The Fat And The Thin Of It

by Julie Croft

reflected the deck’s lighting. Jackie beamed at Jill when she saw her approach.

  “Ah, mes enfants terribles and the lovely Jill!” exclaimed Ahmed as he rose to greet them. “I took the liberty of giving Jackie…

  “Lending, Ahmed; I shan’t keep any of this.” Jackie interrupted. “And it actually fits me, Jill!” she beamed.

  It occurred to Jill that Ahmed must have paid the fashion house a fortune for them to make a dress in Jackie’s size, as a lot of the designers refused to have any of their creations tailored in a size above the British twelve. Jill could understand why, but if the fashion house that had made the dress could have seen Jackie in it, they’d probably bend that rule of thumb a little more often.

  She looked absolutely beautiful, with her brunette hair loosely pulled up and a pair of jaw-dropping diamond earrings dangling into the fur collar of the coat. The material of the dress was a shimmering swirl of beige and pink tones, and a diamond brooch sat beneath her ample cleavage, giving it the effect of a real, ‘in your face’ exclamation mark.

  Ahmed chuckled and shook his head. “Alright, little one; lending her something from my ex wife’s wardrobe for dinner this evening. Perhaps Chantal could lend Jill a little something for the occasion?” he looked at his daughter with an inquisitive rise of his bushy eyebrows.

  Chantal obediently took Jill’s elbow lightly. “Come on, let’s go to my cabin and I’ll see what I have for you.”

  Jill stopped Chantal. “Oh, no, no; I really can’t go to dinner.”

  Chantal looked hurt. “Why ever not?”

  Jill looked at Jackie and saw her beaming smile had faded somewhat. “Well, I have to go back to the hotel and work on some papers,” she lied. “But please take Jackie as she’ll only be bored watching me work away at the laptop.”

  Jackie’s beam returned, but she dutifully asked, “Are you sure, Jill?

  Jill playfully shooed her away. “Please, go! Then I can work in peace, love.”

  Ahmed approached Jill. “Is there any way I could persuade you to join us? Just for dinner, and then I will get Abel to drive you back to the hotel immediately after the meal, if you wish.”

  “No, really,” Jill insisted. “But thank you all very much for the wonderful day.”

  The vessel docked ten minutes later and one of the crew jumped off onto the quay and tethered it securely before another crew member lifted the gangway up and out across the water and onto solid ground. Chantal and Faruk emerged from the cabin area completely transformed and ready for dinner. Jill noticed that Chantal had put on the autumn pant ensemble by Pedro de Hierro with the pale lilac blouse and she looked absolutely amazing. Faruk was dressed exactly the same as his father, but with the little difference of a fashionable half bow-tie fastened with a diamond clip.

  Jill said she’d be perfectly fine walking back to the hotel, as she needed to stretch her sea-legs, and after effusive goodbyes all round, Jackie embraced her and whispered ‘thanks’ in her ear. The foursome drove off in two grey and black Bentleys and Jill took her stroll back to the hotel. ‘Well, Jackie’s getting her taste of the fancy rich life, just as she’d wanted’, she realised, and although she’d initially behaved like a fussy Dutch aunt, she smiled as she recalled her friend’s look of sheer enjoyment all day. Ahmed had fallen out of the sky and had conceded Jackie a good many of the wishes she’d been harbouring in her imagination for a very long time, and she had every right to make the most of him. Jill only hoped she didn’t get carried away and gave more credit to his attention than she should.

  The first thing Jill did as she opened the door to their room was order a club sandwich and ‘water with gas’ from room service, then she speed-dialled Terry’s mobile. She’d only sent him a quick text when they’d landed the day before and she wanted to hear his voice.

  “Hello, darling.” Terry purred.

  “Hello, you.” Jill purred back.

  “How’s it going? Have you managed to speak to Bob?” he asked.

  “Yes, and we’re waiting to see what’ll happen tomorrow,” she replied. “It’s too long to go into to now, but I’ll tell you all about it when I get home.”

  “How are you, pet?”

  “Oh, tired.” Jill sighed. “It’s been a very long day, about which I’ll tell you when I get back.” she teased.

  “You sound very intriguing,” Terry said with a smile in his voice. “I can’t wait for you to come home, and you can tell me all your adventures… afterwards.”

  Jill giggled. “I miss you, too.” After a pause, she added, “We’re in a very good spot at the moment, aren’t we?”

  Terry answered quickly. “I’ve never considered that we’ve ever been in a bad one; have you?”

  “Well, all those years of work, not being home… you said so yourself that they’d been tough and there were times you didn’t like me.”

  “I did, but I never said I’d ever stopped loving you.” Terry clarified.

  “Terry?” she bit her lip, but she had to ask. “Why do you love me?”

  She heard a long sigh. “This could turn out to be a very expensive phone call if I told you.”

  That made her feel very warm inside, but she pressed on. “Would you still love me if… let’s say I lost my figure?”

  “Obviously not: the only good thing about you is your pert little tits and firm backside.” He gibed.

  “No, really. Would I lose part of my attraction if I did put on a few pounds?”

  “Jill, where are you going with this?”

  She was totting up all the calories she’d consumed that day and it was at least twice as much as she would have consumed on a normal day, and she felt fidgety because she had no elliptic machine to work it off on. As she lay on her bed, she could almost feel the fat forming along her hips, as they were tingling and felt sensitive. She worried that she had another two days of uncontrolled eating before she could get home and she didn’t think there would be enough hours in the following week for her to pump it all back to normal: that’s where she was going.

  “You know something? I can’t remember the last time you complimented me on how I looked.”

  “Ah, sorry about that; you look absolutely ravishing tonight, my darling. That colour really suits you and those trousers make your bum look miniscule.”

  “Terry, I’m trying to be serious here.” But his dry sense of humour did make her laugh. “Don’t you think I look good sometimes?”

  “Alright, when was the last time you told me I looked handsome or sexy?” he counter-quizzed.

  Jill huffed. “Men get embarrassed when women tell them things like that.”

  “Do we? Where did you read that?”

  “Alright; you’re looking so sexy this evening that you make George Clooney look like Steptoe Senior.”

  “I know, but thank you for confirming it.”

  She returned to her topic. “But, would you?”

  “What?”

  “Still love me! You’re very annoying sometimes, Terry!”

  “Alright, sorry. I can hear you’re feeling sensitive this evening. You must have had a bitch of a day.” Terry pacified her.

  “I have,” she fibbed. “So please answer me so I can get to bed.”

  She could hear him take a breath before he began. “If you’d asked me why I loved you a couple of months after we’d met, I could have told exactly why. I could have said that I fell in love with the way you set your hair about your face and when it crept into the corners of your eyes and you had to shake it out with a cute little twitch of your head. I’d have also mentioned how, when you had an iced drink and the condensation dripped on the table, you’d methodically mop it up with a serviette every time you raised your glass to drink, then you’d place it back in exactly the same spot. I loved your throaty, sexy laugh, your perfectly manicured nails and the sway of your hips when you walk. I probably could have explained my falling in love with you in countless ways, but that doesn’t matter anymore.”

  Jill had
a lump in her throat after hearing Terry say such things, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard them. “Why doesn’t it matter?”

  “Because, after thirty-three years of life and love with you, the most important thing for me is to have your essence close to me, to know instinctively if you’re at home or not as soon as I walk through the door, to hear you breathing beside me at night, or simply watch you watching the television or reading a book or working on your inseparable laptop. Your hips can swell, your tits can droop and your hair can fall out; just always be close.”

  Jill had serious trouble trying to speak, but she managed to say, “I love you so much.”

  “And will you still love me if my hips swell, if my tits droop and if my hair falls out?”

  She giggled and snorted out a mucus bubble. “I suppose I’ll have to, won’t I?” she said, wiping it on a tissue she’d grabbed from the box on her bedside table.

  “Good, so that’s that sorted.” He paused before saying. “By the way, I think you’re an absolutely fantastic friend, sunshine. I can’t think of anyone else that would do what you’re doing for Jackie.”

  Jill was taken aback by that comment. “Why? She’s like a sister to me and she needs me right now.”

  “Well, there you go. Absolutely fantastic, and another reason why I love you so much. Now get some sleep and we’ll talk tomorrow, alright?”

  They blew each other a kiss and Jill hung up just as there was a knock at the door. The waiter from the night before waltzed in with a tray carried on one hand