Chapter 14

"She clocked in at 378 pounds with a BMI of 59.2%. Up 260 pounds from our records." Julia said, retrieving the measurements clipboard from the intern and dismissing her from the room. Sarah hung her head in shame. Stepping on the scale had been the most humiliating part of today's ordeal. Hearing that number felt like it was a label of her self-worth, or lack of worth. When Sarah had first gotten Freia's bodyweight, she'd been 340 pounds. Yet on her own, she'd managed to put on nearly 40 pounds in five months. That in its own right was embarrassing. She'd never put on as much as 2 pounds since she was 18.

Quinton stood up and walked over, looking at Sarah, and then turned to Julia. "Good god, Julia, she's a disaster. We should've kept a closer eye on this one. She looks like a cow." Quinton walked around Sarah, looking at her top to bottom, while Sarah kept her eyes on the floor. It felt demeaning to be called a cow, but Sarah knew better than to say anything. The best she could do was try and fight the twinge of arousal that spiked between her legs when Quinton had compared her to a farm animal. "Alright, give the H&M contract to Chelsea or Beth." Quinton then stood behind Sarah, beside Julia, who was taking down some notes. "Looks like the food was good on that little sabbatical she took. I've never seen anything quite like this, Julia. Never in all my years." Quinton said as if Sarah wasn't even in the room.

"Get this.. Apparently, it wasn't food that did this." Julia said, a hint of rare joy in her voice. "Sarah.." Sarah turned slowly to see a knowing, mocking smile on Julia's face and a reserved scowl on Quinton's. Julia continued. "Tell Quinton what you told me."

"I.. I.." Sarah didn't want to repeat the truth with her confidence entirely shot. "Sorry, I didn't say anything. It was nothing." Sarah said, trying to dismiss what she'd told Julia earlier.

Unphased, Julia jumped right in. "She said she traded bodies with some fat girl. Can you believe that?"

Quinton's scowl turned to a wry smile, finding some humor in an otherwise grim situation. "Well, I've heard my share of excuses over the years, but that one is pretty original.. I'll give her that. Guess that means there is some new skinny model out there we should look to sign." Quinton joked, which prompted a rare bit of laughter out of Julia.

Putting down her clipboard, Julia walked up to Sarah and started inspecting fat pockets on her body as if Sarah was a mannequin. "What do you think, Liposuction or gastric bypass?" Julia asked Quinton while prodding Sarah's lower belly.

Quinton put his hands in his pockets and looked deep in thought. "lipo is a no go. She's too fat for it. Even if she wasn't, the procedure could leave scars. Gastric would take too long for my comfort to work, given her size. Plus, we'd have to get her surgery to get rid of the excess skin afterward, and that brings us back to the risk of scars. Expensive risk to take too." Quinton walked over and started inspecting Sarah himself, running a hand from her hip down her outer thigh "See. Take a look at her saddle bags and cellulite on her thighs. It's a wonder she doesn't have noticeable stretch marks, but it'll be hard to erase the damage done if we can get the excess weight off of her."

"Why not Photoshop any scars out of her shoots if it comes to that?" Julia mentioned, running a finger under Sarah's belly, causing Sarah to tremble. Sarah was trying to stay silent and still while her body was being poked by two people discussing her future in front of her without her input.

"That would work for shoots, but not for runways. I'm not going to settle for someone I can't maximize value from. We need our girls to do both." Quinton stated matter of factually.

Julia walked behind Sarah and prodded a bit of her backfat. "What about the old-fashioned way? Diet and a personal trainer? We could turn her into some inspirational story or some crap like that. People eat that relatable stuff up."

Quinton took a moment to consider that as he watched Julia continue to prod Sarah like she was a dairy cow at an auction he was considering buying. "The hunger for that kind of fat to fit stuff died when the biggest loser went off the air. Plus, even if she does lose all the weight.. which I doubt she will.. We're back to the issue of the excess skin. Don't see a way around that."

Sarah wished there was a bag she could hyperventilate into, overwhelmed by the conversation playing out in front of her. If she'd had more courage, she would've spoken up, but she was used to being silent while standing or posing how other people wanted her to.

"Hmm.. Quinton, do you know any agency looking for plus models right now? We could offload her to them. Probably would get a decent finders fee." Julia offered.

Plus modeling? Sarah thought she'd rather die than pose her now-massive body for any plus-size shoot. The fact that they were even considering her as a plus-size model felt surreal in the worst way possible.

Quinton rubbed his chin. "I do know of a few agencies that are looking in the bay area. But they're looking for plus girls in the low to mid 200s, not upper 300s. Work for plus models that big are pretty rare to come by, I've heard. Plus, her.." Quinton picked up the measurement clipboard "..48-53-71 proportions are all off. What was she at before?"

"We had her at a 33-22-33." Julia answered, not even needing to look at her notes.

"Ah see.. it's a shame she's hasn't retained the ratio. Her bust size is too small compared to her hip and waist ratio. Most of my contacts in the plus industry want hourglasses, not pears. And again, she's rather lumpy looking around the hips and upper thighs, plus her stomach is too saggy and distracting." Quinton said, continuing to talk as if Sarah wasn't in the room.

There was a long pause while Quinton stood there thinking while Julia inspected Sarah's ass. "I see what you're saying. Take a look at how her butt is littered with cellulite too. And then these love handles.." Julia proceeded to grab at Sarah's love handle and heft it. "Look at how droopy they are, hanging and making a fold here over her panty line. Not even a hint of youthful perkiness anywhere on her body either. Maybe you're right. I don't see how anyone could clean this mess up."

"Well, that settles it." Quinton said, putting his hands together and walking towards the door. "Clearly, she's far too fat to model here. Terminate her contract and send her on her way." He said coldly, walking out the door.

Julia ended her prodding and walked to face Sarah, who was trying to deal with the shock of what Quinton had just said. "Sarah, your contract with us is officially concluded. Please see Veronica up front, and she'll have information for you on your severance. We appreciate your work over the years, but you understand we have to look towards the future. We can't take on any models that don't meet our size and metric requirements." Julia's cold demeanor dropped for a second as a look of genuine sincerity came across. "Please.. take care of yourself."

Sarah didn't know what to say, still filled with shock. Even though the decision made sense, it still hurt deeply, given the circumstances. Finally, Sarah responded, realizing she'd been standing there silent for a few seconds. "Th.. Thank you.." Sarah said, wishing she could say much more.

After dressing and emerging from the fitting room, there were nearly a dozen models Sarah knew very well, hanging around the outside as if they had been listening in. While everyone looked shocked, Beth, an up-and-coming raven-haired resting bitch face beauty, looked like she was enjoying the scene. The first thing she heard someone whisper was, "Ew, Is that really Sarah?" Not wanting to look at their faces, Sarah kept her head down and walked away as quickly as she could. Away from the career that had given her everything. Away from the gossiping friends she'd known for years. Away from the slim hope that everything would be back to normal once she found Freia.

"Sarah?" A kind voice called, after Sarah walked to reception. Sarah recognized the voice and turned, meeting eyes with her best friend, Chelsea.

Chelsea's mouth dropped open, gasping, hands covering her mouth in shock. "Oh my god! Sarah?! how..!?" They stared at each other for a good long while until the emotions of the day were too much to carry. Sarah burst into tears.

Despite the shock, Chelsea walked over to her friend and brought her into a hug, trying to comfort her. Sarah nearly knocked Chelsea over with her weight as she sobbed into her shoulder, thankful for the consolement. "Chelsea.. I need help." Sarah cried, feeling as if her life was over.

"Shh. It's okay, Sarah. I'm here for you." Chelsea said, rubbing Sarah's shoulders tenderly.

The two stood in the lobby for a while longer until Sarah's tears had dried up. Eventually, after Sarah collected her severance package, Chelsea got Sarah an uber home and promised to come by later to talk things out. Even though the walls around Sarah felt like they had all fallen down, there was reassurance that Chelsea would be able to help her make things right again.