The Great Discomfort

Life is all about what you make of it, and that weekend we had decided to make it sexy. We had booked a very nice hotel in the city and had left the dog to a friend. We had planned on some art galleries and a long walk in the neighbouring park.

I was looking forward to this. I had always watched with envy those sophisticated urban couples who revel in culture and fine meals and walk by you, absorbed in some fascinating conversation.

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I also had envisioned this as a personal challenge. I had met my boyfriend (ah! so not a boy) at the beginning of the pandemic and—although I know he finds me incredibly desirable in any circumstance—I still had enough self-awareness to know that it’d been long since I’d presented him with what we now call “my best self”.

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Let’s recap.

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He had met a woman at the apex of her health journey. I was a stone lighter than I am now and as fit and confident as a wild cat. A few months of love, wine and lockdowns later, I was soft, plump, and as rosy as a strawberry i…