Chapter 1

BPOV

I first met Eric Yorkie coming out of an elevator. He was rushing to get on and I was trying to get off. We collided and ended up grabbing each other's cell phones. I had just finished an interview with a major construction company and he was on his way from court, He was a prosecuting attorney and I had just graduated with an accounting degree.

He called me to have us exchange our phones, where he then asked me to dinner. He was handsome intelligent, and everything I could want in a guy. Although, for all of his assets, he had even more downfalls. Eric had a time line for everything; from coffee brewing to taxi rides. So, after dating for exactly four weeks, we had sex. After four months, I met his parents. At our one year mark he asked me to move in with him.

Eric was predictable, it's what I loved and hated about him. I knew he would call me to say good morning at exactly eight and I knew what color shirt he would wear every Monday. I also knew we would only have sex on Tuesdays and Thursdays between nine and nine fifteen, and only in the dark and only in the bedroom, shirts always remained on.

Even our meals were scheduled—Monday was spaghetti, Tuesday was meatloaf, Wednesday, pork chops; we never deviated from that schedule. While it made grocery shopping very easy, it left me with a much bigger problem when I began to gain weight. Eric didn't like vegetables; he couldn't even look at lettuce. He said his mother always cooked things in a particular way and she never gained a pound. She also never had a hot meal in her life since she was waiting on her husband hand a foot, but I digress.

We were headed for the two year mark when his mother brought up the question of marriage. Eric explained that several things would have to happen before he would consider getting married. One, I would have to lose twenty pounds. Two, he would have to make partner in his law firm. Three, we would have to have saved fifty-thousand dollars so that we could buy a house.

Don't get me wrong, Eric wasn't telling me anything I didn't know when it came to how I look. He wasn't cruel about it, just brutally honest. He did tell me I had a very pretty face and that I satisfied him quite well in bed. I decided he would be worth the effort because I still wanted to be married, have a house, and children of my own. Eric was the only offer I had and I strongly felt he was the only one I ever would have.

Eric was a fanatic about things being organized; from the soup cans all facing the same direction to my tampons being placed perfectly in the drawer. I hated how he never deviated from his check lists, I hated that his cologne had expired a year ago, however he kept using it. I hated that he still wore the same glasses he had in sixth grade. Again, he had his flaws.

I took all of his 'conditions', or prerequisites as I called them, and began to work my tail off to make at least two of them happen. I started by cutting my meal portions in half, and then I began exercising on my lunch break. It took nearly six months, but I finally got the twenty pounds off. Next, was the fifty-thousand he wanted to have saved. I took every hour of overtime that I could, I sold plasma, baked cookies for my coworkers, saved my tax return, and even had my cellular plan cut down to basic service. The biggest push was when my company had a contest for the most time and money saving idea, the winner would receive ten thousand dollars. I suggested job sharing, where two people shared a role; they each only worked part time. The company loved it because sick days decreased and since part time employees received no benefits, it was a win-win situation. Needless to say, I won the contest.

I will never forget the day that Eric made partner. He came home and swung me around in a circle kissing my entire face. I hadn't told Eric that I had been able to save the money, but I just knew he would be so happy that all three of his conditions had been met.

We were scheduled to have dinner with our friends at a local upscale restaurant to celebrate. I went out and bought a very tight black dress that showed off my new body. Since I had to work that day, I told everyone I would meet them at the restaurant. I changed at my office and took a taxi. Once I arrived, I noticed that some of Eric's coworkers had decided to join us.

Eric and I were the only couple in our group of friends who weren't either engaged or married. I just knew that would change tonight.

As I took my place at the table, I heard gasps and wows from everyone at how skinny I looked. Eric even touched my backside and gave me a knowing look. I whispered in his ear that losing the weight meant that two of his conditions were met.

Finally after several bottles of wine were finished and toasts had been made, one of our friends asked the question. "So Eric, when are you going to make an honest woman out of our Bella?"

This was it, this was when all of my planning and hard work would pay off. I pictured it in my mind how he would drop down on one knee and ask me to finally marry him after two years. Sounds great doesn't it?

However, that isn't what happened, not even close. Eric waved his friend off and replied, "Bella and I are just fine. Why would I ruin things by getting married?"

I remember looking directly at him as he uttered each and every word. The truth was, he never wanted to marry me. He had set the goals high enough that he thought we, or rather I, would never reach them.

I read somewhere that everyone has a breaking point or hits rock bottom, as they call it, when they decide things had to change. In that moment, I hit mine. I will never forget the look on his face when I turned to him and said, "No, we are definitely not fine. Over, yes, but not fine."

I left the table that night and took a taxi home. I packed all of my belongings and stayed in a hotel. I called my dad and asked him if I could move back home for a little while, he arrived the next day with my brother Emmett and his truck. They loaded up my boxes and drove me from Spokane to Seattle.

I had been living with my brother and his wife, Rose for a few months, when I heard through the grapevine that Eric was already engaged to someone else. She was eleven years older than him, had two children, and outweighed me by one hundred pounds. Clearly he didn't want a wife, he wanted a mother.

I cried for days and started to eat everything in sight. Food was now my only friend and we got close, really close. So now I am single and fat, with no end in sight.

AN

So there we have it. This is going to be another low angst fiction. I know that some of you are going to question if this is a copy of "shadow boxer" the answer is no. That fiction dealt with underground fighting. This is dealing with organized prize fighting. Bella will not be homeless, in fact she has a very strong will in this one. Its about standing for what you believe in, knowing what you'reworth and not accepting any less, even if the guy in question is a very muscular,shirtless,and sweating boxer-ward.

I did a lot of research on the sport of boxing, I sat down and spoke with not only fans of boxing, but actual boxers as well. To my friend, DA, thank you for putting up with my continuousquestions and stopping you every ten seconds to have you repeat something.

We are changing things up, Momma2fan is beta'ing this one, show her some love over on my Facebook page. Kim "eagle eye" has control of the red ink for this one…give them both some thanks when you head over there.

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