  The brightest ultraluminous X-ray source currently known, HLX-1, has been
observed to undergo five outburst cycles. The periodicity of these outbursts,
and their high inferred maximum accretion rates of $\sim{\rm few}\times 10^{-4}
M_\odot {\rm yr}^{-1}$, naturally suggest Roche lobe overflow at the pericenter
of an eccentric orbit. It is, however, difficult for the Roche lobe overflow
model to explain the apparent trend of decreasing decay times over the
different outbursts while the integrated luminosity also drops. Thus if the
trend is real rather than simply being a reflection of the complex physics of
accretion disks, a different scenario may be necessary. We present a
speculative model in which, within the last decade, a high-mass giant star had
most of its envelope tidally stripped by the $\sim 10^{4-5} M_\odot$ black hole
in HLX-1, and the remaining core plus low-mass hydrogen envelope now feeds the
hole with a strong wind. This model can explain the short decay time of the
disk, and could explain the fast decrease in decay time if the wind speed
increases with time. A key prediction of this model is that there will be
excess line absorption due to the wind; our analysis does in fact find a flux
deficit in the $\sim 0.9-1.1$ keV range that is consistent with predictions,
albeit at low significance. If this idea is correct, we also expect that within
tens of years the bound material from the original disruption will return and
will make HLX-1 a persistently bright source.
