Page 10 of Confessions of the Funny Fat Friend

A professional photographer began snapping photos while the news stations got their shots and filmed B-roll. And then it was time for my least favorite part of any new project—live interviews. I always felt so uncomfortable, preferring hands-on work to talking about work.

But here I was, standing next to a man in a suit with a microphone in his hand. “This is Tim Dugan from Channel Five News, and I’m here with Tyler Griffen, the head contractor on this apartment complex. Tyler, can you tell us a little about the environmental and community outlooks for this project?”

In the background, I heard Henrietta talking with another reporter, and even though I wished I could listen to her, I spoke into the microphone. Time to focus on work.

5

Henrietta

Confession: I hate standing next to skinny girls.

Even when Tylerwas out of sight, I couldfeelhis presence. He had a way that drew people to him, commanded attention. Including the attention of my boss. She was as high-strung and confident as they came, and my chest ached when I saw her speaking with Tyler. What little chance I may have had with him was long gone. Not that him feeling the girth of my body during his rescue hadn’t sealed my hopeless fate.

When we bumped into each other and he'd reached out to catch me, his large hands had landed on my hips, steadying me. His touch had sucked all the air from my lungs, and I’d stared at him, stunned at his strength. But I could see the moment he realized just how big I was. His eyes had clouded over, and he stepped away, immediately apologizing.

I tried to walk away from him as quickly as possible because I just couldn't handle seeing the rejection. But adding insult to injury, we all had to stand in line for photos. Me right next to all of the thin, attractive executives at Blue Bird corporate. All the men were slimmer than me. Even Tyler’s aging boss.

And even though they could have been thinking about the weather, I worried they were silently judging me. Most people thought being fat was a moral failing—a lack of willpower against fatty foods. But I’d been fat my whole life, even though half our food came from Mom’s massive backyard garden. I was just a big girl. Always had been, always would be.

My friends would kill me if they knew that I was speaking about myself in this way. Mara and Birdie were so much more confident than me, but it was easy for them to be that way. They both had landed men that were obsessed with them. Me on the other hand? My grandma was still trying to set me up at twenty-eight years old, and I’d yet to have a serious adult relationship.

And I knew my grandma's heart was in a good place. She was just trying to get me the same kind of love that she and Grandpa had experienced. But when I walked into the house and she had some guy there, I could see it the instant they laid their eyes on me. What little hope they’d had for a random blind date was quickly replaced with disappointment.

It hurt every time. I tried to keep my mind off of it all as I focused on the television interviews. The corporate publicist gave me talking points, and I’d spent the week memorizing them. But soon, it was time for me to get to get back to the office.

I didn't bother telling Tyler goodbye before I began walking toward the parking lot with Janessa. She had her hard hat under her arm and a slight grin on her face. “That contractor’s something to look at. I'm a little jealous you get to see him every day.”

I didn't argue with her because Tyler was handsome in every single way. In fact, I'd never really been that into guys in polo shirts, but the Crenshaw Construction shirt hugged his biceps perfectly, and the collar dipped down to his chest where I could see just the slightest hint of chest hair. For a split second, I wondered what it would be like to feel the crisp curls underneath my fingertips, but I quickly shut down that thought. “He's all yours,” I said.

Janessa shook her head. “It's against company policy to have romantic relations with contractors while they’re employed by us.”

“Oh?” I hadn’t even realized that.

She nodded, stopping by her car. “The shareholders wouldn’t be happy if they thought we only hired someone because of a romantic relationship. Do you remember Frances?”

“Frannie?” I asked. “I think I remember her from the company Christmas party a few years back.”

Janessa nodded. “She hooked up with a window cleaner, and they let her go the next day.”

I cringed. How had I been so reckless to think about dating Tyler? I needed this job.

“Her mistake was getting caught,” Janessa added with a wink.

I shook my head at her. “It’ll be all business around here,” I said. “Besides, I don't really foresee him needing a lot from me.”

Janessa nodded, opening the door of her car. “Any of the big problems should go up to corporate, but I think you’ll be fine with the day to day here.”

“See you around,” I replied, going to my car. Emotion clogged my throat as I drove back to work. Even though I had been really happy to earn this promotion and a little bit of extra income, I was already wishing this project could be over. Tyler’s clear disinterest had only reminded me of my failure in the romance department.

Maybe when I finally had enough money to afford my own place, I would just have a big ol’ chicken coop in the backyard and help my nephews and nieces sell eggs. It sounded nice, if not a bit sad. Because if I was being honest, I wanted a man to look at me the adoring way that Cohen looked at Birdie or the proud way Jonas looked at Mara.

Before Mara fell for Jonas, she used to say, “Some people just don’t get happily ever after, at least not in the traditional sense.”

And I was starting to think she was right. I was twenty-eight, after all. Shouldn’t I have kissed a few frogs by now if I were on the way to a prince?

It was depressing. So I spent the rest of the day at the office trying to avoid those thoughts by doing my normal daily tasks, from offering tours, handling leases, emptying the change in the laundry machines, and so on.

At the end of my shift, I called Tyler while locking up the office. It rang once before I saw his pickup pull into the parking lot. There was a twinge in my chest as I saw him open the heavy black door and step out. Instead of khakis, he was wearing jeans smudged with dirt and a dark blue T-shirt that clung to his muscled chest and arms. With that tattoo peeking out...I almost forgot to hang up the phone.

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