"So you don't want to be a chess nerd anymore? You looking to start going to the gym instead?" Tony questioned as he took a seat behind his desk.
"Yes, and I heard you were the best person to get help from. Sierra doesn't shut up about how much your supplements helped her lose weight." Meghan said while not making eye contact with him, acting almost shy as she ran one of her hands through her long blond wavy hair. She wasn't what you could describe as cute or hot like all the girls who came asking him for special diets or pills.
"Oh honey, no worries, there is nothing to be embarrassed about coming in here," He soothed with his deep voice as he reached into a drawer and retrieved a bag with various colored bottles in it. "The first week of doses is free, if you want more after that, we can discuss cost."
He watched as Meghan's bottom lip quivered, "Thank you!" The relief practically oozed out of every pore on her body. She snatched the bag out of his hand quickly then tried to apologize once she realized how greedy she'd appeared.
He chuckled, "It is nothing to apologize over. Let me know what you think of it when you come back next week." She nodded in gratitude before he pointed to the door, so she knew to make her way out.
***
Impatient Meghan drank the first bottle once she exited his office. After hearing Sierra go on and on about the drink being amazing enough to change her diet permanently, it was easy for Meghan to swallow it all down immediately.
"hmmm!" An involuntary moan slipped past her lips after she'd drank its entirety. It had tasted delicious, Sierra described it as a chocolate cake, but to Meghan, it was like the perfect pumpkin pie.
She pulled the bottle from her lips the urge to work out grew overwhelming to her system. Her fingers flexed as her toes curled inside of her black low-top vans. Quickly moving out of the suite into the wide hallways of the college, the taste was stuck in the back of her mind driving Meghan crazy. More than anything her body needed to do something physical, fast.
Her blue eyes flickered across the hallway desperate to find the gym. Needing to feel her pulse race just a little before the ache subsided. Soon enough she spotted the room of her desires.
Opening the door felt like finally escaping her cabin fever, the cool breeze air brushing her face, shoulders, then chest making Meghan forget everything she'd ever been stressed over since arriving in college two years ago. As though that wasn't enough euphoria, her vision snapped into focus at that precise moment.
Colors became brighter and lights clearer than ever before even after going out and getting lenses put in her eyes to see better. At this moment, there was nothing negative running through her mind except that craving still buried deep inside her.
"I'll start with the treadmill." Her words came out quiet as the door behind her gently slid closed. Moving fast towards her targeted piece of gym equipment, she barely paid attention to those around her until they passed by directly in front of her.
Stepping up onto the plastic platform of her machine she flicked one of the numerous buttons and then selected her preference on how she'd prefer a simple run for now. To Meghan, the two hours of cardio didn't feel like time was passing.
"Will never doubt Sierra again." She murmured while continuing her sprinting, never in her life had she enjoyed working out before this point. There wasn't the nervous sensation usually experienced whenever trying to go into a gym that everyone would judge her for being fat. Every ounce of anxiety towards going to work out evaporated by how happy she was during the process.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and a nagging in the back of her head told her she should ignore it, that she needed to keep working out but pushed aside the voice and took out her phone.
Panic immediately washed over her face before she even looked at the notification, "Class! How did I forget!?" Meghan scolded herself angrily, she frantically shut off the equipment and rushed to not be late for the lecture.
She ran across campus determined to not miss any more information in the lecture. In minutes, the young blonde stood out of breath in front of an ordinary wooden door, hearing the professor's muffled voice go on about economic theroems.
She quietly took a seat in the back of the auditorium thankfully she was not the last to arrive; sighting a few others filter in not long after herself.
'Where did the hours go? What was in that drink Tony gave me? Will the same thing happen tomorrow?' Questions danced throughout her head, but Meghan decided the issue would need to wait until she noticed she hadn't taken any notes and he was about to erase the blackboard.
***
The next morning the scale read 190, she had lost 15 pounds in 1 day. Ecstatic at the results, a million thoughts exploded into her mind while rushing to get clothes.
"One Day!!! ONE!! Fucking DAY!" She lost more in a single day than months of working out before. It felt like a dream or joke. 'Sierra was right, this supplement is completely magic.' It was difficult keeping a smile from exploding across her face just thinking about how she would look after the week was over.
Clapping the fronts of her hands together enthusiastically, feeling giddiness when imagining toned arms and legs not embarrassed to be seen in anything less than a baggy sweater. "HELL, to the YEAH!!!" After seeing how much weight she'd lost today she needed to have some more of his wonderful drink.
She grabbed a bottle of the magic elixir and down it, in a flash, as she walked out the doors of the dormitory building. Relaxed bliss washed through her veins once the taste registered; doing wonder to eliminate a sleep-like groggyness.
Wearing grey sweatpants with a hot pink oversized workout shirt, along with black vans the moment that chocolatey goodness covered the top of her tongue the need arose within her. It caused hunger that did not come from her stomach but originated from everywhere within her body. As though merely drinking from one small bottle allowed a plague to attack inside her muscles. Her pace increased out of restrain more than ability.
Other classmates bounced, swung and climbed over machinery while her stride flowed confidently to the row of treadmills near the entrance. Refusing to show a nervous appearance to the public viewing. However inside she questioned, 'It almost feels too effective...' Her grip tightened on the running mechanism, outraged that any anxiety now marred her mind regarding her fitness routine.
"Whatever, doesn't matter!" She exclaimed loudly, even in surprise at the volume in which she voiced her comments out loud. Recovering instantly her frazzled brain ordered the display console and shortly following fell into step with the red glowing numbers flittering across the LED.
Inside of her was this boundless source of vigor bursting into full gallop every single moment regardless of repetition. Time seemed to stand still once she began running allowing her brain to cloud over. Everything going on around Meghan morphed into irrelevant blurs dashing through peripherals.
A digital beeping alerted her ears to slow the treadmill. Switching from running in place to jogging helped guide her back into reality. Disoriented Meghan pulled out her phone to inspect the clock seeing it was now noon, "I need lunch," Blinking twice after finding it shocking the last four hours disappeared already, her steps slow and hesitant upon exit from the machine.
The green power button on the machine glowed as if calling out for Meghan to get back to working out. To spend more and more time until exhaustion settled into every corner of her being. It screamed for her not to go take a break after what must have only been half-exercise.
"I need to get food, I need to take a break. I have class soon too." The student told herself without taking her vision away from it, watching the glow with utter fear of stepping too far back from the control of a drill sergeant command from her trainer. Shivers traveled in rivets through her petite frame when imagining what punishments awaited those who stepped away.
***
The cafeteria food that she once would eat without issue now tasted unpleasant, as she struggled to swallow every bite. Even the sugary desserts that a few days ago would have been her number one choice looked nasty upon inspection.
"What am I going to eat if this is the problem?" The question hung in her mind as she tried another bite of mashed potatoes. 'They aren't horrible... but I'm just not enjoying it like usual,' Thoughts raced through her mind on what her new diet would need to consist of to keep from getting sick.
"I'll text Sierra, see what she eats since starting those supplements." With her fork stabbed into the pile of starch, the young lady fished out her cellphone.
"Hey Sierra, did everything taste bad for you too? I can barely stomach the cafeteria food right now." Meghan sent the message before taking a sip of her water.
After a few minutes, her phone chimed and she read the response, "Yes! Like OMG! I totally can only eat salads like some bunny. And don't even get me started on the junk food, ugh! But the supplements have got my bod looking better than ever!!!"
Reading the text she let out a long sigh, 'How did she become a vegetarian so quickly? She used to love eating chicken.' The idea of only having a salad made her stomach churn in anger, she wanted food, and meat was the best. For the rest of her meal Meghan would take small portions, enough to get through her afternoon class and nothing more.
***
180, the bathroom scales flashed neon 180, her weight. Meghan stood, staring at the device, waiting for the number to change, to show the mistake, that it wasn't accurate, but the numbers didn't change.
"Is this real? Is this actually happening to me?" It was unbelievable, and she knew it. Her pants didn't even fit her properly sagging low on her hips to stay in place without slipping too far down towards the ground.
Frantically shoving items into a gym bag from her closet she called Sierra, desperate for somebody, anyone, to believe that such a thing could be true.
"Hello?" Her friend's voice sang through the phone's speakers.
"Sierra! Oh my god! This is unreal!" Excited Meghan spoke as she packed a bag.
"I told you so! It's amazing, isn't it!?" Sierra said.
"No, not the supplements, I mean yes the supplements, but the weight! My scale is saying one eighty! I have never weighed this little since I was in 9th grade!" Meghan exclaimed, holding her phone between her ear and shoulder as she tied her shoes.
"Congrats girl! You are not even going to recognize yourself at the end of this week. We will have to go to the bar, see how many free drinks you can get with your new body." She joked over the speaker, giggling like a schoolgirl.
Meghan was ecstatic, this was beyond what she expected, and it had only been three days. Tension lingered in every muscle causing her to squeeze her grip tighter on every object she laid a finger on. Fidgeting on the spot as Sierra continued rambling excitedly into her earpiece.
