Lady in Red

She was wearing a red silk blouse with a grey pencil skirt and pearls maybe her grandmother's. Her hair was perfectly silky, straight and cut in the most trendy diagonal forward style. The shoes! lets not even go there. Overall, she looked like she was on the runway modelling Coco Chanel. It was however in the dim lit restaurant where my husband and I were on our date, that she caught my eye. Then I saw her in closer proximity her hand entwined with that of her young son. It must have been her husband pushing the stroller with their twins, two gorgeous girls dressed in pink.



Nervously I gave her a faint half smile as she was led past our table by the waitress. Immediately I mumbled to my husband, "Hon, did you see that?" He raised his head above the menu he was so intently reading and said "Yes, it looks so delicious" he said. I was appalled by his honesty and angrily asked him "What do you mean?" He said "Steak, that's what looks so delicious" pointing to the picture of the steak dinner on the menu. I was relieved and then told him "No, not that, did you see that bitch, she did not even smile at me." He looked around and not finding the object of my reference, asked me, "Which one is it? Do I know her?" "Hope not" I said and looked in the direction of the lady in red who by now had settled in a booth and was sipping water. He followed my lead and said "The one in red?" I nodded. "Where do you know her from?" I was irritated by his questions, "It does not matter, some people, think they are so out of this world, they think they we are the dirt beneath them. They think they are Mrs. World" I went on with my tirade. By now, my husband had politely excused us from ordering. "Do you know her" he asked again. "No, and if I did I would never smile at her again or acknowledge her next time" I replied vehemently. The waitress came back again to take our orders. My husband ordered the Steak dinner, a Sprite and a brownie with ice-cream. It was my turn and I placed my order of Fajitas with a side of guacamole and coffee. "What made you so upset hon?" he gently prodded me. "She looks so gorgeous, who can say she has 3 kids? Look at her, I think that's is a size 2 she is wearing" I said with tears in my eyes. "You look nice too" he tried to remind me. "Don't take me the wrong way sweetheart, you know you'll look better than her, if you really wanted to. All you need to do is watch your portion sizes and really cut down on that rice and sweet tooth of yours." He failed to see the impact of his words on me. Not getting any response from me, he said " Honey, I am six foot four, and almost 50 pounds heavier than you, yet our plates and portions we eat are the same at home. Also, you have stopped exercising since the kids, give yourself time."

"You don't understand hon, its easy for you to say, you are a man, and loose weight by just thinking about it. I have tried everything, but I am hungry after working for 8 hours so I eat. She must be rich and have people cooking and cleaning for he, that's why she looks so perfect. Where do I have such luxuries? I don't have time to cook and eat healthy and to exercise. Who will take care of the kids, if I am exercising?" I argued back.

Our dinner arrived and looked delicious, especially the brownie. I took one bite of it and went back in time to the beloved memories of my skinny jeans. You see after being the chubby kid growing up and everyone but myself encouraging me to loose weight, I only rebelled. It was only after being diagnosed with hypothyroidism and realizing that if I did not loose weight I would be obese pretty soon, is when I lost weight. I went onto to becoming a health nut jazzercising my way to a size 6. That's when I met my husband. However, since it was me in the relationship that could conceive and have children, my body also gained a little more than 40 pounds, not once but two times in 3 years. The result of it being blessed with two beautiful children and a road map of its success for the world to see if I were to wear a bikini. After, struggling with the fluctuating hormones and medicines and loosing five pounds only to gain ten back I gave up dieting after the birth of my second child and tried to focus on something more healthy like writing.

"You will if you keep trying instead of quitting and stealing my desert." I heard a voice among my thoughts. It was that of my husband. I was transported back to the current hour of the lady in red. "They too suffer and are hungry after all that is what a diet is about. If you want it that bad, you must be willing to be hungry" he said and continued chewing on his steak.

I glanced in her direction and noticed that she now was chewing something, wait what is that on her fork, I strained to see as I ate another delicious piece of chocolate brownie. Maybe it was guacamole, it was green. "Its a lettuce leaf, she is eating a salad, stop staring at her" my husband said.

We finally finished eating and left a large enough tip for the hard working waitress. I picked up my purse and walked out of my booth and was almost ran over by an apologetic smiling lady in red. "I am so sorry, I was not looking where I was going." she said. "Not a problem. You look great and you have beautiful children" I beamed and complimented her. "Thank you so much, they are my sister's though, I will never be that lucky" she replied back.

We parted our ways. On the way home I rubbed my post maternity pouch and kissed my husband and thanked God for the Luck of motherhood that had been bestowed upon me. I realized that I would not trade my body with anybody, not even the Lady in red.