As spring approached and temperatures warmed up, the usually cold Nataly started ditching her big coats and started wearing lighter clothes - which did little to help disguise the considerable mass she had accrued through her grueling training in the meantime. As she approached her full third trimester of training there was little sign that her growth would stop. But now that she could attend classes sleeveless… there was considerable chatter in class.
When Nataly arrived at the apartment, Alexandre looked bored out of her skull as she vacuumed the apartment. But Nataly’s glum mood, which was unusually quiet, caught her attention. She probed a bit, asking if anything was wrong, but was met with dismissive answers. So she hurried to finish the cleaning and sat down with her friend.
“Hey, what is going on?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just noticed a lot of people talking behind my back about me. Nothing big.”
“Is anyone making fun of you?”
“No, not really. In fact, some guys came to ask about my routine and if I’m taking anything. Some girls asked me to show my muscles. But I feel like I’m being watched everywhere I go, and it’s weird.”
Ale pondered for a second.
“You do realize that you are unusually large, right? And your strength is clearly not just above average. Not only that, you grew very fast, so people must have noticed your transformation. Can you imagine if a girl who had tiny breasts suddenly showed up with huge tits? Don’t you think you would notice and comment with other people?”
“I… guess I would, yeah.” Nataly’s eyes naturally gravitated to her small roommate’s generous chest, her cheeks getting warm from this mostly innocent interaction.
“That’s no reason to be embarrassed. You should be proud, really.”
“It’s not that I’m not proud… I guess self-conscious, maybe?”
It’s not that Nataly was embarrassed about people gossiping about her per se, but the simple awareness of people whispering, looking and pointing at her surfaced a lot of memories that weren’t pleasant. Alexandre did remember the bullying before she moved, and it didn’t take much for her to figure out what was going on.
“Kids are cruel, that’s for sure. But as we get older, we don’t really pay so much attention to those around us. Not in the same judgemental way, we got way too much shit to deal with in our own lives for that.”
“That’s true.” Nataly responded, pensive and looking a bit less bothered.
“And if anyone messes with you… you let me know. I will kick their asses.”
“Thank you, my knightess in shining armor!” Nataly laughed, knowing full well that Alexandre would actually do it, as she had when they were kids.
But as Nataly continued with her day, Alexandre got a bit curious. She checked Nataly’s training app, looking up her routine. She had a general idea of how she was progressing, and went online to get a general idea of how strong she was, comparatively.
Alexandre had always known that Nataly’s growth was not normal by any standards, but she was floored when she compared her stats with the data she found. The pace with which her strength kept increasing was slowing down much slower than even she realized, but if she kept at it that way… she would be beating female world records for strength a little after a year of training. She almost pulled up the calculator, but a weird feeling of dread kept her from digging more.
“You know what? I’m in for this ride. Why not just enjoy it?” She thought to herself, shaking her head and closing the computer.
While the two of them did not share any classes in college, Ale quickly started hearing the gossip about Nataly. The people who frequented the gym with them were all assuming she was on heavy performance enhancing drugs, and she could only imagine other students assumed the same - more than once whispers were heard discussing her barely-there breasts disappearing under a shelf of muscles, remarks about her linebacker shoulders or masculine arms. Ironically, while all were said with a very negative intent, those were all traits that Ale herself was quite drawn too. Besides, she didn’t particularly care about what others thought, but it was hard for her not to worry about how this would affect Nataly. It brought back memories of that fateful day from her childhood…
But the very walls that she had raised back then made it so she wasn’t one to show weakness. No. Alexandre kept that to herself, she felt she had to - she could only be strong to defend those around her if she showed no weakness. But when it came to rumors, there wasn’t much she could do. So she casually approached Nataly on their next workout at the gym:
“Hey, Nataly. Just the other day someone asked me if I was using gear…”
“You mean like gloves?” Nataly, ever so innocent.
“No, they meant steroids. You know, drugs to enhance performance.”
“Oh. Wow. Why would they do that?” She was genuinely confused.
“This might sound almost crazy to you, but my physique is very much on the tail end of the bell curve. I mean, how many girls do you know who have arms like these?” Alexandre pulled a respectable double-biceps pose, mounds rising from her shoulders into her arms, a far cry from the usual shapeless female arms you’d see around the campus. Nataly had never thought of it that way, because she was constantly chasing that moving goalpost of becoming even more huge.
“So it’s not that crazy, they asked me because they wanted to see if I could hook them up”, Alexandre lied.
“Well, isn’t that pretty much a compliment then? I wish people thought I was on steroids…” Nataly pouted, flexing her own lowered arm and putting her palm absent-mindedly over her pulsating biceps, which expanded so much her long fingers couldn’t even hope to envelope the top half of her arm. Was she really that clueless, Alexandre wondered for a brief moment, before realizing it was Nataly.
“Uh… well, let’s just say that if I didn’t know you better, I’d assume you’re swimming in a vat of steroids every night.”
“REALLY?!?” Nataly’s eyes lit up, and she stopped her inclined leg press, and asked Ale to add a couple more plates, that she was feeling really pumped. Alexandre should’ve known better that her roommate just had a different outlook on life.
Still, she went to get the plates, and when she came back, another guy was there, waiting to use the machine. So Nataly asked in the fakest way:
“Whoa, you carried those plates so easily, Ale! You must be taking something, huh?”
The guy just looked at Nataly with a concerned expression, and decided to go for another machine. Ale just laughed.
While Nataly’s growth was unreal, the growth in her appetite sure was following it very realistically. With their small fridge, they could only get groceries for a week - and that was because Nataly was prepping portioned lunch meals for the weekdays for both of them on the weekend, allowing them to maximize the freezer space. But as the food escalated with her growth, it had become complicated for Nataly to carry the bags home - not because they were too heavy for her, not even close to that… but she just had no way to carry so much stuff in her arms without dropping half of it. So Ale started meeting her on Thursdays after her shift to help her carry the stuff back home with a small cart she bought.
Alexandre browsed the store until Nataly’s shift was over, loading up the week’s supply and waiting for Nataly to finish work. She eventually met her at the produce aisle, where Alexandre was trying to pick some fresh lettuce.
“Sup, Ale!” Nataly shouted, getting the attention of most shoppers around.
“Hey, come help me, I can’t find a decent head of lettuce here.”
Nataly shrugged. “Yeah, we haven’t received a new shipment today, so it ain’t looking great…”
Ale just settled for a decent looking one, and continued towards the breakfast aisle.
“So, do we need anything special not on the shopping list?” Ale asked while picking some ground coffee.
But before Nataly could answer, there was a short woman, just a smidge taller than Ale, trying to grab a box of cereal on the top shelf, which was just out of her reach. But for Nataly, it was just at eye level.
“Here, excuse me,” Nataly said, grabbing the cereal, “Just one box?”
“Oh, thank you so much! Yes, one box will do.” She put the cereal in her cart. “It must be nice to have such a tall girlfriend, it isn’t easy being this short,” the woman vented to Alexandre.
“Ah! No, we aren’t a couple!” Nataly said, embarrassed. Ale just smiled and nodded.
As they moved towards another aisle, Nataly seemed confused.
“Why do people think we are a couple?”
“Think about, two women, looking pretty butch, grocery shopping together, getting enough food for a household of four for an entire month? They probably think we have kids together.”
Nataly blushed, then laughed.
“Can you imagine? Us, married?!?”
“Yeah, haha!” Ale replied, faking a smile.
She wasn’t exaggerating about the food they were buying, though. It was a veritable mountain that towered over the shopping cart before being bagged. And it was getting pretty expensive. At some point, maybe Nataly should start looking for a better paying job? She didn’t want to stress the girl, but it would have to be something she’d need to deal with, sooner or later. Maybe a casual conversation on the way home?
“Hey, Nataly. Are you happy working at the supermarket?” Ale tested the waters, as casually as she could.
“Ugh! It’s SOOOOOO boring! At least it’s easy, I just need to move the pallets in, stock the shelves - I don’t even need a ladder, which saves some time.”
“You know, maybe we COULD leverage your size, find something else more interesting… and with better pay?”
“Did you have something in mind?”
“I dunno, maybe they have a demolition crew? There’s a lot of old houses in town… and I see new buildings going up all the time. Might even be fun, you know, swinging a big sledgehammer around?” Ale didn’t mention it, but she envisioned Nataly in a tank top, jeans and construction helmet, all sweaty and glistening, taking down walls like they were nothing. She bit her lip.
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea. And ANYTHING not to have to wear a uniform. I’m pretty sure a demolition crew gets to dress casual, right?”
“Errrrr… yeah…” Ale was having a REALLY hard time to concentrate.
“Maybe I’ll test the waters, have a look if there are any opportunities.”
And so they made their way to the apartment, having to deal with the unpleasant part of having to bring the bags up the stairs.
A few weeks later, they were getting into the finals for their first year. As Alexandre had learned, Nataly always got pretty stressed around test time, and Ale had learned to pretend like she was studying more - since it made her feel less self-conscious about it. She would turn to face Nataly with her laptop, using headphones to watch movies while she pretended to take notes, having a second window she could switch to if she ever went around the table. She also had gotten some slipcovers from her textbooks and wrapped them around trashy novels.
It made her feel a bit guilty, though, so sometimes she’d actually join and do actual studying. And it was kind of nice, having these silent, intimate moments between them. Nataly would usually make a pile of snacks for both of them, and Ale liked to put some focusing music on the background. She’d even sneak something slightly more romantic every now and then - not that Nataly ever noticed.
But one day, Nataly came in, slamming the door as she usually did when excited (Ale swore she was going to break it off the hinges one of these days), holding a piece of paper.
“ALE! I GOT A NEW JOB!”
Ale raised her eyes from her book. “Cool!”
Nataly was jumping on her tiptoes, holding the paper and flashing a huge smile. “Aren’t you gonna ask?”
“What’s the new job, Nataly?”
“I AM GOING TO BE A BOUNCER AT THE NIGHTCLUB!”
Ale was more confused than surprised. “Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
“Nah, the owner said I just needed to check the list to let people in and look scary. I can easily do the latter!”
That was true enough, Ale thought.
“But I apparently need to get a black suit. And sunglasses.”
Ale was already having naughty thoughts, picturing Nataly in a one-size-too-small almost ripping suit. “Sure, let’s go get you a bouncer outfit.”
While Nataly did enjoy the job, the hours were really killing her. She now had her afternoons free again to study, but since she had to work late, going to the gym before class was no longer an option. They switched for a slot in the early afternoon, which Ale kind of preferred anyway - the gym tended to be less crowded, and she didn’t need to get up as the sun rose.
And as if that wasn’t enough, while Nataly had started to show some signs of plateauing in her gains… all of a sudden she started training like a woman possessed! It was like she had gotten a bit obsessed with looking intimidating, but this time… it wasn’t only strength she was interested in. No, she wanted volume. She just wanted to be HUGE, and she started changing her diet accordingly. Nataly wasn’t quite as trim as before, but “intimidating” did not BEGIN to describe how she looked. She even got more aggressive at the gym, vocalizing and grunting more as she pushed herself even harder than before.
Since Nataly had become more independent at the gym, they More than once Alexandre had snuck a peek at Nataly doing incline leg presses and almost falling backwards when she saw those thick, rounded thighs… she was trying to be discreet, but ended up doing a very obvious double take, blinking as she noticed the entire thing was bigger than her head. There were many such moments. Even though Nataly had become less lean, Alexandre found herself staring at Nataly’s back when she did seated rows, the way not only it seemed to widen like a hand fan, but it still looked incredibly bumpy, with each muscle popping out every time she pulled the cord.
As if she wasn’t turning me on enough before, Ale lamented, having to truly contain herself at times when they trained together.
While this new job was really helping with the income and her gain, Nataly did suffer when her grades came in - despite having barely any time off, she had failed three of her classes, and narrowly passed most of the others. It made her feel dumb, and it meant that her summer vacation would not only be spent trying to make up for two of the classes… but she wouldn’t be able to visit her parents like she planned to. She was pretty bummed, but it meant she could keep her job… and her training.
“Haha, I guess you are stuck with me!” Ale joked.
“Nah, I actually enjoy spending time with you, I just miss them,” Nataly replied earnestly, “but maybe someday you could come visit with me, meet my parents. I think they would like you.”
Alexandre just blinked. Was Nataly really THAT oblivious? She wasn’t sure she could handle another three years of that…
By far, the best thing about summer was that Ale and Nataly took to sunbathing in the park or the rooftop of the building. The two would wear skimpy bikinis - and the best part, Ale got to apply sunscreen to Nataly. True, she was getting a chance to give her regular massages these days, but there was something a lot naughtier in her mind when she got to apply the oily solution over those sinewy muscles and velvety skin.
And boy, did they call attention when they went sunbathing at the park.
Nataly carried the oversized picnic basket (which, in her hands, actually looked like a miniature, ironically), and Alexandre had the other assorted supplies: towels, sunscreen, their portable speaker, and a frisbee - the last one was brought by Nataly’s demand, despite objections from Ale due to the accident. Park security certainly wasn’t thrilled with that one.
They found their little spot by the lake, and Ale set up both towels side by side. Despite the fact she had seen Nataly wearing the same sunglasses she bought for her new job, it still amused her how different she looked with them on: serious, calm and collected. Alexandre wondered if the glasses flipped a switch on her, or if it was just how she looked with her eyes covered. Either way, she never got tired of it.
Nataly laid face down, untying her bikini top and resting her head on the ground.
“Oil me up?”, she asked, already sounding slightly sleepy - almost invariably, she would doze off under the sun, like a cat having an afternoon nap. Well, given her size and muscles, more like an adult lion. “Of course, my pleasure!” She meant that quite literally.
She squirted a generous dollop of suntanning lotion on her hand - there was quite a bit of area to cover, after all - and proceeded to side astride Nataly. No matter how much they came to sunbathe together, she was still impressed with her roomie’s back: the way her body just spread in all directions from her rather diminutive waist, rising quite a bit from the ground like some sort of meat pyramid. She spreaded the oil, starting at the base of her neck, and then covering her shoulders. Ale was no slouch herself, but damn if those two boulders weren’t like shoulder pads that jutted from every other muscle group, creating quite a figure. But even then, they weren’t nearly as impressive as the rest of her back: the rising slope from her spine, a cragged surface that seemed more like a rocky formation than the expected feminine smooth surface. And she wasn’t even contracting it - which, Ale knew well, would make it even more impressive and rugged. But for now, she was content spreading the oily substance, while massaging some of the kinks in her muscles.
She worked her way down the tapering waist, eager to get to her second favorite part: that glorious set of glistening glutes. There was something marvelous about the hard muscle at the base of her waist, that slowly got softer as the cheeks rounded out in their relaxed, globular state. It took all her willpower not to slap or bite that ass. So she applied the lotion, and proceeded down to the upper legs…
“I can do my legs, if you want to work on your own sunscreen…” Nataly said in a sleepy tone.
“Nah, I got this, already got my hands dirty anyway.” Much like her mind.
“Thanks…”
Those legs! Ale wasn’t sure if she had ever seen a more impressive pair of legs in another human being. Heck, she wasn’t sure if she’d seen more impressive legs on a horse! She truly enjoyed just feeling those hamstrings, closing her eyes and memorizing each contour, before proceeding to the equally marvelous calves, which were like a tighter, smaller version of her buttocks. She loved the way they contrasted with the rest of the lower leg, chunky, and looking even larger compared to the skinnier part that led to her ankles. The only sad thing is that it meant she was almost done, as Nataly had oiled her arms before leaving the house. Oh, well.
Ale proceeded to apply the lotion to herself, but really keeping her eyes trained on that impressive specimen next to her. She would get the occasional impressed passerby stealing a look - not that she could blame them. Nataly really was like a statue, deserving of every admiring look. Still, she did enjoy appreciating her own physique as she put on the protective film on herself, a reminder of all the work she had put on her own muscles. Feeling those firm bumps, the hardening of contracting sinew, the occasional vein peeking out… they all brought a smile to her face.
But that peace wouldn’t last long. All it took was an eager chocolate labrador who came running, sniffed the frisbee, and ran with it. Nataly’s eyes snapped open, and she got up instinctively, briefly revealing her nipples, before covering herself and putting her bikini top back. She started running after the dog, just as excitedly as her canine friend. She quickly joined its owner, who was also trying to grab the runaway lab, who apparently was a big fan of playing with a frisbee. Nataly could not turn that opportunity down, much to Ale’s concern.
Ale sat there, drinking in the sun while she watched the huge woman toss the frisbee, and the dog ran like the wind after it… bringing it back in a flash. After a while, Nataly started chasing after the dog, which enjoyed playing catch. Despite her enormous size, Nataly was actually a very good runner, and she sped after the nimble dog, her long red hair reflecting the sun beautifully as it flowed behind her. But what she had in speed, she lacked in coordination, tumbling several times while chasing the brown dog. Ale hoped she had learned her lesson after the last incident - and thankfully she spent more than half an hour getting a lot of cardio without any major problems (except damaging some of the grass, but that wasn’t too big of a deal).
“She’s really energetic, huh?” The dog’s owner commented with Ale as he watched.// I think a random stranger would also be a bit awkward, TRYING not to make any comments about Natalys size. I think it’d be a good talking point for a bit beween Ale and him.
“Yeah, but I think most young labradors tend to be.”
“Oh, I was talking about your girlfriend,” the guy said, and they both laughed. “I usually can’t get that dog to spend all her energy, but I think she just might.”
Eventually, Nataly came back with the dog almost asleep in her arms. Its owner leashed her back, and thanked the two women.
“I guess you got your sun AND some exercise, huh?”
“That was a lot of fun! Pity our apartment is too small for a dog.”
“Well, a dog is a lot of responsibility. Are you sure you could handle the commitment?”
“You know me, Ale. I might be a bit klutzy, but I get the job done, wouldn’t you say?”
“Ain’t that the truth…” Ale said, as she grabbed her stuff so they could return to the apartment.
The rest of the summer break passed in a blink, with Nataly juggling her new job and the replacement classes. She managed, once again by a small miracle. Ale knew that academic life was taking its toll on her friend, but she knew too well that trying to change Nataly’s mind was a futile exercise, and she really wanted that degree.
The second year of college was considerably harder than the first. With the introductory material behind, both their courses started really picking up. Ale now had to ACTUALLY put some effort, but it was something she could invest minimal time. The same wasn’t true for Nataly - she now spent almost all of her free time studying (and getting frustrated with her difficulties), which in turn made her caloric intake spike. As it turned out, Nataly was a nervous eater, and now she always needed a snack while she sat with her books and notebooks.
Whatever that did to her metabolism, it didn’t take very long for Nat to notice. For the first time in her life, Nataly lost that lean look (albeit with a ton of muscle, which obviously made a difference), which didn’t really take away from her imposing physique - if anything, she looked even more powerful, the coat of sinew now enveloped in a layer of fat that made everything bigger. It actually looked pretty good, Ale thought. Though, it also had another side effect: her previous plateauing gains, which might have been limited by her diet, now once again started picking up. Ale remembered her projections, and now it seemed like it might be a matter of days until her friend might actually be the strongest woman in the world.
While that thought was enough to make her climax, it really bothered her to see Nataly so stressed. She noticed that the giant woman had become more aggressive at the gym (which, again, was a huge turn on for her, but also pretty scary for most other members of the gym, herself included. She finally understood that term ‘scaroused’ that she had seen tossed around online). She wanted to help, but the only way this seemed to manifest was her getting more and more dedicated to her own workouts: she had now doubled her time on the weights, and her stats were also picking up. It was hard to notice, because she used Nataly as a comparison, so it all felt almost meaningless. Yet, anyone else looking at her would think she was a professional bodybuilder at the top of her game at this point.
She caught herself at the gym posing in front of the mirror, doing a crab pose, and she could barely believe herself. Having been so distracted with Nataly, she ignored the fact that she herself had progressed way beyond her own goals. Yet now, these had been revised upwards by a lot without her even realizing it. It was a nice reminder of how much she shared with her roommate since she moved in. It truly had been one of the best decisions in her life.
With the new classes taking their toll, however, Alexandre was adamant to help Nataly somehow. Well, she knew from her mutual friend that one of her favorite pastimes was board games. And so she organized a little weekend get-together with the crew… even if she wasn’t much for board games herself. That actually worked in her favor, however, as she demanded that SHE was going to handle all hosting duties. That had to be a win/win, right?
That Saturday, however, things were far from chill. As it turned out, Alexandre probably did the least cooking in the apartment for a reason: she wasn’t very good at it. Not that she didn’t try hard, but she asked for the usual recipes Nataly made, like her famous deviled eggs, and tried to add stuff like cucumber sandwiches and nachos. “At least the nachos look edible,” she told herself, as she served them after the rest of the plates hadn’t turned out well.
Nataly kept looking at her from the table, offering to help: “Hey, Ale, I can take over, you know?”
Ale was quite determined to finish what she started, however: “Nah, I got this, I’m gonna make a new batch of cucumbers, and I think I can salvage the deviled eggs.”
Nataly did seem to be having some fun, Alexandre observed from the kitchen, though she was also looking back as the two exchanged looks of concern and dismissal. The interplay of the two were causing all other friends to be quite amused, and they giggled and exchanged looks.
“So, Nataly, seems like you two are really doing well as roommates, huh?” Lara said with a naughty smile.
“Oh, yeah! Though I really think she should have let ME do the cooking…” Nataly replied, looking towards the kitchen.
“Yeah, the kind of thing I’d expect to hear from an old couple,” she said, elbowing her new girlfriend, who wasn’t quite in the board game scene and looked beyond bored with the whole outing. Britt, from across the table, chimed in:
“So, it seems like Alexandre got you bitten with the weightlifting bug, huh? We can barely recognize you!”
While Nataly was usually very proud of it, the dynamics were a bit different with her old childhood friends, and somehow she felt awkward and shy. She put her hand on the back of her hand, looking away and blushing, but that only put her huge biceps in full display.
“DAAAAAMN, girl, I swear your arms have doubled in size since trivia night. Do they add growth hormones to the food in the campus here?” Michael chimed, feeling his masculinity a lot less threatened now that Todd wasn’t around.
Nataly quickly lowered her arm, and Alexandre came from the kitchen balancing two trays on each hand. The deviled eggs were mostly an egg salad now, so she brought spoons and toast to serve them, but at least the cucumber sandwiches looked passable (and hopefully tasted edible as well, she hoped). But as she tried to manage the four trays, one of them slipped and a bunch of malformed sandwiches landed on the floor, with a cracked plate.
Nataly was up in a split second, asking if Alexandre was okay and taking another plate from her, and after placing it on the table, she went to grab some supplies to clean the floor. Ale was frozen for a second, she was hoping to do the cleaning, and just sighed in frustration before placing the rest of the food on the table.
“You weren’t kidding,” Lara’s girlfriend whispered, rolling her eyes, “it’s like I’m visiting my parents.” Britt giggled, nodding in agreement.
“Soooooo,” Lara poked, “is there anything you guys wanna tell us?”
“Like what?” Ale replied, looking disappointed at her party food.
“Oh, I don’t know. You two seem… very comfortable with each other.”
“Yeah! Alexandre is great! You know how I usually get hung up or stressed with most people,” Nataly replied as she came back from the kitchen, having tossed the fallen cucumber sacrifices. “But Ale is super accommodating and supportive.”
“Ale?” Lara replied, looking over her glasses in disbelief, “The most cynical and lazy woman I ever dated? Girl, you need to have those puppy eyes checked…”
Nataly was confused with the comment, but Ale just intervened: “ALRIGHT!!! So, what are you guys playing? This looks complicated, huh?!?”
“It is literally the simplest game we brought tonight. There are six cards on the table, and each one of us has just another handful of them…” Michael said, confused, and Britt kicked him under the table. “Ow!”
The rest of the night went MOSTLY without incident. The eggs actually worked as a salad, but the cucumber sandwiches just stayed on their respective plates after some were tasted. Still, Ale stood there, not participating in most games, just watching the others play. And by others, it really was mostly Nataly.
As the couples left, Lara pulled Alexandre aside at the door.
“I know those eyes, Ale. Fuck, you never looked at me like that when we were dating.”
“SHHHHH! She might hear you.”
“You do know you will have to make a move, right? That girl is never going to take the first step.”
“Yeah, I know, but… I don’t want to ruin this thing we have going now. And I don’t know if she’s ready. Nataly may have a strong body, but things get in her head very easily, and I don’t want to get her out of her comfort zone, you know?”
“You gotta give her some credit too. Besides, by your own logic, she’ll never be ready.”
“Yeah, I know.” Alexandre replied, glumly.
“It’s okay, you know?” Lara said, with that same naughty smirk.
“What is?”
“To be nervous. To be afraid of rejection. But seriously, everyone here can see - you girls were made for each other. Take it easy, but don’t let this catch slip, Ale.”
“Says the girl who gets a new girlfriend every semester.”
“Hey, I play the field, I never hid that. But I know you. And I know Nat. So don’t leave a lady waiting. It isn’t polite.” She winked, and pinched Ale’s butt - which made Ale squirm and her girlfriend shoot an ugly look.
“Damn, girl, you had a tight ass back then, but if I knew you’d get it like this, I might not have dumped you…” Lara joked.
Alexandre came back, and Nataly squeezed her in a bear hug, lifting her off the ground.
“Thank you, Ale. I had a lot of fun. I know it wasn’t easy, but it meant a lot to me.”
Alexandre felt proud and happy, despite the creaking bones. “No biggie! You could use a bit of R&R.”
“I know. But next time, I’m taking over hosting duties. Nothing personal.”
“Fair cop.”
As the weeks went by, Nataly was coming back later from the nightclub - but also more relaxed instead of stressed. That seemed weird, but a positive change, thought Alexandre. She also noticed that the suit they bought would have to be replaced soon - it was so tight the seams were starting to come apart.
“Damn, girl, this suit can’t contain your amazing body. I can’t sew worth shit, so I guess we need to go shopping again soon.”
Nataly shrugged, but with a happy smile. She didn’t much like to go shopping for clothes, but it had become a little ritual between the two of them by now, and by now it was closely connected to her gains in her mind. Alexandre, on the other hand, was happy to help not to just wear oversized baggy sweaters - which she absolutely would unless you pulled her by the ear at the store.
With the first round of tests behind them, Alexandre wanted to try hitting the nightclub to spend some time with Nataly. At first, there was some resistance - Nataly took the job very seriously and knew that she wasn’t supposed to be mingling with customers. But Alexandre insisted, mentioning that she hadn’t been partying like she used to… and what was the use of being in college otherwise? She promised to bring some of her classmates along, so she wouldn’t just be hanging out with Nataly. And so her roommate relented.
The plan seemed great in Alexandre’s mind, but it kind of backfired. She did bring a bunch of friends - including a girl that she now realized was QUITE enamored of her, who spent the whole night hitting on her quite aggressively. That girl was quite disappointed, however, as Alexandre clearly only had eyes for Nataly, and wasn’t quite in the mood for the heavy partying they wanted to engage in. Alexandre really tried her best, even getting a bit tipsy, but she got very distracted by Nataly - and not for the reasons she expected.
Nataly was a different person there. Dominant. Like an alpha male in the wild, asserting dominance. Which Alexandre did expect from the job. But there was an unexpected side to that she didn’t see coming: Nataly seemed unusually pleased with her capacity to intimidate, almost to the point of abusing it. Alexandre caught her a couple of times overstepping what she assumed would be her intended function as she tried to keep the order in the club.
“No, I’m just overthinking this. She knows what she’s doing.” Ale told herself. But she just couldn’t let herself go and fully enjoy the party with her friends. So as the night passed, her friends eventually found other people to hook up with, leaving Ale alone. And so stopped briefly to tell Nataly she’d be going home, getting only a cold nod in response. It was just weird. So she left, going home regretting having that plan in the first place.
Alexandre fought hard not to think of that night, and eventually a situation presented itself: as november approached, Nataly said she was going to spend Thanksgiving back with her parents… and invited Alexandre over, since she didn’t have anyone to spend it with.
“Oh, meeting the parents…” Ale said in a low voice, her mind interpreting the event as some crazy relationship milestone that was not in anyone else’s mind.
And so they arrived at the white picket-fenced house, Alexandre carrying both suitcases and she followed her enormous friend who rang the doorbell. Nataly’s dad’s jaw fell to the floor when she opened the door, almost not recognizing his own daughter. Her mom, who rushed from the kitchen, cleaning her hands on her apron, however, was just ecstatic to see her gigantified offspring.
“Hey, do you remember Alexandre? My childhood friend? She’s my roommate now!”
“Hey, Alexandre! I thought my daughter was done growing, but it seems like both of you were out to surprise me in college! More to love, I always say!”
Nataly’s mom just gave two loving hugs, and her dad seemed downright amused by the unusually muscular women: “You’d think they are getting into professional sports! I bet they would end up fighting to be the captain of the football team! Heck, they look like they could give the entire team a run for their money!”
“Dad! Don’t embarrass me in front of my friend!” Nataly begged, which amused both parents.
“You can show your friend to your old room, we put an inflatable mattress you can share… though… I’m thinking it might be a tad small for both of you. I didn’t quite expect you’d go through another growth spurt, kid.” Her dad was more amused than concerned, but Nataly was quite shocked.
“Wait, what?!?”
Nataly led Alexandre to her old bedroom, which had been converted into an exercise room for her old folks, but a lot of her stuff was still there. Alexandre had never been there before, and immediately started poking and probing at everything, which only served to make Nataly more nervous.
“So you collected Nancy Drew stories? I would have never guessed!”
“Uh, I thought it was kinda obvious that I was a bit of a nerdy bookworm…”
“Oh, sure, but in my head you were reading stuff like Wuthering Heights and Hamlet.”
“That’s true, you’ve never been in my room before, have you?”
Alexandre felt a bit embarrassed to admit, not because she was ashamed she didn’t before, but because she was concerned Nataly would notice how interested she was in getting a deeper glimpse into her friend’s life.
“Oh, there’s the inflatable mattress…” Ale pointed, trying to change the subject.
“No time like the present, I guess!” And before Ale could say anything, Nataly had brought the nozzle to her lips and started blowing.
“Uh, Nataly, I think there’s gotta be an electric blower somewhere…”
It didn’t matter much. With that huge torso came an incredible set of lungs, and Alexandre was gobsmacked at how quickly her roomie just poured into that mattress. She just kept going and going and going and going - she could swear a whole minute had gone by before she had to inhale again, a fifth of the inflatable surface already filled.
She was ALMOST wishing that everything about Nataly wasn’t such a turn on. Almost, but not quite.
The two went down to help Nataly’s mom with the big celebration. The woman could cook, and this was something that Alexandre remembered very well, despite never having been to her house.
“It’s so good to have you back here, I always depended on you to reach all the stuff in the tall shelves!” Her mom said in a joking tone, but actually appreciated it a lot. Alexandre looked a bit glum at that comment, wanting to help more.
“And from the looks of it, I can use both of you for a lot of the hard labor I just don’t have the strength or stamina for anymore. You know how much of your father is a cheapskate and we still have the old fireplace instead of installing a gas-powered one. Alexandre, could you be a dearie and go chop some wood for us?”
“On it!” Alexandre said, making a fake salute sign. “Where can I find an axe, and what should I chop?”
“There’s a tree in the back that dad started to cut, but gave up. You can finish the job and cut the wood into smaller bits, if you think you got it in you?”
“Are you kidding me?” Alexandre said, tapping her folded upper arm in front of her, “these babies aren’t just for show! That tree is going to regret the day Alexandre came to this house!” And she left through the backyard door.
“Alexandre is a lot more fun these days, huh?” Nataly’s mom said. Nataly only sighed.
“Yo, mommy longlegs. What did your mom make today? I’m guessing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It’s like she thinks she’s still in pre-school! Haha!”
Nataly just squeezed herself further into the corner, her back arching as much over her meal as she could, trying to look smaller.
“Guys, don’t make fun of her! It’s because she’s still in her growing phase. You know, so she can look more like an alien!”
“Look like? I bet her parents abduct other kids late at night! Didn’t they report some cows missing the other day? I bet they have a flying saucer with a lab inside! That’s why she has to pack lunches, they are feeding her all those experiments so she grows even weirder!”
Nataly tried to just concentrate on her meal, ignoring all the provoking comments, but she couldn’t. Tears streamed out of her eyes, and she chewed the food tasting the salt of them, which only made her more anxious.
Out of nowhere comes Alexandre, waving a branch against the troupe of bullies, scaring them away. The kids disband, shouting other insults about the crazy girl:
“There comes the crazy girl! No wonder her parents left her!”
They were gone in seconds. Alexandre kept holding the stick, hyperventilating, teeth gritted. Her shoulders rose and sunk with her breathing, until she let out a big sigh and tossed the piece of wood aside, sitting next to Nataly.
“Bunch of assholes.”
“We aren’t supposed to use bad words, Ale.” Her friend grunted as she shrugged.
“Like I give a shit.”
Nataly didn’t say anything else. But she did tear her sandwich in two, giving the other half to Alexandre, who gobbled it hungrily.
“Damn, your mom really knows how to make some great food. What is in this?”
“Cucumber.”
“I thought I hated cucumbers. Guess not…” Ale said, mouth still half full. It made Nataly giggle.
Alexandre swung the axe with very little control - she had never chopped wood before. But what she lacked in precision, she much more than compensated for in raw strength. The result was an extremely uneven pile of chopped wood, which looked a lot less pretty than the logs they were using… but she was going to get the job done in very little time. She was actually quite proud of it.
Nataly came out to help with the wood, but Alexandre was already done. Unfortunately, it was impossible to stack it into neat piles due to the uneven cut, but Nataly was more than happy to just grab a (quite large) armful of logs and bring them inside near the fireplace.
Nataly’s dad joked about the way it was cut, saying that perhaps it was not the best idea to let Alexandre handle the axe - but said so in a humorous way. It was weird for her… she was used to biting, ill intentioned criticism… but this was different. It didn’t feel demeaning. On the contrary, she felt included, like she was part of the family. She couldn’t explain why, but for once, she was glad to be spending Thanksgiving like this.
As the afternoon approached, it was all hands on deck to set up the table and bring the food. Alexandre had never seen so much food on one table in her entire life… and she lived with Nataly, which meant this was actually quite impressive. The turkey itself was bigger than her own torso, and made her salivate just smelling it. She watched as the matriarch removed something from inside it, which made her very confused.
“What, you never had turkey stuffing before?” the elder woman asked with genuine curiosity.
“Stuffing?” Ale said, confused. It did not look like it should be whatever guts the bird would have, more like some sort of bready mess, complete with bits of greens and purple fruit.
“Ale, in you are in for a treat!” Nataly said, disrespecting the general tradition and just serving a big heap of the weird mixture onto her plate before anyone started to serve themselves. Alexandre felt self-conscious, but as everyone had big smiles and looked anxiously at her, she caved in to the peer pressure and tried a bite.
“Damn!” she said with her mouth half full, “This shit is awesome!” She went for another forkful, and everyone else laughed.
“I see she still has a mouth on her - both with her language and her appetite!” The mom said amused, as Nataly’s dad started carving the bird.
“Well, time for US to get stuffed!” He joked as he usually did, serving the usual large portions - in fact, even more so today - for Nataly. The sharing of the feast already had very strong affective connotations, but Nataly’s parents looked at her with love overflowing in their eyes, and she felt like a little girl all over again. While Ale certainly envied that, it warmed her heart even more.
What’s more, no outsider could look at this table and say that Alexandre was not a blood relation - she received equal treatment… be it in the food served, the warm compliments, even the japes exchanged. For every extra offering of more servings that Nataly received, Ale also got one (though she could never match her roommate’s insatiable appetite, as the large lady continued to vacuum more and more of the fantastic home-cooked meal).
It was ninety minutes later, and Nataly was eating the last of the food, putting the remaining heaping of mashed potatoes and scraping whatever gravy was left on top of it, the completely naked bird skeleton having been thoroughly cleaned. Everyone else had finished more than half an hour earlier, but Nataly just kept going, hoarding more and more of the leftovers as she continually refilled her plate and simply never stopped shoving more food and drink down her gullet.
“That has got to be a new record,” Nataly’s dad added, quite impressed: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Thanksgiving without leftovers in my entire life!”
“Yeah, it usually lasts us the entire week - but I’m actually glad to see Nataly is eating well. No wonder our little girl grew so big!”
Nataly wasn’t even embarrassed by those comments, but she did feel more stuffed than she could ever remember, her stomach protruding as she started feeling a bit sleepy.
“Well, I’m going to watch the game, can you girls take care of the dishes?” Dad excused himself, as he headed for the TV. Nataly’s mom was taking care of the trash, and Ale immediately got up and started working on it, which seemed quite unusual in Nataly’s eyes.
There was a lot to clean, but Alexandre was unusually motivated. Nataly, on the other hand, looked like she might fall asleep standing up. “Hey, why don’t you go take a nap? I can take care of this.” Nataly just yawned and nodded, going for the recliner. She started sitting down, and realized it wouldn’t be a decent fit, so Ale just suggested she go to the room and lay down on the mattress. “I got this, trust me.” Nataly didn’t even respond, she just heard the scary creaking of the stairs under the intense load.
It took Alexandre over an hour to deal with the dishes, which she usually avoided like the plague. But there was something totally unusual in this. Never in her entire life she felt like part of something as important and meaning as this. She wanted to please them, to belong. And so she kept at it, making sure every single plate and utensil was spotless.
After she finished, she walked to the living room and flopped next to Nataly’s dad on the sofa. He seemed completely immersed into the match being shown on the screen.
“Thanks for the dishes. Not an easy task to handle alone.”
“Oh, no biggie.” Ale said, sincerely.
After a small pause, his tone got more serious.
“You will treat our girl well, right? She might look invincible from the outside now, but you do understand that she is frail inside?” He never removed his eyes from the television, almost like he was talking to himself.
“Uh, of course, sir. She is very precious to me.” It took Ale by complete surprise, even her own response, which she said without even thinking about.
“I know. We can tell.” A smile appeared on his face. “It’s good to have you here. Nataly never had many friends growing up, you know? But she would often talk about you.”
Alexandre was completely taken off guard by the comment.
“Didn’t you notice that she was packing two lunches for a while back then?” His smile turned into a grin. “She was devastated when you moved away all of a sudden.” The grin faded. “You are both adults now, so I won’t pretend I get to have a say, but if you decide to leave her… just try to make sure she’s ready before, please?”
Alexandre nodded, feeling a weight of responsibility unlike anything she felt before. “Yes, sir.”
She stayed a bit longer, watching the game. Dad handed her a beer from his stash.
“Thank you miste…”
“Just call me dad, Alexandre.”
Almost unable to contain her feelings, she nodded and bit her knuckles before popping the can open. It took every ounce of willpower in her being to keep the tears inside. But she finished the beer, made some vague comments about football (which were all stupid and meaningless because she knew nothing about the sport, but gladly accepted), before she excused herself to go check on Nataly.
She could hear the snoring well before arriving on the second floor. She quietly opened the door, only to find the mountain of a woman taking about 85% of the mattress, drooling in the cutest way someone of that size could. Ale sighed, amusedly, and found a way to squeeze herself into the small remaining part, her arm hugging Nataly so she wouldn’t fall off the bed.
She would not be able to sleep anytime soon, just enjoying the feel of holding a sleeping Nataly. This was a kind of intimacy she had never quite experienced, and it warmed her up from the inside in a way she never had expected.
The next two days passed in a flash. Nataly’s parents teased the couple quite a bit, and Nataly mostly stayed oblivious to all the indirect remarks about the couple, and was confused why Alexandre seemed so flustered by it. But as the holiday passed, it was time for them to return to college.
“Thanks for everything, mom… dad. It was great to see you again.”
“It was great to see you too, kid. I swear we’ll have a guest room with a larger bed next time.” Nataly’s mom kicked him as he said that.
Alexandre came in, and hugged both of them, one in each arm, whispering a quick ‘thank you’, They hugged her back, and Nataly, not wanting to be left out, came in and wrapped her huge arms over everyone. Everyone in the group hug started laughing. Nataly grabbed the bags and loaded them into the rideshare, as they started their journey back.
The next two days passed in a flash. Nataly’s parents teased the couple quite a bit, and Nataly mostly stayed oblivious to all the indirect remarks about the couple, and was confused why Alexandre seemed so flustered by it. But as the holiday passed, it was time for them to return to college.
“Thanks for everything, mom… dad. It was great to see you again.”
“It was great to see you too, kid. I swear we’ll have a guest room with a larger bed next time.” Nataly’s mom kicked him as he said that.
Alexandre came in, and hugged both of them, one in each arm, whispering a quick ‘thank you’, They hugged her back, and Nataly, not wanting to be left out, came in and wrapped her huge arms over everyone. Everyone in the group hug started laughing. Nataly grabbed the bags and loaded them into the rideshare, as they started their journey back.
“Maybe we can make this a tradition?” Alexandre said, tentatively, during the car ride.
“I thought you didn’t much care for Thanksgiving?” Nataly retorted, confused.
“I guess I never knew what it could be like. That’s on me.”
“Alexandre, admitting she was wrong? Wait, I’m grabbing my phone. Here, now I am recording, can you say that again?!?”
Ale slapped the funny, laughing. “You’re impossible.”
As they arrived back in the apartment, there were only a few midterms left, and Alexandre made a point of trying to set up joint study sessions to help Nataly - even though they had different disciplines, she knew having a study partner might help her friend. She wasn’t even faking the studying this time. They would take turns with cue cards and testing each other. It was a much less stressful week than the one from the year prior. But deep inside, Alexandre kept worrying that if Nataly was having issues like this in her second year midterms, she knew things were only going to get harder. The only “reassurance” she had was that Nataly was so present-focused that she probably didn’t even worry about what would be coming next…
The day their grades were due, Nataly didn’t have the guts to check them online by herself. Alexandre had prepared herself for that, though. She had a tub of ice cream hidden in the fridge in case she flunked a course, and a confetti popper hidden in her pocket in case she had passed all of them. She could feel her friend shaking, and had to grab the mouse herself as Nataly covered her eyes.
“Oh, no!” Ale said as she clicked. Nataly moved her fingers to look.
Alexandre popped the confetti as she looked. Once again, it was by the skin of her teeth, but she passed all courses.
“I can’t believe it!” Nataly said, hugging Ale. “Thank you for your support, I don’t know that I would have managed otherwise!”
“Oh, you got it, babe. I just helped a bit.”
“We should celebrate!” Nataly said, getting up.
“Well, as it so happens, I have a tub of your favorite ice cream in the freezer…” Alexandre confessed, reaching for the cold treat.
As Christmas approached, Alexandre had been trying to find something to gift Nataly, but was failing miserably. She went through the shopping mall, and almost went for some kitchen supplies or a biography of a famous bodybuilder, but it always felt like it was going to fall flat. She wanted something special, but what? Store after store, it was all just ‘okay’.
She was almost giving up and leaving, when she spotted it. She just started laughing like a crazy woman. It was perfect!
They had decorated a small houseplant with a bunch of Christmas staples - including some gym and cuisine-themed ornaments, a bit of tinsel and some cheap LED lights. It wasn’t fancy, but it was very much them. It was Christmas eve, and Alexandre was working on some eggnog and cookies - most of the fancy Christmas feast had to be made by Nataly for safety reasons, but she was pleased with what she could accomplish by herself - Thanksgiving had really sparked something in her, and she wanted to foster that. But Nataly had one last shift at the nightclub, so anything more elaborate would have to wait.
But as 10pm came and went, Alexandre started getting a bad feeling. She expected the usual text message from Nataly saying she had clocked out and was on her way. But nothing. She waited, getting more and more anxious as time passed, until her phone rang.
Alexandre could only hear a sobbing Nataly on the other side, and it was hard to make out the words. But she got the part about the police department and needing help. She was out of the house before her roommate hung up.
She made her way to the police station in record time, and if she had her own car, she might have run over someone on the way. Alexandre rushed to the reception desk, and was dangerously close to being detained for disorderly conduct while she tried to figure out where to go to find Nataly. She was told to wait before they would escort her to the cells.
Alexandre would have to wait for almost half an hour before being brought to the holding area. She saw Nataly sitting down on the bench, looking miserable. Most other people seemed to stay away from her.
“Nataly? Are you okay?”
She raised her head, her eyes were puffy and red. Her mouth was curved downwards, almost to the point of pouting. It brought painful memories of a much smaller and younger Nataly, and Alexandre stretched her hands through the bars, but the officer that accompanied her explained she could not do that. Nataly got up and walk slowly toward her friend.
“Ale, I… I am so sorry.”
“What happened?!?”
“I… it happened so fast… this guy was getting on his girlfriend’s case about what she was drinking, and that she was getting too fat. She got mad, and they started making a scene. So I intervened. But then he started saying a bunch of hurtful stuff about her…” at this point, Nataly started to tear up again, “... and stuff started to bubble up inside me, and before I knew it, I started calling him names, said how much of loser he was and made fun of him… and I don’t know what came over me, but I just escalated it, talking about how he probably compensated with a nice car, and he swung at me, and I swung back…”
“Oh, no, Nataly!”
“He’s pressing charges for assault. But Ale… it’s horrible, you don’t get it, I ENJOYED bullying him. I wanted to keep going. And I would have, if they didn’t call the police.”
Ale looked with pity, and started raising her hand to touch Nataly, but the officer just shook his head, so she stopped halfway.
“Listen, you just wait there for a bit. I have a lawyer in my class who owes me a favor, I’m going to take care of this. Don’t worry, I got this under control.”
“Maybe I deserve the punishment, Ale…”
“Nataly, listen to me. Shut up. Don’t say anything, just wait, I will take care of this.”
And with that, she returned to the lobby, and started making calls.
“I mean, just look at those disgusting thighs - they got so fat they are all chafed from rubbing against each other. Maybe you shouldn’t even be wearing skirts.”
Nataly’s self-control was quickly waning as she witnessed the boyfriend just lay down insult after insult in his inebriated state, as the girlfriend was using every last bit of energy to not just sob visibly in the nightclub. It just surfaced a lot of memories in Nataly’s psyche, and she simultaneously felt crippling anxiety and uncontrollable rage intermixing in her very soul, completely flushing any semblance of rationality. Her lizard brain was just screaming that this guy had to go… and unfortunately the only language it spoke right now was violence.
Without thinking, Nataly just slowly approached the couple as the guy continued to lay down the talk on his emotionally broken girlfriend, and her fist tightened. She had already pictured herself just grabbing him by the throat and strangling him off the ground, but managed to resist. Her contempt, however, was too much for her not to try and hurt him verbally.
“So limp dick over here thinks he can humiliate his poor girlfriend in public like the absolute wuss that he is? Why don’t you pick on someone your size, motherfucker?”
The bartender’s eyes widened as he shook his head desperately trying to flag Nataly to tone it down, but her eyes were fixated on her target like a bull targeting a torero, and that guy wasn’t about to quit waving his red flag.
“Yo, bitch, not your business. Why don’t you go bother someone else? I’m talking to my girlfriend here, and she doesn’t mind it, right?”
The girl just shook her head, on the verge of failure of holding her tears in. She could not look more distressed, despite her best efforts to disguise it.
“She is clearly upset. Why don’t you go cool off somewhere else while I talk to her? I bet you have a nice large and expensive car to make up for your tiny dick. No wonder your girlfriend looks like you haven’t pleased her in… well, never.” It felt good, humiliating him. Nataly knew the protocols to de-escalate the situation. Her boss had drilled those in her dozens of times. But they were all buried right now as Nataly put a hand on the guy’s shoulder, who wobbled away in his intoxication, shouting “DON’T TOUCH ME!” She just looked at him pitifully, before explaining she was talking to the lady and that he should “shut your fucking mouth!” She turned to the poor girl, still concerned with her.
“Are you alright? What is your name?” Nataly asked, her face softening considerably from just moments before.
But before the girl could organize her thoughts and answer, the guy tried swinging a punch against Nataly’s face. Even though the enormous bouncer was leaning down to talk to the woman, between the height difference and the man’s high blood alcohol content, he just hit her solid shoulder with a barely-audible THUMP.
Nataly turned her face to the guy, who inaudibly complained about the pain from his knuckle. Her demeanor turned cold and angry, and she just fired a hook against the man’s stomach, practically lifting him off the ground over her fist. He proceeded to fall to his knees, coughing and puking. She wasn’t sure if it was his stupidity or his inebriation, but as soon as he caught his breath, he tried rushing Nataly once again as she tried to console the poor girlfriend. This time his fist connected to Nataly’s cheek, who was mostly unfazed… but pissed as all hell. She flashed her angry teeth, brow furrowing in an almost animalistic snarl, before she growled so loudly it sounded like a roar. The man almost pissed his pants, but was interrupted by a punch so powerful it sent him flying against a table, glass breaking all around him.
And in that brief second, Nataly snapped back to her senses. She looked at her bloody knuckles and panicked as all hell broke loose. And yet, her first concern was to worry about those she cared about who were about to have to deal with all this shit.
It wouldn’t be until the sun rose the next day, on Christmas, that they managed to get her out, convincing the guy not to press charges. Nataly had not slept a wink and looked like a mess. Alexandre was also exhausted - both physically and emotionally, but refused to let it show one iota. She called a rideshare and brought Nataly home. She couldn’t even articulate one word, so Alexandre just held her hand the entire way.
As they arrived home, Nataly was still mostly zombified by the experience, so Alexandre just escorted her to her bedroom, dropped her on the bed and covered her. She wasn’t too happy about the state of the house - she left in such a hurry that she left the fridge open, and most of the stuff they had for the Christmas meal had spoiled. She went over it, tossing everything bad in the trash… and now realized they needed a plan B - which was going to be disastrous: after all, most places were going to be closed on Christmas Day.
Nataly woke up as the sun was about to set, having absolutely no sense of time. Everything was hazy and confused, and she still felt horrible about the entire episode - she didn’t even remember it was Christmas. Her mouth felt disgusting, so she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
As she left her room, she saw some candles on the table, which was laid out but had no food. Shit, it was Christmas, and she was supposed to make dinner. She started panicking as Alexandre came out of her room, wearing an ugly Christmas sweater… which was more of a Nataly tradition, and she had previously made a point of thoroughly making fun of.
“Alexandre, I’m sorry, I’ll get working on dinner right away.”
“Hey, no worries. I got it.”
As she said that, she brought a couple of industrialized turkey sandwiches, a bottle of cider and two tubs of flavored chips to the table, which had been bedazzled with all kinds of silly Christmas-colored tape and Santa hats. Nataly was in horror, and rushed to the fridge, but Alexandre stepped in front of her.
“It’s okay. We got our dinner right there.”
“But… it’s just a crappy processed sandwich and chips?”
“Hey, it’s a TURKEY sandwich, and the chips are ham-flavored, which also doubles for mashed potatoes. We really got an entire Christmas dinner there.”
Nataly pouted, and Alexandre just pushed her onto the chair, before grabbing a gift bag and pushing it under the table. She unpacked both sandwiches and placed them on their respective plates, before laying down the curved chips neatly in a half-moon pattern around the bread. Not the most impressive plating, but it did elicit a giggle from Nataly, who then sighed bitterly.
“It’s all my fault, I ruined Christmas…”
“I disagree. If anything, this will be the most memorable one in my entire life. So far, at least. I’m just setting the bar high for you going forward.”
Nataly looked at her melancholy, and Alexandre went ahead and took the first bite. The bigger woman followed the example - and while Ale tried to make it seem like the tastiest thing to ever make it through her lips, to the point of looking comical, Nataly failed even harder to disguise her disappointment. So Alexandre went for the big guns, grabbing the gift bag under the table.
“Gift time! Stand up and close your eyes!” Ale announced excitedly.
“But… I didn’t have time to get you anything…” Nataly complained, reminded that she had just lost her job and would probably not be able to get one anytime soon.
“Oh, trust me, this is also a gift for me!” Ale said, reaching from behind, as she draped it over the blindfolded Nataly. But as she got cold feet at the last second, she reached within the front pocket of the gift and pulled something out and hid it.
“Alright, open your eyes!”
Nataly did so, and looked at the nice apron, which was incredibly the correct size for her. Alexandre used her phone as a mirror to show the cook’s hat as well with a huge grin.
“Wow! It’s nice to have a proper cooking apron that is my size, Ale. Thank you so much.”
“BUUUUUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!” She grabbed a small envelope and handed it to her roommate, who confusedly opened it to find an invitation to a cooking course with a famous chef.
“Merry Christmas, Nataly.”
She could barely believe her eyes. A cooking course with the chef she grew up watching on television!
The bittersweetness of the entire thing just overwhelmed her, and she just burst into tears.
“Alexandre… thank you so much… I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Oh, I know EXACTLY how, you are going to be cooking a lot more now, I bet!”
Nataly wiped her tears and squeezed Alexandre off the ground, and she didn’t even mind about the risk of having her ribs cracked in the process. She just wanted to be completely enveloped in that warm embrace.
“What am I gonna do without a job, though?” That worm would not let go of her mind. But Alexandre wasn’t about to let that fly.
“Listen, I’m not going to pretend that this isn’t complicated - we are still gonna have to pay the lawyer, and it’s going to be tight for a bit. But the one thing I know is that… while we have each other, everything will be okay.”
Nataly put Alexandre down and pouted again. “Well, it IS true that you make me feel invincible.”
“Do you really need help with that, though? I feel like you would win a tug of war against a bulldozer, with or without me.”
Alexandre always knew how to make Nataly laugh, and she did, right on cue. “I guess. Still, I feel so much safer with you around.”
Alexandre just held firmly to the box in her pocket. “So do I, Nataly. So do I.”
The next year did not start easy for either of them. While the cooking classes were really making Nataly excited, she wanted to train more at home - and that started to take more time she was devoting to her classes. Alexandre, on the other hand, was having to make up for the lost income - and her remote accounting work just wasn’t enough. She managed to sell some of her collectables for a quick buck to pay her lawyer friend, but Nataly was still eating an eye-watering amount of calories. So she actually started locking herself in her room and doing a bit of cam work and selling erotic pictures to keep things going - she had done it before, and it felt very empowering as she saw her fitness journey making her more desirable and sought after. But while she enjoyed it, part of her now felt… ashamed? She wasn’t sure, but could not admit it to Nataly, imagining her roommate would feel guilty if she knew about it. So she hid the entire operation from her.
The good news is that between her short height, muscular build and nicely pedicured feet, she could supplement their income quite well with minimum effort. There was the odd request - like smoking, which always was a hassle and she didn’t even like doing - but even that quickly evolved into other requests, and the money really started pouring in. Not only that, but Ale knew how to stand her ground… and she certainly was assertive enough to impose her limits.
Nataly’s effort into the cooking course kept increasing, but the same could not be said about her academic efforts. While her coursework was still very much frustrating, the large woman just wasn’t as interested or motivated to do so. She constantly found herself training her chopping instead of reading textbooks, or experimenting with sauces instead of working on class projects.
And so both roommates started weirdly avoiding each other: Nataly was embarrassed for prioritizing cooking over studying and avoided doing it around Alexandre, while Alexandre took more and more private time to try and work on her erotic side business, even though she was already making more than enough extra money.
This went on for a couple of months, until Alexandre got a really expensive request… to do lat pulldowns topless. Fuck. It was A LOT of money, but not the kind of thing she would manage by herself. Question was - could she pull it off? It would be a mess to set a tripod behind her back and get a proper angle by herself, and it would preclude a panning shot like the client insisted on. To make matters worse, having to do it at the gym, with the possibility of someone showing up at any moment and catching her topless - not to mention the risk of getting expelled from the premises? No, this required a cohort to help. And the only option she could imagine was involving Nataly. But to do that, she’d have to spill the beans.Or would she?
“So you are saying you want to check how much your tan helps your back look more defined?” Nataly seemed really confused.
“Yeah, so I wanted to record it without my top, but I think to pull it off at the gym we’d have to do it late at night. Would you mind hitting the gym towards closing hours instead of in the morning on friday? It should be totally deserted then.”
Nataly shrugged. She did enjoy waking up early, but she felt like she owed Alexandre so much, it really felt like a small favor and easily accomplished - there was no way she would decline the request. Alexandre was just thankful that Nataly was the kind of oblivious person who would not be suspicious of such an obvious plot.
The gym was indeed deserted, much to Alexandre’s relief. So she handed her phone to Nataly with very specific instructions, put on her gloves, and added as much weight as she could to the machine. She sat down, took a deep breath, and made 10 very precise reps.
“Whoa, your back DOES look amazing, Ale! Alright, do me next!”
Before Ale could even respond, Nataly had already shed her sports bra and was loading the machine all the way up, and tossing the phone to Alexandre so she could film it. Without thinking, Ale was recording, and Nataly started to make a bunch of overexcited and not particularly elegant reps. That was completely unexpected… and to think she was concerned she would not be able to pull this off…
Back home, Alexandre uploaded the video, and if only for a second, pondered asking if the client would be willing to pay more if she found a considerably more muscular woman doing the same thing. No, she slapped herself. Even if you couldn’t see her face, that would be a huge betrayal of her trust.
That said, she saved the footage of Nataly in her “homework” folder. She wasn’t sure why she kept the same name for her porn folder as she had from when she lived at the foster home. It was almost nostalgic, perhaps. Or maybe she kind of liked the idea of the risk of getting caught with digital contraband. Either way, there was quite a bit of Nataly there these days… it wasn’t her fault Nataly was so oblivious to her libido while just serving so much cheesecake on a platter, right?!?
Yet, they were both caught by surprise as April came with spring showing its greenery and warmth, but most importantly, the cooking course was coming to a close and finals fastly approached. Alexandre arrived at the apartment from her late class, and Nataly had an absurd tower of sliced and twisted citrus by her side as she continued to use the knife on the poor defenseless fruit.
“Hey, are we having screwdrivers for dinner? I don’t think we have enough vodka for all that, though,” Alexandre joked, grabbing one slice of orange and sucking on it.
“Oh, just training my knife work. Though, now that you mentioned, I should have thought of a use for these…”
“Anxious, are you?” Alexandre came behind Nataly, tiptoeing so she could rub her exposed shoulders under the gifted apron she always wore whenever working in the kitchen.
“Actually… yes. I am. My last class is next week. I don’t know what I’m going to do after it’s over.” Nataly said, clearly bothered by it.
“Well, we DO have finals in a few weeks, pretty sure you’ll find something to do…” Alexandre said, as she grabbed the vodka and started making her cocktail.
“So… how do I put it?” Alexandre knew the face Nataly was making as her nose scrunched up and her mouth twisted. She always did that when she was stalling because she had a hard time tackling a subject.
“Spit it out, girl!” Ale said, poking her sides.
“Ugh… so, two of my professors came to talk with me. They were concerned about my performance and questioned if I really wanted to keep going, because they are concerned about my ability to graduate.”
“Fuck! That’s low. Give me the names, I’ll go kick their asses myself. Motherfuckers! If I…”
“Actually, it got me thinking, and I’m seriously considering dropping out.”
Alexandre froze in her tracks. She never expected to hear that from Nataly, but she knew she was quite serious about it.
“Have you talked to your parents about this?” Alexandre asked, her own throat squeezing with anxiety at the mere thought of it.
“Not about this time, but the conversation did crop up before. They were nothing but supportive, which frankly made it harder,” Nataly let out a nervous giggle, “Maybe if they stomped their feet I would have just braved that storm and put more effort.”
The mere thought of her friend working harder almost made her nauseous. “Shit, Nataly. But you were so dedicated to your course, I’ve seen how much blood, sweat and tears you poured into this…” It stung her more than she thought.
“That’s the thing, though. I love cooking. I thrive in the kitchen, I love it as much as I love lifting weights. And it made me realize, I am miserable studying. I don’t enjoy any of it, and I’m not sure I want to follow in that career anymore. And as it is, I’m just accruing even more debt. And what for?”
They both knew. It was a big decision, like cutting off a limb, and it felt extremely final. Alexandre came in and hugged Nataly, who wasn’t even depressed - it’s not like she was sobbing or anything. She just felt dead inside, like someone who was already accepting, past the worst of the grief.
“Look, Nataly, I think this ultimately should be your decision. But I’m going to be 100% whatever you decide. I have faith in you, and it seems like your mind is made. Or am I reading this wrong?”
Nataly smiled. “You read me like a book, and you know that.”
“Well, either way, you might as well finish the semester, right? Maybe you think it over a bit more, but either way, with your graduation from the cooking course… we’ll have plenty of reasons to celebrate come June, right?”
“What can I say,” Nataly nodded, “when you are right, you are right!”
And as expected, Nataly finished the cooking course, and even got some personal praise from her idol - who happened to be this very hard-boiled guy from New Jersey, full of tattoos, and who kept teasing Nataly about her big muscles. They were going to have a proper wrap-up party - entirely catered by the graduates at his restaurant. Alexandre dressed up like she was going to a red carpet, putting on her best femme fatale dress and full makeup. She even got her hair done for the occasion. She didn’t expect a camera crew there, but with the chef being a famous TV personality, Alexandre realized that was not entirely out of the question… but thankfully, that was not the case.
Alexandre sat with other families on the table, and all the students came serving gorgeous plates… it was unexpected for Alexandre, despite the chef being famous for being super-aggressive and quite the loudmouth in one of his reality shows, just how supportive he was, drowning everyone in compliments (he was still pretty demanding and rough in the kitchen, but recognized everyone’s talent on the tables).
It was a bit of a surreal situation - there were all kinds of students in this group - all ages, ethnicities, cultures, genders… everyone stood out in a way or another… but even then, Nataly managed to stick out like a sore thumb, her apron stretched to its very limit, towering over every other colleague (including a former military man who happened to be extremely muscular, though not very tall). Still, Nataly made it a point of trying to be humble and it was obvious she was trying to make herself as small as she could, curving her back and slouching her shoulders. Ale suspected that she just wanted her food to stand out, and not her figure.
After everyone was served, the celebrity stood at the end of the table and made a passionate speech about how food is a uniting force - it brings people together, in happy or sad times, it allows you to share your love and express your creativity. And here he had this wonderful group of people who were so different - he shot some looks at some of his students, including Nataly. He went on and on, getting a bit too schmaltzy for Alexandre… but she noticed Nataly’s eyes getting misty, and it was enough for her to not mind it.
And as soon as she tasted the steak with risotto that Nataly made… holy shit, the meat had a sweet glaze that went incredibly well with the zesty lemon of the rice, all made more interesting by the crunch of a parmesan tuile that adorned the plate. And she hadn’t even tried the fig dessert she knew was still to come…
Alexandre escorted (ironically, given their size difference, even wearing huge stiletto boots) Nataly home, and the taller woman just dropped exhausted on the couch. Without saying anything, Ale just started giving her the good old massage.
Between the moans of relaxation, Nataly blurted out of the blue:
“I think I’m ready.”
“Hmmm?” Ale replied, curious.
“I am ready to drop out of college. This is what I want to do.”
Alexandre smiled. She knew that would be coming sooner or later. Nataly did love to please people, but she was horrible at dealing with them. Using food as her love language resolved a lot of those issues, and allowed her to put her creative side to work.
“I’m gonna finish the semester, see what credits I can get just in case… but I think I’ll be focusing on cooking and lifting weights full time.”
“Makes sense to me. You were born for these things.”
Nataly moaned once again, her shoulders relaxing as the massage continued.
As the semester came to a close, Alexandre wanted to make a big party to celebrate Nataly’s pseudo-graduation. And she wanted to go all out, so she ramped up her side hustle… unaware of what that would lead to…
Nataly returned from one of her finals early, eager to share with Alexandre how free she felt as she had completed her last test of this semester, and went into the apartment with a spring to her step. She just ran into Alexandre’s room, all excited to tell her.
“ALEXANDRE! GUESS WHAT, I JUST…”
And promptly found her in revealing lingerie, her nipples fully exposed through a slit, as she licked an oversized dildo, her arm fully flexed as she moved it closer and further from her lips. When she noticed the door opening, she dropped the toy, and proceeded to run to her phone on the desk, which seemed to be filming the scene on a small tripod.
Both of them blushed so much they were a deep red. Nataly stayed there frozen for another five seconds, both speechless. Nataly slowly stepped away, closing the door behind her.
A couple minutes later, Alexandre came out, properly dressed, and started rambling - which was quite different from her usual very articulated self:
“Nataly, I am SO sorry, I didn’t expect you so early, I did not want you to witness this - it’s… uh, how do I put it…”
“Hey, Ale, no need to explain anything. You do whatever you want with your time, I should have knocked, I never meant to invade your privacy.”
“No, but I do want to explain… it’s just… ugh!”
Alexandre felt divided - the damage was done, it was not like she could pretend it was something else. It was better to come clean, but she hated to admit they needed to supplement their income, fearing Nataly would feel responsible. But there was no turning back now.
“So, Nataly, I’ll just spit it out. I used to do some cam work before I moved in…”
“Cam work?”
“You know, erotic stuff for people online. It pays well, and I kinda loved the way it made me feel good. Desired.”
“Oh…” Nataly seemed genuinely surprised, but not as shocked as Alexandre expected.
“So, you know, we could use some more money… and these gains I made? Holy shit, I found out, there’s a whole bunch of people willing to pay top bucks for it. So… you know… I made the most of it.”
The cogs were still turning on Nataly’s brain.
“And I figured I could save some extra money, especially now that I am in my prime…”
“Was that what we were doing topless at the gym the other day?”
Alexandre froze, mouth open.
“You… sold my pictures?”
“NONONONONO! I mean, I did keep them, but just for myself…” Ale stopped herself before admitting WHY she kept them. “I would never…”
“Do you think I could make some money with that as well?” Nataly asked, her eyes twinkling.
And for the third time, which had to be a record, Alexandre was left speechless.
After having a chance to properly talk it over, with Ale answering the five million questions Nataly had about the business, Alexandre finally tackled the big question.
“So, I DO know someone who does professional photo shoots. He actually asked me if I would be willing to do a sexy session with another fitness model, it was going to be amazingly well - but I wasn’t quite comfortable going with a professional model. But…”
“What?”
“There’s another very fit woman I know… who I’d probably wouldn’t mind doing a sexy shoot with. And she’s in amazing shape as well.”
“Hey, as long as you are fine with it, who am I to judge?”
“Wellllllll… you see, she’s the biggest girl I know. But I think she also has no modeling experience.”
“And you are concerned this might make the shoot harder?”
“No, no, no, this guy knows how to direct anyone. But you know, it would be nice, because it would be two paychecks coming into this household.”
“Wha…”
And then it hit Nataly.
“YOU MEAN ME?”
“Sorry, that was stupid, I should have kno…”
“So you think they WOULD pay for me to be in the shoot?!?”
“Pay you? Fuck, I think they might pay extra. You really don’t get how amazing you are, Nataly.”
And that’s how the two roommates ended up in an erotic fitness photo session together.
“You can use a lighter weight, Nataly - it’s just a prop, you are going to have to hold it up for several minutes,” Paul, the photographer, explained with his cool and collected demeanor.
“This is just 50 pounds, I can hold this up easily for a long while.” Nataly’s reply was modest and non-chalant, which only amused Alexandre more.
“You were kidding, Ale. The girl is a MONSTER.” He proceeded to give some small pointers before shooting like crazy, while Alexandre stood in the back doing splits, her back curved on the ground to emphasize her incredible ass.
“I know, right? You haven’t seen anything yet.”
And Paul really was surprised. He had shot hundreds of professional and amateur bodybuilders over the years, introverts and extroverts… and kinds. But Nataly? Not only was she by far the BIGGEST woman he’d ever shot… there was something RAW about her. Sure, she wasn’t the best at posing, and could get awkward at times - but when he managed to tap into her primal side… let’s just say there was no exaggeration saying she was a monster.
They spent some 90 minutes taking general pictures of them in bikinis training, and Nataly kept impressing Paul not only with her strength and willpower, but again, every time he asked for a pose, she would get several times the amount of weight he suggested, and looked incredibly fierce in the pictures. And Paul was no slouch either, suggesting several athletic poses, including some in which Nataly lifted Alexandre in what could be almost described as a muscular and sexy version of ballet. The very contrast between Nataly’s huge physique, and her ability to lift up Alexandre’s (comparatively) slender physique, stretched in very graceful poses was a work of art in itself. Nataly couldn’t help to think she would gladly PAY to have these pictures taken.
But as they wrapped up this first batch, Paul handed both of them revealing lingerie and masks, and brought them over to another set… instead of the gym, this one was a bedroom. Nataly and Alexandre both felt their hearts racing, but neither would admit it to the other.
Paul clearly had experience with this, however, and went the extra mile to make both feel comfortable. He started with some basic poses, with Nataly laid down and spreaded over the bed, while Alexandre ate a strawberry in a sexy pose, standing by the bed. But as they got more comfortable, he got the pair in more and more intimate and closer positions.
Eventually, the scantily clad Alexandre was straddling Nataly, but Paul realized her large breasts made it harder for them to keep eye contact that way, so he switched them, with Nataly straddling Alexandre.
Alexandre loved perceiving how huge Nataly was becoming, and being under her this way somehow made her feel even more giant. Her heart was racing, her cheeks beet red under the half-mask, and warm puffs of air coming out of her half open mouth. And that was far from the only thing that was getting more moist with each passing second: she could feel her sex dripping with anxiety, not only seeing how big Nataly was, but feeling her weight… she felt like she could climax right there and then, but also incredibly aware of how embarrassed she felt, being this intimate with the girl who she developed such feelings for.
“... to the camera, Ale!”
Alexandre woke up from her thoughts, Paul shouting her name.
“Uh, sorry, what did you say?”
“Turn your face to the camera. Look at the lens like you want to devour it.”
Ale knew well how to do that, and welcomed the distraction.
“PERFECT!”
Paul started taking dozens of snaps, the lights flashing repeatedly as he moved around to take more and more pictures.
Nataly could not believe it, and kept recounting the fat stack of bills.
“Wow, Alexandre, I don’t think I’ve EVER received so much money for any job… and this just for a few hours?”
“Yeah, there are many things you can complain about this line of work, but the pay is not one of them. Still, thanks for coming with me - I don’t usually hit this kind of return even on my best jobs.”
Nataly was already daydreaming about some of the stuff she wanted to get.
“Make sure to save some of this, though. I don’t know how often opportunities like this will appear.”
“Oh, I am not sure I want to do this again. I mean, it was great and all, but I really want to focus on my passion. Well, passions, I guess.”
Alexandre smiled, knowing exactly what she was thinking about. A bodybuilding cook was probably not something you saw that often, but it did suit her well.
“I hope you weren’t… uh… that you didn’t feel awkward there.” Ale said, stumbling on her words.
“Oh, nah! That’s the cool thing of doing shit with your close friends. We’ve seen each other shaving and clipping toenails… it’s not some lingerie that’s going to make me feel weird around you.”
“Haha”, Alexandre forced a laugh. “Yeah, can you imagine, us, in bed like that? Hahaha!”
Nataly smiles, still entranced by her fat stack of cash. Alexandre sighed, realizing that perhaps Nataly’s aloofness was for the best.