I ran into a colleague I hadn’t seen in five or six weeks. She’s funny, sweet, and extremely straightforward—she just says whatever comes to her mind, no filter. You know the type. She stopped, looking surprised, widened her eyes, and grinned: "Wow! You gained some kilos!" Then she gestured in the air around her own imaginary love handles, squeezing them as if she were pinching invisible fat. She looked genuinely amused and taken aback.
I’m not that much heavier, and I haven't really gained that much. But I was very fit to begin with, so I guess it shows. Plus, I think some people are surprised that I, of all people, would gain weight. Normally, I can handle her comments—at work, we tend to be pretty direct with each other. But this time, I just felt my cheeks go red with embarrassment.
To add to it all, it was Friday, and the meeting room was full of croissants. Every time I reached for one, her face lit up with this teasing grin, clearly enjoying herself. She’s in a relationship, which I fully respect, but she still has this way of making a moment both funny and a little too honest—something only she can pull off.
2 weeks
