chapter 2

From this point on we became a regular thing. Rick came to my apartment. I stayed at his condo. Our lives sort of tangled up together. I was so infatuated that I wasn't paying attention to certain little changes. My skinny jeans hardly ever fit now. My bras started to get a bit tight on me, which came as a big surprise since I hadn't changed sizes since I was in high school. And I started to get just a tad uncomfortable in my clothes.

I know, I should have figured out by now I was gaining weight. But Rick never said a word about it. If anything, he was becoming MORE complimentary about my looks, so I figured, if it ain't busted why fix it?

Right about this time I learned my sister Jennifer was pregnant. She only lived about twenty miles from town so I decided to pop in and give her a surprise visit. We hugged and kissed and I patted her tiny baby bump. Then Jen surprised me. She patted what she thought was MY baby bump. Silence. I had to explain to her that while there WAS a man in my life, there certainly was no BABY in my life.

That night as I was preparing for bed, I looked in the mirror. If there were any changes, they were subtle ones. Yes, my belly was a tad bigger and slightly rounder than it had been most of my life. My boobs were a touch bigger and decidedly less perky than they had been the last time I had really checked them out. And I suppose if I were being honest with myself, I'd have to admit I was developing a bit of a bubble butt. Nothing alarming, but decidedly different.

I know in my pre-Rick days, when I got home from Jen's I would have vowed to put myself on a strict diet, lose ten pounds and exercise like a demon. But then Rick called and told me about this fabulous Italian restaurant that was opening that night and would I like to go and break it in with him. Who could resist? A great guy AND great food. So much for diet and exercise.

A couple of weeks passed by and then it happened. There was a private dinner scheduled for my restaurant and I was expected to be there as hostess. The mayor and police chief were going to be there along with a lot of other dignitaries. So I hauled out my slinky black dress that I wore only on special occasions. I immediately knew something was wrong. I was having an especially hard time pulling the dress over my butt and when I tried to zip it up, well needless to say, I was going to need a change of wardrobe! That's also when I stepped on the scale for the first time since before I met Rick. I was shocked. 142 pounds. I may not have been chubby before, but I was fast approaching doughiness now. I hauled out my slightly larger red dress which barely fit. The only consolation was that the dress showed off my larger boobs very well and I knew the mayor was definitely a chest man. But right then and there I decided I had to lose some weight!