Living With Maria: Part 2

Written by x-22

"Hi!!" Claudia beamed from the sofa, arms outstretched to invite a hug. Coming up the stairs
with her dark locks slightly dishevelled from a long day at work was Antonia, almost filling the
whole tiny stairwell with her height. "Marcus let you in?"
"Yeah," Antonia nodded, reciprocating the hug, "I got here just after this pizza delivery girl."
"Oooh, pizza..."
"Isn't Maria home yet?" Antonia asked, a trace of concern in her voice, "You must be starving up
here!"
Picking up a box and a few empty wrappers, Claudia proved that had not exactly been the case.
"Maria made sure I was well stocked before she left for work," she explained with a wink, "No
proper dinner though..."
"Oh, I brought these for dessert..." From her handbag, Antonia produced two cardboard boxes
with a jolly baker on their lids, "You just wait here, and I'll fix us something to eat first."

"Sovvy," Claudia apologized, mouth full of cream-filled pastry and presenting Antonia with her
most innocent face, "I saved a doughnut for you..."
"How thoughtful!" Antonia exclaimed, putting down the casserole, "I take it you can still manage
a little taste?"
"Yeah, sure."
"I thought you might," Antonia chuckled.

"So, what did you do?" Antonia wondered, swallowing a mouthful and indicating Claudia's
bandaged leg.
"The stairs tried to kill me." Claudia sniffed indignantly, poking around in her food and then
eating another bite.
"Ouch!" Antonia sympathized, glancing over at the stairwell. "Still, I can see how that might
happen – that thing is steep."
"Yeah, well Victor came by and got me to the doctor – at least she told me it wasn't broken."
"Better than nothing, I guess. More casserole?"
"Ouf..." Claudia exhaled demonstratively, one hand on her belly, the other indicating Antonia
should not refill the plate perched on it.
"Oh, come on! You need to gather your strength, my poor little cripple." Not taking no for an
answer, she slapped a scoop of sauce and meat onto Claudia's empty plate.
 "Oh..." Claudia complained, picked at the food for a while and continued to eat.
"So what is living with Maria like?"
"A bit like this." Claudia answered, wagging her fork for emphasis and popping it into her
mouth.
"Like what?" Antonia chuckled with a curious smile.
"Let's just say she enjoys cooking." Claudia said surreptitiously, sounding as if she was
discussing dark conspiracies.
"Yes, I guess that's true." Antonia agreed, laughing.
"But she doesn't like watching TV. Or even play video games!"
"Oh horror!" Antonia gasped with mock shock. "Hey, you want the rest?" She indicated the
casserole, but did not wait for Claudia's answer before scooping the last globs onto her plate. The
stuffed girl moaned loudly, one hand protectively over her bulging belly. Defiantly, she refused to
eat, despite Antonia's laughing encouragement – for about thirty seconds – before forgetting herself
as Antonia switched on the video game system. Distracted, Claudia started nibbling at the contents
of her plate.

"Honey, I'm home!" Maria's voice boomed through the apartment, waking the dozing Claudia.
Antonia left, then I turned on the TV and then...? Maria?
"Hey!" her flatmate beamed as she came up the stairs, cheeks still rosy from the chill of the
autumn evening.
"No!" Claudia protested vehemently, tugging her blanket up to her chin.
"Eh... what?"
"I would not like dinner. I'm not hungry. In fact, I'm stuffed!"
"Oookay..." Maria chuckled, giving Claudia a glance suggesting she was a dangerous lunatic.
"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going downstairs for some food. I think Marcus had some pizza left
over..."

"Hey, whatcha' doin'?"

Bored stiff, Claudia had braved the stairs and humped into the small downstairs living room,
leaning heavily on her crutch for support. Sitting in the sofa, doing nothing but twiddling his wallet
in his hands, Marcus was startled by her voice.
"Oh, nothing," he said evasively, but cracked under Claudia's inquisitive glare: "Just waiting for
a pizza."
"Didn't you order pizza yesterday as well?" Claudia pointed out, incredulously.
"I..." Marcus opened his mouth to say more, then shut it, before trying again: "Right. Cooking's
such a hassle, isn't it?"
"Well, I do prefer eating food to actually making it." Claudia confessed with an amused smile. "I
take it this is an incredible pizza worth sitting here wa..."
With Claudia cut off by the bell, Marcus shot up from the sofa, leaving her dazed to listen to a
stream of soft-spoken pleasantries flowing out from the hallway.
"...oh, it looks great! Yes, yes, just wait and I'll get my wallet. Why, yes, you're right! How much
was it – oh, never mind, you just keep the rest." Only the closing of the door shut up the near
constant flow of words, pausing only allow quick interjections from the delivery girl.
"Can I have some?" Claudia ventured politely when Marcus finally came back, pizza in hand and
a blissful look on his face, his gait a little more animated than usual.
"Oh... yeah, you take it," Marcus answered curtly, sobered by reality, and handed over the
cardboard box before shuffling off.

Over the next days, Claudia would limp into the living room in the morning – that is, closer to
midday – and collapse on the sofa, switch on the television and inspect what Maria had conjured
before going to work. Obviously not right in the head, she would get up at six even if she did not
start work before eleven that week. Today, this meant waffles and syrup, spice cake and a note
indicating chocolate milk was in the upstairs fridge for breakfast and a big pot of chili, two bags of
crisps, an apple, a few bananas, some kiwi and focaccia for whenever, as well as some chocolate
with a "Good for what ails ya" note. Next to the food was a video game controller from last night,
as well as a growing stack of books Maria heartily recommended. To Claudia, their titles included
words such as 'comprehensive', 'in-depth' and 'study' and so were better left unread.
Scratching her belly, Claudia got up again, hiked up her pyjamas and padded to the refrigerator
to take stock: Chocolate milk as promised. Is there some ice cream left? There was. There were
even some chocolate pudding left. Deciding to bear that in mind, she returned to the sofa with the
milk and a big soda bottle in hand. She began emptying the syrup bottle on the waffles, drinking up
the last drops. Waffles mixed with chocolate milk in her mouth and, gradually, the stack grew
smaller.
Coke for breakfast? Claudia asked herself as she drained the last glass of milk. Yeah, why not...
Pouring herself a glass, she washed down her ninth waffle. Sagging lower and lower in her seat, her
eyes involuntarily closed and she dozed off.

Waking, Claudia nibbled up the last waffles as she watched some television soap she had woken
up in the middle of. Summoning all of her strength, she got up from the sofa again and got a cup of
chocolate pudding out of the refrigerator. Deciding she better make the most of this trip – before she
got too lazy to get up again – she took all three and some more soda – just in case – and a few beers.
Settling her behind on the sofa once more, she opened a beer can and started the day's binge. It was
two in afternoon.

"Good evening, darling." Maria greeted Claudia as she came up the stairs, "I love being able to
leave work early on Fridays!"
Throwing her bag into a corner, the brunette's gaze snapped back to Claudia:
"Pizza?"
"You want some?" Claudia offered, holding up a slice. "Marcus didn't want it."
"O-kay?"
"Yeah, I think he's got the hots for this delivery chick. I don't mind." She took a bite for
emphasis.
"Wait a minute... I took some of his leftover pizza a week ago..." Maria said deliberately, eyeing
the sparse remains of the food she had made, "You mean you've been eating a big pizza every day?"
She did not add 'in addition to everything else'.
"Yeah, big spender, isn't he?" Claudia laughed, slurping up a string of stray cheese.
"Yeah... You know what, I think I'll just make myself a sandwich..."

Later that evening, Maria had put on her reading glasses and sat down with her Complete
History of the German Car after furnishing her flatmate with a bowl of Oreos. Claudia was idly
nibbling at the cookies, slumped in the sofa with the bowl perched on her food-heavy belly,
watching a sitcom re-run. A few days ago, she had subconsciously switched her nightie top with a
once baggy band t-shirt, but despite this, her bulging lower abdomen was visible, the pyjamas
sagging too low to offer any resistance.
Glancing over her book, Maria cocked an eyebrow; so gorged, Claudia's belly looked at least
twice as big as it had been when they moved in, not that Maria had given her midsection much
thought. The cookie-munching girl's slouching posture certainly didn't make her look any less fat.
Unable to come up with a better statement than 'boy, she's looking big', Maria returned to the 1960s
Mercedeses.

"Well, I still think you should have the doctor take a second look at that ankle of yours," Victor
insisted, eyes focused on the glowing fingerboard zooming across the screen, plastic keys clacking
rhythmically, "it's been almost three weeks."
Someone Claudia had gotten to know through Adrian, Victor had a thick mop of dark hair,
spectacles that made him look like a hip designer and a black close-fitting, turtle-necked sweater to
complete the image. Claudia still wasn't sure if his claim to be studying theology was a joke.
"Nah, it's all right." Claudia assured him, reaching over her plastic guitar for another Berliner
during a lull in the song.
"Owh, fugh!" she exclaimed, half a pastry hanging from her mouth as she scrambled to get back
into the game. Tapping buttons frantically, she managed to complete the track without dropping the
Berliner, triumphantly striking the last note and taking a big bite out of the pastry.
"There you go again." Victor resigned with a cheerful sigh, just as Maria came up the stairs, a
pan in her hands.
"I finally tried your chocolate flapjack recipe!" Maria announced, putting the pan down, "I just
hope I got it right, what with the expert being here and all."
"Well, it certainly smells good." Victor assured her. Claudia nodded eagerly in agreement.
"Would you like to try a game?" Claudia asked the brunette as she sat down in the other sofa, "I
just keep beating him."
Reluctantly, Maria agreed, accepting the offered guitar. Waiting for the game to start, Claudia
stole a glance at Victor, staring intently at the screen, then looked surreptitiously at Maria, trying to
get a good grip on the controls, before stealthily snatching a oatmeal-and-chocolate square.

Competition got heated after the first few games as Maria stopped losing, then began beating
Victor more often than not. In the meantime, Claudia had slipped down to lie almost horizontally,
arms cradling a belly gorged on flapjacks, chocolate, crisps, peanuts and beer.
"I give up!" Victor announced with mirthful exasperation, handing the guitar over to the prone
Claudia. Taking a deep breath, she struggled a few inches higher up with a groan. Taking the guitar,
she awkwardly tried to hold it this way and that, still leaning backwards, her stomach stuffed from a
day of leftovers, then some ice cream, then a little leftover snacks, dinner and some more ice cream.
"I see your clever ploy!" she exclaimed triumphantly, having decided the only way she could
hold the guitar and easily reach the buttons was by laying it on top of her belly.
"Excuse me?" Maria chuckled at Claudia's accusation.
"Trying to feed me so full I can't hold the guitar so you might beat me!"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to do." Maria nodded solemnly and started the game.
The tapping of buttons was furious, Maria concentrating intently on each note. In the end,
however, she had to accept honourable defeat.
"Looks like you're still beating me." she conceded, shrugging in resignation.
"I guess you will just have to make me some more flapjacks, then..." Claudia smirked, rubbing
her tummy.
"Haven't you had enough?" Maria remarked, her face inscrutable.
 "Dear God, yes!" Claudia exclaimed, falling limp with a protracted moan. "I had a large pizza
just before Victor arrived!"
"Jeez..." Her flatmate rolled her eyes. "Is Marcus still keeping up that nonsense?"
"Dunno – I just eat the pizza."
"Care to fill me in?" Victor interjected, his dazed expression suggesting he had no idea what the
two girls were on about.
"It's just our fool flatmate having a crush on some pizza delivery tart." Maria answered
dismissively.
"Poor guy!" Victor chuckled. "Do you know who she is?"
"She has red hair?" Maria offered with a shrug.
"And she works at..." Claudia's eyes gazed dreamily, "...Pizza Sciara..."
"Oh, you..." Maria's expression a mix of exasperation and amusement.
"No way! A girl from my philosophy class works there. Red hair...? Hmm... Maybe I can have a
word with her?"
"Yeah, maybe she'll find his obsession adorable and not creepy." Maria rolled her eyes,
unconvinced.
"Hey, I'm a little more subtle than that, you know!" Victor protested with a smile and mock
disbelief.
"Whatever." Maria sighed, suggesting it was out of her hands and he should just go ahead. "Can't
have that sap moping around, right?"
"Right." Victor winked.
"But... pizza..." Claudia implored, giving them the puppiest eyes she could master. The others
dismissed her with a laugh she quickly joined, and the three turned their attention to finding a film
to watch instead.

"Maria!" Claudia shouted, putting away the crisp bag as she listened intently. "Marcus?"
Muttering something about forcing a poor cripple to get the door she remembered Maria wasn't
home and heaved her backside out of the sofa, her gut propelled forward providing the rest of the
momentum necessary to get on her feet.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Claudia grumbled as the doorbell rang a second time. She hitched up
her pyjamas and limped down the stairs, past the bathroom where the sound of running water and
whistling explained why Marcus was not answering the door.
"Hi! I have, uh, one large number 5; is this for you?" Opening the door revealed a slight girl in
the red top and black trousers of her work uniform, greeting Claudia cheerfully, only lowering her
smiling face in order to check what pizza she was delivering. Her hair was dyed a dark scarlet,
feathered to frame her slightly round, happy face, the very faintest trace of freckles on each side of
her button nose.
"Uh..." Claudia cast a glance at the bathroom door and shrugged, "I guess so..."
"Oh... Oh, okay!" The delivery girl's smile was replaced by a puzzled look for only a brief
moment.
"Something wrong?"
"No, It's just that usually, your boyfriend... but then, well I heard that... sorry; I didn't know..."
"Wait a minute. Boyfriend?" Claudia cut the red-haired girl off, giving her a look of exasperated
puzzlement. "What, you mean Marcus? No, no, no, no."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I... it's just that, this guy from class said..." the delivery girl babbled on,
embarrassed and looking for a quick exit, nudging the pizza box towards Claudia.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Are you talking about Victor?"
The girl in the red top hesitated.
"He mentioned a 'buddy' of his and... do you know Victor?"
"Well, yeah, I know him." Claudia shrugged, failing to see the relevance.
"Then...?" the delivery girl shot her a meaningful look, "You... I... when he said 'buddy', I
assumed... wait a minute..." She fished out a pen from her pocket and started scribbling on the pizza
box, animated and bouncy once more. "Here's my number, how about Thursday? Great. You just
call me, okay? Right! I have to go finish my shift, okay? Bye!"
Standing alone in the doorway with the pizza in her hands, Claudia stared dumbly ahead,
blinking in confusion. Initially petrified in the hall, she eventually turned around and sat down in
the living room, still dazed.

The weak December sun had just reached its zenith and was hurrying back behind the horizon,
it's rays bathing the living room in a pale glow. Fresh from bed, Claudia sat slouched, still heavy
with sleep, idly switching from channel to channel. Having consigned her Pjs to the laundry, she
was dressed in knickers and a band shirt from years back, when she had loved For My Pain. It had
been a roomy comfy-shirt once, but now that she had dug it up from the back of her wardrobe it was
quite a snug fit, especially around her middle. Tugging at the hem, Claudia absently tried to cover
her lower abdomen, scratched her side and grabbed a handful of peanuts from the day before.
"Hey, ye of little taste! Turn off that bullshit and get dressed!"
Claudia looked up to see Maria standing with one hand on her hip, knee-length coat on, keyring
hanging from one outstretched finger.
"What?" she asked dumbly, obviously not quite awoken yet.
"Victor's going to be here any minute, so get some close on before I haul you to the doctor half-
naked."
"Yeah, well, about that, I don't really think that's necessary. My foot's fine." Claudia assured her.
"Yes, I can see that: You can hardly walk, girl!" Maria called from Claudia's room.
"I think it's a little better today!" Claudia shouted back, but got no reply before her flatmate re-
emerged, tossing a pile of clothes into her lap.
"I'll count to three." Maria said menacingly, cocking an eyebrow for comedic effect. With
exaggerated reluctance, Claudia complied. With some effort, she managed to slip a bra under her t-
shirt and started inching out of the somewhat tight garment. Straps cut deeply into her pudgy flesh
as she reached for a top which happened to go no longer than to just above her belly button. After a
few attempts to make the top cover her paunch, Claudia looked over the plain black shirt Maria had
most likely just snatched up as the first thing she could find.
A bit tight in the arms? Claudia wondered as she slid her arms into the garment, not following
the thought further. Her first attempt to button the shirt was a bit optimistic. Bracing herself for
another try, she did her best to suck in her stomach.
"Ouf! You could have found something else than the smallest thing in the closet!" Claudia said
accusingly, exhaling forcefully, her belly swelling over her thighs. Maria did not reply, but with a
bit of effort and a lot of cursing, Claudia managed to contain her gut within the shirt, tough it failed
to cover all of it. Its buttons were straining, little specks of flesh visible between them and across
the curve of her breasts, the fabric was stretched so taut it looked ready to tear.
"I don't remember this being this tight..." Claudia mumbled, idly stroking the tight fabric
clinging to her abdomen. She reached out for the tights beside her, but perched on the edge of the
sofa as they were, they evaded her grasp and landed on the floor. Reaching down after them,
Claudia found the black shirt unwilling to give an inch, fabric straining against her scrunched gut,
but not giving it an inch to expand. She did not give up, willing her arm to reach just a little further,
even if her hand was still a foot short of its goal.
"Hngh!" she strained, feeling her gut squeezed against the shirt, before surrendering by throwing
herself back on the sofa, trying not to pant. Her belly, now somewhat liberated, heaved with deep
breaths, the shirt riding up to reveal a soft little bulge.
"Just go ahead and say it!" Claudia called to her flatmate, covering her eyes with her forearm
from exertion or embarrassment.
"Say what?" Maria wondered patiently.
"That I'm too fat to put on my own clothes." Claudia explained quickly, suggesting it should be
obvious.
"I'd say you need to get a new shirt." Maria folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "But if you
insist..."
 Snatching up the tights from the floor, she gathered up Claudia's feet and slid the leggings over
them.
"Ahh!" Claudia sighed with mock content, theatrically grabbing her belly as she sensed her
flatmate starting to dress her.
"Would there be anything else, your Laziness?" Maria asked with the haughtiness of a posh lady-
in-waiting when Claudia took over.
"Well, I could do with a milkshake..." Claudia mused innocently, inching into her fortunately
quite stretchy tights.
"Oh, shut up!" Maria laughed, shaking her head, "I'm going to get you a skirt and we're out of
here!"

"So, yeah..." Victor began absently, keeping an eye on the traffic as he turned another corner
before looking at Maria in the rear view mirror, "I talked with Camilla the other day, mentioned
Marcus. Any news on that front?"
"Well, yeah... about that..." Claudia grimaced and scratched her cheek. Maria leant forward,
eager to hear what she had been missing. "I might be going out with her on Thursday." There was a
brief moment of silence.
"What?!" Maria shouted loudly, nearly causing Victor to swerve clean off the road in surprise,
her jaw practically hitting the centre console.
"I'm sorry, she was at the door and it just sort of... happened." Claudia explained meekly, slowly
inching away from her gaping flatmate.
"But, but, but..." Maria stammered in bewilderment, "she's a she. And you're a..."
"Hey! What's with you??" Claudia demanded, giving her an irritated look. "He's supposed to be
the priest here." Victor put up an open-mouthed look of shocked innocence at the angry finger
pointed at him.
"I... what... leave me out of this!" he laughed, focussing on the cars around them. "And I'm not a
priest."
"Whatever. You study theology." Claudia dismissed him and turned to to back seat for an
explanation.
"I'm sorry, I just, I didn't know that..."
"Me neither. Well, I think. I still don't know, okay!" Claudia slumped back in her seat, having
gotten the feeling this interrogation had just been turned around. An awkward silence fell over the
little hatchback.
"So..." Victor ventured in an attempt to break it, "anyone see that investigative documentary last
night?" He failed.