They Say Love is Blind

Chapter 1: LATE AGAIN

It seemed like every day Tory was late for work. She'd already missed the first bus and was about to miss the late bus. She called the second bus the late bus because no matter what, she was destined to walk in to the office at least one minute late. But at least if she was only one or two minutes late it meant that she might be able to slip in unnoticed.

She saw the bus rounding the corner and was forced to break into a run. Her neatly pressed hair was going to end up a mass of nappy curls.

Tory sprinted, hoping not to twist an ankle, trying not to think about how embarrassing she must appear to the other commuters. She wasn't exactly small but despite her extra weight she moved with a speed born of desperation and managed to reach the bus before it pulled off.

Breathlessly she searched for change and then almost fell when the driver began to take off before she was settled. She was forced to sit down in the handicap, elderly section so that she could dig through her oversized purse for her wallet. Her purse doubled as a lunch bag, overnight bag, and sometimes even a trash bag. It held everything from a doo-rag, old bills, a snack cake to a bottle of hairspray.

"Do you need change?" A man's quiet voice asked.

"No," she said absently, trying to catch her breath. "It's just all over my bag-" Finally she came up with the coins. She stood up and reached for the pole, but the bus took that particular opportunity to lurch forward and Tory lost her balance before she could grab hold. She found herself falling into the lap of the man who had offered the change.

"Oh!" His hand came up reflexively to her ample hips. She leaped up. "I am so sorry!" This was a day from hell. She heard the snickers of several commuters. She was really putting on a show today. She felt embarrassed beads of sweat sprout under her arms.

"It's okay," the man replied facing forward stiffly. He did reach down to retrieve her sweater. He handed it up to her absently still without looking at her. She flushed realizing that she must have embarrassed him too, and bearing all of her weight might have even injured him.

"Thank you. Sorry again," she murmured then paid her fare and hurried to the rear of the bus.

If she could, she would have sank into her seat and turned into plastic. No wonder most people wore running shoes until they actually got into the office. It wasn't that she was trying to be cute or anything, she literally had no time to lace up running shoes.

Tory peeked up to the front of the bus at the man she'd become unintentionally familiar with. He was a good-looking white man with short hair. It curled despite the fact that it was only about an inch in length. Brown hair matched his olive skin; Italian, maybe? Well he was fine as hell. Not that many white guys appeared this early in the bus ride. Usually the whites didn't appear until the bus moved closer to the center of town where there were more white-collar jobs and the shopping was more upscale. Her neighborhood was definitely more Urban, though not a bad part of town. No, Tory had a nice apartment on a nice, predominantly black street.

Her face felt hot. Why did she have to fall into a white man's lap?! He continued to stare forward watching the scenery go by, though he had relaxed now that she wasn't assaulting his lap. She dug into her purse again, this time for a mirror. She examined her makeup and gasped.

"My God…" Her hair had dropped and her makeup was a shiny runny mess. She dabbed at her face with a tissue and then ended up pinning her long hair into a French twist. A while later when she looked up again, the handsome man was gone.

That night after Tory returned home from work, she swore to herself that she was going to be out of the apartment at a decent hour from here on out. She dug into the freezer for a Lean Cuisine meal to pop into the microwave. She was starving! The diet she was on wasn't going very well. At work today, everything had been fine through her first break, through lunch, until last break when she felt compelled to stop at Starbucks for a simple cup of coffee and ended up with a Venti Malt Frappucino and slice of chocolate chip cheesecake...

Tory sighed and slipped off her clothes as her meal heated. She unhooked her bra allowing her heavy breast to flop out. She scratched in pleasure that the torture device was off. She hated her breast and her belly, her hips, her butt...because all of those things were big. After work she had gone to check out a new gym, which was on her bus route. She figured that she could give the gym an hour of her time in the evenings. But when she looked at the sweating bodies fear overwhelmed her and she left before a sales person could pressure her into purchasing a membership that she'd never use.

She slipped on a nightshirt and furry slippers and then settled down in front of the T.V. set with her meal and a diet coke. Maybe she'd start Atkins again. She'd lost on Atkins...

Tory woke with a start, unsure of where she was. And with a jolt she realized that she'd fallen asleep in front of the television.

"Oh NO!" She looked at the clock. It was the next morning and she was going to miss her bus! She leaped to her feet sprinting to the bathroom where she jumped into the shower and washed quickly. Her hair was ruined so she just pulled it back into a bun. Not completely dry, she pulled on underwear, a simple loose dress and black mules. Then she ran out of the apartment and down the street to catch the late bus.

She alternated between cursing, praying and begging. Tory had a tardiness problem, which meant she could get away with a minute or two late but more than that would be documented. She rounded the corner just as the bus was approaching the stop. She had to be the laughing stock of the day for the other commuters: fat girl running after the bus every day. She breathlessly boarded, hearing someone giggle. She frowned at the obnoxious woman sitting in the elderly handicapped area. She looked like she had just left her job as a pole dancer. She was smirking at Tory who concentrated on making sure to grip the pole and plant her feet so that when the driver took off he wouldn't topple her.

She had a sneaking suspicion that the bus driver enjoyed watching her lose her balance. This time instead of trying to find change, she just slipped in two dollar bills, and then sank into the handicap, elderly seat until she could safely make her way to the back of the bus.