Candice

"It's because George is going to be away for so much of the time before the wedding," I replied "I'm worried that he might meet some one much more attractive than me who could wind him round her little finger. Then where would I be?"

"If that were to happen, which is very unlikely," said Harold "You'd be better off without George. If he could do that now; he could do that after you are married. But he won't. We know George better than that. So do you."

"We also know you," said Lisa "So does George. He may be in love with you but he also knows what sort of person you are. He'd have to go a long way to find some one even half as fantastic as you are." The men nodded.

Harold chipped in "Candice. You are unique. If you wanted, any one of the Glossies would propose to you tomorrow."

"I might take you up on that, Harold. Then where would you be?" I twinkled at him. Harold was being really daring. I hadn't realised that I'd had that much effect on him. If only...

"Probably a very happy man," replied Harold.

"Don't tease him, Candice." Lisa cut in. "Harold knows you want George, but he loves you too."

"I know!" I said. I hugged Harold who was getting embarrassed again. "But I'm sorry, Harold. You'd only be second in line, after George."

"I hate to interrupt this belated love-making, but shouldn't we get back to Candice's problem?" said Lisa.

I released Harold and sat back on the settee. "Thank you for reminding me, Lisa. I was getting carried away after Harold's declaration. So what do you think I need to do apart from sorting out my diet?"

"I think that we aren't the best people to give that advice," replied Lisa "Two men and a heavyweight woman aren't exactly prime sources of information on the problems of a skinny bean-pole! Apart from the dietician, you need Frances and Sandra and maybe their staff as well. But the dietician must come first."

"There is one thing I can do," said Thomas. We looked at him in surprise. "After all, I am the Ladies' team coach." he said apologetically. "You must revise your training pattern until you are in better shape. As it is, you are using energy reserves that you don't have and the training may be making your condition worse. Instead of the running and strenuous aerobics you need to change to easy muscle and body building exercises."

I protested. "I don't want to look like a muscle-bound Jock!"

"There's not much chance of that," grinned Thomas "but a bit more muscle and flesh wouldn't come amiss." He pinched my thigh. I wriggled. "There's very little covering on your bones - " he poked my bottom " - not even where you sit. George will have a much more comfortable ride on your honeymoon if you provide a bit more cushioning! Look at Lisa. She is very, very comfortable -"

Before he could say any more Lisa pretended to hit him and he ran out of the room with Lisa in hot pursuit. His voice carried on from a distance " - and it doesn't stop her being fit enough for anything -" His voice suddenly stopped. Then Lisa brought him back into the room with his head trapped under her arm and her hand clamped across his mouth.

Lisa added, "Although I resent his implication," she squeezed his head "he is right. Making love is much better when you aren't banging each other's bones. Isn't it, Thomas?" she asked, removing her hand from his mouth.

"Yes, Lisa. Anything you say, Lisa," said Thomas in a strangled squawk. She released him. He rubbed his neck ruefully. Then he spoke to me in a more normal voice. "There aren't many important matches in the next few weeks, so if you slacken off your training it shouldn't make much difference. With a lesser regime, you might actually be fitter at matches. We can cover it with the rest of the team either by an "injury" or we could just say that you have a medical problem - which you have. That could help because then they'll support you."

"I don't want the whole team to know I'm unhappy with my appearance!" I wailed. It had been bad enough admitting that to my closest friends.

"No. I didn't mean to tell them that. I meant to tell them you are on a remedial diet because you are underweight. Then they will probably help you stick to your diet and support and encourage you. They are all your friends and friends' help could make a difference between starting a diet and sticking to it."

"That sounds OK," I admitted reluctantly.

Harold chipped in. "I think we need to have a planning meeting with Frances and Sandra, once you've got the dietician's advice. Then we can set realistic targets for you to achieve. We know the deadline is your wedding day. We need to know how much improvement is possible by then. I think it may take longer to do everything, particularly your hair, but the others can tell easier than we can." He turned to Lisa and Thomas "Can we set up a meeting here on say next Tuesday?"

Lisa replied "I should think so. Is then alright for you, Candice?"

I nodded. "I didn't expect so much so quickly. I'll tell George that Lisa and I are discussing defensive tactics with Thomas. I want to keep it from George..."

Harold interrupted me "How? He's going to notice once you start to improve. It may be gradual but once the diet starts to take effect and then Frances and Sandra get their hands on you the effects could be obvious."

"I just wanted to surprise him at the wedding. I wanted to be really beautiful then. I hadn't thought that he might notice before because he's going to be away so much of the time."

"Then we need to add that to the list of objectives. To summarise: We want Candice to look beautiful on her wedding day; that beauty is not to be camouflage but lasting; and it must come as a surprise to George. Are we agreed on those?" asked Harold.

We nodded agreement.

Harold started giving orders:

"Then that's what we'll work for. Lisa, can you ring Frances and Sandra now and try to get to come next Tuesday?" Lisa nodded and left the room. "Thomas, can you write down a revised training schedule for Candice?" Thomas nodded. "Candice, you must get in touch with the dietician as soon as possible. Until then you must eat properly, starting with tomorrow's breakfast. Have you got any muesli?" I shook my head.

"Thomas, is there any here?"

"Yes" he replied "I'll get some from the kitchen downstairs."

Thomas left. We were alone. Harold turned to me again.

"Candice, I know I'm sounding bossy, but whether or not we succeed in making you look better, your current diet is dire. You must change it to keep healthy. If you eat a reasonable amount of muesli with at least a quarter of a litre of milk for breakfast it will give you a start to your day until you get dietary advice. You MUST have something at lunchtime and you MUST have a reasonable evening meal."

He so looked fierce that my lower lip began to tremble. He saw and couldn't continue. He just hugged me, kissed me, stroked my hair then he said:

"Don't worry, Candice. We all love you. We're all going to help. You did the right thing in asking for help and now we're going to sort you out. George won't be the only one who won't recognise you. You may not recognise yourself but what you will see you'll like. You'll feel so much better as well."

I brightened up as he spoke. I started to think about Harold.

"Why didn't you tell me that you wanted me? I've always liked you. We've been to dances together and yet I never knew. Why not? I'm not that scary, am I?"

"To me you are," replied Harold "as are all girls. I can deal with them as friends and on formal occasions but I just can't cope with anything more. I know it's my upbringing but I'm terrified of intimacy and I'd have to deal with my mother's reaction to any girl that I got close to. I wish she wouldn't but she's so jealous even of my contacts with the Vixens. I just don't think I can cope with what she'd be like if I actually had a girlfriend. I'd have to be really determined to go ahead with a relationship and I'd need help. It's a lot to ask a girl and a lot of baggage to carry on a first date..."

"The right girl wouldn't mind, and she'd help you. If you'd asked me I would have propped you up against your mother's jealousy. If I'd known ...but I didn't. You will have to break with your mother sometime. Some girl will get you eventually. I just hope it won't be too long. When she does, if you need help coping with your mother, I'll do what I can. So would Lisa, or Jane, or any of the others." I kissed him gently.

Lisa returned. "Frances and Sandra will come next Tuesday. They'll bring some equipment with them but suggest that you'll have to go to the hairdressing salon several times over the next few weeks. Where's Thomas?"

"He's getting some muesli from the downstairs kitchen," replied Harold.

"He won't find it down there," said Lisa irritably "He should know better. All the breakfast things are in the kitchenette up here."

She went out of the room shouting for Thomas.

"They are almost like a married couple," I said.

"You of all people should know better than that," replied Harold. "You are supposed to be good at people's relationships. Think about it."

"Oh! Yes... It is a one-sided affair, I suppose. Lisa runs Thomas. She is the boss and he always has to do what he's told... She is the mistress and he is her slave..."

Harold nodded "And in the longer term?"

"It can't last," I pronounced "Thomas will assert his independence and Lisa can't let him have it. They will have a real bust-up and both will get hurt."

"That's more like the Candice I know," smiled Harold "Thomas is too strong a character to surrender himself for ever. Lisa likes having a slave but she needs more. She wants someone who can be her slave but who can also stand up to her without upsetting her. She needs a partner who can manage her subtly. Thomas isn't subtle. How about you and George?"

I smiled "George is mine. He doesn't know it but I run him. He doesn't think very deeply unless pushed but he's very loving and very loyal. I'm comfortable with him and I know we can grow together. He's my long-term project. I'll get him to improve himself, not to change himself, but to grow into what he could be. He'll do the same for me. We should end up as a contented and fulfilled old couple with wide interests and still retaining separate and complementary identities."

"Now you really are making me jealous of George..." Harold was about to say some more. My hand muffled his words until replaced by my lips. I was enjoying practising on Harold. Was I being unfair?

I pulled back. "You need your own girl, Harold. You and I will still be friends and we'll still work together on our friends' problems. We make a good team but I don't think we'd be great lovers. I can comfort you, mother you, support you, but you don't need a mother substitute. That would be changing one poor arrangement for another. You need someone who's going to inspire passion. I can for George, but you need someone else who can 'light your fire'. You haven't known passion. When you have, you might not recognise yourself..."

"You might not, when we've finished with you," said Harold. "But what are Lisa and Thomas up to? They've been a long time."

"I don't know. Maybe they've been distracted."

Just then Lisa and Thomas returned. Thomas was carrying a cardboard box.

"We've sorted out more than just muesli for you, Candice," said Lisa. "We've put several sorts of cereal in, some eggs and some other things. Thomas wrote out your revised training schedule as well. It'll be a start on the right lines."

"Thank you both. I don't know how I'm going to eat so much but I'll try. But if I'm going to be home in time for George I'd better go." I said.

"I'll walk back with you," announced Harold "and we'll all be here again on Tuesday evening.

Harold and I left after I'd thanked them amid hugs and kisses all round.

I felt much better on the way back. I'd admitted the problem. My friends hadn't laughed and were determined to help. Harold had confessed that he wanted me... I slid my arm around him and pulled his round me. I felt really grateful to him and expressed it in a lingering kiss on my doorstep. Harold responded more than I'd ever known him to do. It was a good effort for him. As I went inside I was thinking more about Harold's problem than my own. I would have to get together with some of the other girls and work out a strategy for Harold.

*****

The next day I found that contacting the dietician was easy. I was fitted in to a cancelled appointment and after a stiff lecture I left clutching a sheaf of diet sheets and another appointment for two weeks' time. I also had to visit my doctor for a check-up.

After work I went food shopping. George returned to find me kneeling on the floor stuffing the fridge, freezer and kitchen cupboards with shopping bags strewn around.

"What on earth is going on?" he asked with amazement. "I've never seen you with so much shopping?"

I couldn't tell him everything so I said abruptly: "The hospital has told me to change my diet because it is unhealthy."

"What brought that on?"

I brushed my hair back irritably. I was irritable with me, not him. Could I keep it from George? "I've been feeling under the weather and when I asked for advice I got told in no uncertain terms that my diet was the problem. I'm too skinny, I'm not eating the right things, and not enough of anything."

George went down on the floor beside me and I was hugged. That was nice. I began to feel better. "If all that's true, why hadn't you told me?" He kissed my cheek. "I knew you were getting tired but I thought it was pressure at work. How can I help?"

"Well..." I smiled shyly at him. He's a sucker for a 'shy smile'. "You could put some of this away while I start cooking a proper meal."

"Of course I will as long as you're sure I'm competent to put it in the right places."

I stood up "You will. I've sorted everything already. Each bag is in front of where it should go. All you have to do it fit it in, if you can. I hadn't realised there was so much of it."

As I spoke I moved to the work surface and started peeling potatoes.

"OK. I'll take over. What are you cooking?" asked George.

"A full three course meal. We're supposed to have one at least every day."

"So I'm on this diet as well?"

"It would be a lot easier to manage if you were," I admitted "Then I wouldn't have to do separate meals. But since you eat lunch at work it isn't so necessary for you."

"I haven't been eating lunch for weeks. I haven't had time since I'm trying to clear the work before I go on the course." he replied.

"Then there's no problem. You probably need feeding up as well."

"I'm not as slim as you but I don't have any fat on me either."

"I wish slim was the right word for me. I've been called bony, scrawny, underweight, starved..."

"That's unkind. Whatever shape you're in, you look fantastic to me," said George reaching up to pat my bottom. I leant against his hand while continuing to peel. "But if you're cooking and I'm stowing we'd better not get distracted." His hand caressed my buttock before he turned back to the food on the floor.

"Thank you, George," I said "This diet is going to take time for cooking, for eating, for washing up - but we still should have time for each other unless we're too bloated with the extra intake."

That evening we ate a good meal although it was an effort for us to finish. We dozed off on the settee in front of the flickering television. When we woke up we crawled into bed and huddled in each other's arms through the night.

The next morning I woke George by stroking him to arousal. Then I straddled him to a climax. I raised myself on my arms and looked down at my happy man.

"Well, George, how was that? Have I lost my touch?"

"No you haven't. That was a very nice way to start the day."

"Do you think I'd be better with a bit more flesh on me?" I asked.

"I don't know about better. You'd be different. Until you are I'd wait to tell you. If you do get better I might never get to work. I might want to stay here all day."

"You can't. We've a proper breakfast to eat before you go."

I kissed him and rolled off. "You'll find my diet sheet in the kitchen. While I shower can you get breakfast ready?"

"OK, I should have known there would be a drawback to the new diet," he said to my retreating back. He got up and shuffled into the kitchen. When he'd finished laying everything out I emerged in a dressing gown with my hair wrapped in a towel.

"Your turn in the bathroom. I'll start shovelling this mountain of food inside me." I kissed him as he passed.

For the next week I followed the diet sheets. By Tuesday morning I was actually enjoying a reasonable breakfast. I was feeling less tired, less irritable and there was a small but measurable increase in my weight. I couldn't see any actual improvement when I looked in the mirror. That was disappointing. I hoped that Frances and Sandra could help with my appearance. They could at least cover up the major problems. What else could they do?

I didn't have much hope when I went to Lisa's. The changed diet hadn't shown much improvement in my nails, skin or hair. George would leave for his three month long course on Sunday night. Our wedding day is a week after he is due to return. I trudged through the rainy streets feeling nearly as bad as I had before I asked for my friends' help. The rain spotted the outside of my glasses. My eyes felt as damp as the rain. I was really miserable. Was it all in vain?

Harold opened the door to me. He took one look and hugged me.

"Candice!" he exclaimed, "You look wet and miserable. Why?"

I burst into tears on his shoulder. I cried and cried. Harold pulled me inside, pushed the door shut and just held me. I knew Harold loved me. Gradually that got through my misery and my tears dried up. I stroked his face. I don't know how he'd done it but he'd taken off my raincoat, hung it up, dried my tears, dried glasses and replaced them on my face - all without me noticing. In many things Harold is very efficient - he's just useless with women.

"You really care for me, don't you, Harold?" I said.

"Yes. You know that Candice."

"Even though I'm marrying George?"

"Yes. He's a lucky man."

"Thank you, Harold. You are just what I need. I'm depressed that I'm not changing enough to be ready for the wedding."

"You will be ready. You underestimate the skills of your friends. We're waiting for you. Come on."

He led me to the stairs, holding my hand. Nervously I followed. Why was I afraid of facing Frances and Sandra? I had known them most of my life. They had come to help. Harold went through the living room door ahead of me. The expression on his face must have warned the others. Without a word I was surrounded and hugged by Lisa, Frances and Sandra. They held me wrapped in their arms. Lisa spoke first.

"Harold. Sit on the settee." Harold sat.

"Candice. Sit on his lap." I sat. Lisa's like that!

Harold held me. I leant back on him and snuggled against his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Candice?" he asked.

"I'm unhappy because I haven't seen any improvement in the last week. My hair, skin and nails are still terrible. I've gained a tiny amount of weight but that's all..."

Before I could continue they all started speaking at once. Lisa shut them all up.

"Candice," she said "those all take time. Months of time, not weeks and certainly not a single week."

The others nodded agreement.

"You can't expect to undo years of neglect in a few days. Even by the wedding you will still have some way to go. For the finished product we will need six months or even a whole year." Lisa said.

"A year!" I wailed "The wedding's in three months!"

"Don't worry, Candice," said Sandra "We'll make sure that you look great then. Some of it will be temporary but the improvements will gradually become permanent. Now let us examine you to work out what we need to do." She nodded at Lisa.