Eurovision queen

chapter 9

With a week to go, Maggie’s weight loss was not going as well as it should. Alvin could not understand it. She appeared to be sticking to his programme, so her weight loss should have continued to go down significantly. Maggie knew why the programme was not working. It wasn’t just the chips she’d eaten in the park, it was the half dozen doughnuts she’d eaten after a disastrous choreography session. It was the double cheese burger she’d eaten last week when she’d been too hungry to carry on. It was the slice (well, 2 slices) of birthday cake for Marjorie in the office.
She returned for another dress fitting. This time the shapewear slid on significantly better. The zip on the dress did up, but it was still much too tight to look sexy. They also had not tackled the fact that the shapewear wasn’t visible at the top.
One of the alterations women belonging to the shop suggested a slit in the skirt might help. Ideally it should have gone to the back, but it couldn’t because the small train was In the way. If it went to the side seam it might look odd. It would have to go up the front. To make it look less tight around the middle they could try letting the seams out a bit. It would only give them an extra half centimetre though because the seam allowances were so small. They might have to put an extra panel in the dress. That would be easy if it was not for the train. Two small panels would have to go in the sides. They would not be able to get them to match, no matter how many crystals they added, so it might be better if they made the panels a feature, maybe a contrasting fabric.
A stylist suggested Maggie wore something like a bridal bolero to cover the visible shape wear. They could easily dye it red to match the dress.
Maggie suggested she wore another dress. Why did she have to fit the dress? Why could it not be the other way around?
They ignored her and talked over her as if she was not there. It was not her decision to make.
On the other hand, they invested heavily in her. If she lost the competition, they lost their investment.

They discussed the next course of action over a coffee. Maggie salivated over the cakes and biscuits under the counter. She could barely hear the conversation because she was so hungry. The imagined taste and texture of the chocolate chip cookies filled her head. They would be sweet and crisp, yet chewy in the middle with explosions of chocolatey goodness inside.

The black coffee did nothing to fill her up. She was still hungry. They had decided to take her to a bridal shop to look at the boleros. They might just have something in red. That would avoid the risk they would take dying a white garment red. It could all turn out horribly wrong and end up costing even more money.