Prologue

(the following post is from 2018. I haven't written the actual story; yet)

I am at a small farewell dinner for someone I don’t know very well. I am making small talk while we waiting for the final two guests to arrive. I compliment the guest of honor for some work related thing. He then asks me how often I workout since he recently saw me running on the streets near the office. I tell him, appreciating what I was expecting to be the reciprocal compliment. Instead a sucker punch. He smirks in a way that that a non funny man who thinks he is being clever smirks. He asks me if if I eat a lot of junk food. I say no, not really. Burgers? Occasionally. Lots of beer? Occasionally with burgers. He smirks again, pleased with himself for explaining why I am so fat.

I left that dinner when baijiu toasting started and headed home, my one kids free summer Friday night spent. But it was not quite spent. Two hours later and three glasses of wine down I start to tell my girlfriend about the dinner. That it bothers me whenever someone needs to call out that I am overweight. That I am self-aware enough that I know it should not bother me, but it does. And that this reminds me of Mimi. So I say to my girlfriend, “Let me tell you the story of Mimi”. And I start.