Now Hiring Test Subjects #2: Philippa

“Just sign here, and here please.”
           “O-okay! And after that, I can start working?”
           “Of course. We’ll take your suitcases up to your room as well.”
           “Oh, thank you!”

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Philippa couldn’t believe her luck! This place was giving her $10 an hour and a place to stay for free. Her job? All she had to do was eat cake. That was the easiest job in the world! After dropping out of college, Philippa was penniless with no career. While at the library one day, she found an ad for a tester at New Wave Enterprises. They needed someone to taste test their newest line of cakes. How could she turn down this offer?

           Philippa found the clipboard in the kitchen. Picking it up, she pulled a pencil out of her bright pink purse and wrote down the date. Now, Miss Tessa said the cakes would be in the fridge, and each day, new cakes would be brought to her. Opening up the fridge, Philippa found three, cakes waiting for her; a chocolate cake, a vanilla cake and a strawberry one. Philippa grabbed the chocolate cake and placed it on the table.

           “Okay, they also wanted me to comment on how the cake looks too and if I think it’s appealing,” Philippa looked at the clipboard. “The chocolate cake is a bit plan. Could use some more sprinkles.”

           Now, to taste it. Cutting herself a slice, she placed it on a plate before sitting down and taking a bite. Never in her life had Philippa tasted such a fantastic cake! The cake was perfectly moist and the icing was so sweet! Whoever had baked this cake was amazing! She quickly polished off the slice, licking up the crumbs left over. She wrote down her feelings on the cake, glancing at the remaining sweet. Girls weren’t supposed to pig out. That was what her mother had beaten into her head, for many years, time and time again. They were supposed to treat themselves and that was it.

           But her mother wasn’t around.

           Philippa was an adult. She could make her own choices. Right now, she was making a choice to have another slice of cake. Besides, she was just doing her job! Happily, she cut herself more cake and dug into it. Again, she was amazed at how flavorsome the cake was. She chewed slowly, wanting to enjoy every single bite. Licking her lips, she made another grown up choice. She was going have two more pieces of cake before taking a break. She’d save the rest of the cake for later.

           Standing up, she inspected her new apartment. It really was nice. New Waves even had a gym and a pool on site. Looking over at the television, she sat down and picked up the remote. Turning it on, she continued to munch on her cake. She quickly ate the remaining pastry and put the plate down. Now, she would wait until later to eat some more cake.

           But Philippa kept thinking about the cake. No matter how hard she tried to focus on Bob’s Burgers, she just wanted more cake. Glancing back at the table, she felt like the cake was calling to her. Maybe, just this once, she could finish off the chocolate cake and then try the others tomorrow. With that idea in her head, she grabbed the rest of the cake.

           This was not really proper etiquette but Philippa just wanted more cake. She was somewhat happy that she didn’t have a roommate. This was her cake and she wasn’t going to share it with anyone. Why should she share it anyways? Taking a bite, she moaned. Ugh, it was just so good and sweet! She couldn’t wait to try the other two cakes tomorrow. As she watched her cartoons, she considered she should have eaten dinner before she ate cake but what did it matter? Only cake really mattered.

           So for the rest of the day, Philippa was trying her hardest to focus on other things besides cake. She played some XBOX, watched some YouTube and she managed to head off to bed without eating the other two cakes. But her dreams? It was all about cake! Cakes as big as buildings which she devoured with glee or her being fed cake after cake after cake. When she woke up, Philippa ran to the fridge and took out the vanilla cake.

           “I can’t wait anymore!” She sat down. “I’ll save the strawberry cake for later though. Oh, I wonder what cakes they’ll bring me today.”

           This time, Philippa didn’t even bother with a fork. She just ate the cake with her fingers. With cake on the mind, Philippa didn’t notice her stomach. Instead of flat, it was pudgy. As she continued to devour the cake, the bigger her belly grew. But she was so cake obsessed that she didn’t notice, even with her shirt getting slightly tighter. The vanilla cake was so sweet and moist! Philippa licked up all the crumbs, not wanting to waste any.

           “So good!” She sighed happily. “Oh, I want to eat the other cake but it’s my last one until noon!”

           With a lot of restraint, Philippa managed to wait until noon. She distracted herself with tv, games, and books. When the lab assistant came in, Philippa pretended, like she was too busy playing Saints Row 4 to notice. But as soon as he left, she got up and ran to the fridge. Three new cakes were there; there was a red velvet cake, pineapple upside down cake and Boston cream pie. This time, she picked up the strawberry cake and dug into it. It was so good! Sweet, tasty and perfect!

           “More!” She licked the plate clean. “I want MORE!”

           She grabbed the plate holding the red velvet cake. She bite into it, chewing a bit before swallowing. Oh, it tasted so good! Her stomach, which had grown thanks to the vanilla and strawberry cake finally appeared from beneath her shirt. Philippa took another bite of cake and glanced down. Was that her? Curious, she placed a hand on the swollen globe. Oh, this was her stomach! She took another bite of cake, wondering how she gained so much weight.

           “Mhm,” She licked her fingers. “So good! Man, only two cakes left! I have to find more after this!”

           Philippa took the last two cakes and ate them with ease. Crumbs went everywhere she greedily inhaled the moist pastries. Her stomach grew as she continued to pig out. Then, when she was done, she opened up the door of her apartment. She had to find more cake! Where was cake!?

           “Gotta find my cake!” She headed down the hallway. “Where could my cake be?”

           She sniffed the air. Maybe she could find the scent. It took a while, but she finally was able to locate them by smell. Cake! She ran as fast as she could, her stomach wobbling as she did. She threw open the door and entered the room. Quickly, she locked the door behind her. She didn’t want to share her cake. Philippa found herself in a room with cakes everywhere. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. All these cake just for her!

           Philippa dove right in. She grabbed the nearest cake and took a huge bite of it. Who needed a fork or a plate? Not her! She could use her mouth and fingers. And that is what she did for hours and hours. The one small Philippa was now massive. Her arms, legs and belly were so thick it was a wonder she could move. Groaning, Philippa stopped for a second.

           “So full!” She whimpered. “But I want more! I want all of it!”

           Philippa ate and ate until she found by one of the scientists. With her new girth, it took a small group of them to place her on a flatbed. Philippa whined as she was taken from the cakes, demanding more.

           “Damnit, damnit, damnit!” Tessa kicked her chair.

           “Tessa, calmed down!” Ramona begged.
           
“Ramona, this girl is immobile!” Tessa pointed to Philippa. “First Miss Victoria and now her! We have at least ten other applicants and I don’t know if we should even consider hiring them now!”

           “But we need test subjects!”
           
“But look at her!” Tessa pointed to Philippa. “This proves that we can’t put these cakes out on the shelves either! She completely helpless and addicted to cake now!”

           “I know,” Ramona sighed. “Okay, look. Maybe we should keep a closer eye on the test subjects. Once we notice a problem, we can bring them here and test them. We can’t stop hiring people. We need to fix these products or we’ll lose our funding.”

           “Ramona, if people keep coming and getting addicted to the food, we can’t let them leave. People will start asking questions! We can’t afford another investigation.”

           Ramona hadn’t thought of that. Tessa had a point. There had to be a way to fix this so the cops wouldn’t get involved.

           “Okay, you’re right,” Ramona thought for a second. “I think our best bet is to monitor the other test subjects and if someone calls about Miss Victoria or Miss Philippa, we can figure something out. I know we can fix this.”
           
“I hope so,” Tessa said.