All of Me Loves All of You (Romantic Comedy)

Chapter One

"Like I'm Invisible"

Evelyn Williams lowered her head, letting her long, dark hair hide most of her face as she slinked out of the half-empty break room. Even though she'd only eaten tuna fish on a bed of lettuce, she could sense condescending eyes burning into her skin. It made her feel like a fawn that had wandered away from the herd being watched by a ravenous wolf. Her chest tightened. She fought the urge to turn around to seek out the culprits or to find out if it was just her overactive imagination.

She always felt eyes on her when she ate. No matter where she was sent to work by the temp agency, she was always the "fat chick," that everyone gawked at, whispered about or said downright rude things to. She hated being the size she was, but not matter how many diets she'd tried, she just couldn't lose any substantial amount of weight. She'd pretty much given up on ever being slim.

If Evelyn thought she'd been humiliated enough in the break room, she'd soon be proven wrong.

She trudged back to her assigned department and returned to the file room to commence putting away files in alpha and numeric order. Being that she was only five feet, three inches tall, she had to use a step stool to reach the files on the second shelf. While she stood on the stool, the supervisor, Ingrid, hurried toward her, blowing badly permed, curly, red (mostly orange-ish) hair out of her eyes as she rushed forward. She had an anxious expression on her pale face.

Her hands resembled two frantic birds fluttering around as she waved them at Evelyn. "Oh, dear, you don't have to do that. Please come down from there. If you find any files that need to be put away on the top shelves, just place them to the side and I'll have Mary take care of them. We can't have you falling in your condition."

Evelyn's brow rose as she stared down at the too pale woman. "M-my condition?" she stammered.

"Yes, you are pregnant, right?"

Evelyn felt the heat rush to her face, turning it a different shade and even though she was caramel-complexioned, she was sure the woman could see her flush.

"No, I'm not pregnant," she said, then added in a flat tone, "I'm just fat."

The woman's face went slack, and her mouth opened slightly then snapped shut. She gulped and stared at Evelyn wide-eyed for a full ten seconds. Saying nothing further, she sprinted off with her face flaming redder than Evelyn's.

Evelyn continued to file until it was time to sign out and go home, which she did on the computerized time sheet. One finished, she collected her purse and cell phone from her temporary cubicle. She glanced around the empty department. All the permanent employees had already made a beeline for the door and were probably already on the elevator heading down.

She was in no rush. She was sure no one was holding the elevator on her behalf anyway.

On her way out, she spotted Ingrid standing with another woman who was thin but toned and tanned. Evelyn heard her supervisor say, "It's such a shame because she's a pretty girl." The other woman replied with a "Tsk. Tsk."

Ignoring the women's snide remarks, she plastered on a bright smile and said, "Have a great weekend. See you on Monday." She turned the corner and headed for the elevators before waiting on them to reply.

Once on the elevator, she punched the number one and watched it light up. The compartment jerked slightly and made a noise as it slowly descended. She breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was to get stuck in the elevator.

She'd leaned back against the back wall and let out another deep sigh as she thought about Ingrid's words. Even though she'd heard such comments and also had people assume that she was pregnant, it still bothered her. She knew her weight was the reason she didn't aspire to do anything meaningful with her life. She was content to take one temporary job after the next as a file clerk.