The Biggest Loser

"I'll be really hurt if you go in there Carl." She said. I turned and saw Debbie standing behind me. She was dressed for class as usual and staring intently at me. "For today, why don't you come to my class like you always have? Then I'd like to talk to you after class. Tomorrow you can do whatever you like, Okay?" she held out her tiny hand and I nodded my head and took it. We went back to Debbie's workout room and did her class. "Take a shower and meet me back here, please," she told me.

A half hour later I was standing in front of the workout room waiting for Debbie to return. I don't know what was going on with her. She probably wanted to give me another chewing out about the dangers of working out alone, and how it violated the camp's safety rules and could lead to a person being expelled from the camp. She was probably going to tell me that it was her duty to report me to the camp director. Whatever it was, there was no way it could make me feel any worse than the news I'd already gotten this morning. I'd heard from my PI that Sarah had brought that guy she'd been seeing back to my home last night and he'd spent the night.

I was still mulling over how I was going to handle Sarah, when Debbie showed up and wiped her from my mind totally. Debbie, despite her drill sergeant manner, is very petite. She's probably about 5'1"and weighs about 120 soaking wet. She has inky black hair and grey eyes. Her hair comes down to just beneath her shoulder blades and has a life of its own. Often while she's doing an exercise her hair fans out behind her or forms a curtain hiding her face.

My favorite thing to see, is when she turns and looks at her class over one shoulder and that hair obscures one side of her face so that only one of those beautiful piercing grey eyes looks at you. It's as if that eye is looking into your soul to find out if you can make just one more rep than you thought you could. Her boobs while not huge are sizeable and really determine what kind of clothing she can wear. They alone, are the reason there are so many guys in Debbie's exercise classes. Her classes are tough but most of the guys prefer them to the easier classes just so they can ogle Debby. Debbie's ass is another story. It is really difficult to describe, because the only words that come to mind are things like perfect or kissable. Her ass isn't huge, but it's tight and firm and round. So tight in fact, that I'm positive you could bounce a quarter off of it. Word around the camp is that Debby is probably a raging lesbian, but her classes are full any way.

When Debbie showed up in a loose fitting sweatshirt, and mid-calf length jeans, I was surprised. I'd never before seen her with clothes on. I guess in my mind she'd been born in a leotard. She had all of that luxurious black hair pinned up on top of her head and huge sunglasses obscuring her incredible eyes. The outfit on a normal woman would have been great for a trip to the mall or running errands or doing yard work on a lazy Saturday afternoon. On Debbie it just opened up a whole new world of fantasies. It made her look more human, maybe even vulnerable.

She smiled at me and nodded her head towards the exit. This confused me because I thought we were going to talk.

"Uhm Debbie," I began.

"Relax Carl, you're not in trouble, and you won't be in trouble. I just wanted us to talk," she began. "And usually when I want to think, I get in my jeep and drive out into the desert. It clears my head and just makes everything better. Usually by the time I get back, I've either solved my problem, or it just doesn't seem as bad as it was before I left. Maybe it's just stress relief, maybe it just lets me put things into their proper perspective, but it seems to work somehow. And Carl, whether you know it or not, you've become a problem for me."

My heart sank at the words. This was just great, I'd become a problem for her. Shit, I had enough problems of my own without worrying about some other woman hating me. She led me out the back to the staff parking lot and a black jeep wrangler. I guess somehow I was expecting it to be a pink, real life version of the Barbie Dream Jeep. It would have fit her size and her appearance, but I guess the Black Wrangler fit her personality better.

I got in and had to hold on, since she immediately took off as soon as the door closed. We drove down the highway for a few moments and then she just careened around a corner onto an unpaved road that I would have missed since it was unmarked. We sped through a few trees and hedges that became sparser the further we drove until suddenly there was no vegetation and we were in the desert. Arid, sandy ground spread out in front of us all the way to the mountains in the distance. Debbie put the jeep into four wheel drive and slowed down a bit as we plowed down the now uneven and still unpaved road surface. She seemed to know where she was going so I just held on.

Finally we got to the edge of a medium sized canyon and Debbie, in a clearly practiced move drove us right up to the lip. Another foot or two and we'd have been dangling over the edge. She pulled up the parking brake and got out and wandered over to sit down on a large rock that overlooked the canyon.

She looked out over the huge gash in the earth's surface and seemed to relax, as if gathering herself. Then she turned to me and gave me the high beams. Those grey eyes peering at me the way she'd look at a bug on her windshield.

"Carl what the hell is going on with you?" she asked snapping me out of my stupor. "When you first got here, you were just another fat, spoiled rich boy who didn't take the place seriously, so I didn't take you seriously. You had your little conference calls, your late night pizza runs, and you hung out with all of the rest of the class clowns. We see about a hundred guys like that every year. You come here over weight and out of shape and maybe if you're lucky you lose 4 or 5 pounds and then go back home and tell everyone how tough it was. Some of them make a ritual out of it and do it every year," she snapped.

Her eyes softened and her tone became less biting, and she actually moved closer to where I was sitting. "But then something happened and you changed. I don't know why and I don't know what it was, but you became different. The first day that you showed up for my class and stood right up front, I was sure you wouldn't last 10 minutes. In fact I tried to get rid of you, but you gave it everything you had. You left there dripping with sweat and I was sure this change wouldn't last, but I was intrigued.

Over the past few weeks, I've watched you undergo an incredible transformation. You've not only lost an incredible amount of weight, you've gotten yourself into very good shape. You're to the point now where you're barely over weight at all. You don't even look like the man that came here. "

This was something I'd never expected, it seemed to be some kind of back handed compliment, and coming from Debbie it was shocking. "You probably don't know this but when the changes started to happen, I changed as well," she said. "I went from being sure you wouldn't last, to being your biggest cheerleader. I watched as you started your night time desert runs. I also watched as you started lifting weights at night as well. That's why I was there the other night when you over did it. Most people who've lost half of the weight you have, even when they haven't gotten into nearly the shape you're in now, find themselves fulfilled and happy. They're more confident, they've done a great thing and they're proud of themselves.

In the ceremony we're having next month before the camp closes for the season, you're going to get several awards, but don't tell anyone I told you that. But you don't seem happy at all. It's almost backwards with you. Most people come here sad and depressed because they're over weight and people make fun of them or whatever. They lose some weight, they get happy, and they go home more confident. You were happy when you got here, maybe a little angry but you were confident and secure. You worked your ass off and made more progress than anyone I can remember. You look great, but you're so much sadder and more withdrawn now, that it makes me sad as well. You used to sit in the back and laugh with those clowns and you were happy. Now you inspire so many of both the campers and the staff, but you run off and work out even harder alone."

"Carl, I know what people around here think about me, I've heard all of my nicknames, and I really don't care. For me, being here is just a job. It's my job to help people find it within themselves to make the changes in their weight and their health; nothing less, but also nothing more. I urge them to change, I provide an example for that change, and I help them to workout. Some of them get it, some of them don't, but it's never personal. It's only a job, but somewhere over the past couple of months you became less of a job and way more personal to me. That's why I snapped at you the other night. Because when I saw that bar coming down on you, it scared the shit out of me. I thought you might've gotten seriously hurt or worse and in the back of my mind, I thought that maybe you wanted to."

I looked at her and saw tears running down Debbie's cheeks. I was really shocked. I reached out and hugged her. She seemed to need to talk, so I just listened. She told me about her life, and it was nothing like I'd expected. She'd started out competing in gymnastics but she didn't have the short thick muscular body that the average competitive gymnast has, so she got injured more frequently. There are also drugs and cocktails that a lot of the girls took to delay the onset of breast development and widening of the hips. She didn't take them, so very soon she was falling in the rankings because as hard as she worked, she couldn't compete with the girls who were doing the drugs. They also seemed to be more injury resistant and had more energy.

After a while of spinning her wheels, she decided to simply give it up, which was very hard on her, but she moved into a different sport. She'd always been pretty, so she decided to give fitness competitions a try. It wasn't quite like being a body builder but it was close. But the emphasis was on femininity and grace other than outright muscularity and size. She was good at it, but then again the drugs reared their ugly head and far worse. In a lot of cases the women who won the competitions and got the endorsements were actually giving the sponsors and the judges a few side benefits.

Men had always looked at her even when she was a gymnast, but here it was almost as if it was expected. After she was nearly raped, and saved only because she was screaming so loudly that the security team came in, she gave up fitness as well. She went back to school, got her degrees in Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology and started a career as a personal trainer. She's been working at the camp for the past 6 years.

After all of that, I felt closer to her than I'd been to anyone in a long time. So I told her about why I'd come to the camp. I told her about my wife Sarah and how Sarah really didn't care about my health at all. I told her that Sarah had just been embarrassed by me and wanted to send me away so she could cheat on me behind my back, with someone in better shape.

"Well she won't be embarrassed by you anymore," she said. "The next time she sees you she'll be all over you."

"Nope, the next time she sees me will be in divorce court," I said. "I kept trying to see things from her point of view. I had to admit that I'd let myself go. And she had been totally right to want me to be in better shape. But the way she went about it and the things that she said about me really hurt me and they made me question whether or not she even cares about me. But the cheating is just the last straw. That was the deal breaker for me. The other things maybe I could have forgiven after a while. But I'll never be able to trust her again."

That night changed a lot of things, from then on I still did Debbie's class every day but she pushed me even harder. A lot of the guys were jealous as hell when I did my pushups with Debbie lying on my back. She even went out and ran with me at night sometimes. We never did anything outside of the bounds of friendship, but sometimes when she looked at me a certain way, I got tingles.

At home things were getting ugly. According to the PI firm Sarah had broken off her affair with her old college friend. Apparently, he'd only been interested in her for sex and my money. He'd been practically living in my house spending several days a week there and even his wife was beginning to complain. The final straw had been when he and Sarah had started arguing. She'd been trying to break things off with him because the dirtiness and the thrill of it had passed, but he didn't want to let her go. She started calling me again to find out when I'd be coming home. She began leaving me messages about how much she missed me and loved me.

Since the camp would be closing down for about a month at the end of the season anyway, I knew I'd have to go home soon. Debbie and I went out shopping, because I needed new clothes. After losing nearly 140 pounds none of my old clothes would fit. While I was out shopping I saw something that I'd always dreamed of but could never have. A Bright Red 2009 Mustang GT, in a car lot across from the mall. I went onto the lot and looked the car over. The door was open so I sat down. I was shocked. Over a hundred pounds ago, I could barely fit in my shitty Chrysler. But now I could easily get into and out of a car that I just loved. I found a salesman and started the paper work. As soon as he ran my credit and I arranged a transfer from my account, I drove off the lot in my new toy. Debbie followed me back to camp in her jeep.

I made a few phone calls to my PI and my lawyer, I called Sarah and told her that the camp would be ending on the weekend and they were having a ceremony for the families and friends of the campers. She told me she'd be there and she sounded excited about seeing me again.

"Don't get too excited," I told her, "This may not be a happy occasion for you."

"Carl, over the past few months, I've realized that looks aren't everything." She claimed. "It's far more important to be with someone who loves you and supports you, no matter what they weigh or how they look. So even if you've only lost 1 fucking pound, it's time for you to come home so we can move on with our lives. I love you and I miss you. I've had a lot of time to myself to figure out what I really want and what I really need in my life. I miss my big strong Teddy Bear of a husband."

Over the next few days I did several more significant things to alter my life and my job. Some of the things I did I kept secret even from Debbie. Debbie was an entirely different story; she seemed to get needier and clingier as the ceremony approached. The night before the ceremony we had dinner so I could thank her for all of the help and inspiration she had provided. She actually held my hand for a while as we talked.

"So I guess, our time is over," she said. "Tomorrow your wife will be at the ceremony and you can go back to Ohio and either put her in her place or divorce her."

"Yes," I said softly. I guess I missed the sadness in her tone, because my mind was on other things. We drove back to camp with the silence framed by the Mustang's throaty engine note. There were a lot of things that were unsaid between Debbie and me.

"I know that you've been far too honorable a man to even think about starting up some kind of a relationship while you were still married," she began. "But is there any chance that you've made up your mind about whether or not you're going to take her back? I guess what I'm asking about is the possibility that someone might just send me a plane ticket to Ohio some time soon."

"Debbie, we've always been honest with each other," I said. And whether or not you know this, I have really deep feelings for you, so I'm not going to start lying now. There won't be any plane tickets to Ohio or anywhere else coming." She nodded her head and I didn't see her again until the ceremony.

The next day was strange for me. I got up early and went out for my run alone. I guess for most of the campers the weeks or months of working out and dieting were over. But for me running had become a part of what I am, so just because I didn't have to do it, didn't mean I'd skip it.

After the run I looked for Debbie and couldn't find her anywhere. A couple of the staffers said that she was holed up in her living quarters and not feeling well. I also heard that Sarah was looking all over the complex trying to find me. As a joke I went down to the auditorium and looked for her. I saw her and passed right by her, but she didn't recognize me.

Once the ceremony began everyone went into the auditorium. I got a really great treat too. I actually saw Debbie standing near Sarah. So I got a chance to compare them side by side. It was like comparing apples to oranges though. Sarah has short blonde hair and a tall thin body. She isn't nearly as fit as Debbie but she's thin and pretty. Debbie on the other hand has just heart-stopping beauty but is shorter. Debbie was talking to someone, apparently about me and Sarah overheard them and freaked out. She stalked away from the table and went and sat down. She saw me looking at her and I smiled at her. She turned her head away and I laughed. She obviously thought I was some guy flirting with her.

For the past 6 months she'd been dating and fucking her old married college buddy, Thomas Hill. She'd taken him to my house, and fucked him in my bed, but now she was too pure to have a stranger smile at her.

As the ceremony continued every time Sarah heard my name she turned trying to catch a glimpse of me. Finally I was called to go up onto the stage to get my awards. I got one award for most pounds lost in a one month period. I got another for largest overall weight loss. And the last one I received was for most inspirational camper because I'd come in totally out of shape and had not only lost a lot of weight but had improved my fitness and my lifestyle and provided an inspiring and motivating example for everyone around me. As I spoke and looked out over the audience, I noticed that Sarah was sitting on the edge of her seat. She was clearly agog at my appearance. She really couldn't believe it was her fat assed husband on the stage. I was asked to say a few words so I did.

"It's really easy to fall into the trap of eating too much and doing too little," I began. It's much harder to climb out of that trap. In most cases we get so deep in the trap that we can't climb out by ourselves and we need someone to help us or inspire us or just downright push us out of the trap we fell into. A lot has been said today about my weight loss and my fitness gains. Less has been said about the uplifting of my spirits, without which everything else would be moot. For all of those things there has been one woman who was the catalyst for all of those changes. She stood there on the sidelines while I ran and starved and lifted. Maybe she wasn't there when I ran, maybe I didn't see her when I lifted the weights, but when I fell, she was always there to pick me up. Come on up here so everyone can see you you...and I hesitated to let Sarah stand up and take a step towards the podium before I said, "Debbie."

Everyone in the audience and on the stage reacted and cheered, as Debbie got up and came onto the stage to join me. If looks could kill, the glance that Sarah gave Debbie as she walked past her would have been fatal. Debbie shook my hand as I hugged her for several pictures and then the director had a few final words and everyone adjourned for the dinner that followed the ceremony.