Ivy wasn't the kind of woman to let a few bad things ruin her day. She worked in a business where catastrophe was only a matter of how much whisky and gunpowder were mixed by any given day's end. That being said, she had wished her day had gone smoother.
The day started with the chirping of birds outside her dorm window. A warm sun ray gently woke her up, her eyes slowly opened to see a picture hanging on the wall next to her bed. It was a picture of Calvin sitting at the little daisy, in the same booth they'd met at just over a year ago now. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him.
The young woman climbed out of bed and began to get ready for the day while admiring the photograph. She was grateful for everything he's done for her, especially in the past few weeks. They were extremely close before but, ever since the night she'd gotten a bit too drunk they'd been being far more loving towards one another.
Calvin had been talking to her more often about some of the darker thoughts he has about their work. Being honest about when it's too much and making sure to never go too far. Allowing him to release some of it and not just allow it to linger has definitely improved and she was with him for every step it took. Building his confidence up as well as his mental condition seems to be a part of their new journey together.
And that confidence shows in how comfortable he's gotten with flirting with her. She loved the lack of hesitation between romantic actions. A kiss in front of their coworkers, a hand being held casually, a surprise hug, she loved every bit of it.
She was even more excited for tonight. Calvin had recently decided to use some of his 'ill gotten gains' to rent a small apartment across the street from the cafe about a week ago. He'd told everyone that he was going to throw a small party to celebrate his move. Even Viktor was going, as long as he could get help going up the stairs that is. She'd had the privilege of seeing the place with him and even spending the night cuddling after the bed was set up. Ivy even went to the trouble of ordering a cake as a surprise for the party, just had to pick it up on her way from class.
She'd even finished up a paper she was writing for her English course she was retaking in his apartment. Calvin had even said it was "amazing", she'd known he was a fan of writing and well versed in the subject so it gave her a massive boost in confidence to turn it in today. Food would make her a little more confident though, and she was wondering if she'd have plenty of time to catch breakfast before said class started.
What did the clock say? She looked over to the side of her bed in an attempt to look at her alarm. She was met with a blank space where her alarm was. Looking again, she spotted it face down on the floor. "It must have gotten knocked down in the middle of the night," she thought, bending down to pick it up. Her heart sank as she realized that her 8 am alarm had not gone off and the time now read 10 am, meaning her class was over in 30 minutes.
She dropped the alarm clock and grabbed her paper off her desk, ignoring everything that got in her way. She raced out of her dorm building and took a massive fall on the green space right outside. She felt her knee scrape but couldn't focus on it. She held the paper to her chest and ran as hard as she could into the building the class was in. She bumped into students and staff along the way, getting all sorts of absentees thrown her way. A branch even caught the arm of her shirt and made a massive gash going up her sleeve. But against all odds she finally pushed through the doors of the literature building.
She'd made it there with a couple of minutes to spare. She was coming down the hall to the classroom when she saw her professor closing the door. "Professor Riker!" She exclaimed before stopping in front of him "I'm sorry but my alarm failed to go off this morning and I completely overslept. I have m-" she was stopped by the much older man holding a hand up, signaling her to stop.
"Ms. Pepper, if in my day had we blamed a machine for not pursuing knowledge you would not have the honor of having me as your professor" the man said with a disparaging tone. Ivy felt embarrassed, she was getting lectured because he didn't have alarms in his day? How was that fair that he grew up in the stone ages? "I know professor, I'm sorry, but I do hav-" she tried to continue before being cut off again by the man. "You HAVE to get your priorities together, I mean you look like you have put no effort into maintaining your appearance."
Ivy took pride in a lot of things, but her looks were something that probably took a top 3 spot on the list over the years. She's tried for so long to keep up with fashion, her physique, even her hair. She faced a lot of ridicule growing up and became increasingly self conscious about all of it.
She felt a lump in her throat form before choking out "I apologize sir." The professor could tell he struck a nerve and held his hand out "well, let me see the paper girl I have many to grade from your classmates who turned them in on time." She simply handed the paper to the man and said "have a pleasant day" without her eyes leaving the floor.
Walking away she felt her eyes begin to well up, but stopped herself. "No, this day is going to start getting better, it was just one small incident." She thought, putting a smile on. Trying to keep a positive mindset was what she tried to do for, what seemed like forever.
Making her way back to the dorm to get ready for the 2nd and last class of the day, she took a look at herself. The knees of her pants were stained green from where she had hit the grass. The sleeve of her blouse was torn vertically going up to her shoulder. Her hair was a mess of tangled and unbrushed hair. Ivy couldn't help notice every eye on her and the sound of people making comments or snickering at her. She knew she didn't look good but they could have at least waited till she was out of hearing distance to say so. All of it weighed on her and made the walk feel hours longer than it was.
When she finally did reach her dorm, she was shocked to see the mess she had made mysteriously cleaned. It hit her that she must not have locked her door. At her university the hired help would do basic cleaning, like sheets and clothes, in the middle of the day if you left your room open. While she appreciated the service, it meant that she no longer had a change of clothes to wear to her next class.
After dealing with another embarrassing walk through her school's campus, she reached the class with her work and overnight things in a bag. Every time she started to feel bad she'd look down at the bag and remembered she was going to get to spend the night with Calvin. Ivy knew that no matter how bad things were she'd always find comfort in him.
The class ended a little late but Ivy still had plenty of time to catch a bus down to the bakery to pick up the cake. Except for a few unexpected stops by passengers who didn't really understand that a bus isn't a taxi, the ride went fast. She'd finally made it to the bakery when she had felt a massive rumble in her stomach, "I haven't eaten today" she thought. She'd been so caught up in trying to salvage her morning that she hadn't even noticed. "Oh well, at least I can get something small while I'm here to tide me over." she thought, comforting her aching stomach.
The bakery she had ordered the cake from was one the daisy had ordered from several times. The establishment was owned by an older woman and her daughter. The daughter was pleasant to deal with and often at the register. It was unfortunately the day she had decided to take off and left her talkative and judgmental mother to run the shop herself.
Ivy opened the door to the bakery immediately catching the attention of the woman. "Miss Pepper!" She shouted with a hint of excitement. The two exchanged words for what felt like forever, going on about pointless subjects, all the while Ivy tried to let the conversation end and take her cake along with a croissant to ease her still starving stomach. Ivy finally found her opportunity though, "I'm sorry Mrs. Lund but can I add a croissant onto my order." she asked. The older woman looked shocked for a moment, Ivy dreaded whatever was about to come out of her mouth. "Ivy, are you sure you need to be eating this close to lunch? Add more weight and you may never be able to keep a boy. You already have tears in your clothes" The elder had said, pointing at her outfit.
It took everything in Ivy to not let it show how much that comment hurt her. "Oh I just haven't had lunch yet." She said, feeling embarrassed for having to justify her purchase. The older woman looked her up and down, it was just another set of eyes at this point but that didn't make it any better. She simply responded with a skeptical groan and sent Ivy on her way, cake and croissant in hand.
Leaving the bakery she had walked back to the bus stop to wait. The bus would take her right to the street the apartment was on and it would be just a short walk after that. So she sat down waiting for her 1 o'clock bus. Ivy sat for a few minutes before hearing the church bell sound the hour without a bus in sight. The first strike didn't surprise her but the one that followed made her eyes go wide, along with the third making her fur turn white.
Ivy began jogging with her cake and bag in hand to try to make up for lost time at the party, she felt it was the only thing she could do. After nearly 40 minutes she found herself at the apartment building's doors. She opened them to see a basic ground floor. A communal phone, an open entrance to the stare well, an exit to the rear lot, and a wall of mailboxes for the tenants that she noticed still lacked a name plate for the door she started climbing the stairs for. She turns the corner after stepping off the stairs on the second floor and knocks on the door.
She stands there for a moment, out of breath and still a mess. She can only imagine what her friends are going to think. The door opened to reveal Calvin wearing a nice but casual outfit. He noticed Ivy breathing heavily and took the cake from her hand and placed it on a small table by the door. "Are you alright?" He asked, before being embraced by the young woman "I'm a lot better now." She said, getting an honest smile out of her.
They walked into the apartment together, Ivy greeting everyone as she walked in. Calvin's apartment wasn't too big but the couch and chairs he had in his living room comfortably seated Rocky, Mitzi, Zib, and Viktor while they talked and had Irish stew that their host had prepared in his small but humble kitchen adjacent to their seats. It was nice to see everyone in this comfy little place that she knew her boyfriend loved.
Mitzi took notice of Ivy's clothes, "honey did you get into a fight on the way here?" She asked. Ivy chuckled a bit at the question and proceeded to tell the group about her day while Calvin made her a bowl. Their responses were about what you'd expect.
"I go and 'talk' to professors tomorrow" Viktor said, which was immediately shot down by everyone, the last thing the old cat needed was a murder charge. "Thank you, but I'm just happy the day is finally over" Ivy said. She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw an orange hand place a warm bowl in her lap, she wasn't expecting the kiss on her cheek that followed but welcomed it nonetheless. "We're still sorry that your day wasn't as good as it could've been." Calvin said, getting a blush and smile out of Ivy for the sympathy.
The rest of the evening went by with fun conversations and laughter until the last guest, Rocky, who was discussing some business for the following day with his cousin, had left. Calvin decided to take the opportunity to run to the store while they were still open to get some things, telling Ivy he'd be back soon. She decided that a bath could be a good place to end the day.
After disregarding her damaged clothes in the hamper, she sunk into the warm bath. The water felt as though it was taking all the stress off her. With her body feeling better she lied there and contemplated the day. She'd thought about a lot of things, the running, the time wasting, the stress. Nothing really hit her as hard as what people said about her appearance.
Ivy's hand went under the water and onto her stomach, she had gained some weight. She was by no means large but her gut did poke out. "I definitely wouldn't make the cover of vogue." She thought, grabbing a bit of her in her hand.
She thought about what she was told at the bakery. "Would Calvin really not want me if he knew I looked like this?" She was worried. Ivy had never allowed anyone to see her in anything less than a night gown and all of them fit very loosely on her. The night she'd offered herself to Calvin was on a whim and she was too drunk to even think about what he would think about her appearance.
Ivy stood up and proceeded to dry herself off, wrapping the towel around her and checking to make sure she was still alone before going to the bedroom to put on her nightgown. She opened the closet to find one but something caught her eye, Calvin's coat, the one he wore the night she was drunk.
It wasn't anything special, just a gray coat that he'd been wearing to do work around the daisy since the colder weather started. She'd thought about that night a lot, it meant so much to her that he came to her rescue and stayed to comfort her. She wanted to reward him and still does, she just needs to trim that pesky fat away to be her best for him.
She took the coat off the rack and thought more about how he didn't have a shirt on that night, leaving his chest exposed. She thought about how warm he felt on top of her. She noticed her fingers naturally moving across her lower dampness thinking about what he could have done if he'd accepted her reward.
The things she let him do if, and all he had to do was reach. She felt her knees get weaker the more she played with herself "Calvin" she moaned out in pleasure. "Ivy?" She heard a voice say from behind her.
Her heart sank as she turned around to see Calvin having a full view of her current state. She gasped and frantically tried to cover herself, he did the same with attempting to close the door. "I'm sorry!" He shouted from behind the door, both of their faces completely red.
A few minutes had passed, something that felt like an eternity now to the poor young woman. She sat dressed in the bed too embarrassed to go out of the room. "Ivy" she heard from behind the door. "I'm so sorry, I'm gonna sleep out here tonight, I love you though." She didn't respond, he knew why.
She wanted to tell him that she loved him, she does and always will, but she was too overcome with emotion to get anything out. She curled up and silently sobbed while falling asleep. It didn't take long after the exhaustion of the day for her to finally fall into that sleep that she was hoping she'd never wake from.
She woke up some time later, this time not in bed, but rather on a stage. She couldn't see out into the crowd but she could hear whispers. Suddenly the lights came on with a flash. She stood and felt her leg expand like jelly and nearly fall onto it, the crowd laughed. Trying to regain herself she stood up only to feel her gut expand outward to a comical degree. "What a freak" she heard voices in the crowd speak.
It was all becoming too much for Ivy, she felt cold. She tried to move away but as hard as she tried her body continued to misshapen and lose control until she simply fell over. She laid there, all the laughter and insults thrown at her finally made her begin to cry. She felt trapped, like this was going to be her life.
She closed her eyes, still crying, but when she opened them it was dark and the laughter was suddenly gone. She laid there in defeat until she felt a warmth creep up her leg. The warmth was soft and inviting, then she saw a small light in the sea of darkness in front of her. The light came closer giving her more warmth, even drying her tears. She heard the light speak a language she couldn't understand but made her feel comfortable. She felt her eyes close again, this time back into the now gentle, slumber she was in before.