Page 3 of Written By a Woman

Okay, well, sorry for breathing.

I didn’t let his dismissive attitude get to me, everyone was allowed to have busy or stressful days.

Ignoring the hit to my ego from being so quickly dismissed by a solid ten, that night I started plotting. I started mapping out the love interest’s character, his motivations, his drive, and his personality—which was much more friendly and charismatic than the inspiration. How he would react in the presence of a woman he was deeply attracted to and in love with.

I hadn’t visualized a story like this in such a long time, so I ran with it. I didn’t want to waste this burst of inspiration and creativity that I had.

Whether or not anything became of this story, at least I was writing with intention. I was writing and excited to write, and also excited to go back to my office job the next day to see if I could become inspired even more. Were there other stupidly attractive people at my new job? Would this inspire spin-off stories?

A few weeks later, I had a couple of chapters drafted. I went back and edited them until I felt confident that I hadsomething: a story that might be enjoyable to other romance readers. I wouldn’t know until I tried. So, I posted the first chapter on a free-to-read website, mostly known for fanfiction, but original works were posted occasionally as well.

I was shooting my shot again, if you will.

The first couple of days I think I only had one or two readers.

I didn’t think much of it, so I posted the next chapter. Same pattern. Only a handful of comments and shares.

I had hoped, obviously, but I never expected the response I ended up getting months later. The kind comments and feedback I received were the best surprise. It motivated me to keep going, to keep writing. To tweak things here and there, to take this story seriously.

I had something, and I fully intended to see it through.

ChapterOne

SIGNE: PRESENT DAY

“I’m just saying,women’s clothing sizes are arbitrary. None of it ever makes actual sense.” I shrugged as I slurped down my coffee and stared at my friend and co-worker. She was leaning against the breakroom countertop, mirroring me. Her blonde hair was in a messy bun, and her petite frame was dressed in a one-piece green romper that she elevated with wedges to make it look a little more business casual.

Not that this office functioned like other offices.

Casual was welcome here, as long as everyone was comfortable and appropriate. That was fairly normal at a tech company. It wasn’t like we were a hedge fund that had to put on an appearance in the workplace.

“I agree,” Jamie nodded, scrunching her nose as her dark blue eyes stared at the coffee in my hands, “But it’s still discouraging if I think about it for too long.”

“Maybe,” I shrugged again as she watched me tip my mug to my lips before continuing, “But you need to give yourself some more grace. You’re human, you’re allowed to lose weight, and you’re allowed to gain weight. Your body is allowed to change.”

She nodded, though I could tell her brain was struggling to make sense of my words. Jamie had just been telling me that she no longer fit in a pair of pants that she had kept around since high school. She had been in therapy for the last couple of years to help her with her unhealthy relationship with food, which was great, but the progress of that sometimes got to her.

The fact that she had been able to fit in pants that she wore in high school up until recently kind of blew my mind, though. She had gone up just one size.

“Who is gaining weight?” Mary asked as she entered the break room. Whereas Jamie Hansen gave off an aura of sunshine and flowers and rainbows, Mary Jiang gave off…whatever the opposite of that would be.

I sometimes liked to think of Mary as the office goth, but energetic and upbeat.

I had written some short stories about a character that was inspired by Mary.

Mary walked past both of us to reach into her stash of energy drinks I kept stocked in the breakroom just for her. They tasted like spray paint, though she’d fight you if you told her that, so nobody else drank them.

“Jamie,” I nodded towards the blonde in the room, and Mary’s dark brown eyes lit up as her grin spread across her face.

“Congratulations!” Mary tugged Jamie in for a hug, one that Jamie happily reciprocated, appreciating the immediate positive reaction. Mary was about an inch taller than Jamie, closer to my height, but she lifted the blonde woman up and shook her around.

“Thank you,” Jamie mumbled against Mary’s shoulder awkwardly before Mary set her back down, “I don’t fit in a certain pair of jeans now, and Signe is reminding me that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” Mary bumped her hip against Jamie’s, her studded belt poking Jamie’s side, and snapped her energy drink open, “That just means we get to go clothes shopping.”

“It does,” I smiled, “I want to get a pair of jeans like yours.” I nodded towards Mary’s black wide-leg pants, loving how they were snug against her butt and thighs, but flared out near her calves.

“Let’s go this weekend,” Mary nodded with one arm around Jamie’s shoulders. Jamie blushed as she looked back and forth between the two of us.

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