Chapter 45
Emmett awoke the next morning feeling heavier than he had in months. His dread seemed to possess a physical mass, his body a leaden weight on the mattress. He didn’t want to go to work. There’d be no avoiding Aaron or the awkwardness of their fight.
Then he remembered, heavier still: the announcement. It’s happening today.
He’d thought about taking the day off, giving his followers his full attention, but between Zoom meetings with Monstera, photo shoots, and medical appointments, he’d been in and out of the office for months.
The team had complained. He had the feeling he was already on thin ice, even before his blowout with Aaron.
He went in, not realizing a bombshell lay waiting in his inbox.
A teacher had emailed late the previous night claiming that one of the museum’s educators—a twenty-four-year-old man—had been swapping nudes and inappropriate texts with a seventeen-year-old student since a recent field trip.
The parents were up in arms, threatening legal action against both the museum and the school.
The crisis was well-timed. The ensuing firestorm swallowed up not only any awkwardness between Emmett and Aaron but all thought of the announcement, which was prescheduled to go live on Instagram at 11 a.m. It wasn’t until he was sitting in an emergency meeting with the senior staff, the museum’s attorney board member rambling on speaker, that Emmett felt his phone buzzing and remembered what was happening online.
Hurrying back to his desk after the meeting, he declined a call from his mom and opened Instagram. Seeing he had more than four thousand new engagements sent an electric jolt of excitement through him.
Sitting, he opened the post.
It was his first time seeing the final edit of the photo.
It was perfect: Emmett, smiling and healthy against a light background, standing beside himself at 324 pounds, Photoshopped in from an older photo.
Their clothes were identical in style but five sizes different.
The disparate colors told a story of butterfly-like transformation: from dark and drab to brilliant and colorful, the bright springtime hues of his size-medium outfit matching those of the Obexity brand mark in the corner of the image.
In the end, the caption had been an exercise in compromise:
If you’ve been following my #weightlossjourney here, you might’ve been wondering, “How does he do it?” In fact, many of you have asked me that very question!
Today, I’m delighted to be able to give you the answer I’ve been dying to share all along.
Over the last six months, I’ve been participating in a clinical trial of a miraculous new weight loss drug called Obexity?.
Obexity is a two-part weight loss system, including a small inpatient procedure and twice-monthly injections administered at home. Together, these treatments supercharge your metabolism, allowing users to drop weight at crazy speed without having to change their diet or exercise.
Since May, I’ve lost more than 165 lbs. and transformed my health—curing my diabetes, stabilizing my blood pressure and cholesterol, and significantly reducing my risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other obesity-related conditions.
As someone who’s tried every diet under the sun, I’m overjoyed to have found a solution as effective and easy as Obexity. Thanks to Obexity, in just a few short months, I’ve blossomed into the person I was meant to be all along—finally, I’ve found #thetrueme.
And when Obexity hits the market, so can you.
Follow @obexity to stay tuned for more updates about how you can join the movement and become the real you.
#obexity #weightloss #bodytransformation #newyearsgoals #therealyou #paidpartnership
Emmett scrolled down, his anticipation curdling at the lopsided ratio of likes to comments. In less than twenty minutes, hundreds of people had piled in with their reactions.
Comments
heatherette478 WHAT!?! A weight loss drug?! Are you f’ing kidding me!!!!!!!
ericfitla Shame on you, sir. Making all these people think you achieved your results through hard work and discipline when all this time you were taking the easy way out. You’ve lost my respect and my follow.
rita_mamacita I’m disgusted… the “true me,” yeah right…
dogs_and_dumbells What the hell is this shit?! A product to lose weight without making ANY changes to your lifestyle?!? Sounds like everything that’s wrong with this fat lazy country.
ruth_delgado_ I don’t even know what to think, I feel so betrayed right now… I’m so disappointed
jackattack7 Is anyone really surprised that the same people who lie about how much they eat also lie about losing weight the healthy way? Like, y’all really trust these people???
thefatandthefurious Douchebag
dkpurcell1 You look horrible!!! It’s obvious you’re on drugs
seismicwaste Shocking news- fat people are stupid lazy and dishonest
joanna_225
joanna_225 @thetrueme.by.emmett.t Honey, please call me
A tremor of horror rattled Emmett to his core. He’d dealt with his fair share of trolls and bullies, but never like this—never for losing weight.
So apparently what they hated wasn’t fat at all, but fat people. Like the former condition of his body went more than just flesh deep, a stain on his character that could be expunged only through the “right kind” of weight loss.
Because in this country, it wasn’t enough to lose weight; apparently one had to suffer for it too.
Angry comments were still pouring in, a dozen per minute. Some even threatened violence, wanting to “punch him in the dick” or “kick his fat ass.”
tom_graves Anyone know where this guy lives/works? I have a “takeout order” for him I need to deliver.
Instinctively, Emmett raised his eyes from the phone, looking around as if the commenter might have been standing behind him.
He did a double take. A coworker was staring at him over his cubicle, his mouth a twist of derision. Nearby, Ysella and one of her friends were talking in hushed tones. “I knew he couldn’t have been doing it himself.”
All around people were watching him, their eyes lit with smug validation, as if they’d been wanting, and waiting, to see him fail.
Equal to the threats of violence, it made Emmett feel unsafe.
He closed his laptop and headed out to his car.