Deadly Weight Loss

Coming back to my senses, I fired off a reply to Tina:

"150 is definitely on the hefty side, time to trim down."

Minutes later, Tina shot me a diet plan she'd mapped out.

Oatmeal and skim milk for breakfast, a light salad for lunch, and greens for dinner.

Plus, a daily hour of treadmill time at the gym.

"Jess, keep me honest, will you? When I'm skinny, we're gonna snap so many killer pics together."

I cracked a smile. She was still in the "healthy dieting" zone.

But that wouldn't cut it.

I paused, then hit her with, "But summer's right around the corner. At this pace, you won't be beach-body ready till fall."

That got her spooked, "What do I do now, Jess? You're all skin and bones, throw me a bone here!"

I stoked the flames, "Keto's all the rage. People are dropping like 20 pounds a month!"

Tina was all ears.

She kept me posted on her crash diet progress in the following days.

She slimmed down fast following that unhealthy diet, hitting her target weight in no time.

Now she strutted around, all confident, roping me into endless shopping sprees and photo ops.

I noticed she was skinnier but the bags under her eyes and her caked-on makeup couldn't hide her gauntness.

I suggested hitting up a steakhouse, but Tina was like, "No way, still trimming. How about that new vegan joint instead?"

I gave her a quizzical look, "You're already at 120, why push it?"

She pulled me close, showing off a photo on her phone of her gym crush.

"Check out this stud—hot, right?"

I nodded, playing along.

She sighed, eyeing her belly flab, "I saw him eyeing those rail-thin models on Insta, I've got miles to go."

In the last life, Tina had the hots for the same gym rat, Jake Rivers.

Back then, I was her gym buddy, training every day together.

Jake had a habit of "helping" with my form, hands wandering too close for comfort.

I warned him, "Hands off, or I'm reporting you."

Jake just scoffed, "Got proof? It's all part of the job."

Even when I vented to Tina, she sided with Jake. "He's just being a trainer, Jess. They see trainees, not genders. You're reading too much into it."

I caught a glimpse of jealousy in her eyes but brushed it off.

No matter how Tina fawned over him, Jake wouldn't spare her a second glance.

He thought she was too chunky.

From then on, Tina's dieting went off the rails, and her health nosedived.

Until she passed out in the subway.

This time, I just chuckled and egged her on, "Really? Then you better get even skinnier, huh?"