The Meal Plan

Chapter 9

Howdy folks,

How are you guys doing?

Let me start by apologizing for not updating in a while. I was out of the country. Now that I am back, be prepared for a bucket load of updates :)

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This chapter is dedicated to more than one person - 2cuteD4v, catopeeta, HermioneCantDraw, xBeautifulDisasterx, JessCaity and psychelina. Thank you so much for your awesome support, guys..However, I am officially dedicating this chapter to 2cuteD4v for giving me all those votes :) (Yes, I am a sucker for votes :P)

Please feel free to vote, comment, share, g+, FB like, tweet and everything else. I am looking forward to hear from you.

I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Sharanya Mullassery ©2012

All rights reserved.

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Is it wrong to want your life to work in such a way that when you run into your ex, you should:

 (A) look so freaking hot that he regrets ever breaking up with you,

(B) Have an amazing job that pays too much, or

(C) Be in a relationship with a painfully handsome guy standing next to you, unable to keep his hands off you?

As for the ex in this scenario, He should be overweight, balding, and pining for you ever since you broke up. But Sean was none of those. He was good looking with a naturally athletic body and made every piece of clothing look good. And yes, he had a girlfriend, who, despite being a super-slut, looked like a Victoria’s Secret Angel. Yup, our roles were reversed. I was the balding, old guy while he was the hot, rich diva.

And that’s why I was reluctant to accept Sean’s sister’s wedding invitation. The last thing I wanted to do was attend a family function where Sean would shine with Mia on his arms and I would be sitting in the single’s table like a lonely fat slob. The idea itself was terrifying.

“Pleaseeee, Neve, You should come to my wedding… I am not going to let you off that easily!” Sofia wailed like a two year old kid.

“Sofi, I am working. You can’t just barge in here and wail like something dying” I scolded Sofia. She was a stunning twenty year old woman with the heart of gold. She was like my sister from another mother and I loved her.

“I will stop wailing if you agree to come to my wedding” Sofia continued being stubborn.

 “Sofi, I want to come to your wedding. I really do! But, Sean and I broke up just two months ago and I don’t think I’d be able to bear the drama”

 “Neve, who cares about Sean and the trash he’s dating? You are a better human being than Miss. Chlamydia. Everyone knows this!” Sofia wrapped an arm around me.

“Sofi…”

“Neve, it is going to be the most beautiful day in my life and I want to you to be there. I don’t want you to miss it because of my jackass brother. Please say you’d come” Sofia gave me her trademark puppy dog face, melting my resolve.

******

Baker’s Beach Boat was a small snack parlor that was only open during summer. It was lovingly called shack. I worked the night shift with Derek and Aaron. After taking up the job in the shack, my eating habits got worse. I stopped taking dinner completely. I lied to Derek that I ate early dinner at home and I lied to mom that I bought dinner from the shack. My clothes started being baggy on me but in the mirror, I saw a big, fat, ugly girl staring back at me.

The shack was not crowded at night and Derek decided that three people were enough to run the shack at night while he hired 15 new people to run business during morning hours. My job included serving coffee and cookies to our late night and early morning customers, who were mostly middle aged men, trying to cure their hangover. I spent most of my free time eyeing Derek. He was hot, funny, kind and totally awesome.

“Are you going to Sean’s sister’s wedding?” Aaron asked me, one night.

“I think so. She emotional blackmailed me into it”

“Sounds like you don’t want to go”

“I want to but the thought of spending the entire day around Sean and Mia freaks me out. I don’t want to sit in the singles’ table feeling like a lonely loser while he parades with Miss. Chlamydia”

“Wow, aren’t you jealous?” Aaron raised an eyebrow.

“I am not jealous. I just don’t want to get humiliated in front of all those people”

“Relax kiddo. You survived high school. Wedding is a cake walk. Besides, she has also invited Roxy”

“Great, that’s another reason not to go. It’s going to be like a gathering of people who hate me” I whined.

“Come on, Roxy is not as bad as you think. I know her.”

“I am sure she’s not a bad person. But, we are not exactly best buddies now, are we?”

“I know you guys don’t like each other but I know for a fact that you guys would have been friends if you didn’t hate each other” Aaron said.

“Dude, how can you say that so confidently? She is the one who hates me. I don’t have any personal issues with her”

“She hates you for a good reason!”

"Excuse me?"