chapter 16

Abigail then turned to Carolyn who had eaten about third of the trifle.

"Why are you stuffing your face with that?" she asked angrily. Carolyn looked up at her in total surprise.

"Stand up now!" demanded the doctor; her tone such that Carolyn obeyed automatically, before she even had chance to think about it.

Abigail looked up and down Carolyn's body and shook her head and then walked around her, poking her stomach, gently slapping her bum and sighing a lot. She also pinched Carolyn's thighs and upper arms, muttering to herself. Finally the doctor turned back and looked Carolyn straight in the eyes.

"You are getting fat!" said Abigail, her voice quiet but full of menace. "Do you think I have been working out a diet plan for nothing?"

"I'm on vacation...." began Carolyn, but Abigail interrupted her, mimicking her in a sing song voice. Carolyn looked surprised, but before she could say anything else, Abigail handed her a breathalyser.

"Blow!" The doctor used her demanding voice again, and again Carolyn obeyed without question. After a few seconds, the machine beeped and flashed up a number in the high seventies. Abigail looked at it and swore.

"This machine tells me the amount of carbon monoxide in your body. It is a good measure of how much you have been smoking and this," she waved the reading at Carolyn, "is ridiculously high! Frank has reported back to me how unhealthy your lifestyle has become; how you have been over-eating and how your cigarette consumption has increased. I thought he was exaggerating, but obviously not!"

Carolyn frowned. "But you said that the diet was to start when I got home."
"Yes," replied Abigail, as though she were talking to a child, "but that does not mean you should purposely gain weight just because you think I can help you lose it again."

Then Carolyn got angry.

"I've not been purposely gaining weight!" she snapped. "In fact, this bikini is not as tight as it was."
Abigail gave a false laugh and as they argued, I realised that there were no mirrors in the house. There was no way that Carolyn could have actually noticed her weight gain apart from the tightness of her clothes. It suddenly seemed so obvious that the carrier bag Frank had with him was a replacement bikini; an exact copy, but bigger which is why Carolyn was able to deny her growing stomach and bottom. I tried to say as much but Abigail turned on me.

"And why are you letting her do this?" she asked, prodding me viciously in the shoulder. "Surely you could see that she was getting fatter? Did you even say anything about it?"

I did not get chance to answer before Carolyn announced that I was not her keeper and it was not up to me to decide what she could and could not eat.
"Well, perhaps somebody should have!" said Abigail poking Carolyn's belly again. She pulled out her tape measure and told Carolyn to raise her arms, but this time, Carolyn refused.

"I am not going through the embarrassment of being weighed and measured here," she said. "I am on vacation and we will look at your diet plans when I get back to London. Until then, I suggest you let me enjoy myself!" Carolyn lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply, before blowing smoke rings at the doctor to prove the point.

Abigail sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I should have been more involved instead of relying on Frank," she muttered.

"But Frank was really nice," said Carolyn, sadly. "He made sure I had everything I wanted."

"Yeah, that was clearly the problem," replied Abigail. "I don't know what he was thinking. Anyway, now I have to sort out this mess!"

"What is there to sort out?" I asked. Abigail glared at me, but I was not going to be silenced this time, and I continued: "I mean, Carolyn knows she has to be more careful with what she eats now. We can't change the past, but we can plan for the future and make sure she has healthier meals delivered."

"Well, I don't think so," said Abigail, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. Both Carolyn and I looked at her with puzzled expressions. The doctor noticed this and laughed, although it was neither unkind nor mocking.

"Look," said Abigail, "we are all sensible enough to know that Carolyn can't just crash diet and lose the weight. Not only is that very unhealthy, but it is a short term solution and as we have seen, rapid weight loss leads to a faster gain." She patted Carolyn's rounded stomach for added emphasis. "We need a long term strategy to permanently change your lifestyle and improve your overall health." She looked up at the ceiling, tapping her lower teeth with one finger, completely lost in her own thoughts.

Carolyn looked at me, pulled a face and mouthed "What's happening?" I shrugged in response and mouthed back, "I don't know!"

After what seemed like forever, Abigail appeared to reach a decision. She motioned to Carolyn to sit back at the table and then sat in the chair facing her and smiled. Carolyn did not appear to notice, but the doctor was smiling only with her mouth; her eyes were cold and ruthless, and I knew that Carolyn was not going to like Abigail's idea.

"The first thing you need to do is realise that this is going to be all down to you. We can support you, but the effort will have to be all yours. If you are not committed, we cannot help you. Do you understand?" asked Abigail. Carolyn just nodded dumbly.

"Good." continued Abigail. "So we'll start with the hardest thing first. Tomorrow, you will quit smoking."

"No! That's not going to happen." replied Carolyn, shaking her head. Abigail looked at her in surprise and then turned to me gesturing for assistance.

"Well perhaps she can cut down?" I suggested, but my attempt to find a compromise merely annoyed both women. Carolyn looked at me with contempt and Abigail just scowled.

"If you had gangrene, would you want me to amputate your leg a slice at a time?" shouted the doctor. "Of course not!" She turned back to Carolyn. "It has to be all or nothing!"

"But I don't want to," said Carolyn. "I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I am not ready and it's not the right time. I am on vacation and I just want to enjoy myself." She flashed her beautiful smile at Abigail, but the doctor was not impressed; in fact, she looked hurt that her advice was being ignored. Unfortunately, Carolyn seemed to take this as a victory. She made the mistake of smirking at the doctor and I could see from Abigail's expression that she was getting angry again. The smug way that Carolyn exhaled her cigarette smoke into Abigail's face pushed the doctor over the edge.

"Right!" said Abigail, slamming her hand onto the table. She gave Carolyn a grin which I could only describe as evil. " I am going to assume that you don't want to gain more weight?"

Carolyn self-consciously rubbed her belly and shook her head. "No, I don't," she murmured, and the doctor's grin widened.

"Then I have the solution," said Abigail. "Every week I will set you a target weight gain. If you achieve it, I will allow you to smoke for the following week. However, the number of cigarettes you receive will depend on the amount you eat each day, so if you want to smoke a lot, you will have to eat a lot." Abigail sat back and folded her arms looking pleased with herself.

"Weight GAIN?" asked Carolyn, not sure that she had understood. Abigail nodded.

"But what if I don't reach the target?"

"Well," replied Abigail, "then you won't be able to smoke at all, so you will be forced to quit!"

"So," Carolyn said slowly, "let me check I have this right: If I want to smoke, I have to make myself fatter?" She was clearly struggling with the idea and added, "But you told me that smoking helped controlled my weight, so if I do quit, I will get fatter anyway! I really don't see how this helps me!"

Abigail shrugged. "You need to exercise some self-control. That is what you need to learn, and that is what I am hoping this will make you do." Then she added with a satisfied smile, "You are obviously not going to fatten yourself up; that would be a ridiculous thing to do!" However, the doctor's smile fell from her face as Carolyn picked up the spoon and began attacking the trifle again.

"Really?" gasped Abigail.

"Your chefs better get busy," was all Carolyn said as she shoved spoonful after spoonful into her mouth.