chapter 3 - first day at work with the virus

You wake up... tired. You yawn and stretch. You're already awake. You look at the clock. 6:30 AM. You need to be at work in an hour and a half. No one at work knows about your condition. You decide keep quiet and wait and see how long it takes before someone says something.

You look in the mirror and frown. You've put on a few pounds, but you still look OK. You shower and get dressed. You walk down the stairs and into the kitchen, where you find your mom eating breakfast.

"Would you like me to make something for you?" she asks.
"No, I'm not hungry," you say.
"It's no trouble!" she says.
"Really, I'm fine," you say. You turn to leave the house. You feel a little guilty leaving your mom to cook and eat breakfast by herself, but it's no big deal. You walk to work in silence, feeling the stares of people you pass. People have always looked at your body, but the stares are different today. Less admiring... more... disapproving.

You get to work and walk inside.

"Morning, Jocelyn," says your boss, Roger.
"Good morning, Roger," you reply.
In the next few hours, you go about your usual routine. Your boss asks you questions about your weekend, and you answer. Every now and then, some random co-worker walks up to you and starts talking. You have no idea why, but it seems like everyone in this place is talking to you today. You catch a few of them checking you out as they walk away.

At lunchtime, you go to the break room, find a chair at a table by yourself, and begin to eat your meal in peace. A girl you haven't seen around before walks over to you.

"Hi, I'm Clara. What's your name?" she asks in a slightly rude way.
"I'm Jocelyn," you reply.
"What time do you get off?"
"At 5:00, like everyone else in the office," you say.
"Do you want to go get a drink with me after work?" she asks.
"I don't know. What did you have in mind?"
"We could go to that bar down the street. Or we could go to my place. It's whatever. I just thought we could get to know each other better. You work at that law firm, right? What's it called again? Oh yeah, R&P."
You nod.
"I work at the advertising company, right next door," she says. "I just started today. I actually got the job through a cute guy I was talking to at the bar last weekend."
"What's his name? Is he cute?" you ask, intentionally being rude.
Clara rolls her eyes. "His name is Evan and, yeah, he's cute."
"Oh, I've met Evan. He's nice, and a definite hottie. Are you dating?"
"No! I'm not ready to date yet! Besides, I'm sure you have a boyfriend."
You laugh, and you feel your butt grow and spread to the sides. You try to ignore it. Boyfriend... shit! You haven't told Jason about your condition yet. You realize you were blocking that from your mind. How will he react? You notice Clara looking at you and remember you're in middle of a conversation. "No, I meant are you dating Evan! Yes, I have a boyfriend." You blush.
"I knew what you meant," Clara says. "I was just teasing you. No, I'm not dating Evan. We just really hit it off, and he thought I would fit in at the office."
"Oh." You notice the time. Your lunch break is almost over. "Well, I should probably get back to work. Wanna meet here at 5:00 and decide what to do then?"
"Sure," she says. "See you then."
You stand up, definitely noticing the extra pounds now. As you walk out of the room, you look back and notice Clara looking at your jiggly butt. You both blush. You walk back to your desk and sit down.

That was a fun lunch break.

The rest of the day goes by slowly. At least it feels that way. Each hour that passes seems to be eternity. At 5:00, you go to the break room. Clara is already there waiting for you. When you walk in, she looks up and smiles.
"Hey, did you decide what we should do?" she asks.
"Yeah, we're going to that bar," you say. "My friends and I think it's great."
Clara seems relieved. "Perfect, I thought I was going to be stuck at home binge-watching Queen's Gambit."