The Pearfect Storm, Chapter 8: Date Night

Chapter 8 of my 7th stuck story, The Pearfect Storm.

CHAPTER 8: DATE NIGHT

With the power back on, work eventually summoned Julie and Joe back. But they’d made a dinner date for that evening after work. A date that Joe, in the spirit of full transparency, was adamantly clear was a date. She wasn’t about to fall into the lesbian trap of mistaking friendly female bonding for dates and vice versa, not with Julie, she needed to know it was the real thing. She was laying all her cards out on the table.

Joe lit the candle on her dining table and tossed the match in a mug of water that was in the sink.

She gave herself one last look in the mirror, buttoning the top button of her shirt, slightly too formal but she was nervous.

Her laptop sat across from her at the table, she poured herself a beer and dialed Julia.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP Chaos answered.

“Julie?” Joe couldn’t make any sense of the blurring image and the shrieking alarm sound.

Finally Julie’s face appeared on screen, waving a towel frantically above her head, “oh hi!”

“Are you okay?” Joe tried to look out the window as if she could see what was happening through the storm.

Julie put the phone down face up on the kitchen counter and Joe could see Julie waving the tea towel at the smoke detector, “I’m fine! Everything’s fine! Just the most sensitive smoke detector in the world!”

Mercifully, the wailing stopped. Julie picked up the phone and tried to compose herself, “I didn’t even burn anything, please believe me that I’m a very good cook. The stupid alarm also senses changes in temperature and whenever I drain pasta the steam sets it off.”

“I’m just relieved you’re okay.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not on fire.”

Julie brought her plate over to the table, “Can I call you back on my laptop, I had a whole thing set up,” Julie turned her phone to show Joe the laptop on the table across from her place setting.

“Sure thing, go for it!” Joe watched Julie disappear off her screen and took a sip of her beer and a deep breath.

BOOP BOOP

Joe clicked accept and Julie was back.

Julie hadn’t sat down yet, she was still opening her bottle of wine, “what did you make?”

Tilting her plate so Julie could see, “duck breast and fries and some leftover soup that defrosted during the blackout.”

The plant clanged her glass as she put it back down, “and a beer.”

Julie swung her hips back and forth as she exaggerated her presentation, “tonight I’ve made a vegan bolognese with garlic bread and red wine.”

“Oh no, you’re vegan, I’m sorry,” Joe put a hand in front of her duck breast and cursed herself.

“I’m not though! I’m an omnivore! See? Butter on the garlic bread and grated parmesan for the pasta. I eat everything.”

A moment’s silence between them.

“Obviously,” Julie put her arms out, tada-ing her hips.

Joe tries to hide her blushing with her glass of beer and laughed.

Julie untied her apron and took it off revealing the same pajamas she was wearing earlier, “oh fudge, I forgot to change! Hang on!”

Julie waddled hurriedly to the bedroom. The way the laptop was situated on the table, Joe could see down the hall to the bedroom, “you don’t have to dress up! You look fine!”

“No, I had a whole date outfit planned!”

Hearing Julie call it a date made Joe’s heart flutter.

A blur of pink passed by the doorway, was that Julie in her underwear? Should Joe tell her she can see, even though she couldn’t really see anything from this far away on an old laptop webcam.

Another blur passed the door, this time blue, Joe could hear muffled cursing from the bedroom, “just a minute!”

“It’s really, okay, you can wear your PJ’s, you’re food’s getting cold.”

Julie’s head popped out the door, “oh god, you’re food! Please start eating I’ll be right there, don’t wait for me!”

Joe began to cut her duck breast, listening to the stream of cursing out of the bedroom.

Julie emerged from the bedroom trying to straighten a very clingy, much too tight blue dress.

“You look lovely,” Joe couldn’t stop smiling.

Julie blushed, “thank you, but in the spirit of full transparency, I can’t zip this dress,” she turned to the side and lifted her arm, revealing a fully open side zipper, cascading fat rolls and the hint of light blue panties.

She tried to tug the zipper up, her fat stubbornly blocking the way, and shrugged. Julie felt herself pantomiming for the camera.

“Is that the struggle I heard in the bedroom?”

“You heard that?” Julie sat and hid her face with her glass of wine.

“If you hadn’t told me, I never would have known.”

“You’re very kind, it’s such a rookie mistake, choosing an outfit before double checking that it even fits first.”

“Is it an old dress?” too prying Joe, be cool.

Julie took a bite of garlic bread as she debated telling the truth or not, “it’s… not old, I only got it a few weeks ago… it fit when I bought it.”

Joe wasn’t sure how to respond, “sorry I’m not there to help you with your zips.”

Julie laughed, “ha, you couldn’t zip this zip, it’s unzippable.”

“I’m very strong,” Joe raised an eyebrow.

“And I’m very fat,” Julie raised her eyebrow in return.

“God you’re so fucking cute,” Joe put her hands to her mouth, she had been thinking that, she didn’t mean to say it.

Julie laughed, twirled her pasta on her fork, she’d never had a date go this well in her life, and she’d never had her fatness be so central to the flirting before in her life, “have you dated many women… my size?”

Joe had dreamed of dating women Julie’s size but had only had the opportunity to date small-fat women, “I-I haven’t, is there anything I should know? Besides being ready to assist with zippers?”

“I don’t think that’s true for all super fats, but zipper assistant is a job opening that I am taking resumes for currently, my weight… fluctuates. No, that’s a lie.”

A forkful of dinner hung in the air as Joe froze. Julie took a big glug of wine.

“How do you tell someone on a first date that as fat as I am, the me that you’re meeting right now is likely the thinnest me you’ll ever know.” Julie’s voice shook. She’d never really talked like this on a date before. Usually she avoided discussing her weight entirely, as if her date wouldn’t notice.

The fries slipped off of Joe’s fork. Speechless.

“My weight doesn’t… fluctuate. It goes up. And up.”

Joe put her fork down and rested her head in her hands, “Is that a promise?”

Julie could feel the heat of Joe’s stare through the laptop. She averted her eyes and smiled. She reached across the table for another slice of garlic bread-

RIP

Julie froze. She could see Joe’s eyes wide on the screen. She quickly shrunk back into her seat, stealing a glance at the side seam of her dress, red faced.

“Show me.”

Julie sheepishly lifted her gaze to meet Joe’s eyes. She stood and turned to the side and lifted her arm, revealing not only the gaping open zipper but a second gaping split seam below that, “I really chose the wrong dress tonight.”

“I disagree.”