Beauty Comes in More Sizes than Zero

Chapter 4

"Hello?"

The second I heard Connors voice on the other end my heart beat soared through the roof.

"Hi Connor, it's -"

"Kelly? Where have you been?" He interrupted, his tone hinting at annoyance. "I tried calling you last night."

"Yeah," I mumbled, tugging at my sleeve as I tried to apologize. "My phone died. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner."

"Well where'd you go?" He demanded, "Cassie said you never came home."

"I was out." I answered sharply. "I wasn't aware you needed a copy of my schedule."

"Kelly." He said hesitantly – clearly picking up on my nerves. "I'm sorry. I just kept thinking how if you were out hurt somewhere it would be my fault."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes as the embarrassing memories from the day before came rushing back to me. "Don't flatter yourself too much James. I went out to help a good friend of mine who's going through a break up."

The line went quiet for a couple seconds; "okay, fair enough. Can I make it up to you somehow anyways?"

"Fine." I sighed, clicking through my schedule as I skimmed over it. "Brian – Cassie's boyfriend – is coming over for dinner tonight. You're welcome to join too."

"Great!" Connor exclaimed excitedly. "I'll see you tonight then. It's a date."

I tried not to think too much into his choice of words as I rattled off the night's details. Date; it was just a word people used – a way to confirm plans. I couldn't let such stupid things get to my head.

Groaning, I ran my hands through my messy hair, hanging up the phone with a little more force then necessary. The day had barely begun and already my head was pounding.

I laid my head on my desk and closed my eyes, everything just needed to go away.

*

I woke up from Tracy knocking on my office door. "Kelly?" She called. "Mr. Hamilton is wondering when you're going to stop by his office..."

I shot my head up. My brown hair flying around me as I stared up at my assistant through the half open glass door. How could I forget? How could I fall asleep?

I stumbled out of my chair and ripped my office door fully open. "Is he angry?"

A startled looking Tracy shook her head. "No, uh... I don't think so. Maybe run now?"

I nodded, grabbing the file that Tracy was holding and racing down the hall.

*

The rest of the day couldn't have gone by any slower. I had spent two hours stressing over the meeting I had had with Mr. Hamilton, and while he remained fairly detached as he skimmed over the report I had prepared, he did give me an over-all positive review. Still, despite the words of encouragement I still found myself overthinking every little detail hours later as I thought them over at my desk.

Finally, at around ten to six, Josh stuck his head in through my office door. "Ready to go?" he asked. "Want to get your car?"

I nodded as I started to clear my desk up; locking the important files away in my desks drawer. "Thanks for this," I mumbled, grabbing my purse from beside me. "You really didn't have to do this."

Josh waved my comment away, grabbing my bag from me as we made our way down towards the car-park. "Don't even mention it K."

Hearing his nickname for me made me smile. K; it was so simple, and I prayed that we could find that simplicity again and that the night before wouldn't ruin our chances at a healthy friendship. I didn't know what I would do without Josh in my life.