Happy Holly Days

"What's the matter, you don't have the Christmas spirit?"

I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Holly answered the phones at work. I spent most of my time down in the lab, but I'd see her every time I had to deliver a status report or a presentation on one of my projects. I'd have to pass the front desk to get to the meeting room, and she'd always deliberately make eye contact. If I was alone, we'd exchange small talk, though she'd rarely say anything if other people were around. But she'd always peek out from behind those auburn locks to give me...the look.

Chemistry isn't the kind of career that makes you a chick magnet, which was fine, because I've never been particularly outgoing. Also, I wasn't going to pretend that I had anything she needed. Holly's boyfriend used to visit her at lunch, pulling up in an ostentatious 4x4 with chrome chicks on the mudflaps. Everything about her attitude said she liked danger, and cruising around town with a bad boy just fit the profile. Dating a quiet lab geek didn't. I always assumed she was just doing it to tease me or see what kind of reaction she'd get.

I was a little surprised when the 4x4 stopped coming to drop off lunch. Gossip got around the lab fast--it was over. Everybody knew Holly was a straight shooter who didn't feel the need to hide her true feelings--she once famously got scolded for making a dirty joke to one of the VPs--so it was assumed that the breakup was by her choice. Everybody felt the same way, though--watch out boys, she'll chew you up, she's a maneater. And of course, that assumed any of us would have had a shot to begin with. Just because you want something doesn't mean you can get it, and I knew enough to stick to the shallow end of the dating pool.

Besides--I figured if "the look" was sincere, she'd initiate. I was naturally shy, but she hadn't been at the summer picnic--she flirted up a storm with me. I wasn't red from sunburn, let's put it that way, But I didn't have the nerve to flirt back, not with 4x4 Guy nearby. All I could think about was my head under one of his tires. His constant presence--even the threat of his presence--kept me at a distance.

But that was then. Right now--in the lab, in my safety zone--Holly stood in front of me, her girl-next-door looks in full effect, buffed nicely by a maroon stretch velvet dress that fell daringly off her shoulder and rode halfway up her thigh. It seemed like she added a loose black belt solely to call attention to her hips.

"What's the matter, you don't have the Christmas spirit?"

I didn't make eye contact. "No, it's that everybody else has had a few too many spirits," I said. "I like my coworkers. I just don't like them when they're drunk off their asses."

"I am innocent until proven intoxicated," she said with a smile. "Actually, I thought you were down here with a mind to spike the punch, whipping up something with more kick."

"Well, that's half true," I said, looking up "I know it looks antisocial, but I haven't been able to get this project off my mind, and I'm so close to a milestone that I figured I'd hide down here for a little while."

"Alex, if I found you, you didn't do a very good job of hiding." She approached my lab bench. "What's so interesting?"

"I'm afraid it's not the cure for cancer," I said, tapping absentmindedly at some keys. "Actually, it's a little embarrassing. But it could turn out to be something really cool, something...well, remember when that distributor was in a few months back? The guy with the eyebrows?"

"Yeah, he was a jerk."

"That's the guy. He wanted us to come up with something like helium, only better. He wanted it to last longer, offer more lift at lower pressures, and of course, he wanted it to cost less. We told him it couldn't be done." I thought about it a second. "That's probably part of why he was a jerk."

"I always thought you guys could do anything."

"Well, that's just it--the suits said they wanted his business anyway, so I've been working on his impossible task ever since. I was told to think outside the proverbial box."

"Nice," she said sarcastically. "So when you made that an action item, did everybody get everybody on the same page with your proactive new paradigm?"

"Everybody wasn't involved. I've been working alone."

"No, I meant...never mind," she said. "So I take it you found something outside the box."

"Yeah. I broke a few rules, tried a few unorthodox methods, some organic...I won't bore you, but I found...well, not what he wanted, but something interesting."

"Oooh," she purred. Her eyes lit up a little bit when I told her I was a rule-breaker. "Can you show me?"

"I can't show anybody," I smiled. "It's an invisible gas. But it's got most of the properties that guy wanted, only no lift. It'd be worthless to him but valuable to other people."

"So you've invented a helium substitute that doesn't lift things off the ground," she said mockingly. "On planet Earth, we call that 'air.'"

"Ah, but not this kind of air," I replied, a little excited to be reveal some details. "This is not your garden-variety oxygen mix. It behaves differently, reacts with certain things in unusual ways. And sometimes you want to make things expand without making them fly," I said, turning a little red. "There are potential...cosmetic applications."

"Cosmetic..." she said. "You mean...?" She cupped her breasts slightly, smiling.

I must have turned pinker still. I didn't really mean to go into all this, but I was kind of flustered by her presence and I was excited to finally be able to talk to someone about what I was working on. "Um, well, yeah, but I was thinking subtler, like wrinkle removal or lip augmentation. This stuff could be a substitute, something safer and cheaper that you could go and get added every few months--maybe even do it yourself. And it wouldn't be permanent--the goal is to make it stable enough that it would stay where you wanted it to be, but slowly dissipate over time. When it runs out, you just go back to get a refill, like any other prescription."

"So if I wanted to fill out my bikini in the summer, I could go in, tell the doctor to give me a few pumps, and start turning heads."

"You already do that," I said, and instantly regretted it. She smiled. So much for the secret part of "secret admirer."

"Flattery will get you everywhere. I'm sold."

I quickly went back to staring at the screen, even though I wasn't really looking at anything. "Well, let's hope the company is too, so they can turn around and sell it to someone else."

"No, I mean, this sounds awesome. I want some."

I looked up. She'd started scanning the room in detail, looking around at the equipment. "Excuse me?"

"This stuff--Air Plus, Super Air, whatever you decide to call it--sounds fantastic. Let's try it out."

"You're serious. Um, no."

"Why not?" she said, grabbing bits of equipment from the supply cabinet. "I trust you."

"It's not a matter of trust," I said, too stunned to move. "Let's forget the insane ethical issues here for a second--JH-12 isn't done. Everything I've told you works only in theory."

"Well, you have to prove theories, right?" she said, grabbing a fistful of rubber tubing and heading for a tank labeled "JH-12" in my handwriting. "Look, JH--'Just for Holly,' and the 12 is for December!" She turned to face me and feigned humility. "I'm flattered, really, but with a name like JH-12, it's never going to sell. You can use the name Super Air. I don't mind."

Before I could even process what was going on, Holly had shoved the tubing onto the nozzle of the tank and held the other end between her teeth. She reached out to turn the valve.

"No!" I cried, and thrust my hand out to knock hers away. And I did--but I managed to open the valve in the process, which was exactly what she wanted. She sealed her lips around the tube and inhaled as a loud hiss escaped from the tank.

I immediately flicked the valve closed again. She took the hose from her lips and giggled at me, a naughty child who just peeked at her Christmas presents and got away with it.

"Holly...are you alright? We've got to get you to the hospital."

"For what?" she laughed. "For breathing? 'Oh, doctor, you have to help me, I...inhaled!'" "'Well, young lady,'" she said in a deeper voice, mimicking an older man, "'my advice is to exhale and repeat the process, or you'll die."

"It's not funny, Holly. I have no idea what that's going to do to you."

"I do--it's going to make me irresistible," she said. "Besides, I didn't breathe hardly any of it in, and so far, all it's doing is making me feel tingly inside." She looked down at herself as if expecting to see something happening.

And then something did. I heard a strange sound, a combination of a stretch and a hiss.

Holly started to swell.

It wasn't much, but it was noticeable because I was looking for it. Truth was, I did have an idea of what it was going to do to her, and I was right. Her chest moved slightly as her breasts seemed to fill out a little more. Her hips flared out a small amount and I saw the lower hem of her clingy dress move.

Holly's mouth dropped open as she stared at her chest. She ran her hands over her hips and up the sides of her breasts. It was difficult to watch, but impossible not to watch. Just that small amount of the gas gave her form some notable definition--curves, as they say, in all the right places.

Her instant reaction was joy--perhaps too much. “If this is a little,” she said, “I want a lot!” In one fluid motion, she put the hose back in her mouth, flicked open the valve, and basically hyperventilated. “No!” I cried, shutting the canister down. “What are you doing?"

“I'm trying something new,” she said, inhaling deeply, catching the last few vapors. “It’s fantastic! I feel great,” she said, admiring her reflection in the mirrored surface of one of the chrome cabinets, “and I look even better!”

“It’s highly unstable,” I stammered. “This isn't even even the latest mix. It's never been tested, for Christ's sake!”

“Can't say that now," she purred, refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing. "And I think the first test is officially a success,” She adjusted her dress to accentuate her positives. “Don’t you?” Her dress did look a bit more rounded around the edges; her hips and bust seemed fuller, sexier. I had to admit—she looked good.

But I didn't have to say anything. One look at me let her know she was right.

My emotions were totally scrambled. I was furious and scared, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious to see what would happen next--on a personal level, on a scientific level, on an impending-disaster level. "Holly, if a little sip of that stuff made you...swell..." I had trouble getting the word out. "You breathed in a lot more the second time, and I...I just don't know how it's going to affect you."

"Oh, you'll know," she said, and started running her hands up and down her sides again. "Since I feel all tingly again, I think we'll both know, right...about...now."

The hiss-stretch sound returned. Holly tugged her dress downward and planted her feet firmly on the ground, steadying herself for whatever was about to happen.

The top of her dress moved. Her breasts had started to swell again, deliberately, same as before. The stretch velvet clung to her hips and I watched as her rear round out a bit more. Holly looked at herself, thrilled. "Oh yes," she said with a wicked grin. "Oh Alex...you're a genius."

She was starting to look noticeably rounder. The maroon velvet caught the light as it eased itself around her increasing curves, urged on by a steady, insistent hissing. Her breasts had grown about a cup size, but I couldn't stop the gears in my head from turning. Fat absorption? Cell mutation? Skin inflation? I had to know how it was happening.

"Holly," I said softly, venturing slowly toward her. "How do you feel?"

"Wonderful," she said, throwing her head back and laughing. "But don't take my word for it." She grabbed my arm, pulled me right to her, and placed my hands right on her ass, grinning as she stared me down. "How do I feel?"

I went completely red. She felt...soft. I could feel the tingle--a slight vibration under her skin, almost like a hum. I heard her bra creak slightly--her chest had grown another cup size while I stood there, dumbfounded. If her undergarments were uncomfortable, she didn't show it. She looked euphoric.

"Holly, this is dangerous, you could--"

Her tongue interrupted mine. With a sudden and forceful kiss, she pushed me backwards against the lab bench, thrusting her chest into mine.

"You're sweet, Alex--a total gentleman." She spoke softly but firmly, but not loud enough to cover the stretching, hissing sound coming from inside her. "You've always treated me with respect. Your little experiment here is giving me what I want"--she cupped her breasts again--"and I know it's what you want. Think of it as a holiday gift exchange, Alex. You have my permission. No more Mr. Nice Guy."

Something snapped, and I attacked her like a hungry octopus. And when I say something snapped, I mean, literally, something snapped--I think it might have been one of her bra hooks giving up under the strain. My trademark shyness merely a memory, I let my hands skim up and down her torso. She was downright voluptuous now, every curve accentuated, softly swollen but resilient to the touch, deliciously warm.

The JH-12 had chosen all the right targets. Her dress' neckline stretched to reveal increasing cleavage--once a B-cup, her bra now strained to contain full and steadily growing Ds. Her hips kept apace, flaring out in sharp arcs, and I could feel her rounded rear for myself. Her belt had shimmied up from her hips to her stomach, and as I glanced down, I saw the start of a curve at her belly.

"This tingling isn't going away...it's incredible," she said, once again grinding up against me. Her expansion had been extremely steady--the hissing sounds hadn't increased in volume or pitch and she had no sudden reactions to whatever was really happening inside her. "I wonder how long this will last!"

I wondered too. Even though I should have been preoccupied, I kept hearing my own words repeated in my head--'no idea what this is going to do to you'...'unstable'...'this is dangerous.' But I couldn't see anything but pleasure and a wicked determination on Holly's face--she didn't seem to be in any pain.

But she didn't seem to be slowing down either. Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "Oh my god, I can't believe this is going to happen...hold on, watch this..." She backed away from me, flexed her arms at the elbows. "I'm going to bust out of my bra!"

She held her breath and I held mineI heard stitches popping and watched in disbelief at the movement under her dress. Then...pop! Streeetch...tick...pop! Streeee-e-e-tch...ticktick...tick...POP! Holly gasped in delight as each of the clasps on her bra gave way. She reached down her dress and triumphantly pulled out the damaged strapless garment, holding it aloft like a trophy. "I have always wanted to do that!"

It wasn't like she needed the bra anymore anyway. Her breasts were almost spherical, like balloons. Her palms caressed the sides of her hissing boobs, now fully DD and approaching F. "When I was a girl, I always wanted...you know, dreamed of being big when I grew up, like the older girls who used to get all the attention," she said excitedly. Clearly, she'd wanted to tell someone this for a long time. "But it didn't run in my family, so I figured, stick it out in this shit job until I could save up for implants. But now...now they're so big!"

"Holly," I said carefully, "Holly, that hissing sound, it hasn't stopped, and I think..." I lowered my voice because I couldn't believe what I was about to say. "I think you're inflating." She cocked her head to the side slightly, gave me a thin, flirty smile, and inhaled deeply at the thought of it. I tried to shake it off. "But you're still growing. Everywhere."

That wasn't technically true. She sported an exaggerated hourglass--big up top, impossibly curvy hips, a generous rear, and just the hint of a belly, with slightly thicker thighs. But there was no doubt that voluptuous was steadily turning to cartoonish.

"I don't care!" she cried. "It feels amazing, and I'm blowing up in all the right places. Oh, god, look at me! I'm so fucking sexy!"

She continued to swell and squeal with delight as she explored her inflated form. Holly's body had blown up lusciously to three or four times her original size. Her chest strained against her dress, pulling it down to reveal deep cleavage between nearly spherical ballooned breasts. Her pumped hips and plumped posterior looked taut and firm from the increasing pressure. And by now, her belly had swollen out to meet resistance from her belt, slightly constraining her middle, perfectly cinching her hourglass figure.

As if aware that perfection had been achieved, the hissing tapered off, and I no longer heard the stretching noise. When Holly realized her swelling had stopped, she actually pouted for a second, then ran her fingers experimentally around her chest, down the sides of her belly, along her ample hips and around to a generous bubble butt. She liked what she felt.

Holly's stretch velvet dress accommodated her luscious new curves as best it could, but she couldn't keep it from rolling up her smooth, rounded thighs a bit. Holly wiggled out of her overstretched panties, hopped up on the lab table, and instantly found herself surprised at her bottom's new buoyancy. She bounced slightly, then sat with crossed legs to accentuate her hips.

"Come here, Mr. Nice Guy," she said with a beckoning finger.

I was completely over the shy thing. The woman in front of me was everything I had been lusting after, amplified beyond even my wildest fantasies. Her curves were simply irresistible. My lust finally took over and beat my logic centers into submission. She wanted this. And I wanted her more than anything in the world.

I approached the table, grinning. Holly took my arm with one hand and, with the other, grabbed the rubber tubing, still connected to the tank marked JH-12. "You may be a mad scientist," she teased, reclining. "But I'm the one who's going to drive you crazy."