~o~

I looked in the refrigerator again, and then immediately closed it. My stomach made complaining noises, but I wasn't going to ruin the workout I had just done by giving in this time. I drank more and more water, and ignored my cravings. Why I had I even bought the damn pizza and ice cream in the first place I'll never know.

I showered and decided to just get some sleep, I promised myself I would eat a healthy breakfast in the morning, and not the donuts I had given in and bought yesterday. I didn't want to look any worse than I already felt, and I had a date this Friday.

I made my way through breakfast, egg whites and toast like a good girl. I grabbed my water bottle and headed to the gym, a nice workout would help my mood I hoped. It was Wednesday, and maybe by Friday I could convince my body to look good enough for my date. I tried not to think about how good looking my date was, I mean we had worked together for a couple months now, I was his bosses secretary, so he passed by my desk on a regular basis.

Gabriel who always smiled at me, asked about my day, offered to bring me coffee or a snack on a regular basis. At first I thought he was just being polite, like so many others who had to come see the big boss. But his smile never left his face when we talked, and somehow I had gone from polite to flirting back with him. I figured it couldn't hurt, and it had been way to long since I had anyone really pay me compliments the way he did. And when he asked me out on Monday, I had immediately said yes, Mexican food was my absolute favorite.

I pulled into the gym and walked into my Zumba class, trying to ignore all the size 0 girls in their booty shorts with their perfect manicures and not a hair out of place. I stayed more towards the back, hoping no one paid attention to me. I wondered why they even came to this class, obviously they were here more for the hot instructor than to sweat. And sweat I did, I was a hot mess by the time I left class. I slowly made my way towards my car, looking forward to a shower and maybe just one slice of pizza. I reached for my door handle, just as I heard someone calling my name.

~o~

"Angela?" I turned around and wanted to die on the spot. Gabriel was less than 5 feet from me, getting out of his car. I tried to act normal, and not like I was a hot sweaty mess. "Hey Gabe." He smiled brightly and gestured towards the gym. "I didn't know you came here. Zumba?" He winked and grinned. I nodded. "Do I have that freshly killed look?" He laughed and shrugged. "Nothing wrong with getting all hot and sweaty for a good cause. Maybe next time we'll go together, I have been meaning to try out my two left feet." I managed a laugh. "Sure. But for now I have a date with my shower, I will see you later." He waggled his eyebrows at me. "I think you mean Friday?" I nodded and climbed in my car, watching him walk away, now that's a nice sight I thought.

Before my shower I made the mistake of looking in my full length mirror and nearly died at my reflection. Had I really talked to my future date looking like something a cat had coughed up? No, I thought, what man in their right mind would look at me like this and possibly interested? I came to the conclusion that Gabriel was just being overly nice at the gym and was sure to cancel our date. I managed a shower and headed straight for the freezer, plopping onto the couch and eating the ice cream right out of the container.

Before I could stop myself it was gone, and I had to fight the urge to stuff down some pizza on top of it. I went to bed feeling depressed and angry with myself. I didn't want to face tomorrow when I knew for sure he would cancel our date.

~o~

It was only 10am, but he hadn't come by my desk yet, and I was convinced I knew why. He probably realized that I was not the kind of woman he wanted to be seen with, after all I was just the chubby secretary, and I wasn't even one of the powerful people in our law firm. I chugged down some more coffee, and dug around in my bag for another donut. I sat it on the desk as I answered the phone, wishing I had just not brought the damn box with me.

"Thank you for calling Winchester and Sons legal, how may I direct your call?"

"Angela?"

"Speaking."

"Hey, it's Gabe." I felt a small twinge of panic and thought, great, he's going to cancel over the phone…

"Hey Gabe, what's up?" Please don't cancel our date I thought.

"So, I just got invited to a ski trip this weekend!" He sounded way too excited, and I wondered if he had just made it up to let me off easy.

"Oh?" it was all I could manage to say, since thanks for canceling you jerk might draw attention from the nearby cubicles.

"Yep! And I was really hoping you could come along with me? I know it's short notice, but I'd love to have you join."

I sort of froze for a moment, wondering what to say. I was so set on the fact he was canceling that I couldn't wrap my brain around the alternative.

"Angie? You still there?"

"Yes I am. And I would really like to go, but I…"

"Great!" he exclaimed as he cut me off. "I'll get you from your house tomorrow at 6. Make sure to pack your snow boots!"

He hung up before I could explain I had never been snow skiing, and didn't own any snow boots. Crap, I was going to have to go do some serious shopping. I spent the rest of the day obsessing on google, about what to buy and I tried not to cringe as I looked at the cost of everything.

Several maxed out credit cards later I sat at home and checked and double checked I had everything I could possibly need for a weekend ski trip. I prayed that I wouldn't make an ass of myself, and that maybe, just maybe I would survive the weekend and actually still have Gabriel be interested in me. But deep down, I doubted it.