Nothing Tastes As Good

by Shéa MacLeod

  “You, too, Branwen.” The smile Kate gave as she returned Branwen’s handshake transformed her face from beautiful to downright stunning. Like stop-your-heart-in-your-chest kind of stunning. How on earth was this girl still single?

  Branwen surreptitiously eyed Kate’s figure as she and Tiffany chatted over their menus. Okay, so she was an average size for an American woman. About a sixteen, give or take, and packed into an hourglass figure that would have made Marilyn Monroe weep with envy. What was wrong with this society that a perfectly healthy, gorgeous woman was convinced she was fat and disgusting? Seriously, if Branwen still had the power, she’d have done something about that. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the power to fix a whole country anymore.

  Kate was giving a run down on her dating disaster with some guy named Kyle. It sounded truly horrific, but Branwen wondered just how accurate Kate’s description of events was. And Kyle seemed like a gentleman, from the sound of things.

  “Kyle…Kyle. Do you know his last name?”

  Kate frowned. “O’Conner. Why? Do you know him?”

  “Not personally,” Branwen said with a little shrug. It was the truth, as far as it went. She may be practically powerless, but she was still a goddess. She had access to a whole lot of information, including information on Kate’s date.

  Kate sighed. “It would be so much easier if I were thin. I just need to lose a few pounds. That’s all.”

  As Tiffany commiserated with her friend, Branwen smiled to herself. So she didn’t have much power anymore. Not the power to change the world. But she did have the power to change one person.

  * * *

  Kate woke up feeling like someone had stuffed her mouth full of cotton and then used her head as a kettle drum. Tiffany’s version of sympathy meant copious amounts of tasty alcoholic beverages. Not being much of a drinker usually, Kate was suffering the ill effects of way too much sympathy.

  She staggered her way to the kitchen and managed to dig up a couple of asprin which she downed along with an entire glass of water. Two painkillers probably weren’t going to cut it, but it would have to do.

  She staggered back down the hall to the bathroom and her morning ablutions. She was washing her hands when it finally sunk in that something wasn’t quite right.

  Kate squinted at the mirror. Mirror Kate squinted back. Except Mirror Kate wasn’t the same person Kate had expected to see.

  She stared at her reflection, mouth hanging open. Gone were the rolls of fat and excess curves, the saggy boobs and the triple chins. Gone was Fat Kate.

  Mirror Kate had actual cheekbones! And a jaw line. Under her pajamas her boobs looked small and perky. The pajama bottoms were nearly falling off her narrow hips.

  Kate carefully lifted her pajama top and gasped in shocked delight. Her tummy was flat. And not just a little flat, but practically six-pack-flat. The kind of flat women dreamed of having.

  She shoved back her sleeves and marveled over her perfectly toned arms. Not an ounce of extra fat or wibbly wobbly skin. No more bingo wings.

  “Oh, sweet lord, what on earth?”

  Kate ran for her bedroom, stripping off her pajamas that were now way too big. In front of the full length mirror she stopped and stared at her slender, perfectly toned body. “What the hell?”

  She poked and prodded herself. This had to be a dream, right? She couldn’t have possibly turned into a size two overnight. Could she?

  Kate gave herself a good hard pinch. Ouch. Yep, this was definitely real.

  Yanking on a robe she ran to her computer and quickly pulled up Facebook. She expected to find Fat Kate staring back at her. Instead she found picture after picture of Skinny Kate. Skinny Kate with her arms wrapped around Tifanny, the two of them obviously drunk out of their minds. Skinny Kate in a bikini on the beach. Skinny Kate in a slinky dress and sparkly high heels. Skinny Kate looking, well, skinny. There was no sign of Fat Kate anywhere.

  “How do you like it?”

  Kate whirled around, heart in her throat. Sitting on her sofa, munching on what looked like a red velvet cupcake, was that friend of Tiffany’s. Briana. No, Branwen.

  “How the hell did you get in my house?” Kate demanded, edging her way toward the nearest lamp. As a weapon it was marginal, but it would have to do.

  Branwen waved the question away as though it was of no consequence. “That’s not important. The important question is; how do you like your new body? Is it everything you hoped it would be?”

  Kate glanced down at her body swamped now by her terry cloth bathrobe. A bathrobe that used to fit. Heck, it had been on the small side. “What happened?”

  Branwen smiled. “I gave you what you wished for.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Branwen sighed and rolled her eyes. “Humans. You can be so thick sometimes. And I’m talking about the British kind of thick. You wanted to be thin, and now you are. Thanks to me.”

  “You did this?” Kate glanced down at herself again, still somewhat in shock. “How?”

  “I’m a goddess. Duh.” Branwen took a huge bite of cupcake. A glob of frosting clung to her lower lip. She licked it off impatiently.

  “Branwen. Welsh goddess of love and beauty.” Kate stared at her unwanted visitor. “Oh my god. You’re real?”

  “Of course I’m real. Don’t be an idiot.” Branwen took another bite of cupcake before heaving her rather substantial backside off the couch. “Now, enjoy. I’ve got a pedicure.”

  “Wait.” Kate jumped in front of the door. She couldn’t let Branwen leave with so many questions still unanswered. “How am I going to explain this,” she waved a hand down her body, “to everyone? Nobody loses this much weight overnight.”

  “True.” Branwen popped the last bite of cupcake in her mouth and then proceeded to lick frosting and crumbs off her fingers. “But they won’t remember who you were. They will only remember who you are. Every picture of you, even your driver’s license, reflects your new body. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Kate Llewellyn has always been a size two.”

  “But my clothes don’t fit.”

  “Well, I can’t do everything for you.” Branwen yanked open Kate’s front door. “I can change perceptions. I can change photographs. You’ll have to deal with the clothes. One more thing. There is one person who remembers the real Kate Llewellyn. When you find him, you damn well better pay attention. Cheerio.” Branwen gave a little wave as she sauntered across the porch and down the front walk.

  Kate stared after the departing goddess, her mouth hanging open and her mind awhirl. As she carefully shut the door, a little smile curved her lips. At last, she was skinny. Now everything would be perfect.

  * * *

  “Oh my god, Kaitlyn, this is so cute!” Tiffany yanked a turquoise top off one of the racks and waved it around.

  Apparently, Skinny Kate went by “Kaitlyn,” a name Kate hadn’t used since Kindergarten. Over the past few weeks she’d been trying to get used to her new self. It was odd that she was the only one who remembered being big. Everyone else acted as though she’d always been thin. So far, none of her friends treated her any differently.

  “Um, it’s a little too colorful for me,” she said, turning back to the rack of black tops. Her usual fare.

  She froze. Black may have been Fat Kate’s go-to choice, mostly because clothing manufacturers didn’t offer plus-sized gals much of a choice. But she wasn’t Fat Kate anymore. She was Kaitlyn and she could wear whatever she wanted.

  Turning to Tiffany she held out her hand. “Okay, let me try it on.”

  Beaming from ear to ear, Tiffany handed Kate the brightly colored top and went back to perusing the racks of clothes. The shop was one of those froufrou girly ones at which Kate had never been able to shop. Mostly because they only went up to size 8, and Kate was decidedly not an 8.

  She grinned to herself as she headed for the dressing room, arms loaded with cute clothes to try on. Nope. Kate was not a size 8. She was smaller than that. She p
ractically did a happy dance in the middle of the shop.

  Fifteen minutes later her happy dance had just about turned into a temper tantrum. Nothing fit right. It was too small, too big, or too clingy in the wrong places. The color didn’t look right. The cut wasn’t flattering.

  “Argggh!” She threw the last item into the pile on the floor. Nothing fit the way she wanted it to. Sure she had a huge selection of cute clothes to choose from, unlike when she’d been Fat Kate, but it was just as hard to find clothes for her new body as it had been for her old. At this rate she’d be wearing pajamas and track suits for the rest of her life.

  “It’s your body shape,” Tiffany said, peeking around the curtain. “You know you’ve always had trouble finding stuff to fit you. That dress was cute.” She pointed to a fire-engine red number.

  “It’s too tight across the boobs.”

  “Oh, well, maybe you could get a size up and have it tailored to fit.”

  Kate shook her head. “Great idea, but the dress is already nearly two hundred bucks. Add the tailoring on top of that and I’ll go broke.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll keep looking.” Tiffany gave her usual dazzling smile. “You’ve got a hot date tonight and we will find you an outfit if I have to make it myself.”

  “You can’t sew.”

  Tiffany waved her hand airily. “Minor detail. Now come on. There are half a dozen more shops left in this mall.”

  With a sigh Kate followed her friend out the door. Skinny Kate and Fat Kate had one thing in common; they both hated shopping.

  * * *

  The minute Kate got home she dumped her bags in the middle of the living room and ran for the computer. Sure enough, Kyle had sent her an e-mail. Finally.

  Dear Kaitlyn,

  I’m really looking forward to meeting you tonight. See you at Durty Nelly’s at eight.

  Kyle

  Kate grinned. This time would be different. This time instead of Fat Kate, Kyle would see pretty, Skinny Kate. Nobody would stare at them wondering why a good looking guy like him was out with such a fat cow. Nobody would make nasty comments to her in the bathroom. And Kyle…he’d be nuts about her in no time. After all, they’d already hit it off big time online.

  After Branwen had whipped out her magic, one of the first things Kate had checked was her dating profile. Oddly, the old online profile had still been active complete with fat pictures. Branwen must have forgotten to change it. Kate taken it down straight away and opened a new profile complete with new, skinny pictures and more exciting hobbies. Granted, she’d never been skydiving or skinny dipping, but now she was thin, she might actually try those things.

  As Fat Kate, she’d been lucky if she’d gotten one wink per week. As Kaitlyn she was inundated with winks, messages, and likes on her pictures. At least two dozen guys had added her to their favorites. But the only guy she’d been interested hadn’t even looked at her profile. So, she’d taken matters in to her own hands and sent Kyle a message.

  She had no idea if Kyle even remembered their first date, but she did. And she wanted a second chance with him. Of course, he’d have no idea they were on a second date. Even if he did remember the date with Kate, Kaitlyn’s profile was totally different. He’d never know they were the same person.

  It had been easy being herself and acting confident as Kaitlyn. After a few weeks of sending several emails back and forth, and a little nudging on her part, he’d finally asked her out.

  She did find it a little weird that he hadn’t needed any nudging to ask her out under the old “Kate” profile. In fact, he’d been the one who’d had to convince her.

  She shrugged. Whatever. The fact was, Kyle was going out with her and she was going to show him how hot she was and that she wasn’t Fat Kate anymore. He was bound to fall head-over-heels and Kate would finally have the man of her dreams.

  * * *

  There was a time in Kate’s life when she’d been if not thin, at least thinner. She’d worked hard to get her size sixteen self down to a size twelve. It hadn’t been easy. She’d been in the gym two hours a day, six days a week. Her calorie intake was no more than 1400 per day.

  “You need to eat more,” her personal trainer said over and over.

  “If I do, I’ll gain weight. I can’t gain the weight back.”

  “It’s not healthy, Kate. There’s no point being thin if you’re not healthy.”

  She shrugged it off. “You don’t understand. I have to lose more weight.”

  What started as a little something she was doing for herself to get healthier had turned into an obsession. Mostly because of her new boyfriend, Marcus. She’d met him at the gym and one thing had lead to another. Soon they were practically living together.

  At first he’d encouraged her. “You’re doing awesome. Way to go! Have you tried Pilates? Maybe you should use more weight machines.”

  Then it had turned into something else. He’d gone through her food diary. “You had a latte today. You know you shouldn’t be drinking those.”

  “It was fat free. Less than 100 calories. I counted it on my daily intake.”

  “You need to make better choices. How long were you in the gym today?”

  “What does that matter?” Kate had been furious. Why was it his business?

  “I’m just trying to help you,” he said as though he knew everything there was to know about fitness and health, and as if she was an idiot who needed her hand held.

  “I’m doing fine. I need your support. Not your judgmental attitude.”

  “I just don’t want you gaining the weight back.”

  “Why?” Kate asked. “What does it matter as long as I’m healthy? I’m still the same person no matter what the size.”

  Marcus made a face. “Fat people aren’t attractive. Would you be attracted to me if I gained twenty pounds?”

  “Of course I would. I love you for more than just your body.”

  Marcus rolled his eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t. So if you gain weight, I’m leaving you.”

  Even though she told herself she wasn’t doing this for him, those words hit home. Kate became more obsessed than ever.

  And then came the car accident, and along with it a broken leg and a cast. The doctor had told her to stay off it. No trips to the gym. No working out.

  Despite watching her diet carefully, the pounds crept back on. Slowly at first, then faster. It was like a freight train she couldn’t stop.

  The day she got her cast off was the day Marcus dumped her. “Frankly, you turn me off,” he’d said. “I can’t stand all the rolls of fat. You’re disgusting.”

  He’d left her over a ten pound weight gain.

  After that, she gained thirty more.

  * * *

  Durty Nelly’s was heaving again, but this time Kate strode in on a pair of ridiculously high heels with all the confidence and grace she’d been lacking before. Plenty of male heads turned her way, eyeing her like she was some kind of juicy steak.

  Fury stabbed her in the gut. How dare they look at her like that? They were the same men who’d completely ignored her or made fun of her as Fat Kate and now they were acting like she was the hottest thing since sliced bread and they couldn’t wait to take a bite. She was startled by how angry that made her. She was the same person, dammit. Was she only worthy of being acknowledged as a human being because she was skinny?

  One of the men had the temerity to approach her, but her snarl sent him scurrying back to his drunken friends. They all laughed at him, teasing him for daring to approach a woman so out of his league.

  Kate hesitated. Out of his league? Really? Holy heck.

  Her smile restored, Kate scanned the room for her date. He was sitting at the same table with the same drink in front of him. And one for her.

  “Kyle.” As she approached the table he stood just like the gentleman he was.

  “Kaitlyn.” He extended his hand, but his smile was only a small one and there was a distinct lack of warmth in his eyes, unl
ike their last date. The one he didn’t know they’d been on. “Nice to meet you. I ordered you a drink.”

  “Amaretto and cola, my favorite.”

  “That’s so strange.”

  She glanced up from her drink. “What is?”

  He shook his head. “Never mind. It’s nothing. I just know someone else with the same favorite drink.”

  For a moment Kate’s entire body froze. “Really? How…odd. Who is it?”

  “Just this woman I know, Kate.” Kyle shook his head. “It’s nothing. Lots of people have the same favorite drinks.”

  “Sure.” But inside Kate was shaking. Her. He was talking about her. Kate. The real Kate. Fat Kate.

  Her mind spun back to her last meeting with Branwen. What had the woman said? Something about there being one person who would remember the real Kate, and that when she found him, she’d better pay attention.

  Kyle obviously remembered their first date and he clearly remembered Fat Kate. It was equally clear he didn’t realize that Skinny Kate was the same person. Either she’d done a damn good job on her dating profile, or Branwen had messed with his brain.

  “Hey, listen, you want to get out of here? Get something to eat?” Kyle asked.

  “Uh, sure.”

  “I know a great place just down the Riverwalk.”

  They chatted as they walked, about the latest scifi movie, who made a better Batman, and various other geeky things. Kate felt herself loosening up, laughing. Kyle was charming and she found herself having a great time.

  The little Mexican place overlooked the water. It was the perfect spot for a date. Casually romantic. Nothing over the top. It was also one of Kate’s favorite eateries on the Riverwalk, but when it came time to order, she froze. She loved tamales, burritos, quesadillas, but her mantra kept playing over and over in her mind.

  Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

  She was not about to give up this new, thin body. She couldn’t go back to old, Fat Kate. No way. She’d finally gotten the attention of the man of her dreams, she was not going back. When the waiter arrived she ordered chicken fajitas.