It was her Momma’s choice, actually; the dress was. They were out, shopping, which they enjoyed together and Alma, Jane’s Mom, insisted on looking at some dresses for Jane.

Jane Dietrich, 32 at the time, lived with her Momma, Alma, in the large home that had always been theirs. Since the unfortunate death of her Poppa, Wayne, it was just Jane and her Momma.

“Look at this one,” Alma said, holding up a kind of dress of soft material in a basic blue color with some small figures woven through it.

“Oh, Momma,” Jane said, “I don’t think that I can carry that off.”

“It’s lovely, and so are you,” Alma said. “Try it on.”

As she showed her Mom, Jane said: “I just don’t know, Momma.”

It was a bit clingy; though not too much. Her Mom kept insisting that she looked wonderful.

But as it turned out but, with Alma’s encouragement, Jane bought the dress, though she was a bit nervous about how she looked in it

“It’s gorgeous, love,” Alma asserted. She was relying on her Momma’s opinion about the dress.

WEARING THE DRESS AND CONSEQUENCES The next work day, she wore the dress. It led to a number of consequences.

Early that morning, as she was getting a cup of coffee, she ran into John Gibbon, the CEO and owner of the company. He gave her a huge smile.

“Jane,” he said, beaming, “You look fabulous today! Love the dress.!”

She grinned at him and said a soft: “Thank you, Mr Gibbon.”

“You know better than that,” he chided, with good humor.

“John,” she corrected.

(John Gibbon had inherited the company from his parents. They, especially his Dad, had raised him to understand the business and what it needed. He did exceedingly well with it, and had, on his own, expanded the business in a number of ways and locations. He was currently a very active 46 year old, and, truth to tell, was simply smitten by Jane Dietrich. He especially liked the way she looked in the blue dress. It simply made him smile.) Jane went away smiling to herself, and privately thanking her Momma for insisting that she buy and wear the dress. She certainly liked John Gibbon and, she realized, really liked the attention that she received from him.

It was lunch time and Jane was in the company cafeteria, carrying her tray. There was a table of men and she was passing. One of them Terry Sargent, or ‘Sarge’ to his friends, liked to be outrageous in front of his friends.

“Hey, Dietrich,” he said, and Jane looked his way and smiled. “Dress makes your ass look fat.”

His friends chuckled and Jane got tears in her eyes immediately.

“I will not let him see me cry; I will not let him see me cry; I will not let that shit see me cry,” she repeated to herself and went on, as though ignoring what he’d said, though still hearing their sniggering.

There was a planned special staff meeting that afternoon. Everyone knew that the position of manager would be filled at that meeting. ‘Sarge’ was swaggering. The position was his and he knew it.

They settled into the staff room, around a table and John Gibbon took over.

“What I’m going to do I normally would do privately but since this occurred publicly, then I will deal with it in the same way.”

Around the table, all were attendant, waiting for whatever it was that John had to say. They simply thought that it referred to the new staff manager position.

Then John Gibbon shocked them: “I was in the cafeteria earlier,” he began, “And heard your comment, Mr Sargent.”

All faces turned toward ‘Sarge’, who now was a bit pale. Jane Dietrich simply stared ahead.

“I am trying to mold a company that works as a team,” John Gibbon went on. “And will not, I repeat, will not let such comments as you made about Ms. Dietrich while at work, go unmentioned.”

The silence in the room was deafening now. Jane especially held her breath.

“I will warn only once, Mr Sargent,” he said, “And any next occurrence will result in my not only firing you but I will black ball you throughout the industry. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir,” ‘Sarge’ said.

“Since you made your lewd comment so publicly,” he continued, “I will expect your apology to be public also. In addition, I am putting you on a 60 day trial period. If within that time, you show that you can work as a team member here, fine. If not, you’re gone.”

He looked around then, and no one could meet his steel like gaze directly.

“Finally,” he said, “I want to the announce the new staff manager, who is Ms Jane Dietrich.”

There was a common and shared intake of breath. Jane’s hand went to her heart, upon hearing what Mr. Gibbon had just said.

“That’s all from me. Jane, would you please come to my office, so that we can talk?”

He looked around: “Questions?”

They all said ‘no’ but John Gibbon didn’t move. They knew quickly what he was waiting for.

‘Sarge’ got up and did make a public, sincere sounding apology to Jane for what he’d said about how she looked in the dress. The meeting broke up then.

She went to his office, knocking softly on the door. He greeted her with a broad smile.

“Mr Gibbon,” she began and saw how he was looking at her and remembered. “Um, John,” she went on. “I don’t quite know what to say.”

“Jane,” he began, “That incident is behind us now. I will only allow myself one comment and then put it to rest. You look spectacularly lovely in that dress.”

Her hand went to her mouth and she giggled into her hand.

“Thank you, John,” she said.

“Now let’s sit and we’ll go over the nitty gritty here,” he said.

He proceeded to show her the package of salary and benefits that would be hers with the new position. It gave her fully at $12,000 raise immediately. She was temporarily speechless about it.

“You will have a free hand to deal with your staff,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said. “I will want to be in touch with you about any staff decisions too.”

“Yes, fine,” he answered. “I don’t think you’ll need to worry about ‘Sarge’, unless you think that you simply want to get rid of him.”

“He does such good work,” she said, “When he’s not trying to impress his leering friends.”

“That’s one of the reasons why I want you in this position,” John said, “Your common sense attitude for the job is great.”

“Thank you, John,” she said.

They worked then for another hour to set goals for her part of the company, after which he showed her to ‘her’ new office, and secretary, Millie.

John took her to the part of the building where her office was, and told Millie that she, Jane, would be the new section supervisor; then he left.

“I was hoping it would be you,” Millie said. “Congratulations!”

“Seems almost like a dream,” Jane answered, going to Mille to exchange a hug.

“Good dreams are always welcome,” Millie answered and they both agreed.

MOMMA: Alma was waiting for Jane that day. She went into the house from the garage and was smiling.

“So, love,” Alma said, “The dress was okay?”

“Oh, Momma,” Jane said, “I have to tell you about it.”

They sat out on the house deck and talked, with Alma now and then interjecting a comment about the events that Jane was describing.

Jane began with what John Gibbon had said about the way that she looked at the beginning of the day. Alma beamed. Then she talked about ‘Sarge’s’ comment.

“Oh, dear!” Alma said.

“Momma, I told myself and told myself that I wasn’t going to cry for that shit!”

“Good for you, love,” Alma said.

But her Momma was simply clapping her hands, once Jane told her about the meeting and her having been promoted to the supervisor job.

“I was so sure that ‘Sarge’ was going to get the job,” she said.

“Oh, dear,” Alma said, “You’re perfect for it; just perfect.”

Then Jane told Alma about the new salary package that came with the new job. It left Alma simply celebrating.

“So, Momma,” Jane said. “How about if I take us out to dinner?”

“Good for us!” Alma said, and they hugged.

While they were hugging, Jane whispered into Alma’s ear: “Momma, it’s you and me for ever; I’ll never not take care of you.”

“I know, my love,” Alma said, “It the way that we are. I’m sorry your sainted Poppa isn’t here to celebrate.” (Ray, Alma’s husband had died of a heart attack nine months earlier.)

“So am I, Momma,” Jane said and they shared another hug.

THE DRESS AND ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT: At the end of that week, Jane, in a great mood, wore the dress again. She stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself from all sides.

“Not bad, Janie!” she said to herself, actually liking the way that the dress clung to her.

“Nice bootie!” she said.

“What?” came her Momma’s voice and Jane giggled, telling Alma what she’d been saying to herself.

“Well, you’re certainly truthful about that,” Alma said. “You’re my beauty!”

“Thank you, Momma,” Jane said. “Thought I’d close this special week by wearing the dress one more time.”

“Good for you,” Alma said.

“Well, don’t you look snazzy, Boss,” Millie said, when she saw Jane come into the office that morning.

Jane smiled at her and thanked her.

“What do we have going?” Jane asked.

They went over the stack of work that had to be done that day, and the decisions to be made, and then they were at it.

There was a brief early morning meeting of Jane’s section. She’d given it a lot of thought and was prepared. The meeting went well and just before Jane ended, she made an announcement: “Before we go I want to tell you that Sarge is being promoted to the assistant’s position.”

There was a stir about that and she and Sarge sat briefly to look over their section’s goals and tasks.

Before he left he said: “Jane, you positively put me to shame, with my crappy comment and all.”

She smiled and said: “Sarge, it’s past and we go on from here. We’ll be a good team.”

Millie took a coffee break, promising to bring a cup of coffee for Jane, that morning at about 10:30 AM. While she was gone, John Gibbon came, and knocked on Jane’s office door, though it was standing open.

“Hi,” Jane said.

“Hey, Jane,” he said coming into the office and sitting in the chair in front of Jane’s desk.

She noticed immediately that he looked a bit nervous. Her overactive imagination began to go into overload mode but before she could talk herself into a problem that didn’t exist, he spoke: “Jane,” he began softly. “If what I am going to say is in anyway at all displeasing, then we’ll leave it and never speak of it again.”

She nodded, wondering now, what he was talking about and beginning to try to discern if she’d messed up somehow.

“Jane,” he went on, “This is not you or anything you’ve done; it’s only me and my insecurity about what I’m going to say.”

“Yes?” she said, newly mystified.

He breathed a deep sigh and asked: “I was wondering if I might take you out to dinner tonight or some night soon?”

Her hand went to the spot over her heart. Her surprise was complete, and, she realized, that she was simply tickled about the possibility.

“Oh, John,” she said, “What a wonderful thing! But may I ask: Can I have the time to go home and freshen up first?”

“Of course,” he said, grinning, “Everything is allowed, though from my point of view, you look spectacular today.”

It made her giggle.

“When can I pick you up?” he asked.

They settled on 7 o’clock at her house.

“You can meet my Momma then too,” she said.

“A treat for me!” he said, and, grinning broadly, left her office.

When she got home later that afternoon, Alma met her at the door.

“Sweetie,” Alma said. “How was the day, and the dress?”

“Oh, Momma,” Jane exuded, “Let me tell you. She went through it all, including the meeting with John Gibbon and his asking her to dinner.

“Good for you, love,” Alma said, hugging Jane and giving her a huge smile.

“I have just enough time,” Jane said, “To take a quick shower and get ready. He’s picking me up at seven.”

“I’ll get the door, if you’re not quite ready,” Alma said.

For the evening Jane wore the dress. She certainly had still some doubts about it.

“Momma,” she complained, “Does it make my butt look too big?”

“Oh, darling,” Alma said. “It makes you look as lovely as I know that you really are.”

They hugged and Jane whispered: “Momma, you’re so good for my ego.”

“Just telling the truth,” Alma asserted.

The doorbell did ring then, just a little bit before Jane was totally ready, and Alma told her that she’d get it.

She opened the door and greeted the tall, good looking, smiling man.

“You must be Jane’s Mom,” John said.

“Yes, Alma” she said with pleasure and fairly gasped, when John handed her flowers that he brought for her.

“Why, thank you!” Alma said, as Jane came into the room. She grinned as John gave her flowers too.

“How nice,” Jane said, “And you met my Momma?”

“Yes, I have,” he said, nodding at Alma again.

There were, of course, two different agendas at work that evening.

John Gibbon was a positive whiz at business. He’d proven that over and over again, and it was at least apparent in the way that the business was prospering.

He wasn’t, however, as much of a whiz at relations with women. He’d inherited a kind of shyness there that kept him, at times, tongue tied with girls. It was simply the way he was. He was hoping to not make a positive fool of himself that evening.

For her part, Jane was plump and had been in high school. She was not fat, though she thought that she was. But she was plump enough to be ‘the friend’. She’d been the confident of any number of beauties and was a truly great friend but her social life wasn’t spectacular.

The two of them were approaching an evening out from two different yet somewhat similar situations.

John, being as up-front as he normally was, had decided to kind of ‘lay some groundwork’ at the start.

They went outside, after chatting with Alma for a few moments and getting a wish from her for a lovely evening.

“Jane,” he began, getting her attention right away with his serious tone of voice. “I have to kind of tell you that with women I am normally so out of my element that I tend to make a fool of myself. I hope I don’t ruin our evening.”

She reached out to him, really pleased by what he’d said, and put her hand over his. “You’re going to be fine with me,” she said. She meant that.

“I guess it’s my turn then,” she said next to him.

She talked to him about the dress that she and her Momma had bought and how uncomfortable she felt. She even admitted that she was afraid that it made her look fat.

She gave him an earnest look then and added: “Please don’t think that I’m fishing for compliments here.”

“No,” he said, “We’re just starting off the evening, our evening with some painful honesty.”

“You wonderful man,” she said, and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

“And I think that you look beyond spectacular in that dress!”

She giggled and thanked him.

“And I will work extra hard at keeping my mind off of what you might look like without the dress,” he added and apologized immediately for what he’d said. “There I go!” he almost wailed but she cut him off with a giggle and said: “Just hold that thought!”

“You’re so nice!” was his next statement.

They went to Rubio’s, a restaurant run by a friend of John’s. Rubio came to their table, just after they were seated.

“Hey, pal,” Rubio said to John, who got up and exchanged a hug with the man.

Then he turned to Jane and said: “Who is this beauty hanging out with my tawdry friend John Gibbon.”

Jane giggled and John said a soft: “Rubio.”

“No,” Rubio insisted, “I will have my moment. It’s so rare that you show up with anyone let alone such a beauty.”

Saying that, he took Jane’s hand and kissed it. Then he turned to John and planted a kiss on John’s cheek too.

“Steaks?” Rubio asked. Both John and Jane said ‘yes’ to that.

Once Rubio knew how they wanted the steaks, he went off to take care of their preparation.

“Wow!” Jane said.

“He’s like a force of nature,” John said with a laugh. Then he turned to her and said: “But he really is a good judge of beauty.”

It made Jane blush, and John only smiled.

The dinner turned out to be a treat for both of them. They realized, early on, that they were simply treating each other as friends, and, as friends, had their ‘stories’ to share.

John was honest about telling Jane that he was so afraid of not knowing how to act with her, whom he considered, he told her, so gorgeous. She kissed his cheek then.

It was her turn then, and the expanded what she’d already said about not only the dress but her whole issue of being ‘plump’ and being ‘overlooked’.

“Can’t understand that,” he said softly to her. “You are so gorgeous in that dress.” He colored then and she said: “Yes?”

“Or out of it, I think,” he said and got tongue-tied again. She gave a giggled response.

“Oh, but you talk to me so nicely!” was her reply.

“Yes, but it’s you and you’re making it so easy for me,” he said in return.

During their dinner it occurred and neither of them really noticed it. That is, they became simply comfortable talking with one another. It didn’t matter if it was a business item or just getting to know one another and where they’d each come from.

It merely happened for them: she, the perpetually overlooked ‘plump’ friend, not really ‘girlfriend’ material and he the unsure guy who more often than not was afraid of putting a foot in his mouth. They talked and enjoyed each other’s company.

He expressed it, when he took her home: “Boy, has this ever been wonderful for me. You are so easy to talk to. I’m hardly even afraid of making a fool of myself.”

She giggled, as he chuckled at his statement.

“Don’t think that’ll happen,” she said. “You’re so nice.”

“Yes,” he said, “But you make being nice so easy for me.”

She turned to him then and put her arms around him, getting an audible moan from him, as she pressed herself against him.

Then she acted. She did something that was, for her at least, completely outrageous and bold but she did it.

As they hugged, she took his hand by the wrist and moved it so that it was now resting on her magnificent ass.