Beauty swallowed hard, trying to brace herself as Kathy reached her desk.
"You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?"
Kathy spat, her voice dripping with disdain.
“Excuse me?”
She replied, nervously.
This is definitely about the chocolate bar!
Beauty said in her head.
"You just had to sit there with him, ruining his mood. Bruno loves being alone during lunch, but no, you had to go and irritate him with your……... presence."
She scoffed in disgust.
Beauty was stunned at first then arched her brows.
“Sir Bruno never complained, so why are……”
Kathy cut her off before she could finish her question.
"Do you really think someone like you belongs at the same table as Bruno? I mean, look at you!"
Kathy sneered, her eyes raking over Beauty’s figure with contempt.
"You’re nothing but an eyesore, sitting there with your fat and ugliness. You should’ve just left him alone instead of forcing him to endure your pathetic company.”
Beauty felt a lump form in her throat, her eyes stinging with tears she struggled to hold back.
Those words hit her like a physical blow, each insult tearing at the fragile confidence she had tried so hard to build.
She wanted to defend herself, but the words wouldn’t come.
What if Bruno was really disgusted by her?
What if he expected her to leave the table immediately he sat there, but she was clueless to get it.
Bruno and Kathy are pretty close.
What if they talked and laughed at her before she came to mock her.
A man like Bruno, what was she thinking?
Tears dropped her cheeks.
Kathy’s cruel smile deepened as she saw the effect her words were having.
She broke into Beauty's thoughts.
“Look honey, you are never going to be beautiful, no matter how much weight you lose or how hard you try. People like you are meant to stay in the shadows, not sit at the same table as Bruno. Next time, do everyone a favor and stay in your little corner. Bruno doesn’t need a big whale ruining his day.”
With that, Kathy turned on her heel and strutted away, leaving Beauty standing there swimming in tears.
The weight of the insults bore down on her, and despite her best efforts to stay strong, she couldn’t stop her tears from slipping down her cheek.
“I so much wanted to have that courage to face her, but self-confidence is something I never achieved no matter what”.
Beauty said to herself as the images of her classmates from kindergarten to Middle school, high schools, all laughing and pointing at the biggest girl in class.
“I just want to die”.
She looked down at her soaked desk, her hands trembling.
She was still standing there, stuck at the same point.
She could feel the stares from her coworkers, their eyes following the scene that had just unfolded. The room seemed to close in around her, the whispers and chuckles coming from various corners only amplifying her feelings of humiliation.
She didn’t dare look up, afraid to meet the mocking gazes of those who had witnessed Kathy's brutal attack.
The laughter, though muted, cut through her like a knife, each sound a painful reminder of how alone she felt at that moment.
Jessie is not where to console her, she needs to be strong by herself.
She slowly sat down and dried her face.
Her hands trembled as she reached for her mouse, trying to focus on her work, but the words on the screen blurred together by her tears.
At this moment, all she wanted was to escape this room, to find a quiet place where she could cry in peace.
But she was at work, and she had to hold it together, at least on the outside.
Taking a deep breath, she swallowed her tears and tried to focus on her work.
After the long, exhausting day, Beauty quietly packed up her things and left the company without saying a word to Jessie, abandoning their usual after-work routine.
She just wanted to get home and cry to her satisfaction, away from the prying eyes and judgmental stares of her colleagues.
After Jessie's modeling schedule, she went to Beauty's department and found that she was gone.
She immediately felt a pang of concern.
She knew something was wrong.
Beauty never left without saying goodbye before, and not after they promised to meet after work.
As she checked her phone, hoping for a message from Beauty, a notification from the company’s model group chat popped up.
Curious and increasingly worried, Jessie opened the chat, only to see a series of cruel messages from some models.
They were talking about a confrontation between Kathy and Beauty, and the comments were brutal and infuriating.
“Kathy and Beauty?”
Jessie murmured to herself and scrolled up to the previous chats in order to understand the situation better.
“Kathy really put the company's big whale in her place today!”
“She needed that wake-up call. I mean, who does she think she is, sitting with Bruno? Not even Kathy can brag of such!”
“Serves her right for trying to get attention.”
Bruno sat with Beauty on the same table!
That was the first thing that came to her, but the excitement for her friend died as the chats kept popping up.
Her heart pounded with anger as she read through the vile messages.
Each word stoked the fire inside her, and she felt a surge of protectiveness for Beauty.
She had always known some models could be mean, but this was beyond anything she had expected.
Beauty has been nothing but polite, friendly and helpful to everyone in the company, no matter how they treated her in the past.
The way they had ganged up on Beauty, mocking her weight and treating her like that, well all thanks to the queen of making others feel inferior.
Kathy!
Jessie swore to herself that she would not let this slide.
Kathy had crossed a line, and she won't let her get away with it this time.
No one had the right to treat her friend like that, and Jessie was ready to deal with Kathy herself, regardless of what it would take.
Jessie angrily made her way to the parking lot, still seething from what she had read in the group chat, she suddenly spotted Kathy heading toward her car.
Kathy, with her signature walk, with her head held high and her assistant following her around like a puppy.
Without hesitation, she walked straight up to Kathy, her eyes blazing with fury.
Kathy noticed her approach and raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting any sort of confrontation.
“Kathy, we need to talk."
Jessie snapped.
“Oh? And what could you possibly have to say to me?”
Kathy was seemingly unbothered, but Jessie had had enough.