Love Impaired

Really Nice

My world changed the day I went to the bar after work to celebrate Kay's birthday. Kay works on my team. She is a social butterfly and is friends with almost the entire staff. On the other hand, I am a loner and not necessarily by choice. You see, I like people, but I don't. I was bullied a lot as a kid. I had hearing aids, attention issues, and freckles. God, I hated my freckles! To make it worse, my mom chopped off all of my hair in the fourth grade because she was, "tired of braiding it." My hair was thick, and my fine motor skills were lacking. My mom had no sense of style, either. My clothing lacked feminine touches, and she mostly dressed me in green because it was her favorite color. Kids weren't sure if I was a boy or a girl. Regardless, I was ugly. Too skinny, too freckled, too clumsy, too ditzy, and hearing impaired. When I got glasses in middle school, it pretty much sealed my fate.

I was never taught sign language because my mother insisted that I would be able to hear someday if I just tried harder. After all, I wasn't completely deaf. I also struggled to learn how to read lips. I was 100% dependent on my hearing aids. Friends were few and far between. I had an extreme lack of trust in humankind. As I grew older and puberty hit, my tits forgot they were invited to the party. I got hairy pretty quickly, too, which didn't help matters.

College was supposed to be a welcome change. I got contact lenses and smaller, less noticeable hearing aids. I grew my hair long to conceal them. My breasts had finally made an appearance, although they played a small role on the stage that was my body. My one saving grace was that I had developed a curvy back end that the guys seemed to like. Unfortunately, my lack of friendships in the past led to my naivete getting me into trouble. Girls used me. Guys wanted me for one thing and one thing only. At least I took one lesson to heart when my mom dropped me off at college. I only dated a couple of guys, and they broke up with me when they caught on that I wouldn't put out by the third date. I loved myself for the fact that I wouldn't. Ironically, all three of my freshman roommates wound up pregnant within two years. Only one of them had a family that was willing to support her and her child so she could continue her schooling. College came and went and I started my career. I had read about how women who settle down and marry young don't make it as far up the corporate ladder or take a lot longer to climb it. I figured I would have to meet someone pretty special to sacrifice my career goals for them.

When Kay joined the team at work three years ago, she admitted after a few months that when she first met me, she thought I was uptight and cold. I probably was. Kay had the ability to disarm just about anyone, though. She warmed me up to her, and three years later I have yet to regret it. We don't always see eye-to-eye, but we have mutual respect for each other, and that means a lot to me.

Kay quickly became the resident party girl after she was hired on. When her birthday rolled around this year, she invited our coworkers from other departments to join her at the local bar. Among the invitees was a new hire from a different department. Kay was always eager to welcome new staff members into the fold. I hadn't met him yet, but Kay said he was really nice. In "Kay" language, "really nice" meant polite but average looking. She was big on manners and wouldn't put up with rude behavior regardless of how attractive somebody was. Kay and I arrived first, and the other staff members arrived one-by-one. Every time she spotted one of them walk through the door, she would call out to them from across the bar and wave them over to our large group of tables. Kay shocked me when a drop-dead gorgeous man walked in and she called out, "Over here, Jimin!"

Holy Fuck! The new guy--this guy named Jimin--was sex on legs! I slapped Kay on the arm. "Ow!" she rubbed her arm. "What was that for?!"

"You said the new guy was 'really nice'!" I chewed her out, using air quotes to emphasize my frustration. "Everyone knows that's 'Kay' for polite but average looking. I'm 'really nice' but he's . . . he's . . . Why didn't you tell me he was . . ."