The Miracle Treatment

The Miracle Treatment

If not for the bright, wavy auburn hair cascading down her shoulders, Sarah would never have been able to recognise the sexy woman who had just sauntered through the restaurant's rotating doors. She had on a little black tube dress that moulded itself to her figure, drawing eyes, especially those belonging to the male patrons, to her shapely curves. “What has Michelle done to herself?” Sarah gaped, suddenly extremely conscious of her own pudgy body. She sucked in her tummy, aware that once Michelle settled down opposite her, people were bound to start comparing her to the gorgeous Venus. Michelle's eyes scanned the restaurant and Sarah lifted her hand in a half-hearted wave. As her college classmate strode towards the table, Sarah spotted the blood red, two-inch, open-toed stilettos and instantly felt like a dwarf. Her eyes whipped back up. A shawl hanging casually over Michelle's shoulders completed her look.

Sarah reluctantly got up and embraced Michelle with less enthusiasm than she'd intended. “Michelle! What have you done to yourself! You look fabulous!” Sarah gushed.

“I know!” chortled Michelle, as she sunk into the plush, velvet cushion seat. “I've lost at least twenty pounds since earlier this year!”

“Wow!” Sarah felt her heart sink to the very bottom of her shoes. She'd always hated herself for piling on pounds so easily, but now, she felt seriously inadequate. “How did you do that!”

Michelle gave her a slight, mysterious grin. “I'll tell you later,” she swore. “Let's order first! I'm starving!”

Sarah went through the entire day's worth of calories in her mind. “Oatmeal and a banana shake for breakfast, a few crackers for tea-break, hamburger and french fries for lunch, a slice of cheesecake and a cup of latte with extra whipped cream for dessert. Oh yes, and that few nibbles of chocolate. Okay, Sarah,” she admonished herself, “that's enough. You don't need to be  pig for dinner!” She perused the menu, painstakingly guessing the amount of calories in each dish. “Oh, yum! Lasagne, with extra cheese topping!” Her mouth started watering and she swallowed hard. Glancing surreptitiously in Michelle's direction, she could, once again, feel envy stirring in her gut. “No, Sarah. No lasagne tonight!” Eventually, she settled on a prawn salad.

They called the waiter over, who spent most of the ordering time ogling at Michelle's barely-covered chest. To Sarah's utter amazement, Michelle ordered a rib-eye steak and an extra large portion of mashed potatoes, with a special sauce drizzled over it generously. To go with the main course, she also had the waiter bring a glass of cookies-and-cream milkshake, complete with thick Hershey's chocolate syrup.

After sending the waiter on his way with a wink and a light touch on his arm that held more sexual charge than a kiss, Michelle turned, only to meet Sarah's bemused gaze. “Don't look at me like that, darling,” she drawled, smirking just a little. “I told you I was ravenous!”

“So, how did you lose all that weight? For years you were the fattest amongst us all –“ Sarah began, before she was cut off by Michelle.

“Oh, that was in the past. What matters is that I've a body I am proud to own now!”

“But, how?” Sarah persisted.

Michelle leant forward and lowered her volume drastically. “I found the Miracle Treatment!”

“The Miracle Treatment?” Sarah echoed, frowning. It sounded gimmicky.

“Shhhh! Not so loud!” Michelle flapped her hands anxiously. “This Miracle Treatment is the reason I slimmed down so much.”

“Honestly?” Sarah threw her the doubtful look. She'd heard of too many fad diets: The Atkins' diet, the dark-chocolate diet, the ice-cream only diet, the water-and-apple only diet, the banana diet, the list just went on and on. Heck, she'd even tried some of those. Of course, every fad diet she tried, she did lose weight initially, but once the novelty dissipated (she got sick of all the flavours of ice-cream within a week), the pounds flew back with a vengeance, and brought some friends along with them too. She'd learnt to develop a slightly sceptical view towards these so-called “Miracle” cures.

“Yes! I'm the embodiment of the effectiveness of this Treatment. Trust me. I've been shedding pounds like crazy, and keeping them off! The most fabulous thing? I can eat anything and everything I want!” Michelle's eyes held the slightly insane glint of a convert. Her entire body radiated belief in the Miracle Treatment.

Just then, the waiter arrived with their order. Sarah's puny prawn salad stood in sharp contrast with Michelle's rib-eye steak. Spearing the arugula, Sarah felt jealousy eat at her innards.

“So, care to share this Miracle Treatment?” Sarah tried to make her question sound as casual as possible. She didn't want to admit it, but she was hooked. Shedding pounds and eating whatever she wanted? It sounded like a dream come true! So, what was the catch?

Michelle didn't reply immediately. Instead, she nibbled at the rib-eye, closed her eyes and moaned uninhibitedly. Sarah's eyes swept across the room and gulped as she encountered dagger-stares from women. As the saying went, if looks could kill, the both of them would be on the floor, writhing from a hundred fatal stabs.

“I went to China end of last year,” Michelle finally deigned to reply. “While visiting one of the provinces, I met this old woman who was incredibly slim and youthful for her age and in the midst of conversing, I asked her how she maintained her looks.”

Sarah blinked. “You speak Mandarin?” This was news to her.

“No, I had someone to translate for me,” Michelle cast her a glance meant for people who had slightly below average intelligence. “Anyway,” she continued, “She took me aside, and showed me this herbal tea. Apparently, it's made up of different types of Chinese herbs for detoxification. My interpreter didn't know the names of most of these herbs in English but they both assured me that Chinese herbs are a hundred percent natural and safe. Unlike our dieting pills.”

“You bought the Chinese herbs just like that? Because they said it'd work?” It sounded a little fishy to Sarah.

“Yeah, well,” her friend snapped, “I've lost a great deal of weight now, haven't I?” Sarah flushed and stared determinedly at her half-finished salad. “It didn't work for the first three weeks, so I thought I'd been cheated. But, since I'd already bought so many packets, and it didn't seem like it caused me any problems, I continued drinking the herbs. Within two months, I started seeing results! I'd lost a pant size, and all these without exercising, or dieting!”

“No side effects at all?” It really did seem too good to be true.

“I know what you're thinking,” Michelle's lips lifted gloatingly. “That's why I tell you, it's a Miracle Treatment. There are no health costs. It works perfectly!” She held her fork up, with a piece of steak speared onto it and waved it slightly as if it were a trophy.

Sarah by now was already done with her diminutive portion of prawn salad but her gaze was riveted on her friend's mashed potatoes. Tried as she might, she couldn't stop the question from popping out of her mouth. “So, where can I get it?”

Michelle grinned triumphantly as she offered Sarah a spoonful of mashed potatoes. “Fortunately for you, I've contacts in China. My interpreter's willing to buy them and ship them over for me. The herbs are wrapped in packets. Ten packets for sixty bucks, including shipping.”

“Sixty bucks!” Sarah almost dropped the spoon.

“Think of it this way. A meal costs you around six bucks, too. Plus, it's proven to be effective. I'm the example of how well the herbs will work. I'm sure Peter will approve!” She paused for a while,  sipping her milkshake and patiently let that last comment sink in. Sarah blew at her bangs. She hated it that Michelle was right. Just earlier that morning, Peter had pointed out that she seemed to have put on some weight.

“But, sixty bucks... It's a little too much. And you have to drink it everyday, right?” Sarah hedged.

“Yeah, you'll have to drink it everyday.” Michelle took out a tissue and wiped her lips. “Look, seeing that you're one of my best friends and I really want to help you lose this weight, I'll pass you sixty packets to try out for two months. If you're happy with the results, you can pay me back after that. If within that time period you've not dropped at least five pounds, I'll consider it as a gift to you.” Sarah's jaws refused to close.

“Sixty packets!” Sarah had never known Michelle to be such a generous individual! If she recalled correctly, whenever there were charity drives during their college days, Michelle was always the one who donated the least!

“No buts. Look, if I weren't so sure that it'd work, I wouldn't make such a promise, right? We'll drop by my house later, and I'll pass you the herbs,” Michelle's tone brooked no arguments.

“Okay.” Despite her outward resistance, Sarah knew that she had to try this Miracle Treatment. She felt a slight grin spreading across her face, already dreaming of the size ten dresses she was going to be able to squeeze into within the next few months.

~~~

Sarah drew up a progress report chart and placed it beside her calendar. Every morning, she took her weight and noted it down. She made sure to drink the herbal drink right before breakfast according to Michelle's instructions. She'd been a little worried that the Chinese herbs required a special cooking technique, but Michelle assured her that all she had to do was to dump the entire packet into a pot of boiling water and boil the mixture for a few minutes. The concoction smelled vile and was extremely bitter, but Sarah was determined to reach her size ten goal within the next eight weeks.

The first three weeks went by uneventfully. There was not much improvement. In fact, at one point, her weight shot up by another two pounds. It seemed as though the “Size Ten in Two Months” dream was a little bit too far-fetched. Sarah decided to revise her expectations. “Size Twelve in Two Months” seemed more realistic.

By Sunday of the third week, Sarah was on the phone with Michelle. “It's not working,” she couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice. “Am I doing it wrong? I boiled it like you said? Should I boil it for more than five minutes? Why isn't it working?”

Michelle listened to her whining, all the time offering comforting nothings. “Sarah, it's only the first three weeks,” she reminded. “Remember, I didn't see the effects until a month or so later. Stop weighing yourself so frequently. You won't be able to see little changes. Weigh yourself once every two weeks or so. You'll see drastic changes in your weight. I promise.”

Feeling slightly more confident in this herbal treatment, Sarah heeded her friend-cum-guru's advice. She continued with the regime, religiously drinking a cup a day. It took all of her willpower, but she managed to avoid stepping onto the weighing machine. Until two weeks later.

There definitely was a drastic change.

“I gained five pounds?!” Sarah gaped at the flashing red numbers. All hopes of attaining “Size Twelve in Two Months” disappeared out of the window. Michelle's “Miracle Treatment” appeared to be a lie!

Sarah punched Michelle's number viciously and demanded an explanation for the dashed expectations. “Darling,” Michelle's voice held more than a tinge of annoyance. “It's not two months yet. And the Treatment acts differently on different bodies. You'll just have to have patience, you know? Anyway, I've got to go. Bye!”

Sarah knew that it was silly to harbour any hopes of the herbal drink having any effect on her weight, but her heart ruled over her head. “Another few weeks, till I'm done with all the packets.”

Two months were up. Sarah stepped off the weighing machine with a heavy heart. Nope, no improvement.

Her last desperate call to Michelle met with the answering machine, “Hi, this is Michelle. I'm unable to come to the phone right now, but please leave your name and contact number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.”

Sarah knew that that was it. The end of her “Size Ten in Two Months” dream. At least she didn't have to pay for the sixty packets.

~~~

Two months later...

Sarah's jaws dropped as Joan strutted through the door. She wore a slinky, hot pink dress that barely covered her derrière, with a plunging neckline that drew everyone's attention to her chest. Her tousled hair gave her a “morning-after” look that looked both endearing and risqué. “Not again,” groaned Sarah as Joan made her way towards her. “Not another ugly-duckling-turned-into-swan story! Why does it happen to everyone except me?” she groaned inwardly as she stood up to hug her friend less-than-effusively.

With the Michelle and the Miracle Treatment saga still fresh in her mind, Sarah took care to avoid the topic of weight-loss. She didn't want to be pulled into another one of those diet-scams. After ordering a salad each, they updated each other on their lives. Slowly, the topic shifted to mutual friends.

“Oh, have you heard about what happened to Michelle?” Joan suddenly looked up from her Caesar's salad, with a gossipy glimmer in her eyes.

“Erm, no, but I assume she's still the same old Michelle. What about Catherine? I heard that she's doing well as an attorney in New York.” Sarah tried to change the topic. Talking about Michelle reminded her of just how susceptible she was to stupid fad crazes.

“Oh, but you'll definitely want to know about Michelle. She lost twenty pounds due to this Miracle Treatment.” Joan refused to be deterred.

“Here we go again,” Sarah thought as she rolled her eyes and braced for another “the-Miracle-Treatment-is-so-great” sales pitch. “Oh?” Keep tone disinterested.

“Yeah!” Joan rushed on, oblivious to Sarah's lack of enthusiasm on this topic. “Guess what? She was diagnosed two months ago with diabetes! The Miracle Treatment wasn't responsible for her weight-loss at all! It was her diabetes! She didn't realise it, until around two months ago, when she got a cut on her hand that wouldn't heal. She went to see a doctor and they did a full body check-up. Her glucose level is a shocking twelve!” Joan paused to swallow her lettuce.  “And all this while, she thought she was losing weight healthily!”

Sarah was flabbergasted. “So,” she trod carefully, “how's she now?”

“In terrible shape. Doc told her to control her diet. She's horribly embarrassed about the Miracle Treatment and avoiding just about everybody. Apparently, she's been going around telling everyone about this Miracle Treatment, and recommending it. Sad, isn't it?” Joan looked up, inviting Sarah to commiserate.

“Yeah. Really sad.” Sarah bobbed her head vigorously. There was a moment of awkward silence as both of them concentrated on their lunch.

“So, what about Catherine?” Joan tactfully picked up on the previous topic.

They went on talking about other things and people, although Sarah was distracted most of the time. She felt immensely relieved that she'd not lost weight miraculously as Michelle had predicted she would with the Miracle Treatment, but she couldn't help but remember that her last check-up was around five years ago. In between mouthfuls of sliced red onion and cherry tomatoes, Sarah promised herself to make an appointment with her doctor that very afternoon. “One could never be too sure when it comes to health,” she thought, as she sprinkled more parmesan cheese over her salad.