Ariana frowned as she looked at the assortment of donuts on the table.

They looked appetizing –

downright delicious really. Jelly-filled donuts dredged in powdered sugar, a dribble of pink jam
peeking from their sides. Boston cream donuts robed in a thick layer of chocolate icing. A tidy row
of plain, their golden dough slick with glaze. Dark chocolate, whose rich scent betrayed gooey
insides. A tiny little American flag waved from each donut. A nice touch, Ariana thought.
    Ariana gulped and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror of her dressing room. She was
wearing a high-waisted skirt and a crop top, tiny tummy flat and toned and her breasts pushed up
into perky globes. She looked perfect, and to keep her perfect figure she needed to avoid these kinds
of temptations.
    “The only donuts in the order were supposed to be chocolate glazed and plain glazed. I don’t eat
dairy. Are these even vegan?”
    “I have the order here. An assortment of donuts was all that was ordered. No specifics were
given.” The man delivering the donuts tapped the clipboard that held the order.
    Ariana pinched the bridge of her nose. This was the first time she had trusted an intern to place a
food order for her dressing room. It would also be her last.
    “I’m very disappointed in this.” She gave the man a square look, folding her arms at her chest.
“This is not the first time we’ve ordered. You could have referred to any of the previous ones.”
    They locked eyes. Ariana was not going to flinch. She could not flinch. She tried to stand taller
and make her tiny frame more intimidating.
    Finally, he looked away, his handsome face bitter and twisted. “Okay, I can have someone bring
up the right order.” He waved his hand over the table and smirked. “You will have to do something
with these, though. I can’t take them back down to my shop.”
    Ariana looked over the table again. Four dozen donuts. She had no idea what to do with them. It
would be such a waste – can you imagine that on TMZ? This interview was meant to smooth over
the donut debacle! She’d definitely be caught throwing out so much food – it would be career
suicide. “What would you suggest then?”
    He smirked, a floppy tendril of dark hair falling into his eye. This would be more irritating if he
wasn’t so attractive. “You could eat them.”
    She had to do something. If the donuts had to be eaten, some of the other girls could manage it.
She summoned the girls from makeup and hair and watched as they picked off the table with
delighted giggles. Her heart sank, though, when she saw how little of the food had been removed. It
was LA, what did she expect? They left the room, the door slamming shut.
    “The rest is up to you, I suppose.” The man had a smug look on his face and acid in his voice.
Ariana knew that he did not like her, though she had no idea what she had done to earn his ire.
Maybe she had complained about the wait or the coffee one too many times.
    “Do you remember me, Ariana?” He crossed his arms.
     “Uh, no?”
    The way that he was staring was beginning to frighten her. Where was the rest of her team?
Where was her entourage?
    “Look, I think you should be going now.”
    He smiled. “So you don’t really don’t remember, do you.”
    “N-no,” Ariana stammered.
    He walked over to the door and locked it, his muscular figure crossing the length of the room in
long strides.
    “I own a little donut shop. A little donut shop where, not too long ago, a big celebrity came in
and licked my donuts.”
    She stared at him again and her mouth dropped open as she remembered. “Oh.”
    That’s why his face looked so familiar. It wasn’t because she’d ordered from him before. It was
because she’d seen him in the press after she’d licked his donuts and said she hated America.
    “I apologized for that,” she whined.
    “Not to me you didn’t – and I’m the one most affected by your little stunt. And anyway, your
apologies aren’t good enough. I want you to show me how sorry you are. I’ve got another platter
ready – exactly what you ordered. It will be here by the time the reporter and your brother get here.
This one though, this one you need to make disappear.”
    “Or what?” She crossed her arms. “I can just call security.”
    “Your security guard is across the street with one of my friends. Your assistant is out picking up
the new donuts. She caught the mistake before you did, as I expected. The rest of your entourage
was remarkably easy – I told them I thought I saw Justin Bieber in the Starbucks down the street.
They’re on a wild goose chase. It’s just you and me.”
    “And what if I refuse to eat them.”
    “Then I’ll make a big show about how particular Ariana Grande is. How spoiled  she is, throwing
out four dozen perfectly good donuts. Donuts with little American flags on them – gosh, that would
sure look like you hate America.”
    Career suicide. Ariana shuddered. Fine. The donuts smelled good anyway. Maybe after a few
he’d let her go.
    “Fine.” Ariana picked up one of the donuts and shoved it into her mouth, chewing quickly and
swallowing it in a few big gulps. She hadn’t had food like this in years. It was good, she’d give him
that; the icing crumbled as she bit down, the crumb of the donut chocolaty and chewy between her
teeth. A little moan of pleasure escaped her mouth as she chewed and she blushed, embarrassed.
    The ends of her ponytail tickled her bare back as she popped the rest of the donut into her mouth,
her cheeks bulging out with food. She sat down before picking up another donut; the man sat down
in the chair across from her, looking pleased. The second donut coated her lips in powdered sugar, a
sticky-sweet bubble of jelly filling her mouth. Her eyes fluttered shut as she chewed, enjoying, in an
odd way, the experience of finally being allowed to eat. The third donut was just as delicious, a
golden circle of fried dough covered in smooth glaze that crumbled on her tongue.
    “These are…so good.” She admitted through a mouthful of donut. A fourth and a fifth
disappeared just as easily, her mouth bulging with dough. Her belly sloshed and gurgled, surprised
by the sudden onset of rich food; Ariana attempted to start on another but had to stop as a burble of
gas rose in her throat. Before she could stop it she hiccupped, the sudden jump of her diaphragm
giving way to a long belch.
    “Please don’t tell anyone about that.” Ariana stared at her captor, mortified. She hadn’t even
known she could  burp like that.
    He grinned, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. “Oh I won’t tell
anyone anything, just as long as you clean this table.”
    Ariana continued eating, nodding. The first dozen weren’t so bad. She hadn’t eaten like this
well, ever. It felt indulgent, decadent. Her stomach was bloated and pressing against her skirt but
she had to finish and everything was so delicious. She shivered in anticipation as she picked up her
twelfth donut, custard oozing out across her tongue as a sticky layer of chocolate attached itself to
the roof of her mouth.
    She was full, and she’d only gone through the first dozen. Ariana groaned and poked at her belly,
which was aching from the pressure of her skirt. She sat for a moment, breathing heavily.
    “Slowing down?” Her captor had tented his hands, watching her with glee.
    She shook her head and shifted in her seat, trying to make her throbbing belly more comfortable.
Her skirt was just too tight. After weighing the embarrassment of unzipping it against the
discomfort it was causing for her swollen gut, she reached around the back and tugged at the zipper.
It slid down with little prompting, almost as relieved as she was to be free of her protruding
stomach.
    Ariana glanced at the clock and felt panic move through her body. She had less time than she
realized. Her interview was in an hour.
    She had to eat quickly.
    Ariana picked up another donut and shoved it into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out as she tried
to swallow it in only a few gulps. Her stomach was gurgling and rolling and the sugar was
beginning to feel cloying. Still, she picked up a donut in each hand, alternating bites between
chocolate and plain.
    Her mouth was coated in sugar now and she was breathing in a mix of heavy gasps and grunts;
where on earth was she going to put it all? Another rumble of gas pushed its way up her esophagus
and this time she felt relieved as it delivered itself in the form of a deep belch. Releasing some of
the pressure on her belly made her feel a bit less full, so she leaned over a little and burped again,
freeing a gentle stream of rippling belches that sounded more consistent with her tiny frame.
    Feeling a little less like she was about to explode, Ariana finished the rest of the second dozen.
    “You need to eat faster.”
    “What’s your name, anyway?” She asked, hoping to buy herself a little time to digest. A few pats
to her chest released a series of hiccups that rolled into another burp.
    He looked surprised. “It’s John. You’d know that if you knew anything about my bakery.”
    She winced, “Look, I really am sorry about that. And not just because I can’t eat any more. It was
really awful of me not to apologize. I’ll make it up to you – maybe a free vacation for all your
employees? You could see one of my concerts, front row - I promise.”
    “My daughter is still a fan, maybe that can be arranged. You still have to finish these though.” He
pointed to the rest of the donuts and she watched his tanned forearm flex.
    “I can’t.” She moaned, “I really can’t John, I have no more room.”
    “I’m waiting.”
    “Help me, “ she whimpered.
    John picked up a donut and put it into her mouth. She chewed twice and swallowed. Before she
could think, pudding touched her tongue, sweet and cool. She sucked on the filled donut and bit
twice, taking it in and swallowing quickly.
    She could not seem to eat fast enough. He picked up two more and shoved them into her mouth.
Ariana groaned as the food slid down her throat, her belly aching and throbbing. Still, a little thrill
went through her body as her throat opened for the food. The glaze on her tongue drew saliva into
her mouth and she swallowed the donut almost whole, letting the other follow close behind.
    Ariana stifled a moan as she chewed quickly and swallowed, only to have him push another in,
and then another.
    Her stomach was filling quickly and she could feel herself swelling. She glanced down as she
swallowed to see the tanned dome of her belly. John stuffed another donut in, pushing it to force her
to chew. She gobbled it quickly, chocolate shavings rubbing against her tongue and the roof of her
mouth. She swallowed and felt a gurgling rumble deep inside her belly.
    I don’t know if I can take much more.
    But more kept coming and she kept swallowing, her belly sloshing and groaning its displeasure.
    “Wait I need to –“ She motioned for him to stop but was interrupted by a bellowing belch. Ariana
groaned as he resumed feeding her.
    She only had a few more to go. She opened her mouth as he plunged another sugar covered donut
into her waiting maw. Ariana bit down hard, chewing quickly and swallowing as his fingers pushed
sticky dough through her lips.
    The finale was a Boston cream. She took it in three bites and swallowed, feeling another rumble
and the stretch of her belly. Ariana breathed slowly, trying to settle herself.
    “Ohhhhh,” she groaned. “My stomach hurts so much.”
    “That was impressive.” John sounded awed and Ariana wondered if she had won some respect
from him.
    She cleaned her face with a napkin and stared in the mirror. Her belly was full and distended,
poking out under her crop top and pushing down her unzipped skirt. She rubbed at the quaking
dome, feeling it a colossal rumble gurgle its way through her belly.
    The rumble moved up, rolling from her stomach up into her chest. It pushed behind her
breastbone and Ariana tried to force herself to swallow it back. Instead, the motion only seemed to
add to its momentum. It swelled up her throat and pushed out, a loud, rolling belch that filled the
room. Ariana’s cheeks burned as the smell and taste of yeast, chocolate, vanilla, and sugary glaze all
converged on her senses. She shivered as her mind processed the scents and flavors and smiled
shyly at her captor.
    “It tastes just as good coming up.”