Page 34 of Confessions of the Funny Fat Friend

Mara nodded. “I'm thinking we should all do a girls’ trip there next summer, maybe when the show wraps up filming.”

I thought through my finances, wondering if I could spare a thousand dollars (or more) to go on a trip. I hadn’t been on a vacation in so long, and I needed one, for sure. But I couldn’t. My goals were bigger than little frivolities. I had to stay focused.

“Who’s up next?” the seamstress, May, asked.

I raised my hand, partially to avoid any more conversations about vacations.

She walked me back to the fitting room and showed me the dress with a little name card on it that said Henrietta. It looked just as beautiful on the hanger as it had the day we picked it out. My problem with clothes was never with the shopping, only with the trying on.

“Let me know if you need any help,” May said.

I nodded, steeling myself for any possible outcome. I didn’t check the scale anymore, aside from the once a year I went to the doctor—and endured a rant about my BMI that left me crying for days. So there was a decent chance I’d gained or lost since they took my measurements.

I gave myself a mini pep talk and slipped it over my head, surprised at how soft the fabric felt against my skin. Usually when I dressed up, it felt more like being squeezed into a sausage casing, but this gown felt amazing. Even the straps that had been added after the fact looked like they were meant to be part of the dress.

I gaped at myself in the mirror, my eyes watering. I felt beautiful, and it had been so damn long since I'd seen myself that way.

“Henrietta?” May called. “Everything okay?”

“Be out in a sec,” I said, trying to hide the emotion in my voice. I pressed the corners of my eyes, stemming the flow of tears, and then I lifted the hem and walked to the podium.

As soon as the girls saw me, they began squealing and clapping. Birdie said, “Oh my gosh, that dress was made for you!”

Tess nodded and bumped Mara’s arm. “Aren't bridesmaids dresses supposed to be ugly?”

Smiling, I shook my head, turning and looking at myself in the trifold mirror. Even though I tried to fight it, the tears came anyway. For once in my life, I could see what Tyler saw.

“Oh, Hen,” Mara said, coming up and putting her arms around me. “What's going on?”

I shook my head, wiping at my eyes again. “I'm so sorry. This is supposed to be your time.”

Birdie said, “She gets a whole wedding for that. Tell us what's going on?”

I bit my lip but finally gave in, telling them about my horrible date and Tyler saving me and the fact that if anything happened between us, I could very well lose my job.

Mara and Birdie exchanged a glance, and Birdie said, “I wouldn’t have gotten my happily ever after without breaking a rule.”

I shook my head, sitting down on the edge of the podium. “I don’t have a thousand students who would be devastated to see me go. They could find someone else in a heartbeat. But it feels silly to even worry about it. I don’t know if Tyler feels that way about me or if he was just being nice.”

Tess gave me a look like I was being absolutely insane. “Henrietta. He left his plans on a Friday night because you sent him a text message. He threatened to kill a guy, and then kissed you on the forehead saying, and I quote,‘the best is yet to come.’I don't know what you could possibly be missing here.”

“I just—" I swallowed down the lump in my throat, trying to speak. “I never thought something like that could happen to me.” I closed my eyes, embarrassed by my low self-esteem. I was almost thirty. Shouldn’t I be feeling good about myself by now?

Mara wrote romance novels for curvy women. Birdie was a guidance counselor, helping teens with their self-worth, and Tess was happily married to the love of her life with the most adorable child. And yet here I was, a twenty-eight-year-old virgin, feeling like the kid in gym class who always got picked last.

Mara put her hands on either side of my face and made me look her in the eyes. “Henrietta Jones. You are absolutely beautiful, but you don't have to see that for someone else to realize it.”

My eyes watered as I nodded.

Birdie rested her hand on my shoulder. “There are hundreds of jobs out there. There's only one Tyler.”

That was a thought that echoed in my mind as I waited for what was to come next.

18

Tyler

I had the Saturday birthday party so firmly planted in my mind that I almost forgot the poker night Henrietta’s friend Cohen invited me to. Luckily, he texted me his address about an hour before it was set to start, giving me just enough time to shower off, change, and grab a case of beer from the liquor store on my way over.

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