Beth mopped the sweat off of her forehead with the towel hanging around her neck. Not giving in to the sore muscles in her legs, she turned her mp3 player up a little louder and slightly increased the speed of the treadmill. She was going to be a bridesmaid in her former college roommate's wedding in just over a month. And, Trish wasn't just a former college roommate to Beth. She considered Trish one of her dearest friends. After they had gone their separate ways after college they still stayed in touch and often met together for girl's nights or weekends, depending on how far they were from each other at any particular time.
Beth pushed herself even harder and she could feel the sweat practically flooding down the back of her neck as it traced rivulets all the way down her spine. She was severely out of shape and she wanted to look her best for the wedding. She knew Trish wasn't as superficial as to care about how her bridesmaids looked, body shape-wise, but she still wanted to look great for the wedding. A smile crept over her face as she thought of her last conversation with Trish. It had been over the phone as Trish was in Seattle with Henry and they were both conducting their final meetings with various wedding vendors. Trish had laughingly spoken of Henry's groomsmen and, with quite obvious undertones, described their looks, personalities and any other tidbits she could dredge up from Henry, after she had exhausted her own knowledge of the guys. Beth had been thoroughly entertained by the conversation, but her thoughts had taken a more serious turn later that day.
Beth's smile quickly turned into a frown as she thought of her last boyfriend. Unconsciously, she started running faster and faster until she was practically sprinting on the treadmill, but she paid no attention to what she was doing. Her fiery thoughts had turned to that no-good, lazy-bum, pig she had the misfortune to call a "boyfriend" only a short time ago. He had seemed like such a great guy when she first met him at a carnival she had gone to with friends, but as time went on, she discovered a little more about him and a little more, and a little more. She was appalled when they had dined out that evening, after Trish's phone call, and he made crude comments to her about an overweight woman who was dining on a sliver of chocolate cake at a table just a few away from them. She had been so shocked at his rudeness that she couldn't speak for the entire dinner, not to mention the loss of appetite that had resulted as well. When they had gotten into the car to go back to her apartment, she had laid it out for him. She didn't like to tell people that she had been obese when she was younger. Not from a feeling of shame, but it was just a part of her life that existed solely in the past, and she was a new person now, so she saw no reason to dwell on it. She told him, point blank, about her childhood obesity. He was silent for the ride home, but not when he called her later.
He called her after she had been home for not even ten minutes and said that he couldn't be with someone with a history of obesity. He didn't want their kids to look fat and ugly. She had been taken aback at his forwardness, but while words had failed her earlier in the restaurant, she felt no lack of speech now. With her fury barely held in check, she had told him exactly what she thought of him and his biased nature. Without even allowing him a word in edgewise, she hung up once she had finished her tirade. He hadn't bothered calling back, then or any time since.
That had been two weeks ago. Beth had sworn off men forever, but like any single, twenty-something girl, she knew that was a short lived oath. Bearing all of that in mind, she couldn't decide whether to approach the upcoming wedding with eager anticipation or absolute dread.
Panting from the exertion she had put forth in her workout, she slammed her hand against the ON/OFF button and stopped the treadmill. As she went to step off the machine, she had to grip the handle with white knuckles to keep herself from falling down. Once she made it safely to a bench off to the side, she wiped the sweat off of her skin before laying down on the bench and stared up at the ceiling. She made a resolution, right there, that she would enjoy the festivities and the company, no matter what the week brought.