Chapter 11
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Aiden’s smile at that moment must’ve been absolutely sickening. Oh yes. He had her exactly where he wanted her. Just look at her. She was putty in his hands.

Was Aiden a good man? Fuck no. He was going to take full advantage of her desperation. And given the notification he’d received, he thought he could even push a bit more than he usually would.

“B-B-Benefits?” Angela stammered through her clutched cheeks. Fear grew in her heart. Just what kind of benefits was this guy going to ask for?!
She’ll admit, her first impression of him was something akin to, “It’s the Pillsbury doughboy!”

 But she held in the urge to shout it aloud. Naturally. She was a lady, after all. But she didn’t think he was so bad just because he looked like the son of the Michelin Man.
 Though his eyes were somewhat beady, she did think that anyone who had a passion for bakery mustn’t be an unlikable person. Furthermore he was dressed very neat and smelled good, like cloves.
And once his dish was finished? She thought he was a talented person indeed! Her liking for him had jumped sky-high from that alone!

….But she really didn’t know anything about him at all! What if he demanded “those” kinds of things from her?

 Angela was in dire straits already and felt like she had finally found some hope, a light at the end of a tunnel. She couldn’t lose that!
Was she actually going to have to sacrifice her body for the sake of her dreams? Tears were already welling in her eyes at the thought. But she steeled her heart. Maybe as long as things weren’t too excessive….

Meanwhile Aiden let her go and rapped her on the head. “What kind of weird things are you thinking? I’m not going to rape you. Stop looking so tragic.”

“Y-You’re not?” She tried to suppress a sniffle.

“Don’t insult me.” He replied peevishly. “If I wanted your body I’d earn my way to your bed. I’ve never forced a woman to have sex, and I don’t ever intend to.” He sniffed. “Rape is the trademark of lesser men who can’t get a woman any other way. I’m not so lowly.”

Hearing this caused Angela to stare at him in marvel. “You’re unexpectedly arrogant.”

Aiden looked at his pudgy hands and shrugged. “I’d rather be arrogant than meek. Anyway, get up. We haven’t talked about my sal--”

“$20 an hour.”

Aiden nearly felt his heart stop. “What?”
“We open at 7 in the morning and close at 9 in the evening.”

...That’s a salary of at least 50k. Isn’t that way more than what most bakers made in his previous world?

He thought that should be the case. Was that normal here? But from the look in her eyes, that wasn’t so. She seemed like a warrior in the midst of battle, fighting with everything she had.
He eyed her warily.

“I wasn’t looking for a full-time--”
“$25”

He paused. “No, really, I--”

Angela grit her teeth and directly raised the pay again. “$35!”

Aiden’s hands started to sweat. Fuck, what is this? He was starting to feel insanely guilty. He was intending to take advantage of her, sure, but wasn’t this too excessive?! No, rather, she was letting him take advantage of her. How desperate is she?

There’s no way she could support a business like this. He decided to just take her first offer. Otherwise he’d feel like a real son of a bitch.

“Listen, just calm down. Let’s--”

Angela’s chest heaved. “$40!”

Aiden felt his eyes bug out. “Jesus, woman, am I going to be selling my pastries or my ass?” He couldn’t help but exclaim.

Angela’s cheeks turned cherry-red. “H-Huh?! What nonsense are you...of course not!” She shouted. “I’m not such a scoundrel, okay?!”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Aiden snapped. “What’s wrong with you, offering such suspiciously good pay? Am I going to find my organs harvested after my first day here or what?”
“Who’d want your fatty organs anyway?!”

Aiden feigned pained astonishment. “You…”

Angela realized what she’d just said and stammered. “T-That’s not what I meant. I’m really sorry.”

He looked away. “...I’ve actually lost a lot of weight, okay? I went down three sizes.”

The woman was downright mind-boggled. “They make sizes that big?” She let slip. “Does the tag have a dinosaur on it or some--” She hurriedly covered her lips.

Aiden’s mouth fell open.

The woman was starting to tear up again. “No, wait, that’s not how it sounded. I was just surprised. Please don’t get mad!” Angela was almost at the point of breaking down and begging forgiveness. But just as she was about to fall to her knees for the second time, he cracked a smile. It was decidedly annoying.

“Easy there. I’m just messing with you.”

“...What?”

“I’m a fat tub of lard. My nickname could be Bacon Bits. If you looked up the word ‘obese’ you’d probably find my picture right next to it. I have love handles large enough to keep change in.” He let forth a short series of self-depracating remarks that made Angela feel incredibly awkward. “In fact, I probably have more rolls on me than this bakery.”

“Um…”

But he wasn’t done. “When I was a baby, they had to take pictures using a satellite.”

“Thats, uh--”

“When I walk home my belly button arrives 15 minutes before I do.”

“...”

“I’m so fat I don’t even need the internet, because I’m already world-wide.”

“...Are you done yet?” She asked.

“One more.” He cleared his throat. “When God said, ‘let there be light’ he had to ask me to move out of the way.” He tilted his head a bit. “Yeah. That’s it. I’m finished.”

“So you weren’t mad.”

“No. Not at all.” He snorted. “Me being a fat piece of shit is just a fact. I’m working on it, but right now I am size Dino. So you don’t have to worry about offending me by bringing my weight into things. I give not one fuck about being fat shamed. It’s just the truth anyway.” He rubbed his chin. “ If anything just make the quip a good one.  That way I get a new fat joke to add to my already considerable repertoire.” 

He had several fatties in his last life’s gang. In fact, the Bacon Bits thing was what they called one of them. Pissed the guy off so he started dieting and losing weight just to spite them. Not that Aiden cared. He wasn’t going to give a shit how fat you were. It’s your life. He wouldn’t judge you for being a fat ass. Just don’t expect him not to crack a joke at your expense.

Bacon Bits learned that the hard way.
As for being fat himself now, well. That was a bit of karma at work, now wasn’t it? He found it pretty funny. But what was he supposed to do? Sit and whine about it? He may have mentioned before, but this was something he could change. His death? His lost family? Out of his control. But this wasn’t.

“Well then why did you make me think you were?!” She stared at him while wiping at her eyes, looking very cross. He should feel sorry, but…

“I thought you looked cute when you thought I was.”

“I already feel like not hiring you.”

“That’s fine. I can look for another--”

“I was just joking!” She cut him off in a panic. She should be madder than she was, but she really is desperate!

“That’s great. Anyway,” He continued, “ I’ll just take your first offer. I did say I was looking for a part-time deal, but I can be persuaded to come every day.”

“Really?!”  Angela smiled excitedly.

“Sure, why not.”

“Then how? What do you want?!” Her eyes grew sharp. This was where the real negotiations began!

“Oh, nothing too hard or demanding. Just make that distressed face for me every now and then and we’ll call it even.”

“Deal!”

Aiden tsked. “So easy? Damn, I should’ve asked for more.”

“Too late now.” She laughed, then wiped her brow. “I have to say, it’s a relief you’re not a bad person. I was almost ready to put my body on the line, too!”

“Oh, I could tell. But that’s weird. What had you like that? I mean having a bad business sense is one thing, but you can’t really be this desperate if the situation was normal.”

If she was nearly willing to offer her body, and then prepared to give him such an absurdly high salary compared to the job’s actual worth then something was obviously going on that he didn’t know about.

“Ah, that.” Angela sighed. “Well, that’s a bit of a private matter. But I guess since you might be troubled by it, I should tell you.”

As Aiden heard the story, he suddenly didn’t want to work here anymore.
There really is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
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