“Can’t imagine why she’d think that.” The goddess’s voice was as dry as dust.
Tiffany shrugged as she popped open a can of diet soda. “No idea.” She sounded truly baffled.
“I’d like to meet this Kate.”
“Ohhhh!” Tiffany clapped her hands together with excitement. “We can do lunch.”
“Oh, yes.” The smile on Branwen’s face was just this side of wicked. “Let’s.”
* * *
Kate Llewellyn frowned at herself in the mirror. Mirrors added ten pounds, right? Or was that cameras? Maybe the lighting just sucked. Yeah, that was it. Dressing room lighting was always unflattering.
“Crap.” She’d tried on six different dresses and every one of them made her look like a hippo in a table cloth.
She ripped off the last dress and threw it on the pile of other rejects. Damn it all. If only she were skinny. Then she could walk right into any shop and find cute dresses in her size. Dresses that would make her look good instead of emphasizing everything that was wrong with her body.
She closed he eyes and took a deep breath. She opened them and gave herself a good hard look in the mirror. “Get it together, Kate.”
All she needed was one dress. One halfway decent dress that wouldn’t make her look completely ridiculous. Was that too much to ask?
A knock on the dressing room door nearly sent her into cardiac arrest.
“Miss? I’ve got another one for you to try on.” It was the sales girl.
“Um, great, thanks.” Kate opened the door slightly to grab the dress and stopped to stare at the thing in horror. The shapeless gray monstrosity looked like it belonged at a funeral, not a date. She grabbed the dress anyway and slammed the door shut in the sales girl’s face.
Oh, God, she was going on a date. She hadn’t had a date in…well, in longer than she cared to remember. What had she been thinking? Joining an internet dating site had to be just about the dumbest thing she’d ever done. The place was full of cowboys and personal trainers who were looking for “slender, toned, athletic” women. Something Kate was very definitely not. Two months on the site and this was her first date.
She was still kind of shocked that someone had actually asked her out. And a cute someone at that. Had he not noticed the “plus size” tag on her profile? Had he not looked at all her pictures? Didn’t he know she was…fat?
She looked at the gray blob in her hands. Might as well try it on.
The gray blob actually didn’t look too terrible on her. It fit, which was a plus, and covered up most of her flaws. Maybe with some jewelry and a nice pair of shoes she’d look halfway presentable, if completely blah. It would have to do. Kate was exhausted, irritated, and this was the only dress that had looked close to decent.
With little enthusiasm she headed to the checkout with the gray dress. Maybe she should cancel the date…
* * *
By the time she pulled into the parking lot near the Riverwalk downtown, Kate was shaking so hard she could barely steer. It was a wonder she hadn’t hit somebody with her car on the ride over. Her stomach was such a mass of nerves she doubted she’d be able to eat anything.
Why had she let Tiffany talk her into keeping this date? Tiffany had no idea what it was like to go on dates when you were a bigger person. The men always stared at you like you were some kind of vermin, judging you if you ate too much, rushing out the door as quickly as possible, falling off the planet never to be heard from again. Sometimes the rejection was too much to take.
Kate climbed out of the car, clenching her fingers around her purse straps until her fingers turned white. She could do this. She could. If she ditched this guy, she’d never hear the end of it from Tiffany.
She managed to make it down the walk to Durty Nelly’s despite the shaking of her legs and the skyscraper high heels (something else Tiffany had insisted on). The Irish pub was heaving with tourists and locals alike, drinking cold beer and bobbing to the Irish rock music from the live band. Normally she’d love a place like this, but all Kate could see were all those eyes watching her, judging her.
A couple of overly muscled guys near the door nudged each other so hard they nearly spilled their drinks on their too tight t-shirts. Their stares made it clear they thought she shouldn’t be here. She could almost hear them calling her a fat cow in their minds.
Shame turned Kate’s cheeks bright red. This was why she didn’t go to bars; to avoid asshats like those two. It seemed she couldn’t go anywhere without someone making fun of her because of her weight.
She struggled to hold her head up high and ignore them. She could do this. But Kate was this close to slipping back out the door when she caught sight of her date at one of the tables. Unfortunately he saw her too and waved her over, a broad smile on his face.
Oh, God. Oh, God. He was going to see how fat she really was. He was going to be terribly polite and buy her a drink or two. Then he was going to make some excuse and duck out as quickly as he could. She just knew it.
Think positive, Kate, she told herself sternly. That’s what Tiffany always said. Not that Tiffany needed any positive thinking. She was beautiful and skinny and had men salivating over her left, right, and center. Still, Kate would do her best. She plastered on a smile as she squeezed her way through the crowd and up to the
