Lana walked underneath the huge, multicoloured gates of the new Expansive Candy Factory; the company's logo towering above her in huge, garish, metallic lettering. Geez, even the sign is giving me diabetes, she thought. When she first saw the job advertised, Lana had thought it a very easy way to make some money; she had been out of work for a while now, since the restaurant she used to waitress at had closed down.
Lana wasn't really a fan of hard work; she wasn't lazy, exactly, but she liked jobs where she could relax, take her time and not have to stress about deadlines. So "taste tester" was pretty much a perfect way for her to chill out and earn good money for just eating candy every day. The job was on a two weeks trial basis to start with; and she imagined it probably wouldn't continued much longer than that, because hey, there's only so much candy in the world.
It was pretty cold out, and some snow had landed on the ground as she approached the main entrance. She pulled her jacket tighter across her chest as a cold wind hit her. Lana was wearing a leather jacket and green, flannel shirt with hip hugging jeans. Her time in unemployment had, she was aware, added some extra pounds to her once slender frame, and her once flat stomach had expanded slightly, gaining some added pudge. She was still getting used to the fact that her clothes were a little tight, but hey, at least they weren't making her wear a uniform for this. She ran a hand through her short, pink hair and stepped inside.
The reception staff welcomed her politely, perhaps a little too politely. Must be all that sugar.
They led her down a corridor away from the offices and to the main factory, where she was greeted by a short girl in a bright pink shirt and striped, white and red skirt. Lana was nearly blinded by the garishness of her outfit.
"Hiiiiii!" The girl waved enthusiastically. "I'm Tammy. You must be Lana. Oh my God, I love your hair!"
"Thanks," Lana said. "Matches your outfit."
Tammy laughed a high pitched laugh and linked her arm through Lana's, before leading her off through a large set of double doors. Lana found herself being ushered into a huge, open environment, which to her shock, resembled a large, indoor park, complete with trees, bushes and a flowing river. "Wow, this is like...some sort of indoor garden?"
"Yep," Tammy said, still dragging Lana forward. "We're still adding the finishing touches though."
As they walked past the river, Lana could have sworn the water was brown and gooey, but she had little time to dwell on that before Tammy ushered her through another set of doors and into a very clean, sparkling white room with a table and chairs.
"This is the testing room," Tammy said. Her attention suddenly went to the table, and she raised an eyebrow.
Lana followed her gaze and saw a small lump of what seemed to be marshmellow on the other immaculate table surface. "Am I meant to eat that?" She laughed.
Tammy laughed awkwardly. "Sorry...this was meant to be cleaned up after the last girl...erm...anyway, just ignore that. Welcome to your first day! You got the induction pack, right?"
Lana shrugged. "I glanced at it, I think..." She had not, in fact, glanced at it at all. It was still lying unopened on her kitchen counter.
"GREAT!" Tammy enthused. "We can probably get started then. We'll just be trialling a few of our new candies today. These haven't been tasted by anyone yet, so you're very lucky."
Lana unzipped her jacket, feeling her belly bulge out slightly as she was allowed some room to breathe. She had become very aware of her extra weight, and had found herself sucking in whenever she was around people. For now though, she just quickly took a seat at the table and folded her arms. "Ready to start when you are," she said.
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