The Desperate Bride’s Diet Club by Alison Sherlock

silence that stretched out between them.
    Violet scuttled away before Trudie could say anything else.
    She’ll be lucky if the groom doesn’t dump her before the wedding day.
    Lastup was the jolly fat lady. The joker of the pack.
    ‘Hello!’ boomed Kathy, as she arrived in front of Trudie. ‘Don’t bother to ask about my week. I was so hungry that I ended up in the bakery most days. Their sausage rolls are to die for.’
    Trudie glanced down at the scales.
    ‘Not a single pound off,’ she snapped, with increasing frustration. ‘Nothing to show at all. Have you anything to say foryourself?’
    Kathy fixed on a smile. ‘I know. It’s disgraceful. I even bumped into a homeless guy yesterday. He said to me he hadn’t eaten in a week. I told him, “I wish I had your willpower.” Boom! Boom!’
    Trudie sighed. Yes, keep talking. I always yawn when I’m interested.
    It was unbelievable. She had never had such a total class failure. Head office was not going to be impressed. These bunchof fatties were going to make her look bad. She ground her teeth in irritation.
    ‘Right!’ she barked as Kathy sat back down. ‘We need a team talk.’
    She strode to the middle of the group and stared down at them all.
    ‘I would have expected far bigger losses this week from every one of you,’ she said in her sternest voice. ‘Especially as you’re in full detox fortnight.’
    Everyone shuffled in theirseats.
    ‘Don’t you want to lose weight and be nice and slim like me? Don’t you want to stop feeling fat and unwell all the time? Don’t you care that my commission is based on how much weight you lose?’
    Maggie and Kathy glanced at each other before looking back at her, eyebrows raised.
    But Trudie didn’t care. ‘Right! I’m going to have to work you really hard this week to make up for it. Now standup straight and put your hands on your waists.’
    If you can find them, that is.

Chapter Eleven
    VIOLET WOKE UP on Wednesday with good intentions to stick to the diet. Especially after the humiliation at Trudie’s class the previous evening. And it worked for a whole hour.
    Because she never normally had breakfast, the hunger didn’t kick in until 10 a.m. At which time, she was up to her eyes in hotline calls. Not that they were very exciting, unfortunately.
    The job was verymonotonous. Pick up the phone, say hello, find out their name and a rough idea of the problem. Then pass it on to the relevant team member. Job done. It made her job at the accountants’ firm seem like nuclear physics.
    Once in a while, the call became interesting. Like when someone screamed that their world was falling apart because they couldn’t get into their emails. Or when she overheard hercolleagues negotiate the fine line between advice and sarcasm.
    She had just passed a phone call across to Anthony after a man had rung saying he had lost the letter H key from his keyboard.
    Violet tuned into what Anthony was saying.
    ‘I can send you a replacement H key. It just clicks into place. I suggest you don’t let your cat sleep on the laptop in future.’ There was a small pause. ‘Well,I think the vet’s going to have to deal with that.’
    Anthony put down the phone and let out a sigh. Their gazes locked briefly and Violet gave him a sympathetic smile. Anthony rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer screen.
    ‘God, I’d kill for some chocolate,’ Wendy said suddenly. ‘But I mustn’t. I’m trying to be good. I put on a stone with Calum and I just can’t shift it.’
    ‘You don’tneed to lose weight,’ snapped Julie from across the desk. ‘I keep telling you, you look fine.’
    ‘I never had this trouble when I had Jack,’ said Wendy. ‘My stomach snapped back straight away. Perhaps it was the breast feeding. But Calum wouldn’t even try to get on to my tit.’
    Violet noticed Anthony get up rather swiftly and head into the store cupboard where he kept all the computer parts. Thatwas his sanctuary away from the