The Curves Ahead - Wattpad Award Winner

Chapter 2

Knocking on Robbo's office door, I pulled uncomfortably at the waistband of my jeans. They were getting tight, and I'd only bought them a few weeks before in a larger size than my old favourites. The feeling of being cut in half was just another reminder of how much my body was always working against me. Of course, it didn't help that I'd eaten KFC for dinner three times in the last week and knocked of an entire pack of Oreo's during morning tea...

"Come in!" Robbo was on the phone behind his paper-littered desk. "Evi, give us a sec, I just need to wrap this up. Yeah, yeah, Roy, I hear you..."

As he continued his call, I plonked onto his couch and stared at the huge poster for Jump Start on his wall. As the most successful morning show in the country, our photos were emblazoned all around the studio; me sitting on the desk with my chubby legs crossed and Matt looking delicious by my side, a black button-down shirt tight over his taunt chest.

Normally, I stared at Matt rather look at my own photo, but I was still feeling rattled by Chloe and Taylor, and found myself scanning the poster for my flaws. My creamy skin glowed on the poster, but in real life I knew I looked pasty. My blue eyes flashed wickedly, while the one feature I actually claimed any pride in, my hair, tumbled down my back in shiny chocolate waves.

And, as I did every time I caught my reflection in a mirrored surface or saw myself on a monitor, I thought, If I was skinny, I'd be pretty.

Robbo interrupted my reverie. "Evi! How's me favourite cash cow?"

It was supposed to be his idea of cute nickname; I brought in the viewers, the sponsors and the numbers. Biting back my stinging feelings, I put my game face on. "I'm good, ya dirty old man! What do you want, Robbo? I've got a lunch date with a Man Power model, and I need to shave my naughty bits."

He bellowed in laughter. "Won't keep you long, then! Listen, love, I want to run an idea past you." He settled into the chair opposite my seat on the couch. "Now, you know things have been rattling along pretty well 'round here."

"Number one in our time-slot for the last year," I reminded him.

"You know it! So, we don't want to give things a chance to get stale, or else, we could be falling off the map before we know it." He rubbed his meaty hands through his hair, the sparse strands oily. "What do you think about the idea of a reinvention road-trip?"

My lip raised in a doubtful grimace before I could stop it. "Road-trip? Like, me and Matt broadcasting from butt-crack nowhere again?" The previous winter, the whole crew had gone on a big, interstate road-show, visiting twenty tiny towns in a month. I'd hated every minute of it.

"No, no, totally different," Robbo said. He cracked his knuckles nervously. "Hear me out, Evi, I think you'll like this. We want to send you on a job rally."

"A what?"

"It's like speed dating for careers! You'll do a different job every week for the next two months, and report back. You'll travel the country, try new things, discover yourself! It'll be a blast!"

Stunned, I goggled at my producer, with his expensive tie and sweat stained shirt. "You mean, just me? On my own?"

He nodded, taking my questions as a good sign. "Yeah! You'll spend Monday through Wednesday actually working in whatever workplace you're at; we're not faking this, you'll really be out there in the trenches, and we've got some bloody awesome jobs lined up for you. Then, Thursday, you'll film a hilarious report with a small crew. Friday, we do the live cross back to the studio. Brilliant, ay?"