Chapter 34: Karma POV

**“Sex is the last refuge of the miserable.”-Quentin Crisp**

Hopefully, after tonight, I do not have to see or hear from him ever again. Maybe if I tell him I am basically a prostitute he will leave me alone. I have no make-up on and my hair is in its natural curls. Mike hates my natural hair texture. Maybe that will turn him off. After checking some emails, it is time for me to leave. I have two hours before it is time to face Mike. I notice Lance is still here, which may or may not be odd.

“Karma, you are still here”, Lance said.

“As are you”, I said.

“Yeah, I am getting some work done on my house, so I will be staying here for some time. And what about you?”, he asked.

“I am meeting someone at seven and rather not drive home just to leave again”, I said.

“Oh, you have a date”, Jake said.
“No, not all more of a meeting someone to say goodbye”, I said with a shrug.
“Where are you meeting if you do not mind me asking?”, Jake said.
“Not at all Apothic”, I said.
“Wow, he must be trying to impress you”, Jake said with a whistle.
“Really, Jake, she did not say she was meeting a man”, Lance said, giving Jake a hard look.
“Okay, so she must be trying to impress you”, Jake said, smiling.
“There is no she and yes, it is a he. And no he is not trying to impress me”, I said, rolling my eyes.
“So, it is not a date then”, Jake said.
“JAKE!” Lance yells.
“What dude, I am just asking questions that any normal, caring employer would ask”. Just tell me you did not meet on some shady website or Lance and I will have to come with you, Jake said, smiling.
“No, I did not meet him on some shady website. I have known him since high school”, I said, rolling my eyes.

Mike has always been popular in high school. It was not until college that he gave me the time of day to need help with his management classes. It was not until our junior year that we became more than friends. After graduation, we moved in together. He moved in with me because I owned my own home. Things were good at first, really good, but then things changed when he started making money. He was going out more. Whenever the company he worked for had business parties, he never took me. I would not find out until his friend's girlfriend, who I thought was friends with me, told me about it.

Then the fat shaming came. At that time I was only a size fourteen, a healthy size for a black girl, as Aunt Jackie would say. One day, we bumped into his boss at a car wash and he told Mike to bring me to the company party that was being thrown on Saturday. Mike reluctantly agreed. I went shopping. I remember that party like it was yesterday.

**Flash Back**

“Karma, are you ready? I do not want to be late”, I heard Mike calling from downstairs.
“I am coming babe”, I yelled back.

I took one more look in the mirror. I am wearing a gold Eliza J shimmering belted gown. I chose a gown because the party is a charity ball. My hair is straight but curled at the end and I look fantastic. I was wearing my mother's two-carat diamond earrings, her four-carat diamond necklace, with her tennis bracelet. I walked down the stairs and Mike was impatiently waiting for me. We got in the car and he he said nothing to me, but I noticed him stealing glances.
“A lot of my colleagues are going to be in the building stay close to me and do not go anywhere”, he said, and I just nodded.

We got out of the car and walked into a building. There were lights everywhere. The cameras were flashing. When we walked in, it seemed the whole room got quiet all eyes were on us but more on me. Tim and Mike's boss walked up to us and greeted us.

“Mike, glad you made it and you brought Karma with you”, he said.
“Hello, Tim, I am happy to be here”, I said, smiling, then felt Mike's grip on my hand gets tighter.
“Hello, Mike and who is this Goddess with you”, some dude said.
“Carl, this is Karma. Mike's girlfriend”, Tim, introduced Carl to us.
“Hello Carl, I reached out and shook his hand.
“Wow, what a lovely gem you have here Mike. You had better lock her down. I saw all the board members staring at her. My dear, you are the most beautiful woman in the room. Even more beautiful than my wife and she is wearing a twenty thousand-dollar dress”, Carl said with a smile.
“No need to try and flatter Karma”, Mike said, faking a smile.
“I am not trying. Mike, you have a gem here, take a look around. Some of the guests can't stop looking at her, me included”, Tim said, and I giggled, causing Mike to grab my hands harder.

The rest of the night went fast. There were pieces of art, jewelry, vacations, cars, and boats all auctioned off for whatever charity they chose. I looked at Mike and he looked mad but he was doing a great job of hiding it. There was a piece owned by Elizabeth Tayler that I wanted to bid on and the bidding was getting serious. The bracelet bid was at ten thousand dollars. I bid ten thousand five hundred dollars. Tim bid eleven thousand. I was about to bid but Mike grabbed my arm. Damn, I wanted that sapphire bracelet and, because of Mike, Tim won the damn bid.

I am pissed off. The bracelet was beautiful it is twenty carat of sapphire set in platinum. After dessert, we said goodbye. Tim stopped us on the way out and smiled at me.

“A woman as beautiful as yourself should not buy her own jewelry. For you my dear”, Tim said, and handed me a black box. I opened it and inside was the bracelet. I looked at Mike and he was so mad he was turning red.
“I am sorry Tim, this gift is too much. I can not accept this”, I said to him, then looked at Mike.
“Of course, you can accept a gift from your boyfriend's boss, right Mike”, Tim said, smiling.
“Thank you, Sir. She loves it”, Mike said, and then we left.

The whole ride home I could feel the tension in the car. I have never seen Mike so mad before. He got out of the car and slammed the door shut. I went out and walked inside. I heard Mike upstairs. I put the bracelet in my father's old study in the safe. Then off to the bedroom. I did not hear or see Mike until I was pushed hard against the wall.

“How fucking dear you embarrass me like that!”, he yelled at me, keeping me in place.
“I did nothing wrong now, let me go!”, I yelled back.
"Nothing wrong....nothing wrong you call wearing a dress that shows your fat ass and lopsided breast. Nothing wrong. People staring at you not because they thought you looked good but because they were trying to figure out how someone as huge as you fit in that little ass dress!”, he yelled, then let me go.
“Fuck you, Mike. You saw the way I looked before we left. If I looked that bad you should have said something”, I said with an attitude.
“Fuck you....yeah right you know how hard it is to fuck someone as big as you. Your stomach always gets in the way, your legs are heavy as hell. fucking you is a damn workout. Which you need to start doing by the way”, he said, looking me up and down. I can't believe he is saying this shit to me.
“Well, according to all the men there. And the way they looked, I look just fine", I said back to him, trying to hold back tears.
“They were fucking lying to you stupid. Because of me, they did not want to hurt your feelings!”, he yelled, walking up to me and ripping my dress, then left. I cried for hours. He did not come home until Monday night. And even after that, things got worse. My weight became a problem.

**End Flashback**

After making small talk with Lance and Jake, it was time for me to go to meet Mike. Hopefully, after tonight it will be over. He will leave me alone.