Malibu Love Story: A Novella

Chapter 7: A Storm

Reed walked by Duncan with her bags of purchases, leaving the groceries on the counter in the kitchen.

"Wait a minute, aren't you going to show me what you bought?" he protested to her receding back. "I was waiting for a bit of a fashion show."

Reed turned around. "I don't think there's time. I need to get it all put away before the Apple Store genius comes, right?"

"I reckon, but—" he turned to Nancy. "Did something happen while you were out?"

Nancy shook her head. "Here are the papers from today," she began.

"Lord, I don't want them," Duncan said with a wave of his hand. "Just hand them all off to Arnold, or whoever's taking care of banking this month, yeah?"

Nancy shrugged and put them back in her bag. "You need anything else?"

Duncan shook his head. "Don't think so, no. Like I said, this is going to be an easy summer for you, not a lot going on until October." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks loads for today, though, couldn't have managed without you."

Nancy smiled. "Just doing my job, no thanks necessary, you know that." She looked around. "You sure you don't want me to stay and take care of the paperwork with the Apple guy?"

Duncan shook his head. "Nope, that's all sorted already. Thanks though."

"Okay, I'm off, then." Nancy leaned in and kissed Duncan on the cheek. "Ooh, Dunc, you smell yummy, you using that new cologne I got you for Christmas?"

Duncan smiled. "I think so, yeah, thanks."

Reed was listening from her bedroom for the sound of Nancy leaving before she came out. She had no desire to spend even one more second in her company. She also wanted to put on something else for the Apple guy's visit, as she'd definitely been in these clothes too long.

She grabbed a yellow top and a pair of shorts that she'd bought from Target and cut the tags off so she could put them on, along with a new pair of undies and a new bra also, since everything she was wearing just felt grubby and generally manky. She figured that, even if the underwear hadn't been washed, they had to be at least marginally cleaner than what she had on.

Uh oh.

Everything was okay until she got to the top. She pulled it on and felt it pinching at the neck and squeezing at the bust and stomach. She looked in the mirror as she pulled at it. She then pulled it off to look at the size, to see if she'd made a mistake.

It was the right size, or so she believed.

She quickly grabbed another shirt, a button up blouse this time, and pulled it on.

It wouldn't button.

OMG.

Reed knew she'd gained a little weight over the last few months, but surely she hadn't gained that much? A whole size?

She pulled out a few more shirts, but none of them fit.

She heard Duncan letting the Apple Genius guy in, and calling her.

"Coming," she responded. "Just changing my clothes, be there in a sec."

Finally, with no choice, she pulled on her old shirt, the one she'd been wearing the day of the accident, and went out to meet the Apple guy, Bryon. If Duncan noticed she was wearing the same shirt, he didn't mention it.

"There she is," he said, gesturing that she take a seat next to the young man with the shock of blond hair. "Bryon, Reed, the young woman with the issues getting her novel back from the cloud."