a little yelp. His body was…changing.

He watched in horror as his narrow torso’s angular definition was consumed by doughy fat. He could feel his skin stretching to accommodate his transformation: his firm chest became soft and protruding; his nipples grew bigger and softer; his legs grew so big that they pushed each other apart.

“What’s happening to me?”

The waistband of Dustin’s underwear vanished under the freshly grown overhang of his ballooning gut—out and downward it crept. He grew broader until the sides of his belly curved out into ample love handles. The fabric of his underwear stretched until the palm tree pattern was cartoonishly distended across his ample butt cheeks.

“This can’t be real. I have to be dreaming—” 

Riiipppp

The sound of Dustin’s underwear bursting at the seams cut through his labored breathing. He pulled up his belly to see the damage, but his neck felt puffy and cumbersome and no matter how much he strained, he could not see past his gut. So he looked in the mirror. He was shocked to see a bulge of fat just above his penis that was almost large enough to cover it up. He sunk his fingers into the new part of himself and felt a strange stirring that caused him to recoil. 

He let out a gasp when he caught a glimpse of his face in the mirror. The most personal part of him, his face, was transforming before his terror-stricken eyes. The angles in his jaw were gone, nudged out by increasingly plump cheeks. His sleek, youthful demeanor was replaced by one of doughy edges and features blurred by fat. He ran his fingers across not one, but two chins.

He needed to call Jason. He waddled out of the bathroom to fetch his phone. His mind wandered to the strange sensation of his entire body shifting, jiggling, creasing, and wobbling as he moved. How strange! And yet…how natural it felt. Curious, he thought to himself. 

When he picked up his phone, he could only stare at it. What was he going to do? He returned to the bathroom in hopes of remembering.

He set his phone on the counter and stared in the mirror. Before him was a huge chub of a man who bulged in every direction. The shirt he had pulled on was still unbuttoned. As if commanded, Dustin did up the buttons.

The icy look of horror on Dustin’s face began to thaw. The shirt fit perfectly. He rotated from side to side.

“Damn, I look great in this!”

Dustin's belly jiggled uncontrollably as he made his way back to the box with the other clothes in it. He tried on a pair of pants. They too fit perfectly.

Excitement spread across his face. He picked up his phone and posed in front of the mirror. He looked the picture. Wow, he looked fantastic in these clothes. They really showed off his curves. He took off his shirt and snapped another photo. Yup, still looked great.

Dustin retreated to his room to fetch a new pair of underwear. He wrinkled his nose.

“Size medium? The hell?” The garment looked petite compared to his protruding belly. When was the last time I cleaned out my dresser? He thought to himself. 

He sat down and opened his laptop. He hummed merrily and patted his belly and watched it jiggle as the laptop booted. Within the hour, another order from Phatter was on its way. In the meantime, he would just have to run to the store for some underwear.

Dustin collected his new clothes and began the process of washing them so he had something to wear. As the first load ran, he fetched a large trash bag and started scooping up his old clothes. Before long, a half dozen black trash bags lined the hallway outside of Dustin’s room.

“Not gunna fit back into these any time soon,” He said with a jolly laugh. “The thrift store is going to love me!”

He passed by his bathroom mirror. 

“Why hello there, handsome.” He put his hands on his belly and smiled. “Have I always looked this good?”

He genuinely could not recall if he had ever been so handsome. He couldn’t quite place his finger on what made feel so good about his appearance today. With a shrug, he waddled into the kitchen to make a snack.

~

Dustin was so flattered by all the stares he received upon going into the office the next day. He knew his Phatter clothed looked great, but this really was too nice of people. 

As Dustin leaned into Jason’s cubicle, his belly scraped against the divider.

“What do you think?” Dustin asked.

Jason didn’t recognize the coworker that approached him with such familiarity. 

“Sorry, how can I help you?” He asked.

“By telling me what you think of my new fit.”

Jason’s eyes scanned the features of the obese businessman before him. He wore a sky blue shirt and a white tie that draped over a fat gut which spilled out of a pair of dark gray pants that perfectly accentuated his bulging butt. His double-chin creased with a huge grin, a smile that Jason suddenly recognized.

“Oh my gosh. Dustin, you look so different!”

“It’s that good, right?” Dustin said triumphantly. “And I was totally going to send them back because they were too big, then I remembered what you said about Phatter’s sizing and I gave them a chance. They fit perfectly, don’t they?”

“Yeah, you really fill them out well.” Jason said. “And you didn’t have to do anything to make them fit?”

“Not a thing.”

Jason patted Dustin’s belly. “Yup, that’s the real thing.”

Dustin laughed. “Sure is.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little taken aback.”

“Why?”

“When I said you looked different, I wasn’t talking about your clothes. How is it even possible…”

“How is what possible?”

“You really don’t know, do you?”

Dustin shook his head. 

“Huh.” Jason thought for a moment. “How about we go out for burgers after work and talk it over.”

“You know, now that you mention it…” Dustin rubbed his belly enthusastically. “I feel like I could eat a whole pile of burgers.”

“Don’t worry,” Jason said with a grin. “Everything Phatter makes stretches.”

Their jubilant laughter carried across the office.

~

Jason and Dustin sat down at the bar of the burger joint. Their love handles nearly brushed against each other as they chatted amiably. 

“Love the shirt you picked out,” Jason said. “What else did you get?”

Dustin pulled out his phone and flipped through some pictures with Jason, who gave each outfit a warm little compliment.

“Out of curiosity, do you have any older selfies?” Jason asked.

“Lemme see.” Dustin flipped through a few more photos until he reached one of a slim man with blond stubble smiling for a mirror selfie.

“Oh, look how skinny you were!”

“Huh. I forgot I used to look like that.”

“It’s easy to forget,” Jason said knowingly. “But say, when is that photo from?”

Dustin did a double-take. “Two days ago.”

“And you don’t remember at all, do you?”

“No. What the hell is going on?”

Jason pulled out his phone. “Look at this.”

It was a photo of a lean Jason flexing in front of a mirror. His chiseled features and chiseled body were only identifiable if you moved very quickly between the fat and thin version without thinking too hard about either.

“My phone says I took this photo six months ago.”

“What? No way.”

“I don’t remember being thin six months ago.” Jason shook his head. “But you know, I can’t remember when I got fat either.”

“It’s coming back to me that I used to be thin.” Dustin scratched at his double chin. “But I can’t remember for the life of me when I started getting fat.”

“You don’t remember when you got big,” Jason’s voice grew hushed. “But I do. It was fucking today. When you left the office yesterday, you were as thin as in that photo. Swear to god.”

There was a stunned silence.

“Then what the fuck happened to me?”

“The only thing I can think of is you made an order with Phatter.” Jason patted his belly. “Just like I did six months ago.”

“You had no idea this would happen?”

Jason’s voice grew serious. “I swear I didn’t. I wouldn’t have recommended it without telling you, you’ve gotta believe me.”

Dustin smiled. “Guess we’ll have to chalk it up as a happy accident then.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad? I look great—and so do you.” 

Their gelatinous bodies wobbled as they laughed.

“The only question is…” Dustin said. “Who told you about Phatter?”

“That’s a good question.” Jason mulled this over. “Wait, I remember. It was my old boss, Bobby Teller.”

“Was he a big guy?”

“Fat as hell.”

“What made him recommend Phatter?”

Jason thought it over. “You know, I complemented him a lot. He was a snappy dresser.”

“That’s good karma, my friend. You put out good vibes, and now look at you, you handsome devil.”

“Right back at you, dude.” Jason playfully slapped Dustin’s belly. 

Dustin’s chubby features beamed. “You know what, Jason? I think I know why you haven’t asked for a new work badge.”

“Why’s that?”

“It tells the story of your expanding, and that you don’t want to go back, fuck what society says.”

“Huh.” Jason thought for a moment. “You may be right. And what about you? What do you want?”

“Dessert!” Dustin said. “I know a great milkshake place.”

Their bellies bumped into each other as they got up.

“Lead the way, big guy.”