Full Figured Chic

Knee deep in her second cocktail before noon, Sasha rang Penny.

"You've got to meet me for lunch."

"Sure. Where are you?"

"Macy's bar."

"Um, okay; sounds heavy. I'll be right there."

Ten minutes later, Penny stared at Sasha in shock.

"I can't believe he told the entire office."

"Well, I think he only told key people. But they were the right ones to have it spread all over the office. Perhaps even the building."

"My god. So humiliating."

"The worst of it is, he's cleverly involved HR so now there are two sides to the story. My god, I wouldn't' even have mentioned this to anyone. Now it's possible there is two sides?"

"That can't possibly happen. What can he do?"

"I'm the same level as his boss. Could he claim some sort of sexual harassment thing against me?"

There was silence between the two women and shock settled in.

"Surely not?" Penny said finally. "What would he have to gain?"

"Recovery from humiliation."

"I guess. You have no way of telling people about him coming early now. He's prevented you from being able to retaliate in kind."

"Not that I was going to!"

"Of course." Penny replied quickly.

Sasha looked deep into her second Mai tai. "I think I'm going to have an ocean of these."

"I'm ordering one right now," Said Penny as she raised her hand.

Silently, the two women watched the bar tender making the cocktail.

As soon as Penny received hers, she took a long sip. "Wow that's good!" she breathed after.

"You know, I don't want to go back there. I mean, I have so much leave up my sleeve. Do you think it would be the coward's way out to just get out of there for a month? Maybe I could go away? I hear the Bahamas is nice this time of year."

"Or Alaska."

"Or the Antarctic."

Both women laughed. Penny started the talk back up again.

"Actually, I think some time off is a great idea. Seriously; Just bin work for a while. This is too much and you need to get out from under the way this asshole treated you. Why don't you consider a month – for real? You must have so much leave available. You never ever take holidays."

Sasha thought of the long leave sheet she had at work and the mail she'd received from payroll requesting she take some leave just four days earlier.

"It's a great idea." She said. "And I'm definitely not being a coward, right?"

"Oh honey, definitely not! My god, you can't walk back in that office for a few days at least, and they stupid little immature minds need something else to focus on."

"I'll have to wait for Martin's call. I can't really do anything till I get that."

"Yeah, talk to him, and then tell him you won't be coming back for a while. This is perfect. And I am really going to need food."

Penny tried to distract her while they searched the menu. Both chose a creamy pasta dish and were complimented but the waiter on the excellent choice of meal.

"Wow, he's cute!" said Penny as he walked away, raising her eyebrows at Sasha.

"Hey don't look at me like that." Sasha warned. "I'm sworn off – at least for a few weeks."

Penny tried to distract Sasha over lunch, but as the alcohol settled in, she became less and less available for polite conversation. After an hour and thirty minutes, Penny announced she'd have to go.

"Honey, as charming as you are drunk off your nose, I have to get back to work and I am already going to struggle having had one cocktail at lunch. Do you think it's time for you to go too?"

"No. I'm going to stay till that cute waiter takes me home."

Penny sighed a sigh that Sasha could recognise even through her drunken haze.

"Honey, I am going to take you out to that park over there and I am going to sit you on a bench and then fetch you a coffee."

Sasha watched her friend pay for the meal and made a mental note that she'd had a couple of cocktails and she owed her friend big time for the cheque. She tried to rummage through her purse for some coins or something, but Penny refused and said they would take care of it later.

Sasha found the room span as she stood, and it was only then she realised how much she'd actually had to drink. Penny eyed her suspiciously.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Sure sure. I need that park bench you mentioned. I'll go sit with the other out of work slobs."

"You're not out of work, you're just on holiday." Penny mumbled as she ushered her friend out the door of the bar. Crossing the street carefully with the lights, Sasha staggered, hanging on to Penny's arm to the small park bench and collapsed onto it, the warm seat making her feel instantly drowsy.

"I'm popping across that road over there to get you a coffee. Don't go anywhere. I am watching you anyway." Said Penny.

The hot sun felt good, and Sasha started to feel a little more herself. She'd be fine if she could just sit here for a while. Perhaps she could wait for Martin's call here.

Penny returned soon with a Grande espresso that made Sasha think she was never going to sleep again.

"I've just called work. I'm sitting here with you till you can finish this coffee. I don't want to leave you here alone like this."

"No no, I'm fine." Insisted Sasha. "Don't let me ruin your day as well. You have to go back to work."

Penny glanced at her watch nervously. "Are you sure? Because I am sort of really late now."

"Hey, I'm only drunk, and not really that drunk. This barrel of coffee you bought me will get me level headed enough to get to the train and then I will be able to get home and have some more when I know I am completely safe."

Sasha smiled sweetly hoping to give the impression of someone in control. She did feel better and she wanted her friend to get back to work.

"Well, okay. But I am going to call you a few times this afternoon and I want you to answer your phone okay? Have it with you. If you need me at all, I am just a couple of blocks away."

Penny stood to go, eyeing her friend doubtfully. Sasha gave her another dazzling smile, and saw Penny's eyes soften.

"Okay, you do look better. I'll call though. So you be ready to keep in touch."

And with a kiss on the cheek she vanished into the dwindling lunch time crowd.

Feeling suddenly very alone, Sasha sat back on the bench, and sipped at the hot coffee. Her head was still dizzy, but the warm sun and coffee were doing their trick and she knew she was in good enough shape to get home. Soon her phone rang, and she grabbed at it, thinking it might be Penny. But a fast glance at the screen told her it was Martin ringing.

"Hi Sasha, its Martin here."

"Hi Martin." Sasha tried to sound as normal as possible. It wouldn't help her reputation with Martin if she were drunk in three hours as well as sexually harassing the male staff.

"Look Sasha, it's all fine on this end. I have spoken to Darren and he caved immediately. He made no case against you and he'd told Katy a completely different story, as we'd suspected. He's been put on notice. He is back on probation for three months and he is getting counselling provided by the firm. You're fine, except that it may be a little embarrassing here for a while for you."

"Martin that's great news!" Sasha couldn't contain her enthusiasm. "Actually I was thinking I might take a month's leave starting today. I have plenty on my time sheet and it seems like the perfect time to ... er... well... not be at the office."

"Hey that's a fantastic idea. We're between projects, and this little problem will be yesterday's news by the time you get back. I will have to reprimand the guys who hassled you today, but all of that will be well over after your leave. "

Sasha made some more arrangements with Martin over the phone and then hung up satisfied that all went well. She immediately called Penny to give her the good news.

That business out of the way, Sasha was left to enjoy the buzz of her cocktail and the horror that four weeks with no work brings to a work-a-holic.

What am I going to do?

Sasha looked around the park. All around her people looked happy. Melancholy started to sink in and to Sasha they were happy because they were not her and didn't have her life.

What is wrong with me? Everyone in the world wants to have a holiday. Why not me?

But deep down she knew why the prospect of a holiday terrified her. At home, the emptiness yawned, beckoning and threatening to engulf her such that she may never get out of it alive. Four weeks away from work didn't provide much in the way of man finding.

Not that finding a man was the be all and end all of her world. Sasha felt proud of her emotional independence. However, a man by her side, to hold her through the bad times and celebrate with her through the good times, was something Sasha wished she could accomplish. And nowhere was that man more absent than in her beautiful little apartment at night.

She missed him when she came home at the end of the day, feet aching, and muscles tight with the day's stresses and works problems spinning around her head. To sit over a glass of wine and share about her day, listen to the dramas in his world, give each other some rubs into the shoulder blades then get into a nice dinner together, was the sort of simple pleasure Sasha missed.

Not the passion of intense connection so much as the routine and daily nurturing of love.

Now, sitting in the nice warm park, the cocktails wearing off already, she thought of the apartment and being there all day as well as all night alone was stifling to say the least. Maybe I should take a holiday. She wondered idly looking around the park.

Soon her thoughts travelled back to Darren and she felt an anger rise in her again. Yes he had to face a reprimand, but his behaviour had been worse than inappropriate. She'd been made fun of at work; a place where she had a reputation for being tough and a stickler for the rules.

Darren's revenge may have been petty but it hit the mark and showed great ingenuity.

Maybe I'll suggest him for a promotion after all. We can use his talents for good rather than evil.

Through the small jokes she told herself, the situation hung heavily on Sasha. Her meagre attempt to connect with a man had placed her in a situation where she's allowed herself to be exposed, and her brain couldn't help coming up with revenge fantasies; Idle daydreams to get back at everyone in the office who looked at her with mockery or sympathy in their eyes. She couldn't waste this time off. Somehow she'd have to come up with something that gave her back her dignity and could even regain her some prestige in the eyes of her co workers.

She finished off her large coffee, and stood to toss it into a nearby bin. The park had thinned out a little more now and the late lunchers made their way back to work and left the leafy retreat for mothers, studiers and the riff raff with no other place to go. She wandered back to her bench to find the man who shared it with her, staring openly at her.

Ignoring it, and assuming he'd taken a glance the wrong way, Sasha took her place again at her end of the bench, and casually wondered if she should consider buying a book at the local bookshop and having a couple more hours in the park. She could pick up a wonderful piece of chick lit and have an easy afternoon immersed in the world of another woman's fun, problems and escapades. At least it would put an end to the chat in her head circling like a shark trying to drag her down.

However the man's continual, open unapologetic stare pierced her thoughts. Confused, Sasha self-consciously ran a hand softly over her mouth to ensure no coffee foam, or smudged lipstick added further to her humiliating day.

Satisfied her fly wasn't down, nor her breast hanging out, she turned to him in an effort to indicate she was aware of his stares.

He was a handsome man, but one of those you knew instantly was gay. Clipped immaculate hair and a close sculptured beard told Sasha this was a man who cared more about his appearance than anything else. His clothes were designer. Sasha didn't know the couture world well enough to know which name he wore, but she recognised the excellent cut and elegant design of label clothing immediately. From the beige and pinot coloured stripe of his tie to the sandy coloured chinos he wore, the man screamed style. His cool light blue eyes never left Sasha for a minute as he travelled over her frame, from the hair on her head to the painted red toenails sticking out the top of her sandal.

"Geez buddy. Get yourself a life. I don't know what your problem is but didn't your mother teach you it is rude to stare." Sasha had endured enough humiliation for one day.

As if he hadn't heard her, the man kept looking her up and down, with a spark of something she couldn't quite make out in his eye. In fact, If Sasha didn't know better, she'd swear he was excited. She looked around the park to see if he looked elsewhere or if his gaze was genuinely directed at her. No one else seemed to notice him and she couldn't see anything else that would grab his attention. Turning back, she found that he's used the moment she looked away to edge closer to her on the bench they shared. Sasha leaned over so that he couldn't avoid her and waved into his face.

"Excuse me. I do see you there. Are you staring at me? Because if you're not buddy, your sure are looking like you are."

This time the man straighten up and focused on Sasha as if she were a person and not a new puppy he seemed to think would be perfect for his kids. He stood up and moved in front of Sasha and held his hand out.

"Good afternoon. My name is Gregor Sabatini."

Sasha smiled at the formality, considering he'd just been staring her out of the park. But she held out her hand just the same and shook his.

"Sasha Smith. And Can I say Mr. you have a bit of a strange style there. You may want to re think staring chicks down on park benches. It doesn't do much for your technique if you know what I mean."

Gregor sat beside her, closer this time. Despite Sasha's jokes and his formal introduction he still stared at Sasha. Looking down at her thighs, he suddenly said.

"Are you planning on losing any weight?"

Anger plunged its way into Sasha's belly. So this was it. He was a creep who liked to pick on full figured women and give them lip. And she thought, for just a second there, this was going to be a flattering moment.

"Mr, if you think you can just give me some lecture..."

"Because if you are you should get rid of that notion immediately; you're the perfect size – I've rarely seen a woman with a better body – and there is a huge future available if you are willing to stay the size you are."

Although having been cut off, it was Sasha who sat with the dumbfounded look on her face. This was a conversation she didn't expect. Self protection still reared it's not so ugly head.

It was hard to believe after all that this guy actually meant what he was saying despite the earnest look on his face. But nobody, outside of Penny and Gilbert had ever told her she had a good body. The best she'd hoped for was that it would be tolerated. Sasha still found it hard to believe this man meant what he was saying. He had to be pulling her leg in some way. Stunned, she remained silent as Greg continued.

"I mean really Ms Smith, you are incredibly beautiful. Do you mind?"

He held her hand very gently, in that cool limp way gay men can sometimes, and softly encouraged her to her feet. She stood, looking at him in amazement. Sasha couldn't believe it but he really seemed genuine. She wondered if there was something wrong with him; if perhaps he were a little touched in the head.

As she stood, he held her hand and encouraged her to do a small turn. "Perfect, perfect" he kept muttering under his breath as he watched and encouraged her to turn in front of him.

"Um mister," Sasha finally found her voice. "I think you may be having a lend of me or something. I don't believe you, and I am scared now that this is a weird joke. I'd really like to be left alone."

Greg sat on the bench again, and said "No. Not anymore Ms Smith. You'll never be left alone again." He took out a pen and a business card and was busy scrawling on the card.

Sasha sat on the bench next to him. If it wasn't for the earnest look in his eye and perfection with which he was dressed, she would have run a mile fifteen minutes ago.

Soon he handed Sasha a business card. "I told you my name is Gregor Sabatini." I work for Jay Miles. Here is my business card." He handed Sasha his card, then continued.

"Ms Smith, I'd really like you to come to that address for a meeting tomorrow at nine am. I hope and expect that you will be able to get out of work, if you have a job, because this is terribly important. I need you there to meet Jay and to talk with both of us about the possibility of you doing some modelling for us."

Sasha looked up startled immediately.

"Modelling? Me. Are you sure Mr .." she glanced back at the card again "... Sabatini. I still think this is some kind of joke."

Gregor stood and put his pen back in his immaculate pocket.

"I assure you Ms Smith, this is no joke, and please believe me when I say to you that you will be desperately needed and most appreciated when Jay meets you. You have a chance to be a part of something very exciting in the history of fashion, and to work with some of the greatest minds in the industry today."

Sasha stared at the card, and then up at Gregor, and then back at the card again.

"I don't understand" She said looking at the card. It seemed so genuine.

"Ms Smith. Can't you see? You've just been discovered."