Chapter 4

The next day he was determined to get back on his diet. He ate only a muesli and yoghurt breakfast, before heading the the gym for an at-work workout.

Kiyana came in late in the day. She hopped on the treadmill next to Sean, who was running. He slowed down so they could talk more easily. Sean tried not to peek at her jiggling breats.

"So, I broke up with Damien last night," she said without preamble.

Sean nearly lost his footing on the treadmill. His heart lept up.

"Oh, really?" he said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Nah," she said. "It was my idea. I don't think cheating is right, and there's someone else I want to ask out."

"Oh," said Sean, heart sinking again. Of course anyone as nice as Kiyana would have loads of guys after her.

"So, you want to go out for dinner tomorrow night?"

"What? Yes!"

Kiyana smiled.

"Good."

Sean called Damien when he got home from work. It wasn't exactly that he needed Damien's permission, but he wanted to give his friend a heads-up and make sure he was okay.

"You sound chipper," Damien grumbled.

"I have a date!"

"You have a date?! Will wonders never cease? When did this happen?"

"Today at work," said Sean. "That's kind of why I'm calling. It's, um, it's with Kiyana."

To Sean's surprise, Damien started to laugh.

"What," said Sean.

"Ah, you're finally coming around to my way of thinking!" crowed Damien.

"It's not that, i just really think Kiyana is.. nice," said Sean, blushing.

"That she is," said Damien. 'Well, it's cool. Just don't make a habit of stealing my girls, okay? Anyway, I have a date lined up for Saturday with Abigail, this girl I met at the club..."

On Friday, Sean met Kiyana at her door. She owned a car, he didn't, so she drove to the restaurant. He thought she looked amazing in her blue maxi dress, and said so. The restaurant was a pasta place.

"They make their own," Kiyana explained. 'It's soooo good."

Sean tensed. Eating out was a normal part of dating. He had to be able to do it. They sat and opened the menus. Everything was swimming in cream sauce or olive oil. He looked at the salad section, put he could smell tomatoes and garlic and... his stomach rumbled. When the waitress came, he ordered the lasagna.

It came on a plate, a huge piece stuffed with mushroms and zucchini and meat and cheese. It was accompanied by a crisp side sald and two slices of garlic bread. Kiyana was having the squash ravioli.

They ate and talked. Kiyana was in her first year of a master's program in economics and she told him all about the departmental drama-rama. He laughed a lot.

"So, what do you do other than go to the gym?" she asked at one point.

"I, uh..."

"Do you still draw? Damien showed me some of your drawings."

"No, I don't really have time for that art stuff," said Sean. "It's funny, it used to make me so happy. What happened to me?"

He took another bite of his lasagna. He felt good, pleasantly full and with a lovely lady, for once. What had happened to him? He remembered that there had been a time when he'd felt like this frequently, before Lisa had dumped him.

"Can't answer that. Would you like some dessert?" asked Kiyana in a breathy voice.

"I can't," said Sean.

Kiyana looked at him in a puzzled way.

"It's just, I used to be fat," Sean plunged on. 'Like really fat, 250 pounds. And if I, if I go off my diet, I gain really easily."

"So?"

&quo t;So I don't want to be gross and disgusting!"

Kiyana stood up, tears in her eyes.

"Is that how you really feel?" she said. "Like this is gross and disgusting?"

She started to walk away. Sean stood and ran after her.

"Wait, Kiyana, wait!" he called, following her out into the parking lot. "That's not what I feel at all. I think you're beautiful and sexy and every day in the gym I've been going crazy, trying not to think bad thoughts about you..."

Kiyana stopped and turned around.

"Then why did you say that?"

"It's just... there was someone who said that to me, once. That I was gross and disgusting."

"What?" she grabbed his hand. "That's crazy."

They were standing close, in the light of a streetlamp. Kiyana was nearly as tall as him, 5'8" or 5'9"... she was leaning in and suddenly he had his arms around her soft waist and they were kissing and it was every bit as good as he had imagined.

After a while, Kiyana leaned back contemplatively.

"You know, I've always wanted a boyfriend who's bigger than me," she said. "If you gained a bit, I wouldn't mind."

Sean gaped.

"How about that dessert, then?" he said.