ABSTRACT
Laura looked in the mirror one last time before walking out the door to go to work. She obviously hadn’t lost an ounce from the last time she peeked twenty minutes ago. She hoped the black pants and long black jacket would effectively hide the layers of fat that had crept on over the years. Truthfully, though, Laura knew that was delusional thinking. It had been effective fifty pounds ago, but no longer. Laura worked in sales, real estate to be precise. Most days now, she felt every bit as large as the houses she represented. The old saying, “he or she is as big as a barn,” was no longer funny, especially considering Laura’s large size and that she sold property for a living. Sales had slowly been slipping over the past few years and she had become quite adept at making up excuses. There was a housing slump, more and more competition in the real estate sales market, rising interest rates, larger down payments required, on and on and on. Although some of those things might be true, secretly Laura wondered if it wasn’t because of her own appearance.
