A Time To Move On free porn video

A Time to Move On After a week of worried nagging, I finally relented to mom. Nearly every time I stood, my head throbbed. It would last only a few seconds, but twice it caused me to double over. And after going through this for several days, I realized that it wasn't a cold or the flu and that I probably did need to see the doctor. When I called, the doctor seemed more concerned than I was - she wanted to see me that day. Of course, that concern wasn't apparent once I arrived at the office; I still had to wait in the lobby just long enough for that wailing infant to graduate high school. But at last, the nurse opened the door and called my name. After the complimentary weigh-in and blood pressure check, she took me to a patient room. I couldn't decide if I was at a high-class day spa or a low-class massage parlor. Either way, it was apparently determined that I hadn't yet waited long enough. (I could only hope that that fine young man was doing well in college.) Finally, the doctor came in. Short, stylishly spiky blonde hair and about as skinny as a woman can be without seeming anorexic. I'd been seeing Dr. Reinhardt for years. At one time, she was the medical partner of my former physician. Mom and I ended up liking her more than our original family doctor, so we followed her when she established her own practice. In fact, she and mom had become good friends. After talking about nothing for a bit, I told her I was sure my blood pressure was causing my headaches. I had just finished a diet and had lost a significant amount of weight (50 pounds according to that day's weigh-in). We just had to adjust my medication to compensate. At least that's what the Internet had told me. "I'm not so sure that's going to be the answer, Adam. Your blood pressure is normal. Let me put this cuff on you and have you stand up. Then we can see if your BP changes when you stand." I did, and it didn't. So much for Internet-knowledge. With that eliminated, she went on to other likely culprits: sinus infection, possible circulatory problems, or worse. I would have rather had the sinus infection, but that one was quickly ruled out. She didn't get into too many specifics about my other options; she said that I needed to have some tests run to either rule things out or rule them in. We would just have to wait for the test results to come back. And with that, she sent me to the front desk. Once the receptionist scheduled the tests, I drove home. Here I was, 23 years old, supposedly in the greatest years of my life, and still living with my mother. Since getting out of college, though, I hadn't had enough money to get a place of my own, and I never had thought too highly of having a roommate. Still, there were times in which it seemed a roommate would be a better option. Not that I didn't get along with my mom, but it wasn't an ideal situation for a single man. If I were to ever have hope of having a serious relationship with a woman, something would have to change. Of course, my thoughts rarely metamorphosed into action. That being said, I did have the house to myself at times, namely when mom was at work. And that was one of those times. I had taken the rest of the afternoon off, so I was able to just come home and meditate on my two appointments: an MRI and a blood test - at least that was something I was familiar with. Stick the needle in, and let the blood flow out. Nothing complicated about that. Apparently though, mom had expected immediate action. As soon as she came through the door, she sprayed me with questions: What did she say? Did the doctor do anything yet? When do you go back? Nothing; no; and "as soon as the test results are back." She seemed surprised that the doctor hadn't done anything today. But there was nothing she could do until she knew what to do. *** The next day began, as they all should, with a sunrise and the drawing of blood, quickly followed by an MRI. I never really had enjoyed sunrises, or mornings for that matter, for the simple fact that I really enjoyed sleep. The MRI (I had hoped) would give me a chance to find some of that sleep I lost earlier. Those thoughts, however, were quickly put to rest when I actually began the MRI. People must have had a tendency to fall asleep while in there, so the designers added that fanciful banging and clanging. I kept waiting for Uncle Jim to holler that "the goddamned pipe won't come loose," but he was strangely quiet that day. After that exciting day, it was actually a relief to go back to work the next morning. I'd always been drawn to the social services, but I never wanted to be on the frontlines (my lack of ambition was always a blister to mom). That's why I loved my data entry job: I knew I was helping people without actually having to deal with their problems - the best of both worlds. Plus, I liked the people I worked with. Unlike the people in other professions, they were very caring and supportive of each other. There was another perk, too: I was surrounded by attractive women all day long. The social services tend to be dominated by women, and there were several in my office who were my age. Of course, everyone had to ask what the doctor had said, when the test results would come back, and if I were still having headaches - as if taking a day off work for tests would be a miraculous cure for all that ailed me. But finally by lunch, everyone who actually cared had taken time to ask me whatever was on his or her mind, and we could get back to work. Well, we could have if it weren't time for lunch, but after that, I was actually able to find 4 hours of productivity. *** It was Thursday when I heard from Dr. Reinhardt's office. Two days was actually a surprisingly fast turn around time for the tests. When I came home from work, mom was already there and told me that she had talked to the doctor earlier. For all of the worry, it turned out that I had only some kind of vitamin or electrolyte imbalance (mom couldn't remember for sure). I was relieved to know it was nothing major - nothing that needed any serious follow-up, at least. Mom said she had already scheduled a one o'clock appointment for me the next day to talk to Dr. Reinhardt about everything. How considerate of her to check with me first. Since I could simply take a late lunch to cover for it, though, she knew it would be fine. Sarah was the first to see me the next morning, so she was the first to know I had nothing seriously wrong with me. It worked out well because I knew that she would tell everyone else before I even had the chance. She did. I knew there was a reason I liked Sarah so much. So, I was able to spend a quiet half-day processing assistance applications and, later, listening to my stomach express its anger about the delayed lunch. If only it knew the delay was for a good cause. At the doctor's, I actually didn't have to wait too long in the waiting room before the nurse came for me. Even Dr. Reinhardt was quick to see me. When she came in, she told me that a B-12 deficiency was causing my headaches and that I would need to have a B-12 injection once a month for the foreseeable future. "But I'd looked up nutritional deficiencies on the Internet last night," I told her, "and didn't see anything about B-12 causing headaches like mine." The doctor, however, said she was sure that this would work but if I weren't feeling better by Monday to let her know. After the brief explanation and the injection, she asked me to wait a while just to make sure that I didn't have an adverse reaction to the shot. With that, she left the room, telling me she would be back after she made a quick phone call. I was left to wonder exactly what kind of reactions a person could have to a simple B-12 injection. Just when I thought I was in the clear. She wasn't gone long when I started to feel woozy. I had just starting walking toward the door to find a nurse when the door opened and Dr. Reinhardt came in. "Sorry that took so long, Adam. How are you feeling?" "I don't know. Little off. Like... spaced-out maybe." "Here, have a seat again over here, and let..." I don't remember what she said or did after that. My next memory was of looking at Dr. Reinhardt's face as she was sitting in the chair across from me. "It turns out that you did have a slight reaction to the serum we used, but everything appears to be fine now." "Is it common to have a reaction like this?" "I wouldn't call it common, but it happens. Remember if you still think that this isn't working by Monday morning, call to let me know." "Umm... okay, but I have faith in you." Why would she think I doubted her? "You should be able to go back to work today. The only thing you may notice is some sensitivity at the site of the injection." As I was walking to the parking lot, I looked at my watch and noticed how long I had been in there. My lunch hour was already over. Since my stomach wouldn't let me go back to work without something to eat, however, I settled on the closest drive-through. I assumed I shouldn't eat too much, so I ordered a side salad and a diet coke. Normally, I couldn't stand salads, but I wouldn't mind losing a little weight - I was so fat. *** It was another Friday night with nothing for me to do, but given my strange reaction earlier in the day, I figured my inactivity was probably a good thing. I wasn't sure if my body was fully recovered, and I surely didn't think that drinking alcohol (around which Friday nights revolved for my friends) would be a good thing. After having a light dinner and telling mom what happened at the doctor's, though, I decided that I could handle a movie. It's nothing that would stress my body (or nerves). I called Sarah to see if she had plans, but since she wasn't home, she must have. Oh well, I doubted she would have liked "Collateral," and that's what I had decided to see. When I went into the theater, however, I saw that "Collateral" didn't begin for another half-hour. For some reason, I didn't want to wait that long to see a movie I wasn't sure about. So instead, I bought a ticket for the first thing that caught my eye: "The Notebook." When I found my seat, though, I realized how foolish I was - I had to wait thirty minutes for this movie, too. As I sat waiting, I started feeling out of place. The audience comprised young couples, middle-aged couples, single women, 3 teenage girls, and me - not exactly the crowd for the typical movie I saw. And after watching the movie, I understood the difference. The movie was corny, sappy, and gushy; and I loved it. Walking out of the theater with reddened eyes, I wondered why I would ever love a movie like that. Love. That was it; I loved the love story. Normally, I hated those movies, but not this one. It was... uplifting. In my heightened mood, I decided to window shop while I was inside the mall. When I came home, I sat on the sofa and set my new purchase on the table beside me. Mom looked over at me and asked, "What's that?" "It's ?Body Butter.' I bought it Bath and Body Works. It's a lotion." "Oh... How was the movie?" "It was good. Cheesy but good. Not many people there, though." "Really, I thought you said the theater would be packed? You said it was opening night, right?" "Oh, no," I told her, "That was ?Collateral.' When I got there, I decided to see ?The Notebook' instead." "Hmm, never heard of it. Did you feel alright tonight?" "Yeah, not one headache. The shot must have worked." "Good. Let's hope so." *** Not much happened in the following weeks except that I had addicted myself to lotion. It amazed me how much smoother my skin became by using everyday. I used it so often that I had to buy more within two weeks - this time, one for home and one for the office. Unlike crack or heroin, however, I could afford this addiction. When I first brought the lotion to work, the girls jokingly mocked me, but the guys didn't say a thing. To be honest, I didn't think any of the guys even noticed. Add that to the list of things I like about guys. On August 6th, it was time for another B-12 shot. This time, I was smart and flexed my work hours, so I could have the whole afternoon off, just in case. It was a good thing I did; I had the same reaction. This time a nurse gave me the injection, and within two minutes, I started to feel odd. I thought the doctor came in, but I wasn't sure. I just knew that when I came around, I was alone in a room and had a blood pressure cuff on my left arm. When the nurse came back, I asked her how often someone has reactions like this to a B-12 shot. She told me I was the only one she had ever seen, but Dr. Reinhardt had patients in the past with similar reactions. As if listening outside, Dr. Reinhardt came in and asked if I were feeling better. I said I was but that I was worried about this happening both times I had the shot. "It may happen every time you receive the injection, Adam. But don't worry about it. I've had patients in the past who've had the same reaction each and every time." "But it can't be good for my body." "Well, no. But it's not necessarily bad for it either. It's just a natural reaction that you have to the injection. In fact, everything seems to be fine now, so you're free to go if you feel up to it." And I did feel fine. Like she said, it's a normal reaction. Nothing bad would come from it. Still, I was glad I had taken the rest of the day off - a stunningly brilliant move on my part! Before going home, I decided to stop and get a salad. I figured would make that a post-shot routine. I had been eating a lot more healthily lately, and it was really paying off. I was losing a lot of weight, and I had more energy to burn. That, in turn, meant I could exercise more. It was a win-win situation. I also found that after I had that diet soda a month ago, I wasn't able to stand the taste of regular anymore. I actually had to throw away a 12-pack of Mountain Dew. I could not stand the taste of that stuff! In fact, the combination of shots and weight loss was making me feel so much better that I actually decided to get up early the next morning and go jogging. When my alarm sounded at 6:30, I threw on a pair of sweatpants shorts, a tee shirt, and my tennis shoes; and I was out the door. I'd never been out jogging before, especially this early, so I'd never realized how beautiful and relaxing a morning run could be. I used to hope never to see the mornings, but that changed recently. Now, I enjoyed getting up earlier. After an hour of jogging, I went home, had a quick shower, and grabbed a breakfast bar before heading to work. When I got there, Sarah was waiting for me. Apparently, a client had called the day before and wondered why she was ineligible for assistance. Sarah asked me if I could help her. She was having no luck so far. "Sure, why not?" "Thank you so much. I was pulling my hair out with this yesterday." "No problem. It'll keep me away from those change-of-address forms for a while. I wasn't exactly looking forward to those." It turned out the woman had failed to mail in a rent verification form to the main office. I couldn't understand that. If I were a single mother with two kids, I would do everything I could so my kids would have a happy, worry-free life. After calling the woman back and explaining the problem to her, Sarah looked over to me and asked if I wanted to grab lunch. Since she was buying, I would have been a fool to turn her down. As we were waiting to be seated, I noticed what Sarah was wearing: a checkered pink-and-black top and black pants. I must have been talking aloud because Sarah looked at me strangely and said "Thanks." "Excuse me?" "I said thanks... You said this was a pretty top." "It is. Where did you get it?" "I bought it a couple of weeks ago when I was in Springtown. That's when I got these shoes too." "Oh, I love those." They were the cutest black Mary Jane shoes with about a 3-inch stacked heel. "What's up? It's not like you to notice what other people are wearing. I used to think that a man wouldn't notice if a bull were wearing a tutu." "Tell me about it. Men are about the most inattentive species on earth. They can't even pay attention to what they're wearing, let alone what others are wearing. Did you see what Charles had on today? Oh my god!" As I talked, I realized that Sarah was looking at me like I had grown a second head, so I was glad when the hostess came to seat us. I don't know why, but I had started paying attention to what people wore, especially women. For instance, Amy caught my eye one day at work. She was wearing this ugly blue dress with white polka dots (which was completely unflattering on her body), but I noticed how smooth her legs were. That was the only redeeming quality about that dress: it exposed her legs. If my legs looked like that, I would show them off as much as I could. When we started reading our menus, Sarah asked if I wanted to split a burger and fries with her. "Whew. There's no way I could eat that much for lunch. Do you know how much weight I gain when I even look at a burger? I'm trying to watch my figure, not watch it explode!" "Oh yeah, watch your figure, please! Is this the same man who ordered a whole pizza for himself when we were updating the databases last fall?" "Don't remind me. I was such a pig back then. I can't even eat two pieces of pizza anymore without having to go to the bathroom and throw the second one up." She laughed at that and realized I wasn't going to split the meal with her. She still decided to order it, though. Me, I just had a vegetable soup. As we were eating, I laughed to myself: any man who asks her out is going to be in for a surprise, she'll eat more than he will. *** Near the end of the month, I went to the mall to pick up a few things. Actually, I was shoe shopping. With all of the weight I'd been losing, my shoes somehow ended up being too big on me. My guess was that since there was less weight pushing down on my feet, my feet didn't spread out anymore when I was standing. Regardless of how it happened, I needed new running shoes and work shoes. After going to a few stores, I had bought three pairs of loafers (brown, navy, and black, of course), and a pair of white Adidas running shoes with pink stripes. According to the labels, all of the shoes were the same size I had always worn, but they looked so much smaller - obviously not, since they fit perfectly. As I was leaving the store, I noticed a small kiosk in the center. It was a cheap little jewelry store that catered mostly to teens, but what caught my eye was the sign advertising free ear piercing with the purchase of studs. I'd been thinking for a while about getting my ears pierced again (I had one pierced in high school, but it had long since closed), so I decided to go for it. When I told the girl (she looked like she was no older than 12) what I wanted, she said to come around and have a seat behind their counter. When I hopped up on the stool, she handed me a card that had all the studs that I could select from. I'd forgotten that there were this many studs. Some were obviously meant for teenage girls and others were way too masculine for me, so I finally settled on the imitation diamonds. I figured that those were about as generic as you could get. Besides, after a few weeks of healing, I would go to a real jewelry store and buy all new earrings anyway. When she was done with the piercing, the girl handed me a mirror so I could see. I couldn't believe the difference. Even though they were cheap earrings, they made my face look so much prettier. After paying the girl, I remembered that I needed to stop at a drug store on the way home to buy a razor. It had been so long since I'd used mine, I was sure it was rusted. *** The next morning I was up earlier than normal for my run. I needed the extra time because I had no idea how long it would take for me to shave. It was the first time I had ever shaved my legs, and, aside from razor burn in spots, my legs felt wonderful. I couldn't believe the difference it made. When I pulled my pants on to go to work, they felt so different. It was as if my legs were both more and less sensitive at the same time. I couldn't believe that I hadn't shaved my legs before. I was disgusted to think of all the years I had walked around with gorilla legs. At first, no one at work noticed that I had my ears pierced. Actually, Sarah, Nicole, Jill, and I were eating lunch in the breakroom when Nicole saw them. "Adam, you got your ears pierced." "Oh my god, you did!' Sarah was quick to add in. "Yeah, I'd been thinking about it for a while now and decided to go for it while I was at the mall last night." "Ohh, and diamonds no less." "Of course, with the money we make, why would any of us settle for less than the best? Actually, I can't wait until they're healed, and I can buy some real earrings - maybe some hoops." "I hate to tell you, but hoops aren't very... masculine." "Yeah, maybe you're right." But I'd still love them! *** Later that week, it was time for another shot. Again, I took the last half of the day off so I could relax afterward; of course, it didn't hurt that it was the Friday before Labor Day. And again, the same reaction: as soon as they gave me the shot, I passed out. When I came to, I was so embarrassed. "Oh my god, I'm such a girl - passing out from that needle!" "Don't worry about it. We're used to it with you!" she laughed. "Oh thanks. That makes me feel better!" I left the doctor's office and went for another salad. Say what you will, but I love them. Besides, I was down to 132 pounds now, and there was no way I would let myself be a fat pig again. In fact, I still wanted to lose those 12 odd pounds. Things had been weird recently. I'd gotten rid of almost all my flab except for that on my hips, butt, and chest. My pants were too tight in the hips but too loose in the legs and the waist. I definitely needed to get some new clothes. Luckily, mom and I planned a shopping trip tomorrow. *** There was a relatively new mall in Springtown that both mom and I had wanted to see, so we decided to do our shopping there. Since I was in desperate need of clothes that fit (so desperate that I was going to change into whatever I bought), we started our day trying to find me a pair of pants. It was harder than it should have been. When I found a pair large enough to fit my hips, the waist was too big and the legs were so draped I looked like I was floating. After realizing I wouldn't find anything at that store, we walked to the women's section to shop for mom. Here, unlike the men's section, there was so much to choose from. Within twenty minutes, we had picked out an armful of clothes for her to try on. I decided to keep looking around while she was in the fitting room. I had just held up a sweater when a saleslady walked up and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you, miss?" As she was walking away, disappointed that I had said "no, but thanks," it struck me: she called me "miss." I laughed to myself. I couldn't wait to tell mom when she came out of the dressing room, I knew she would find it amusing too. When I told her, she laughed for a second but stopped abruptly. She said she had an idea. She walked me to a rack of pants and told me to pick out a pair that looked as if they would fit. "Women's pants?" "Why not? Just try a pair. I guarantee they'll fit you better than men's pants do." I didn't know why I hadn't thought of it before. I chose three pair that seemed as if they were my size and went to the fitting rooms. The saleslady already thought I was a woman, so I knew no one would object to me walking in there. Mom was right. I stood staring at myself in the mirror; these looked good on me. No matter the angle, they looked perfect. I finally had pants that wouldn't squish my butt and hide my legs. "You know, mom, I should get a couple pair of shorts to wear too. There are still a couple of weeks of summer left." "You're probably right, honey. It always gets hot again during September." I found some shorts on a clearance rack and took those to the fitting room. If I could get shorts that fit me, and were on sale, I would be very happy. Once I had slipped on the first pair, I opened the door and stepped out to see what mom thought of them. "Oh, those look wonderful on you." "You really think so?" "Absolutely. I wish I could look that good in shorts!" "Well, you don't have to twist my arm!" Normally, I would have been itching to leave; I was never a man who enjoyed shopping for clothes. But that day, I was hooked, probably because I could now find clothes that actually fit me. We bought so many things at the first store that we had to take our bags to the car before we could go anywhere else. As much fun as I had shopping in the other stores, though, I purchased only three other things: a brown and white argyle sweater, matching trousers, and a pair of brown pumps. Still mom and I were definitely in the shopping spirit. At one point, however, Mom took things a little too far. She actually held a dress up to me and said I would look nice in it. I stared, open-mouthed, wondering if she were serious. "Mom, I can't wear that!" "Why not?" "Oh my god, mom; it's a DRESS! I can't wear a dress! I'm a man." "But you're... Honey, I didn't mean it like that. It didn't even dawn on me that I was asking you to try on a dress. I just got so caught up. I'm sorry." I hugged her, "That's alright... It is a pretty color. Do you really think I'd look cute in it?" Once finished at the mall, we decided to re-enter the real world, at least long enough for lunch. There was a restaurant downtown about which we'd both heard good things. The food was wonderful, but the service was slightly off. Both the hostess and waiter referred to us as "ladies." Sure, I was wearing a newly bought pair of black pants and that luscious, red, V-neck sweater, but those were things that men could wear too. And I was wearing heels, but I was so short I had to look up at everyone unless I had heels on. Oh well, let them think that I was a woman; I didn't mind. Still, I couldn't stop thinking about it until mom broke my reverie. "Honey, what do you have planned for Monday?" "Sorry mom, what?" "Do you have anything planned for Monday?" "No, why?" "Well, don't make any plans, okay?" "Why?" "You'll see." *** Monday morning came and not too soon. I couldn't figure out what mom had planned; she had simply told me to be ready around nine o'clock. Since she told me not to wear anything special, I just wore khaki shorts and a white tank. (The day after we talked about the September weather, a warm spell slipped into town.) Finally, when she told me that she was ready, I grabbed the bags and walked to the garage - my new clothes took up so much room in my closet that I had to bag up the old. They didn't fit me anyway, so why keep them around? After going to the Salvation Army, we drove to the other side of town. Mom still wouldn't say what we were doing. Finally, we pulled into the parking lot of Mitchell's - she had scheduled a day at the salon for us. I was grinning so widely I could have stuck a watermelon into my mouth. I loved the length of my hair, but it was such a mess. Now, I would finally have that taken care of. "There's just one thing I have to tell you, dear." "What's that?" "When I scheduled the appointment, I said you were my daughter." "What?!" "They had 30% off for mother/daughter bookings. For the money I'm saving, I figured you could pretend to be a woman for a few hours." "Mom, I seriously doubt if they believe I'm a woman. I mean, look at me." "Everyone thought you were a woman Saturday, didn't they?" "This is different. They'll be a lot closer to me today" "Rebecca, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were a woman." "Rebecca?" "Oh... yeah, that's what we were going to name you if you were a girl. Now come on." I didn't know why, but hearing her call me Rebecca softened my resistance. So, I steeled my belly and walked toward the building. Within the first half-hour, I actually forgot I was pretending. I was able to act naturally, and they saw nothing more than a woman here with her mother. In fact, sometime during the mud bath, I stopped thinking altogether, and I just enjoyed myself. I had never been so pampered. The body wax did hurt like nothing I'd felt before, but the manicure and pedicure made up for that. And then there was the hairstyle. He actually turned me away from the mirror so I couldn't see what he was doing. And when he twirled me back around, I couldn't believe what I saw - soft curls glancing off my face and winding down to my shoulders. I was so happy I could have hugged him. Actually, he was so cute that I was fantasizing about more than just hugging him. But I stopped, realizing that I was falling a little too far into character; besides, I was sure he was gay. After Ken had finished, mom came around the corner to see me. She had a new style too, which looked absolutely fabulous on her, but all she wanted to talk about was me. Once we were done hugging and crying (I actually started crying at one point), I asked if she were ready to go, but she told me we weren't done. We had a make-up consultation. "Mom, I think that's taking things a little too far. I can't wear make- up." "Just until we get home, and then you can take it off. It's part of the package, and I'm really looking forward to it." "I'm not so sure." Before the words were out of my mouth, a woman came to get us. It was Melissa, the woman who would be doing the make-up consultation. I figured I had no choice at that point, so I followed her. Once we were seated, she looked both of us over and asked which one wanted to be first. Not looking forward to this, I pointed to mom. When it was my turn, Melissa started by telling me how great my skin was. I'd been taking care of it, and apparently, it was paying off. Having seen her work on mom, I relaxed back into the chair and let her talk, but I was startled when she began plucking my eyebrows. The make- up I could take off, but the eyebrows would be semi-permanent. In fact, it seemed like she yanked so much that I wouldn't have any eyebrows left. But she eventually did stop and then started in with the make-up. It turned out that I was a "blue girl," but as she kept brushing, I thought that maybe "clown girl" would be a more appropriate description. Within a few minutes, though, she stopped and had me look at myself in the mirror. "Oh my god!" "Rebecca, you look stunning!" "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" I couldn't believe it. I looked like a woman. I looked like a beautiful woman. I didn't know what to say; I was at a loss. As soon as we got in the car, mom turned to me and said, "Rebecca, you're gorgeous." "Do you really think so?" "Don't you?" "I don't know. I've never thought about myself that way. I can't think about myself that way. It's silly." But I wasn't sure. That night, I didn't take off my make-up until I went to bed. I couldn't; it was too wonderful. And as I lie in bed thinking about the day, I decided I could wear foundation and mascara to work. It would be discreet enough that no one would notice. *** The next morning, I woke at six o'clock, so I jog and still have time to get ready. I finally had a great figure and was not about to lose it by being lazy. The new running outfit that I bought really did work out better - powder blue Capri pants and a matching tank. The tank even had a built-in bra to keep my chest from bouncing so much when I was running. I still didn't understand how I could lose my body fat everywhere but my chest. In fact, it seemed as if I were getting bigger there, but that couldn't be possible. After my shower, I started my new morning ritual. First I had to do my hair. Luckily, the style was easy enough that I could recreate it fairly well. It didn't look as good as it did yesterday, but does it ever? Then I applied the foundation and mascara. For the longest time, I looked at myself in the mirror to make sure no one could tell I was wearing make- up, and as I was staring, I decided that I could even get away with lipstick. It was such a light pink color that no one would notice. Plus the color matched my nails. Now that that was settled, I went into my bedroom to dress. I had decided to wear the brown-and-white argyle sweater and brown trousers. With my newly lengthened nails, I had to be careful to not put a run in my knee-high hose. Once I had my pumps on, I opened my jewelry drawer, and looked through everything I had bought in the last month. I settled on my silver heart pendant necklace and the matching earrings. One more check of my hair and make-up (I was becoming so conceited!) and I was on my way to work. I was sure it was my imagination, but it seemed as if everyone stared at me as I walked into the office. Sarah was the first to actually come up to me: "Adam, I don't know what's going on, but... well, I guess, the point is that you're happy. And you really do look beautiful. I mean that. The hair, the jewelry, the outfit. Everything looks so nice on you." "Thanks, Sarah." "You're welcome. Look, just don't mind the others, okay?" "Okay." What was she talking about? "Promise?" "Yes. I promise." The rest of the day I wondered what she had meant by that. Everyone was acting a little strange, I guess - especially Amy. She actually had the nerve to ask me why I was wearing what I was wearing. I told her that she had no right to question me after some of the things that she had worn in the past. She could be so catty at times. That was the only confrontation I had, but everyone at work pretty much stayed away from me from then on. Everyone except Sarah. Sarah and I ended up becoming closer friends. If the others wanted to develop their own little niches, let them. *** Soon, it was time for another B-12 shot. Again, I had scheduled the afternoon off, so I could recuperate. I still felt like such a girlie girl for fainting every time they stuck the syringe into me, but maybe I'd get used to it someday. Not this time. It happened again. Another needle, another fainting spell. When I came to, the doctor was sitting next to me. "Ahh, Rebecca, you're awake finally." "This is so embarrassing. I'm a grown woman, and I still react like a baby every time you pull out a syringe. Actually, I didn't even react like that when I was a little girl; it's something that must have started recently." "Well, you're not going to have to worry about it anymore. According to your latest lab work, your B-12 levels are actually elevated, so there's no more need for these injections." "Great! Not that I don't like seeing you - just not in these circumstances." *** The next day I turned in my two-weeks notice at Human Services. It was time to move on. I just didn't like the atmosphere there. Plus, I wanted something different, something more challenging, something that could lead to bigger things. More importantly, I needed something that would pay the rent on my new apartment. So when mom called and told me that there was an opening at the bank where she worked, I jumped on it. I was now a commercial loan officer for Springtown National Bank. My first day, I didn't know what to wear. I needed to dress conservatively until I found out what the other women my age wore, but I didn't want to look like a prude. Eventually, I chose a straightforward black dress suit with a lilac blouse. I had discovered a love for fishnet stockings (but obviously couldn't wear those on my first day), so I pulled on a simple pair of black pantyhose. I did, however, wear my three-inch spiked-heel pumps. They were uncomfortable as hell, but I loved the way they made my legs look. When I got to work, the receptionist showed me to my office. I had to stop for a minute when I saw my name on the door: "Rebecca Edwards, Commercial Loan Officer." I even had a secretary! I had to share her with two others, but still, I had a secretary. As I was settling into my office, I heard a knock. "Hi. I'm Steve Myers. I'm in the office next door." "Hi, I'm Rebecca Edwards." I gave him my hand to shake. "Glad to meet you Rebecca. I... That's my phone. Listen, if you need any help getting started, just come over okay?" "Sure!" I was lucky I could get the words out. He was the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen. Definitely add him to the list of things that I like about guys!