chapter 1

Wait! Stop!! You know who you are. That's right, I caught you girl. Oh, you tried to hide it, but you just couldn't, could you? That look of disgust! And then THE QUESTION popped into your head. You know the one. "How could anyone let themselves go like that?". I know that look and I definitely know that question because just over a year ago that was ME!

Yes, I know you'll find it hard to believe but just about a year ago I looked like YOU. I wasn't what you'd call skinny, but I was a long way from fat. Not even chubby. I thought I was just average. I stood five feet six inches tall and weighed 128 pounds on a good day. I was a size six/eight. 34 B bra, 28/29 inches around the waist. Nothing remarkable. Like YOU!!

By the way, I'm Scarlett! Scarlett Elizabeth Taylor to be exact. I have dark auburn hair, cut very short now and hazel/green eyes. Not bad looking if you can see past the fat. We'll get to THAT story in a minute.

Just about a year ago I was a hostess in an upscale restaurant. I was making fairly good money and I liked my job. Met a lot of interesting people. Being a hostess and relatively attractive, if I do say so myself, the guys would hit on me. And I'd date, but nothing special.

One Friday night after work, a friend of mine introduced me to her brother Rick. I'll be honest with you, it wasn't love at first sight. Rick was OK in the looks department. A little doughy around the edges. Thinning hair. Black horn rim glasses. Being a teacher, he was smart in a slightly nerdish kind of way. But he DID have a certain boyish charm.

We went to a bar, had a couple of drinks and just talked. Rick was a lot more interesting than my first impression of him. He was funny and kind of goofy in an attractive sort of way. He was nice and he was attentive. He actually listened to me. He paid attention to what I had to say and showed he really enjoyed my company. So when my friend Sally trundled off to the little girls' room, Rick asked me for a date and I accepted.

We went out a couple of times. Nothing fancy. A dinner one day. A movie and a walk in the park the next. But, unbeknownst to me, I was falling under Rick's spell. I guess you could call it love. All I knew was that when I was with Rick, the rest of the world just seemed to float away. My mind seemed lost in a fog somehow, but I didn't care because I was happy.