Thankfully after the whole issue over Jim’s actions, a decisions was made. He would be demoted down into our position and would not receive any special favors from his father. While it was great that he got his just desserts, it was a pain that he was now one of my colleagues. He didn’t really seem to want to talk to us and whenever we tried to start one with him he would start to scowl and walk away. On a good note though I was having quite a bit of fun with the other new-hires; sometimes going out bowling, sometimes karaoke (turns out I have a decent voice), and one time we even went to laser-tag. We almost always went out for lunch together on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it was pretty fun getting to gripe with each other about our work and clients.

On one occasion though everyone else was stuck doing work except for me and Tiffany, albeit a tad awkward. We talked about our work like we normally did but without the rowdiness of the group the atmosphere was stagnant at best. I wasn’t really looking my best and I forgot to shower the night before so I couldn’t say I was confident in my appearance, and I also had a little bit of a stomach that I was procrastinating on getting rid of. To be completely honest, I was incredibly embarrassed. We finished up lunch and walked back to work, thankfully in a sea of people that reminded us of the group. We both laughed at how awkward that whole thing was and it seemed like we actually got closer through the whole thing.

Returning back to my office I noticed a lovely woman sitting in my chair, as soon as she floated off of it I realized it was actually Lust. “Looks like the little puppy found a love-interest”

Blushing, I blurt out “What, no, we’re only friends.” I bite my cheek at how oblivious that sounds, what am I, five. “Okay so we had a good mood going on there, but what of it? Neither of us made a move and we just had fun.”

“Darling, before we get started on your puppy love, what we need to fix first is your appearance, both of what it is and what you think of it.”

“What?”

“I guess you don’t need to worry about it here, I’ll be waiting for you back at home.” Confused and slightly concerned with her parting words I continued through my work. On my way back home I checked up with my father at the hospital, he was still stuck in this damned coma. I know that there’s nothing I can do, but I still can’t shake off the guilt for forcing him into such a stressful job to help me get ready for college. I can only hope that I can make him proud when he comes to.

As I open the door to my apartment I am greeted by a cross-armed Lust, “What took you so long?”

“I was checking up on my father.” She drops her arms and her pout,

“Oh… Well as I said earlier I think I can help you out with your love life.”

“I told you there’s nothing between us.”

“Darling, this isn’t about your awkward puppy love, I’m talking about your appearance, and also how you see yourself.”

Pride poked his head around the corner “I got him slightly started so don’t drop the ball Lust.”

“Oh be quiet Pride, I’m getting to it. Anyways I worked it out with Gluttony and we’re going to start you on a diet, and I’m going to help you with your fashion and exercise.” Well I suppose I was thinking about how I could boost my appearance. “Listen darling I know every sort of passion and slight affection in people, I guess you’ve probably gone through this spiel with Greed and Wrath, and just about all of us are the same in that regard.” Just about? “I know you have a little spark for that Tiffany girl but as you are, you aren’t going to make a move, and that girl is even oblivious to her own feelings so you’re the one who needs to make the first move.”

“Wait, yes I’ve had those feelings for her but I don’t know how she feels, what if I get rejected?”

“Darling, you can call it a sin’s intuition but I know she has a thing for you, even if she herself doesn’t know it, all we need to do is get your self-confidence up and you’ll be able to do it yourself.”

“Wait why can’t you just, help me through the lines?”

“Your wish was that we would help you live a better life right? Now what good would it do for me to just hold your hand through it all? We’re not going to be here forever. Anyways I’ve worked with pride and you know have a gym membership, so this weekend we’re going to get you in shape.”

When the weekend came around I woke up a little groggy; while Gluttony’s meals are certainly healthier, they also seem to have become less tasty. “C’mon sleepyhead, it’s time to start your exercise regime.” As I walked to the gym I noticed that I wasn’t feeling as tired as I would normally at this time, thinking to myself that it was an effect of the diet. “We’re going to start you off on some light cardio”

“Isn’t it normally better to start with stretches”

“That’s actually a common misconception, stretching your muscles prior to exercise can actually make them more likely to tire early into the workout. Now then, you’re going to start with jogging for 20 minutes.”

“That’s only a warm-up?”

“Don’t worry, tomorrow we’ll start with 30 minutes.” My jaw almost dropped with how crazy that sounded to me, but the list continued. “Next you’re going to do 20 minutes of curls, then 10 minutes of pullups, 15 minutes of leg-lifts, 20 minutes of light aerobics, then a short break for 10 minutes.” 10 minutes after that much exercise… “After that we’ll do 30 minutes of heavy aerobics, then 15 minutes of push-ups, 10 minutes of rowing exercises, and finish off with a 20 minute jog.”

“How do you expect me to all of that on my first day?”

“Didn’t I tell you I worked through a good diet for you with Gluttony? Well what I didn’t tell you was that Gluttony used a little bit of her power to make it so that it would be a great boost to your stamina.”

“So I should be able to just get through this no problem then right?”

“Darling, stamina is not the same as strength, this will still feel as grueling as it normally would, but now you can do it with hardly any wait!” She’s truly living up to her duty as a sin, this is going to be a living hell.

And indeed it was, the floor where I would exercise was almost visibly wet with sweat as I would gasp for air between exercises. My muscles were incredibly sore but somehow I was always able to bear through it, damn this stamina, a curse disguised as a blessing. I counted down the seconds on my last minute of my jog, and at the end I felt like I should’ve collapsed but there I was, standing tall. “It was pretty amusing to watch you go through all that, little did you know that all of that pain was just mental, what you expected what you should have felt.” She was right, I felt completely fine, if anything I felt better than before. “Well now that you’ve realized that, we can go even further tomorrow, I’ll head back first.” Leaving before I even had a chance to complain she flew through the air back towards the direction of the apartment, maybe she just doesn’t like going through the busy crowds?

Walking home feeling much better than before I noticed I was attracting quite a lot of passer-bys attention when I noticed something rather embarrassing, my entire workout uniform was drenched and I reeked of sweat. Passing through the crowd quite sheepishly, I hustled my way back to my apartment before flinging my attire onto the floor. “Boy what did I tell you about having pride towards your living space?” shouted Pride from the living room. Begrudgingly picking up the soggy clothes I placed them into my hamper and took a nice cold shower.

Draping a towel around my waist I let out a slight shriek as I saw Lust floating near the door. I could feel my face blush, “Could you please leave, or at least knock before phasing through the door?”

“Don’t worry darling, just because I’m the sin of Lust doesn’t mean I embody it, unlike that boneheaded Wrath.” She scowled off to the side. “Anyways I just wanted to see your face when you looked into the mirror.”

“What?” I turn to the sink mirror and witness a glorious sight, I lost a lot of my annoying fat and I could see that my stomach was almost flat as a washboard.

Almost squealing with glee I turned to face Lust “Yup, that’s the face. I hope you enjoy your figure, it’s going to get better tomorrow. And don’t worry, we’re going for slim not bulky, so you won’t look too out of character.” Nodding at her I turned back to the mirror and poked around my healthier body. Surprisingly, I could hardly wait to do more exercise tomorrow.

Upon waking up my entire body felt numb, almost panicking I saw Lust floating above me, smirking. “Looks like you’re feeling the muscle aches, sadly you’re just going to have to push through it.” Managing to get my body up it felt like I was getting struck by lightning every time I moved my arms and legs. Just walking to the kitchen almost made me bend over and cry, but I didn’t, thinking that the act of bending over and back up would be even more painful. My only reprise was when I sat down in the chair motionless, pain coursing through my body. “Yes it’s a slight drawback, that’s why we’re doing this on the weekend. I recommend not speaking either as moving your mouth will likely also hurt.” I became aware of this as I ate breakfast, each bite feeling like pins and needles on my gums, The meal made me feel marginally better but I couldn’t help but wince occasionally as I made my way down to the gym. As I went through my workout the pain felt better and as I could regain proper feeling in my body I smirked at Lust, floating nearby. She still had her knowing grin on as I went through an even more grueling workout. Changing out of my drenched outfit before I left the gym now, I walked home in confidence with how much I worked out. The true pain came the following morning, where I saw Lust floating above my paralyzed body, “Don’t worry, I worked this out with the other sins, Gluttony will feed you at proper times and today you’ll just rest in bed, blink once for ok, blink twice for sure.” She chuckled to herself as she went back to the living room.

The entire day I felt nothing in my body except an occasional twinge of pain. During meal times Gluttony came to my bedside and slowly fed me spoonfuls of porridge. “Don’t worry Joseph, after eating this, you’ll wake up as good as new the next day.” I gave a sigh as Gluttony happil spoon-fed me porridge while I was stuck in bed. Once he left I had a short-lived moment of peace until wrath barged in, whipped around my desk chair, and sat in it backwards, hoowwww gangster.

“ ‘sup kid, heard from Lust you got a little lady in mind huh.” I nod. “Well you better chase after her as soon as you can, lest somebody else gets her before you do, trust me, I’ve been through it.” He began to frown almost wistfully. He seemed to notice I was about to ask about what he just said as he continued, “Sorry, forget ‘bout what I said. Anyways, just make sure you put up a good fight for your girl, alright?” I nod, confused as to what happened to make Wrath look so, regretful. He walked out and no one else came into my room for the rest of the day. While I waited to drift off to sleep I thought about what I could say to try and talk to Tiffany, I came up with a few scenarios but most of the time the conversation just turned sour. I went off to sleep going over my project as I had given up overthinking a conversation.

When I woke up I tried moving my arms, to my amazement they felt as light as a feather, but still quite strong. I looked at my muscles and noticed that while they weren’t over exaggerated, they were still lean and powerful looking. The same went for my legs, and as I carefully lifted up my shirt, my heart almost jumped out of my chest, I finally had the beginnings of a six pack! I felt so great that I hardly noticed any of the pain I felt getting out of bed. I went down to the dining table and laid out was a mix of my healthy diet as well as my old meals. It was great to have some of the old flavors back, and Gluttony chimed in “I’m going to have to change your menu slightly to keep up with your new figure, I hope this isn’t too bothersome.”

“Thank you for your concern Gluttony, but just about every meal you make is a great meal to me.” He happily smiled as I ate the meal with relish.

Heading off to work I aimlessly looked up into the sky and glanced upon a blur of violet streak across the sky towards my office, shocked at first, noticing that there was no impact I guessed it was Lust. Entering my cubicle my guess was proven correct as I saw her sit cross legged above my chair. “Well today’s the day darling, muster up your-newfound confidence and go give it a shot, just make sure to choose the right time. I’ll sit off on the side and watch how this unfolds.”

After finishing she sank through the floor, likely following me or Tiffany and keeping watch. Working through my project and one short meeting came lunch-time, all of us new-hires had fun chatting about their day and we headed back chatting amongst each other. I feared that asking Tiffany out on a date would ruin this friendship we all had but nonetheless I knew that I had to go through this lest I regret it. After work ended I left and went up to Tiffany as she was leaving. “Hey Tiffany, so how was work today?”

“Oh just the same old same old, a little meeting here, a tight deadline there, and a hefty sprinkling of annoying clients.” We both chuckle but as it subsided I mustered up my courage.

“So Tiffany, are you free this Friday?”

“Sure what’s up?”

“Well… I was wondering if you would want to... go out on a date?”

Her eyes slightly widened in surprise. “Wait, me, just us two?”

“Yes. I’m… in love with you. You would stick up for the other employees when you could and would help them if they were in trouble. You were always the first to offer up to get office copies and would always do it with a smile. You love your job and take pride in it, and you’ve proven to be the best among us new-hires. Whenever I had an issue you would help out in a heartbeat. I adore you and your kindness, I know I might just be misinterpreting it for love but I love you nonetheless. I’ve been working up the courage to tell you this for several days now and I’ve thought what I would say several times. I hope the feeling is mutual. So would you go on a date with me?”

“Are you sure you would want to go out with someone with me? I mean, both of our lives are still just getting started.”

“I know, we don’t have to go far immediately, but would you give me the chance?”

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt, you seem pretty genuine about all of this, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any feelings for you as well.” Well I suppose it was a bit direct and… wait, she said yes. My mind fizzled for a moment at the contradiction.

“That… That’s great, I’ll set up reservations as soon as I get home. It’ll be a great time, I promise!” I run to the streets waving goodbye with the most genuine smile I’ve had in a while.

She said yes, she said yes, she said yes! Almost knocking down the door I jumped on the couch and started kicking my legs in the air while hugging my pillow. “It looks like it went swimmingly hmm?” Said a confident Lust from across the room.

“Yeah, she even said she had feelings for me too. Ah it felt so great to hear that. Oh right, I need to make reservations, where’s my phone?” I scramble to find it and make a call to a local italian restaurant. The menu was a bit pricey but Greed said it was okay this once.

“So what’s your plan for the date?” My mind blanked, I didn’t think I’d get this far. “Looks like you haven’t thought that out yet. I guess I can lend you a hand with this.” She whisked out a cloth from my drawer and gracefully set it on the dining table, and lit a few floating flames above the table in place of candles. It seems like it’s going to be even more training.

After I learned proper dining etiquette and some good conversation starters over the next few days, I felt as though I was ready. During work me and Tiffany didn’t really talk outside of the group lunches and both of us acted like nothing happened, it would all depend on how well the date goes. As I strolled up to the Restaurant I checked in my reservation and was seated at the table. Almost chuckling I noted that all the placement on the table was similar to what Lust put up, flowers and all. It seemed like she put in more effort than I thought. Shortly after the thought passed through my mind I noticed Tiffany stroll through the entrance, she wore an elegant and slim black dress with a slightly revealing front. I didn’t really notice before that she had such a figure. “So I was curious, I told you so many reasons I loved you, but you also said that you had some slight feelings for me as well.”

“Ah, I suppose you would want to know my reasons as well. Well I guess it’s largely due to your courage. It started when you stuck up for Chase when he accidentally broke his chair. Even though you knew that it would probably get you fired you covered for him and told that you were the one who did it. Hmm, what next… Oh yeah. The next was one you helped all of the other coworkers when they were getting harassed by, Jim. I mean he was the boss’s son, if he had even the slightest suspicion you were lying you would’ve been out of a job, but still you went through with it and despite the odds you managed to pull it off. There are also the times when you’re not afraid to put your foot down with a client and still manage to solve their issues. If that were me I would’ve just been stuck on the receiving end and going through with it.” I didn’t know that she paid attention to me that much. Maybe I’m more noticed than I think.

The rest of the date we generally talked about our childhoods, I skirted about the more painful bits and it seemed like she did the same since she said nothing about her times as a pickpocketer. The meal was delicious, I got a plate of fresh salmon with a side of shredded brussel sprouts with a mango-like cream drizzled on top of it all. Tiffany got a light chicken salad with a balsamic vinaigrette. It seemed like neither of us had a fancy palette. After we finished eating we both offered to cover the bill, but I convinced her that since I was the one who offered I would also be the one to pay. She agreed and we both left. Our hands swung open side by side and deciding to seize the chance I took her hand in mind, and she grasped mine in response. Both of us nervously smiling we walk to the intersection. It was a shame to let go but as we did she gave me a parting squeeze. Walking away she gave a wave and continued on her way. That awkward smile stayed upon my face as I arrived back at the apartment, did my nightly routine, and drifted off to pleasant sleep.