The Quarantine 15: Prologue

 Quarantine Day 1

“This doesn’t feel real.”

“Yeah, it’s freaking me out.”

“I’m not sure what to do with myself.”

“We should probably go to the grocery store.”

Three twenty-something roommates, Alex, Emilio, and Asia, sat in their cramped living room watching the shelter in place announcement on a laptop. Foolishly, the three of them had not taken the news of COVID-19 seriously until now. Without notice, it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under them and panic was beginning to set in. 

“I’m going to my parent’s house,” Asia said and left the room. 

She began packing her belongings into a suitcase while Alex and Emilio remained in the living room. The boys’ parents were not within driving distance which meant they had no choice but to hunker down in their tiny apartment as the virus inevitably swept through the city. Asia was packed in record time and gave her roommates tight hugs before piling into her car and driving away. Alex and Emilio were left alone. After a short discussion they decided they had no choice but to head to the grocery store and stock up. 

Emilio headed to his room to put on jeans. He slid his favorite pair up over his sloping rear and admired his ass in the mirror. He’d been working out lately and was finally seeing results, particularly in his glutes. Emilio had been a twink all his life and loathed his slender frame. He wanted some muscles and bulkiness in order to feel more masculine, and that was slowly coming to fruition. He worried that gym closures would hamper his progress. 

Meanwhile, Alex tidied his close cropped beard in the mirror. Alex was also slender, but with all his body hair he was undeniably an otter. Like Emilio, Alex also wished he was beefier but he was not working out at all. Alex was attracted to thick men with plump butts, muscles and even a bit of chub. Naturally, he wanted to look similarly, but could never muster the energy to go to the gym. 

Arriving at the nearest grocery store, the roommates were shocked. For the past week they’d heard of people stocking up, but this was unlike anything they’d ever seen. People had carts piled high with everything you could imagine. Items were rapidly disappearing from shelves, cleaning products had been eviscerated and toilet paper was long gone. Lines to check out wrapped around the store. They had no choice but to follow suit. 

The boys grabbed as many non-perishables and frozen food as they could find before loading up on produce. They grabbed what remained but with their cart significantly less full than those around them, they felt pressured to keep shopping. Neither were particularly prone to junk food but they decided to grab several bags of chips and crackers and cookies.

“Man, sour cream and onion chips,” Alex said wistfully. “These bring me back to my days as a fat kid.”

“I didn’t know you were a fat kid,” Emilio replied. “What happened?”

“I got pretty big after a skateboarding accident. Then I hit puberty and it all went away.”

Alex threw two bags of the sour cream and onion chips in the cart. Emilio had more of a sweet tooth and gravitated towards the oreos, grabbing a couple different flavors. Next, they stocked up on wine and beer. Not knowing what else to grab, they found their way to the back of the winding line up to the register. 

Carrying their groceries home was a definite workout. By the time they were inside their apartment, their muscles were quivering and they had no energy to unpack what they had just bought. They took a breather on the couch before putting everything away. Alex’s phone dinged. 

“Well, looks like I’ll be working from home, as expected. It’s kind of weird though, being an office manager without a physical office to manage. I mean, I definitely have work I can do but still…”

Alex was employed at a small recruiting firm and had worked his way up from a mere assistant over the course of three years. Lately, he was busier than ever but he was also paid a higher salary than he’d ever seen. Prior to his promotion, Alex was an amateur chef in his own right. He cooked exquisite meals every night and had an expansive, self-taught, culinary knowledge. But his efforts withered the busier he became. He simply had no time to devote to cooking. 

Emilio, on the other hand, hated cooking. He bought meals as often as he could afford and only cooked bare bones dishes if he had to. However, he was fond of baking given his sweet tooth. Still, Emilio barely found the time to devote to baking. 

“I’m sure I’ll be getting the same email soon,” Emilio replied. He did bookkeeping at a nonprofit and could easily work from home. 

“I think from here on out it’s just gonna be you and me bud.” 

“Let’s hope we don’t get sick of each other!” Emilio half-jokingly teased. 

That prospect was in the back of both boys’ minds. They were good friends and enjoyed each other's company, but hanging out 24/7 was a different story. Plus, with Asia out of the house the dynamic would unquestionably be shifted. 

“This is going to be quite the ride,” Alex speculated. “I mean, no bars, no friends, no going out to eat. Shit… no sex even.”

An awkward silence briefly hung in the air. Although Alex and Emilio were occasionally flirtatious, neither saw relationship potential in the other. Besides, they both enjoyed beefier men. 

“Yeah… it’s gonna be rough,” Emilio sighed. 

“Well, fuck it! I’m gonna take this time to cook my little heart out and do everything I’ve been too busy to accomplish," Alex exclaimed. "Let’s just be lazy and get fucking fat! Who cares! It’s not like we’ll be getting laid!”