Better Than Delivery

Chapter 1

Lauren had always been shy and socially awkward. She had been a chubby kid and got bullied a lot as a result. But her insecurities about her body only really started to flourish after her college boyfriend cheated on her with her fit and sporty tennis-playing roommate.

After college she did a variety of remote work. And at 28 she had finally settled into the position of a freelance beta tester and a game moderator for a popular MMO called Triumphant Sword and Shield. She spent 4 plus hours a day on the game, but it wasn't all playing. A lot of it was reading and responding to player concerns, reviewing banned players, and responding to reports of cheating and toxic players.

Her character model was a half elf woman with the body size slider maxed out. Something about playing as a female character who wasn't conventionally attractive always seemed to bring the toxic player base out of the woodwork. It made policing toxic players easier, but it would be a lie to say that hearing every derogatory name in the book for being fat didn't sting her own personal insecurities a little bit. The attention her character received wasn't exclusively negative though.

There was a small guild in the game called The Fluffy Fighters who made a habit of giving rare items and resources to other players who had plus size character models. When she first heard of this, she was sure it had to be some sort of scam or grooming group, but after spending over a week monitoring the guild, she realized there was no malicious intention behind their actions.

Even after she'd finished investigating the guild, she still made time to play with them at least once a week. They were friendly and chill, and it was a nice respite from the usual toxic players she had to deal with. Plus being around people who were positive about different body types was nice, even if it was a little excessive at times. The worst offender of this was a player by the username: Orkagoob88W.

They had spoken in voice chat before, so at the very least she knew he was a man, but other than that she knew almost nothing about his personal life. His in-game character model was a giant green orc with large tusks and flowers braided in his hair. When he wasn't joking flirtatiously, or pretending to drool over her character model, he would often put on a silly accent and talk in broken English like what was the fantasy stereotype Orks.

His antics never failed to make her laugh, and selfishly, she also enjoyed the flattery and flirting on her character, even if it was all a joke. He was honestly the most consistent social interaction she had. Her social anxiety would convince her that not responding to her friend's texts for a couple days was enough to make them hate her, even if they always assured her that wasn't the case. They hung out sporadically, partly because of busy adult schedules, and partially because of her social anxiety. Something about talking to people online was just easier, even if she still felt like the same awkward person.

It was a normal Monday night, and she was online in the City center of Triumphant Sword and Shield investigating reports of alleged cheaters. Orkagoob88W wasn't online. If he was, he'd usually tag along with her moderating work, something that made it a lot more fun.

The doorbell rang causing her to jump, knocking her water bottle onto her keyboard. "Shit," she grumbled as she bent over to pick it up, luckily it was waterproof and nothing had spilled. " I completely forgot I ordered takeout."

She stood from her gaming chair and stretched her arms above her head, her shirt rode up over her belly button as she did so and she was quick to pull it back down. She hated her body. She was nowhere near as fat as her character model in Triumphant Sword and Shield, but she certainly wasn't skinny either. She was keenly aware of the jiggle in her belly and her thighs slightly rubbing together as she walked to the front door. One part of her screamed to wait an extra couple minutes to make sure the delivery person had left, but her stomach was crying out for hot Chinese food, and it was louder.

She opened the front door and was greeted by the round, awkwardly smiling face of a man who could have just as easily been 20 or pushing 30. He had one of those soft faces that made it difficult to tell age. One of his hands was holding a plastic takeout bag with the words Lee's Royal Chinese written on it, and the other held his phone. Presumably double-checking the address. "H-hello, is this yours?" He asked with a small stutter in his voice. "Sorry if I'm a bit late, this is my first day driving this route."

"It's okay. Yes, it's mine." Lauren cringed at how awkward she sounded, as she took the bag from him. He was really cute. She tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came to mind so she ended up just standing there silently.

His smile deepened, revealing dimples in both pink cheeks. He messed with the hair beneath his delivery cap, lingering on her porch for just a moment too long before turning and wishing her a good night as he left.

She looked away from him and down at her feet, replaying the social interaction in her head and second guessing just how awkward it had been. That's when she realized her shirt had once again ridden up above her belly button, it must have happened when she reached out to take the food. She groaned as she stepped back inside, pulling her shirt down with the same amount of force she used to slam the door. "Of course I had to make myself look like a total pig in front of the cute new delivery guy."

She slunk back to her office like a cat that had just been sprayed with water, absolutely mortified. She's slumped into her gaming chair unboxing. The large order of chow mein and sesame chicken, resolving to try and drown her embarrassment in calories. The takeout order was meant to last her the week, but right now she just needed to forget about how embarrassed she felt. If she'd been sexy and confident, she probably would have asked for his number. She resolved that this would be the last time she ordered delivery so she wouldn't have to face him again. " as if he'd be interested in someone who looked like this."

A/N
This is the THIRD time I've written this chapter. Every single time I post it it glitches somehow or Fantasy Feeder just deletes the book. If it happens again, I'm going to scream.