"Um...would you excuse me for just a sec?" Kat said, her face suddenly going bright red.
Before Lucy could ask where she was going, Kat hurriedly rose from the desk, her pot belly bumping against her work station and causing it to shake. Kat made a high pitched "Eek!" noise and quickly turned her back on Lucy, practically running from the room.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lucy called after her.
When no response came, Lucy decided she had better go and check on her new co-worker. She pursued her out of the large, open plan office just in time to see her round a corner and turn into the women's bathroom. Lucy followed her in, and found her her panting heavily as she stood next to the sink, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She heard Lucy enter the room and looked startled.
"Uh...sorry..." Lucy said, seeing Kat's bewildered expression. "I just thought you might be in trouble or something, do you need any help? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Kat said awkwardly. "I just..." Before she could say anything else, a ripping noise came from her skirt. She shrieked, and scrambled to cover herself up as her tight work-skirt split along the side.
Lucy would have pretended not to notice, but it was pretty obvious what had just happened. Lucy could only surmise that Kat had gotten a little too big for her current outfit, and had been in denial about her much weight she had put on. The skirt was barely clinging on, stretched across her chunky thighs and large, prominent butt.
"It's my own fault," Kat said dejectedly. "I should have bought some bigger clothes. I told myself I'd be able to lose the weight and fit back into my dress in no time. I'm so embarrassed. Ugh...sorry you had to see this on your first day."
Lucy was feeling hugely awkward, but didn't want to make things worse. "Hey, it happens to the best of us," she said, reassuringly. Though it had never happened to Lucy in her life. Her weight had always been pretty consistent. She had certainly never bust out of a skirt, let alone in the workplace...
"Ugh, I've gained so much weight since I took this job," Kat moaned. "I used to be so active...I know they say starting a desk job makes some people gain weight, but I didn't think it would happen to me, not this fast anyway!"
"You said you were on a diet though, right?" Lucy asked, trying to get her to stay positive.
"Yeah," Kat said. "Not so good at sticking to it though..."
"Well, give it time," Lucy said. "You should probably go and get changed or something, do you have a spare set of clothes anywhere?"
Kat's eyes welled up with tears. "No...I don't bring anything with me, I'd have to go home."
"Well, I'll cover for you until you can pick something up," Lucy suggested.
"Yeah...yeah that would work," Kat said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thanks so much, I won't be long!"
Lucy smiled and checked the coast was clear, before sending Kat on her way. The plump blonde held onto her ripped skirt as she walked awkwardly down the hallway and out of the building. Lucy shook her head, wondering what kind of weird workplace she had joined. Still, she did feel bad for the girl. Hopefully that diet of hers worked out.
Lucy returned to her desk, stopping by the reception desk to explain that Kat had had to attend an urgent meeting and wouldn't be back for an hour or so. The girl on the front desk didn't seem to know who Lucy was, but she just nodded politely, while chowing down on a bowl of sour candy.