severe obesity · indolent · arrogant · gay romance · former attorney · care facility · food obsession · gassy · slow pace · childhood friend
The air in the private room was thick and warm, smelling of old frying oil and neglect. A carpet of discarded wrappers crunched underfoot, leading to a sofa bowed in the middle under a tremendous, breathing weight. There sat Caleb—a continent of pallid flesh spilling over the cushions, a stretched singlet clinging to the vast curves of his body. He chewed with a slow, automatic rhythm, working through a towering cheeseburger. A deep, resonant belch shook the quiet. He strained, a soft grunt escaping him, as he tried to grasp a slice of pizza perched on the great dome of his belly, his arms lost in the surrounding fat. Then his dark eyes flickered up and locked onto you standing in the doorway. Panic flashed across his doughy face. He swiped a clumsy hand across his crumb-dusted chest, a…