*Author's note: I think the title for this story is fine, but I thought seriously about calling it The Things We Do For Love because it really is amazing what people will do love.
The female main character in this story (fictitiously) did something for her ex-husband I have personally experienced (and written about in another genre), so it's not all that far fetched. It's unusual, to be sure, but by no means unheard of. She also later has fun doing something else with her new lover I've done far too many times with my ex-wife—something else I've also shared.
I included them because as I thought about who the female MC would be, I remembered having had quite a few women tell me, "You'd be surprised what I'd do for you if you just asked."
I also considered calling it Thor's Hammer. The reason why will become apparent as you read. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
*****
"Justin? Hi. Sorry for not calling in so long," he heard his sister say.
It had been a week, and they never went that long without talking, so he laughed then asked, "What do you need, Kristi?"
"Now I really feel bad," she said.
"Because I'm right, huh?"
"Yes," she said quietly.
"Go ahead. Lay it on me," her brother said, still chuckling.
"I need someone to cover a party tonight at the Country Club."
Her brother could hear her sucking in a deep, I'm-so-sorry-to-do-this-to-you breath before she finally asked him for what she wanted.
"So...could you maybe help me out tonight? Please, please, oh-please?" she begged, just as she used to say when they were very young.
Justin Law loved his big sister, and he'd do anything for her, and he knew she'd do the same for him. He was off all evening and didn't have to be back at work until 6pm the following evening, so he exhaled loudly then answered her.
"Yeah, sure. Why not? What time do you need me?"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she told him. "I need you to be there at five to help me set up, and you'll be working until around midnight."
He knew she was biting her lip as she asked, "Is that okay?"
And she knew he was shaking his head when he told her, "Yep. No problem."
"You're the best, Justin!" she told him and nearly hung up. "Oh. You'll need a new uniform, huh?" she asked as though he might not.
"Oh, wow. Um...let me check," he said facetiously. "Let's see. The last time I wore it was the 4th of July bash at the club in 2015. I weighed 305 pounds then, so even if I still had it, I kind of think it might not fit."
"Has it been that long since you last worked a job for me?" she asked even though she knew it was.
"Well, let's see. It's December of 2018, so...yeah."
"Wow. Time really does fly, huh?" she began. "Um...if I swing by and drop off a new shirt and pants in your size, do you have blacks shoes and socks?"
"I do," he told her.
"Great. Listen. I'm totally slammed right now, but I can probably get there around..."
"I'll come pick them up," her brother told her.
"Seriously? You're a lifesaver!"
She paused then added, "And the best brother ever!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll come by the shop in an hour. I've gotta check on something at the firehouse, so it's no big deal."
"Well, it is to me," his sister said. "And I really can't thank you enough."
"You uh, you are paying me for this, right?" he teased.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" she asked, missing something for the first time in a long time as they almost always knew what the other person was thinking.
He didn't need the money. He was doing pretty well for himself after a full year with the Bellingham Fire Department, but if he had to put up with all the snobs at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club again, he might actually take his sister's money. Then again, she was a single mom alway struggling to make ends meet, so the chances were pretty good he'd either tell her to keep it or spend on his niece.
"I was kidding, Kristi," he said, spelling it out for her.
"Sorry. I'm a little frazzled right now, and I've gotta go. But I'll have the stuff laying out for you in case I'm off to who-knows-where, okay?"
"Hey. You know my size, right?" Justin asked.
"I'm frazzled, not stupid," she told him.
Her brother laughed, told he'd see her later, then waited.
"You're not gonna tell me you love me?" she said.
"Just checkin'," he told before saying it to her.
"I love you, too, J-Bird. And again—thank you!"
"See you soon," he said, shaking his head and smiling as he ended the call.
Justin did still have the old uniform. He kept it as a remember of how far he'd come. He went to the back closet and pulled and pulled it out. As he looked at it, all he could do was shake his head.
"Damn. I a fat-ass son of a buck," he said to himself even though he'd fit into it—completely—just three years ago when he was 25.
He thought back to the last time he put it on then recalled the comments from the two older women who'd been downright vicious about his...size. The things they said pushed him to his breaking point, and looking back, it could have gone either way. He could have done something foolish and...permanent...when he got home, but somehow he did something completely out of character for him.
He recalled standing in his bedroom in the place he and his sister shared at the time, and looking at himself in the mirror—buck naked. He was the same height, 5' 11", but back then he weighed just over 300 pounds.
For as long as he could remember, Justin avoided mirrors like the plague. Seeing himself naked caused deep feelings of shame to well up inside him, and yet he'd been unable to break his addiction of food; an addiction that started early on in life and got much worse after his parents were killed in a car accident when he was a junior in high school.
Kristi was just 21 years old, but she took her brother in over the objections of her new husband who deeply regretted having him around. That only caused more guilt that caused him to want to eat even more, with eating being his only source of comfort. The attendant weight gain in turn caused more shame, and the vicious cycle continued until that 4th of July party some 7 1/2 years later.
When Kristi gave birth at the age of 25, Justin was still there. But after his niece was born, Justin's brother-in-law laid down the law with his wife and told her either her brother had to go or he was leaving. To his shock, she chose her brother. Not that he blamed her. Her husband was, well...a dick. And that was the most polite word he could come up with for the man who'd treated his sister like he owned her.
So he moved out and Justin stayed. Desperate for money, Kristi started working as a caterer. By the time this now 'infamous' 4th of July party event rolled around, she owned the business, and Justin was working for her full-time, and gladly babysitting for the little girl he so dearly loved whenever his sister needed him. After all, he had no social life outside of his sister and niece, and they were the only things, other than food, that made his life worth living.
Thoroughly disgusted with what he saw in the mirror late that night, he sat down and cried like a baby. For a few moments, he gave serious thought to ending it all. The pain, the humiliation, the shame, the constant looks and laughter, and everything that went with it.
But at some point the self-pity turned to anger, and when he woke up the next morning, he skipped breakfast and went for a walk. He was wheezing heavily after just a half mile, but he vowed he'd go further the next time. And he did. And he added to the distance every day until he could walk ten miles. And then he started doing resistance training. All the while, Justin spent a ton of time online researching diets and exercise and started watching videos and TV shows about people who'd lost huge amounts of weight as a form of motivation.
"That's gonna be me," he said to himself after watching the transformation of a guy about his same age go from 325 pounds to 175 in about two years.
He not only lost the weight, but in its place was a body that made Justin drool with envy. He wasn't gay, he just loved the way this unknown role model looked, and he also vowed he would do the same thing. And in the same amount of time.
From that day on, reaching his goal became an obsession, and his big sister became his biggest supporter as the weight started falling off.
It took him 22 months to drop below 200 pounds, and when he did, he surprised his sister by telling her he was going to go through the academy and become a firefighter.
It was around that same time that Justin went on his first date. Well, he'd had a kind of sympathy date in high school when one of the prettiest girls in school asked him to go to homecoming with her not long after he lost his parents.
He'd never forgotten that nor would he ever forget his first and only kiss when she told him goodnight. The event was permanently seared into his brain, and he could still smell her perfume and taste the flavor of her lip gloss even though the kiss lasted less than a second.
His first real kiss came after his first real date when he took a college coed out for dinner. Nothing more came of it, but Justin realized he wasn't ugly anymore and had nothing to be ashamed about.
All in all, it took him nearly 30 months to transform his body into something very much like the guy in the video, but he'd done it. He was young enough that he didn't get the horribly saggy skin he'd seen on other people, and above all else he knew it would have been impossible without the love and support of his sister. So if she needed his help, he'd be there.
Now, as he was closing in on turning 29, Justin's body was nothing short of incredible. He was a fitness junky, and had more women chasing after him than he could shake the proverbial stick at. And yet, deep down, he was still in some ways that same insecure kid who could never quite find himself after losing two of the three best friends he'd ever had in a single moment on a cold, rainy night.
So as he drove to 'Kristi's Katering' he once again gave thanks for the big sister who'd been his lifeline through it all. It was a little after 2pm when he walked in, and he no sooner closed the door than a younger woman who worked for Kristi saw him and smiled.
"Hey, gorgeous!" she called out.
Justin smiled and said back to her, "Howdy, beautiful. Is my sister treating you okay?"
"No complaints," she said, the smile glued to her rather plain face.
Justin never forgot what it was like to feel unattractive. And while this girl wasn't all that unattractive, she was average looking at best. She clearly had a thing for him, and each time he saw her, he did his best to encourage her and try and make her smile.
