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It was almost 7pm and Lucas couldn’t be even more anxious. He has a date tonight, not a late night hangout doing overtime at work, or a coffee date during their lunch break, but an actual official date with Sabrina. He hadn’t been on a proper date in almost a year and seeing that Sabrina actually took his offer in going on a date tonight made him ecstatic. It all happened so fast too, when she said yes it took him a while to even register that she accepted his proposal. Reflecting on that moment, Lucas doesn’t think anyone would've seen it coming.
He remembers how nervous he was that morning when he was standing behind the door of Sabrina’s office. His hands wavered before taking a shaky breath lightly knocking on her office door and cracking it open, “Um Ms.Rosewood? May I have a word with you for a second?” he asked while peeking his head in. Sabrina, whose eyes had been glued to her computer, gestured to the man to come in with a little nod as she continued typing on her keyboard. Once Lucas walked in, the two were quiet, with the tapping of the keys filling in the silence. Sabrina grew impatient as she peered up at Lucas and back down at her computer, “Is there something you need Mr.Cromwell?” She muttered as she kept working diligently on her documents.
Lucas became a deer in headlights, and his throat became extremely dry before snapping out of his frozen state, ‘Just spit it out and ask her!’ He thought to himself before clearing his throat.
“Um well I was just wondering if you were free this weekend because there’s this restaurant in town not too far from here and maybe we could go there, like together…during the evening” he coaxed with a fearful smile. Then Sabrina stopped typing, turned off her monitor, and stared at the red haired man with all of her attention,“Are you asking me out on a date?” Sabrina questioned cocking up one of her eyebrows.
Lucas grew more weary and started to clam up,“Uh well it doesn’t have to be a date! It can just be two coworkers trying out a new restaurant for happy hour!” he scrambled out while nervously fiddling with his shirt collar and tie. Silence filled the room once more as Lucas waited in agony for her response.
“No, I’m busy this weekend,” Sabrina answered after standing up from her office chair. Lucas, deflated by her response, he’d knew the possibility of her saying yes was slim, but hearing her say no was more heartbreaking than he expected, “Oh…” he said with a sigh, embarrassingly averting his eyes away from her.
“But I’m free tonight” Sabrina continued as she collected papers from her desk,“Are you free tonight?”
Lucas blinked in surprise at her sudden question and quickly nodded his head,”Uh yes! I’m free tonight” he spluttered. The woman rose from her chair, grabbed her stack of documents, walked towards the shorter man, and smiled,“Good, it’s a date then” She confirmed before strutting towards the door.
“Pick me up around 7” she added before twisting the doorknob and opening the office door. Lucas gawked at the woman as she made her way out of her room and closed it behind her. Did that happen? Did she actually say yes?! Lucas couldn’t help but smile widely and turn red as he realized he had gotten a date with her.
Even after his shift at work, he could still feel that fluttering feeling of excitement when Sabrina confirmed he wanted to go out tonight. But with excitement always comes nervousness, when it comes to going out on dates, Lucas tends to get more anxious than usual. Ever since he got off of work he’s been scrambling all around his house, wondering what to wear, what to bring, and what to say during the night. He changed his clothes twice before looking at himself in the mirror to ensure he looked good when ready to leave.
He combed his hair through his hands a couple of times and adjusted the collar of his dress shirt a bit before walking out his bathroom and towards the kitchen. Before heading out the door, Lucas made checks on his mental list of if he got everything he needed. Put on cologne? Check. Keys? Check. Extra cash for tips? Check! He grabbed his belongings and his coat before heading straight out the door and—“
Wait! Lucas stopped right in his tracks and checked his pockets, something’s missing. Then, it finally clicked into his head, and the man ran back into his apartment and grabbed what he needed. The man almost forgot the most important thing tonight, his ID! Can’t go to a bar without his ID. Lucas sighed in relief, it was a close call but he finally felt ready to lock his door, get in the car, and to pick up Sabrina for their date.
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It was now later in the evening, Lucas picked up Sabrina at the given time and drove her to this popular restaurant in town his friends suggested to him weeks ago. It was a simple bar & grill none the less, it had great food, drinks, and an atmosphere that any restaurant goer would enjoy. After they arrived at the restaurant, they sat down and examined the menu before ordering their food and engaging in their conversations until the food was ready. Once the food came and they got settled, Lucas couldn’t help but find himself picking and nibbling at his food as the night went on. While Sabrina ordered a herb-crusted salmon with a side of veggies and potatoes, Lucas ordered a simple steak dinner. Even though the food was good, Lucas found himself stabbing and idling around his food with his fork until it caught Sabrina's attention.
“Are you going to eat anything else Lucas?” Sabrina asked while taking the last bite off of her fork. Lucas hummed in response and glanced up at her with a grin,“O-Oh no I’m actually kinda full, I had a late lunch at work before we came” he lied as he continued to pick at his food. The truth was that he was practically starving, but couldn’t even eat as much if he tried, his stomach was battling with nerves and hunger all night he couldn’t even finish his whole meal. Even though his stomach was in knots, everything else aside was running smoothly, they had a couple of drinks, laughed a little, and even shared an intimate conversation between the two of them that he really enjoyed. If all goes well, he was even hoping that this leading to another date in the future. Lucas internally smiled at the thought of it, being able to spend more time with Sabrina off of work is all he could dream about these days, he’s just gotta pull through to make the rest of the night perfect.
The blue haired waitress that’s been serving them all night came up towards the pair and cleared away empty cups and plates from the table,“Do you guys need anything else?” the waitress asked politely,“Just a couple boxes and the check please” Sabrina claimed before the waitress nodded and walked off. When she came back, she placed the to-go boxes on the table and handed the checkbook to Lucas.
He opened the booklet and read the receipt inside,”Hm, not bad” Lucas thought to himself as he reached into his pocket to grab his credit card. Lucas then froze as he dug deeper into his pants pocket, he couldn’t feel his leather wallet in there. He tried his other pants pocket and his eyebrows knitted together with concern as he couldn’t feel his wallet in that one either. He patted his pockets frantically, the back, the front, and his jacket pockets too, turning them inside out and to his surprise all he could find was lint and other items in his pocket. Now he was full blown panicking, did he forget his wallet? What type of idiot brings his ID and license but not the wallet that comes with it?!
“Shit!” he hissed under his breath before checking his pockets once more. Sabrina heard Lucas’ panic and halted herself from sipping the rest of her drink to look at Lucas,“Something wrong?” she asked, giving him a sincere look. Lucas clammed his hands together and forced the words out his mouth,“I…I forgot my wallet..” he said, trailing off from his sentence. The silence between them grew thick, Lucas could practically feel Sabrina's gaze at him, making him sweat profusely. He caved at the sight of her and rambled an apology,“I’m sorry, I thought I brought it but I must’ve left it on the kitchen counter! I have some cash but it’s not enough to cover—“
“It’s fine Lucas” Sabrina signed, pulling out her purse to dig inside it,"I can just pay for it” she declared while grabbing and opening up her wallet. Lucas blinked as he was caught off guard by her offer and spluttered “Oh Sabrina you don’t have to really! I can see if they can accept contactless payment! I have an app that does that…somewhere” he suggested while quickly pulling out his phone to scroll through it. Sabrina shook her head lightly in response and sat up from her chair to take the check book from his hands.
“No it’s fine don’t worry about it” Sabrina said while taking out her card and tucking it inside the guest book,“It’s not the first time I’ve been caught up with the bill” she playfully laughed under her breath. Lucas however sat there in paranoia and embarrassment, was Sabrina insinuating that this happened before? Has other men she dated left her to pay? Is he acting like those other men?! This date is already going downhill. Lucas was doing so well tonight but this might be a deal breaker if he can’t do something as simple as paying for her meal, his mother taught him better than that!
Soon enough the waiter came back towards the table and checked on her patrons,“Are you guys ready to pay?” the waitress asked with a smile. Sabrina lifted the check book and handed it towards the waiter,“Yes, here you go—“
“Wait!” Lucas blurted out, snatching the check away from both of the women’s hands. The two ladies stared at Lucas in shock as his eyes scanned around the room in a panic, looking around for something, anything to fix this situation. Then, it was as if a beacon of hope came across him as he saw a well designed poster from the restaurant’s wall that had the words ‘win & table eats free!’ on the bottom right corner.“Um, what’s that?” Lucas asked, signaling the poster from across the restaurant. The waiter averted her eyes towards the poster as well and her smile grew brighter,“Oh that? It’s the mega meal challenge we do in our restaurant, eat all of the stuff listed in under 45 minutes and your table eats for free!”
A light bulb flickered in Lucas' head and he smiled wide at the idea,“I’ll do it” he declared with a flashy smile. Both of the girls' eyes widened in shock at the man’s declaration,“Really!?” the waitress and Sabrina asked simultaneously, one tone filled with concern and the other with astonishment. Lucas nodded his head confidently and rose up from his chair,“Uh yeah! I’ll do it!” Lucas confirmed pumping his fist up in the air in determination.
The waitress cheered for the lucky contestant and swiftly made her way back into the kitchen to alert her staff. Lucas took a breath of relief but it was short lived when he felt Sabrina tug his arm to gain his attention,“Lucas, what are you doing? Are you insane?" Sabrina whispered harshly through her teeth.
“Sabrina, I asked you to go on this date with me, you shouldn’t have to pay. It feels like I’m being a lousy date!” Lucas confessed shrugging his shoulders,“I’ll pay for it somehow even if I have to earn it”
Sabrina huffed a laugh and grabbed both of Lucas’ hands to hold,“You’re not lousy Lucas” she said with sincerity, “I know you wouldn’t lie to me and I understand you forgot your wallet but this is ridiculous! What makes you think you can do this?”
Lucas retracted his hands and smirked,“Well not to brag, but me and my college buddies used to do challenges like this all the time to get a free meal, it was kinda easy!” He gloated, leaning back against his chair while popping his collar. Sabrina scrunched up her face in disagreement and pursed her lips,“Yeah well that was over ten years ago, things changed” she stated, glancing at the man’s figure and back to his eyes.
“Relax Sabrina, nothing’s changed I’ll beat this in no time!” He jested once more. His words soon bit back at him as the waitress came back and placed the challenging meal on the table.
The challenge consisted of a burger stacked high with 6 beef patties, and buns in between, with a heaping amount of cheese, sauce, and toppings on it. The burger was held together with skewers stabbed in the center of it with fried pickles penetrated on top of the sandwich. The monstrous burger also came with a gratuitous amount of fries and onion rings on the side. Lucas gulped nervously at the towering sight of the burger and looked up at the waiter,“You have 45 minutes on the clock, you’ll be disqualified if you can’t finish or if you use the people at your table for help, good luck!” She alerted before starting her stopwatch and clapping her hands together in cheer.
“And if you fail?” Sabrina asked, folding her arms together and cocking up her eyebrows.
“…I’ll Cash App you the money” he said before diving right into his meal.
He started by plucking the fried pickles off the top of the burger bun and popped them into his mouth before pulling the skewers off the burger to deconstruct it. He wasn’t a beginner to these things like he said before, he’s won a lot of challenges like this years ago and knew not to eat the bread first and to save it last, or else the carbs could slow him down. After separating the buns from the patty, He took his first couple of bites and hummed with delight at the taste of the sandwich. It was a delicious burger nonetheless, each beef patty was juicy and flavorful while the cheese, bacon, and sauce all blended perfectly into one burger, it almost made the man envious that he didn’t order this in the first place. The sides on the other hand were even better, the fries were well seasoned and hot while the onion rings were lightly battered but crispy at the same time.
After the first 2½ patties and finishing off the onion rings, Lucas started to feel the food sit heavily inside him. It was a good thing Lucas barely ate anything earlier due to his nerves or else he would’ve tapped out by now, but he still felt a full sensation building up inside of him with every moment that passed. His well fitted black dress shirt started to strain against his belly along with his belt as the buckle started to press on the center of his belly. He continued to cram the meat and fries down his mouth while Sabrina stared at him doing so,“How are you holding up?” she asked.
“Fine…” Lucas answered, sluggishly chewing through his food before swallowing and grabbing another handful of fries,“Maybe I could help you out with the load” Sabrina offered, sitting up from her chair as her hand hovered above his plate to reach for a french fry. Lucas however shooed her hand away and gestured her to sit back down,“No, it’s considered cheating” Lucas claimed before chuckling,“I’m fine really, a measly burger is not gonna take me down”
Sabrina hesitated a bit before sitting back down, watching her red headed date carefully as he continued the challenge. 30 minutes had passed, he was halfway through the challenge with most of the sides demolished and only 2 patties remaining. It was definite that Lucas was starting to slow down, the hot and greasy fries along with the burger was definitely taking a toll on his bloating belly. The only solace the man found was from the veggies on the burger, with the lettuce and tomato offering cool relief as opposed to the fattening beef and bacon on the sandwich.
“15 minutes left!” the waitress announced, strolling her way across the table and back towards the kitchen. Lucas decided to take a quick breather, he leaned on the back of the booth and rolled his head back as he groaned to himself, carefully cradling his swollen form with his greasy hands. His packed belly rose and fell with every breath he took as he tried to carefully rub the sides of his belly to soothe the pain. Sabrina giggled softly at the sight of the stuffed man,“Slowing down so soon hm?” Sabrina bantered playfully.
“Oh please,” he huffed lethargically,”Like you aren’t getting off to me eating all this food right in front of you” he teased giving a weak smirk. Sabrina glanced away from Lucas as she grew flustered and her cheeks ran warm. What he stated wasn’t a lie, throughout the whole challenge Sabrina has been making immense eye contact with Lucas and the food he was stuffing into his mouth.
At first, Sabrina couldn’t believe he would take a challenge such as this, let alone to do all that work to win something as simple as a free meal. It was so random and out of the blue, and honest to god the man didn’t have to partake in this task, she was fine with just paying for their meal and calling it a night, but something inside of her was very pleased that Lucas chose this indulgent alternative. Out of all the private stuffing ‘mishaps’ and their lengthy game of cat and mouse they’ve had a work and other occasions, this one itched her brain the most. There was something so thoughtful and intimate about Lucas’ act tonight that made Sabrina’s mind wander around her erotic thoughts, wanting to help shove the rest of the food down the man's throat, and giving him encouraging words while gingerly rubbing his tight belly throughout the rest of the evening.
But since she was in public, all she could do was keep herself at bay, occasionally tapping her foot underneath the booth repeatedly, and clamming her hands together as she tried to regain her composure over the man. Lucas continued to try and ease the pain by running his fingers around his taut belly. Lucas stifled a burp into his fist before moaning in discomfort,“Agh, I can’t take it anymore” he whinged as he adjusted himself in the seat.
Sabrina's ears perked when she overheard the man say that, was he gonna tap out? This late in the game? She was quite shocked, she didn’t take Lucas as a quitter but it was a large quantity of food at such a short time. Then she saw the man reach down underneath the table and wrestled with his belt for a second before a click sound was heard. He sighed in relief as he undid his belt and loosened it up to make room, his taut belly jutted forward with the new given room and persisted to push against the buttons and fabric of his once loose shirt.
”Whew, much better” He breathed before sitting back up with a groan, grabbing another burger patty to push past his lips and to continue the process of eating again.
“10 minutes left!” The waitress hollered making her way back to their table and walking off again. At this point in the challenge there was no time to be wasted. With time running on the clock, all Lucas could do was commit to the constant rotation of patty, water, and bun. He'd finally finished the last of the burger patties and all he had left was the buns and couple of fries. He quickly grabbed a fistful of leftover fries and shoved him into his mouth before smushing the bread on the plate to eat as well. He took a couple gulps of water before he continued to gorge himself on the bread as every swallow was heavier than the last. The burger buns were soggy from the condiments and lukewarm from the patties which threw off the texture of the bread but the determined man still powered through with the challenge at hand.
Lucas proceeded to cram all the bread into his mouth until he took the last bite of a bottom bun before forcing down his last swallow,”Done!” he shouted, banging his fist against the restaurant table. His waitress came back to examine his plate and the time on her stopwatch. She squealed and cheered once more as she paused her watch and applauded,"Congratulations sir! You have won the mega meal challenge in 42 minutes!!”
Lucas' eyes widened when she confirmed it, he did it, he actually did it with only 3 minutes to spare. Fellow restaurant goers around them clapped for Lucas’ accomplishment and he stood up and thanked them before the full churning sensation started to settle inside his stomach,“Ugh, Fuck” He moaned quietly as he slid back down his seat and lolled his head against the booths cushions. As Lucas uncomfortably sat down while food dazed, their waitress came back one final time with a container and a shirt in her hand.
“You also win a free T-shirt and this is also on the house” She said, placing a slice of celebratory chocolate cake in a plastic container on the table. Lucas grimaced at the sight of the layered cake as Sabrina took the container and packed it in the to go bag. After a couple of minutes, the pair decided to get ready to leave so Lucas fastened his belt to the best of his abilities before getting ready to go. As the man tried to slide out of the booth, he found the firm top area of his belly was wedged in between him and the booth, preventing him from properly getting out. Before Sabrina turned around, Lucas cleared his throat to gain his date's attention, “Heh, little help?” he jested with an embarrassing smile. Sabrina playfully rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand tightly and pulled him with all her might until the man was finally able to slide out in between the booth.
Once Lucas was set free, They wished their goodbyes to their waitress and staff while heading out of the restaurant doors. The two walked outside the restaurant and before heading into the car, they took a seat at a nearby bench for Lucas to catch his breath,“Well, this date was a complete mess” Lucas huffed slowly while reclining on the bench.
The two sat together in a comfortable silence for a while, crickets chirping from afar filled the quietness between them as Sabrina gazed into the night sky while Lucas did the same with less intent.The man hesitated for a bit to say something before he sighed and looked at his date sympathetically.
“I’m sorry Sabrina, truth is I haven’t been on a date in a very long time. I wanted everything to work out and I was so nervous the whole night because I didn’t wanna fuck up and I got so wrapped into it I forgot my damn wallet!” he confessed,“I didn’t want you thinking I couldn’t afford to take you out or that I didn’t want to pay for you. I just wanted to make a good first impression”
“But eating a grotesque amount of food in 45 minutes wasn’t the impression I was looking for” He said with a pitiful laugh. Lucas continued to sulk quietly to himself as he knew deep down he made a fool of himself tonight. Sure whatever sexual thing they had going on with eating was fine, but he really wanted to get to know each other more on another level tonight and he ruined it. Sabrina could sense the man's dread and grabbed Lucas’ hands and looked at him with compassion and amorously in her eyes,“Lucas, I’ve had men walk out of me, go to the bathroom and never return, and even lied about an emergency just to avoid paying a bill on a first date. Trust me when I say this is by far the stupidest, most romantic thing a man as ever done for me”
Lucas, shocked by her response, stared at her with a gaped mouth before blurting out an answer,“Really??” he gasped in utter disbelief.
“Yes, and besides” Sabrina added,“I think you left quite the impression on me” she mused as she reached for Lucas’ stuffed tummy to give it a pat. She then did the unexpected and planted a quick kiss on his cheek as she continued to glide her hands around the crest of his belly. Lucas’ entire face grew crimson red, his heart started to beat rapidly out of his chest as he couldn’t help but smile uncontrollably.
“Ha, g-glad to hear” he gushed out lovingly while giggling. Sabrina chuckled at his response and soon rose up from her seat,“Now come on, I’ll drive you home” Sabrina offered while helping Lucas up from the bench. She also began to smirk as she waved around the to go bag in front of his face,“And if you’re still feel ballsy, perhaps we can do something about this cake”
Lucas smiled broadly before giving his stuffed tummy a firm pat,“I might have some room left~” he boasted before handing Sabrina his keys, making their way to his car where they would drive off together with an even more eventful night coming upon them.