They Auctioned My Weight At The Bar

Another rejection from a sports broadcasting job crushed what little confidence I had left. I went to Hans, my boyfriend and a fitness coach, desperate for help.

He smirked dismissively at the bar. Sienna, youre already this heavy. Whats the point of losing it now? Just give the opportunity to Bella. Bella was his best friend, petite and perfect. I was larger, weighed down further by steroids from an illness, a solid thirty pounds heavier.

Hans turned cold when I stayed. Im busy. Bellas waiting for her seventh nutrition plan. If you want to lose weight, stop bothering me. The internets full of trainers. He pulled out his phone and posted in their group chat: Looking for a trainer to help my girlfriend drop thirty pounds of pure fat. Bidding capped at five bucks.

Bella saw the screen and laughed hysterically, spinning to raise her glass to the bar. Live auction! Thirty pounds of pure, unadulterated fat from Hanss girl! Bidding starts at fifty cents!

Laughter erupted, but no bids came. My cheeks burned, wishing the floor would swallow me. As I turned to flee, a young man in the dim corner stood up. His baseball cap was pulled low, but he raised a silent, commanding handbidding the maximum price. The bar fell dead silent.

Under the shocked gazes of everyone present, the man walked straight up to me. He took my phone from my trembling hands and typed in a string of numbers.

"Add my number. My name is Sebastian."

As he leaned down, the neon lights caught the angles of his face. He was breathtakingly handsome, with a jawline carved from marble and eyes that held absolute focus.

Before I could even process what had happened, Sebastian handed my phone back and walked out of the bar.

I accepted his friend request. A message popped up in the chat almost immediately.

"What is your current weight?"

I bit my lip, tasting copper, and typed out the brutal truth.

"One hundred and forty pounds. I just got dropped from a sports commentator audition because they said I was too big for the camera."

He replied the second my message delivered.

"You look to be around five foot seven. Based on your BMI, you are entirely within the standard healthy range. You are not fat."

Not fat?

I stared at the screen, completely frozen.

Ever since I was put on those hormone medications a year ago, my weight had spiked. And the moment the numbers on the scale changed, Hans started making comments.

"Is it really that hard to just lose a little weight? Look at Bella. She barely weighs anything. You are seriously embarrassing me, Sienna. If you do not drop the weight, I am done with you."

Over time, his words became my reality. I truly believed I was morbidly obese and entirely beyond saving.

My phone buzzed again. Sebastian had sent another text.

"If you need to be camera ready, I can help you cut body fat and sculpt your physique."

"Tomorrow morning, ten o'clock. 67 Oakwood Avenue. Ignite Fitness, third floor."

Hans leaned over my shoulder, catching a glimpse of the glowing screen. Seeing the words Ignite Fitness, he let out a loud, mocking snort.

"Of course he is a gym rat. He is probably trying to lure you in with a free trial session. Once he is done sweet talking you, he is going to bleed you dry charging by the hour."

I placed my phone face down on the sticky table and said absolutely nothing.

Hans shook his head, rolling his eyes as he went back to peeling shrimp for Bella.

Noticing the weird looks they were getting from the next table, Bella raised a defiant eyebrow.

"What are you looking at? My boy here has always been this attentive."

Hans smiled fondly, feeding the peeled shrimp directly into her mouth.

"Stop talking and just eat."

Bella giggled, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness.

"You guys have no idea. I used to be such a picky eater when we were kids. Hans literally spoon fed me until I gained weight."

Watching them, a specific memory violently forced its way into my mind. Last year, the three of us went hiking and got stranded on a trail for nearly five days due to a storm.

I had not eaten in three days. I was weak, dizzy, and starving. And I watched Hans take my very last emergency protein bar and hand it directly to Bella.

When I looked at him in sheer disbelief, he defended himself with perfect confidence.

"You have plenty of extra weight anyway. Starving for a bit is the perfect diet for you."

My chest felt like it had been smashed with a sledgehammer.

It hurt. It really hurt.

My phone vibrated again. Another text from Sebastian.

"Do not come on an empty stomach tomorrow. Protein intake is crucial for women during a fat loss phase."

Before I could even type a reply, my work group chat exploded with notifications.

[Tagging everyone. The head office is organizing a Varsity Soccer Championship in three months. The sales department needs to nominate one female commentator. Pay is three grand a day. The CEO of the company will be attending in person.]

The chat instantly went wild.

However, Bella and I were the only two women in the entire sales department.

Colleagues immediately started chiming in, saying that if Bella went on camera, she would definitely make our branch look incredible.

Bella sent a voice memo to the group, her tone laced with fake humility.

"Oh stop it you guys! Something like this definitely needs to be a fair competition."

Someone instantly replied.

"It is already a done deal, what is there to compete over? Sienna definitely would not dare to sign up!"

"Exactly! The camera adds ten pounds anyway. Why would our little chubby girl want to humiliate herself on national television?"

"This represents the face of our entire branch! Sienna absolutely cannot do it!"

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.

I had already missed out on the World Cup qualifiers. Now there was this varsity league. But whatever confidence I possessed had been slowly chipped away by countless rejections.

Right at that moment, Sebastian's text illuminated my screen.

"Forgot to mention. A great commentator relies on professional knowledge, not just a pretty face."

Those words echoed in my mind for three entire days.

After agonizing over it, I finally filled out the application form.

When Hans found out, he lost his mind trying to talk me out of it. I ignored him, burying my head in soccer statistics and player data.

Seeing that his anger was not working, Hans softened his voice, trying a different tactic.

"Just withdraw the application, okay? Be good. I promise I will personally take you to the gym. How about that?"

I shook my head, my voice completely devoid of emotion.

"No need. I already booked a private coach."

Hans's eye twitched violently.

"A private coach? Do not tell me it is that random meathead from the bar?"

I nodded simply.

"He is far more professional than you. And his physique is significantly better than yours."

With that, I grabbed my gym bag and walked out the door.

Hans's furious, disbelieving roar echoed through the apartment.

"He is just a brainless gorilla! You train with him, you are just going to get bulkier and fatter!"

His words reminded me of the time he supposedly tried to help me lose weight.

He drove his car at a crawling pace, blasting the air conditioning, while forcing me to jog behind him under the scorching summer sun like a stray dog.

Twelve miles.

I ran until my knees were destroyed, until the pain kept me tossing and turning in agony all night.

When I told him I was in pain, he called me dramatic. He said if I did not want to put in the work, I should just stay fat forever.

We had been together for eight years. Yet he could never remember that I was deathly allergic to shellfish, or that my favorite food was spicy braised beef.

But he knew with crystal clarity that Bella only ate her steaks medium well, and that she absolutely adored seafood.

When I arrived at the gym, Sebastian skipped the small talk entirely. He handed me a physical assessment form.

"Step on the scale. Let us check your body fat percentage."

The monitor displayed twenty eight percent.

He glanced at it, his tone completely neutral.

"Target is around twenty two percent. Three months is more than enough time."

After a ten minute warm up, he led me straight into the free weight section.

He started me on the lightest dumbbells, teaching me the mechanics of squats and deadlifts. He manually corrected my posture, placing his hands firmly on my back to show me exactly which muscles should be firing.

After every single set, he made me face the mirror to watch my movement trajectory.

"Having a larger frame is actually a massive advantage. You have a larger surface area for muscle attachment. Once you lean out, your natural curves and muscle definition are going to look stunning."

I gritted my teeth and pushed through four grueling sets.

By the end of it, my thighs were trembling violently uncontrollably.

When the session was finally over, I collapsed onto the rubber floor, completely out of breath.

Sebastian tossed a clean set of athletic wear right onto my lap.

"Change into these. I am taking you somewhere."

He led me out the back doors of the fitness center to an indoor five a side soccer pitch.

Ever since I started dating Hans, I had never stepped foot on a pitch again. He hated the sport, so I gave it up.

Seeing the green turf, a dark, suffocating corner of my heart suddenly felt like it was finally breathing again.

At three in the afternoon, my phone rang. It was Hans.

"Sienna, come home early today. Bella is craving garlic butter shrimp."

I looked down at the faded burn scar on the back of my hand, a permanent reminder of the last time I cooked that dish for her.

For the very first time, I realized none of this was worth it.

In the past, as long as seeing them happy brought some semblance of peace, I did not care about the burns or the effort.

But today, my voice was like ice.

"I am cutting calories, so I am not eating dinner. If she wants shrimp, she can cook it herself. Or you can cook it for her."

Hans paused, completely taken aback.

"But Bella has lost weight recently. Can you not just take care of her a little bit?"

I gripped the phone tightly, enunciating every single word.

"I am not her mother. Why exactly is it my job to take care of her?"

Furious, Hans hung up on me.

He did not come home that night.

A full week later, he finally texted to say he was temporarily staying at a buddy's place.

Half a month later, I scrolled past Bella's social media and saw a photo of her laundry rack. Hanging right in the center was Hans's underwear.

Perhaps the physical toll of the body recomposition was just too intense.

Because looking at that photo, I was so exhausted I could not even muster a single drop of anger.

A month into training, I had dropped five pounds.

It was a historic milestone for me.

I excitedly took a mirror selfie and posted it online, specifically tagging Hans.

Three hours later, Hans, who never interacted with my posts, left a single comment.

"That is it?"

He had absolutely no idea how much sweat, nausea, and sheer willpower went into those five pounds.

But checking my notifications, I realized Sebastian had liked the photo the very second I posted it.

Just as I opened our chat to thank him, a message popped up.

"There is a small reward hanging on your door handle. After you eat it, remember to do an extra set of squats."

I opened my front door and found a tiny, four inch gourmet cake waiting in a beautifully wrapped box.

My nose stung, tears threatening to spill.

For years, sweet treats were the only way I knew how to comfort myself when I felt worthless.

But Hans always treated it like a sin, calling me a glutton with zero self control.

Three months passed in a blur of sweat, aching muscles, and relentless discipline.

I did not drop down to a hundred pounds.

But looking in the mirror, my body looked vastly different. I looked stronger, curvier, and infinitely more radiant than I ever did when I was desperately starving myself.

The day of the final commentator audition arrived.

I tore through my closet but could not find a single piece of clothing that fit my new proportions. Everything hung off me like a potato sack.

As panic started to set in, the doorbell rang.

A courier handed me a stunning bouquet of fresh flowers and a sleek black gift box.

The card simply read Happy Birthday.

Signed, Sebastian.

His handwriting was sharp, elegant, and entirely pleasing to the eye.

I opened the box to find a classic, beautifully tailored black dress that perfectly matched my aesthetic.

I slipped it on. It fit like a second skin, accentuating curves I did not even know I had.

I had stopped celebrating my birthdays ever since I started gaining weight.

Because Hans told me birthdays were just an excuse to eat massive dinners and cake, which would only make me fatter and more repulsive.

But who wrote the rule that birthdays could not just be about beautiful flowers and thoughtful gifts?

I checked my messages.

The last time Hans spoke to me was exactly three months ago.

I let out a self deprecating chuckle, grabbed my bag, and walked out the door.

When I arrived at the company lobby, I was just about to step into the elevator when a very familiar voice called out from behind.

"Hey gorgeous, hold the elevator!"

I turned around.

And locked eyes with a sweating, out of breath Hans.

We had not seen each other in nearly three months. It made sense he did not immediately recognize me from the back.

The range of emotions that crossed his face was cinematic.

Shock. Confusion. Awe.

Eventually, the undeniable absolute stun in his eyes morphed into a dry, awkward sentence.

"Sienna. Why the hell are you dressed up like that for no reason?"

I did not even look at him. My voice was utterly detached.

"I have an audition today."

The elevator doors opened on the top floor.

The moment I stepped out, I saw Bella standing by the water cooler, her eyes brimming with dramatic tears.

"Hans, it is a disaster! I feel like my face looks so swollen today!"

Hans immediately rushed over, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to coddle her.

"Nonsense, you are perfect. It is just water retention. Later I will have Sienna make you some detox soup, and I will give you a facial massage before bed. I promise you will look flawless on camera."

I stood rooted to the spot. All I wanted to do was laugh.

During the years my medication made me gain weight, I used to cry out of sheer frustration too.

But back then, Hans told me I deserved it. He said I had no self control, and that it was completely natural for me to look like a pig.

It turned out he was never lacking in gentleness.

He was not just some clueless, emotionally stunted guy who did not know how to comfort women.

His patience and his attention were just never meant for me.

When my name was finally called for the audition, my palms were sweating profusely.

My phone screen suddenly lit up. It was Sebastian.

"Do not be afraid. You understand the game better than anyone else in that building. Own your confidence. You earned this."

I took a deep, grounding breath and pushed open the heavy oak doors.

When the audition ended, I walked out of the corporate building and immediately spotted Hans's car idling by the curb.

He rolled down the window, his expression painfully awkward.

"Get in. Let us go home."

We dated for eight years. Despite his office being less than a five minute drive from mine, he had never once picked me up from work.

He always had excuses. Too much traffic, too busy, too tired. I could barely remember them all.

But the real reason started when Bella complained about taking the subway.

The very next day, Hans became her dedicated personal chauffeur.

When I expressed how unfair that was, he told me I should walk home anyway, treating it as mandatory cardio.

I glanced at the training schedule Sebastian had just texted me and shook my head dismissively.

"No thanks. I have a private training session."

The very afternoon I received the official email confirming I got the commentator position, my phone started ringing off the hook.

It was Hans. The second I answered, he started screaming at me.

"This is all your fault! You triggered Bella's anxiety! Can you just give the commentator spot to her? You owe her that much!"

His tone was exactly the same as always.

A blatant, uncompromising demand.

But why the hell should I?

I gripped my phone tightly, a cold laugh escaping my throat.

"I won that spot with my own abilities. Why would I ever give it up?"

"Sienna, it is just a stupid broadcasting gig! What are you even fighting for? Bella is fragile, she needs a win. Can you not have a shred of empathy?"

Hans's voice was dripping with absolute disgust and impatience.

I bit the inside of my cheek hard and replied without a second of hesitation.

"No. And Hans, we are done. We are breaking up."

Complete silence fell over the other end of the line for several agonizing seconds.

Followed immediately by a venomous accusation.

"Break up? Sienna, are you sleeping with that meathead trainer?"

A loud ringing echoed in my ears.

A chill shot straight from the base of my spine to the top of my head.

The very next morning, before the sun even rose, violently loud knocking woke me up.

The moment I opened the door, my mother started screaming in my face.

"What kind of decent girl puts her face on television for men to gawk at?! How are you ever going to get a respectable husband doing something so shameful? Has Hans not been good enough to you? Why do you always have to cause so much drama?!"

I stared at my mothers face, a face completely worn down by years of submitting to a miserable life.

Suddenly, my chest felt like it was suffocating under a massive boulder.

When I was a child, my father constantly told her she was a worthless, pathetic housewife.

And so, she truly believed she had zero value.

I took a deep breath, forcing the hot tears back down.

Right at that moment, Hanss phone rang.

Whatever Bella said on the other end made the blood completely drain from his face.

For the first time in his life, he lost all composure and roared at me like a madman.

"Sienna! Are you seriously trying to destroy Bella?!"

A photo of Hans and Bella passionately kissing at a bar had gone viral on local social media pages.

The headline read: This guy has a girlfriend, but still insists on exploring 'platonic mouth to mouth friendship' with his best bro.

It turned out that during a party a few weeks ago, Hans lost a game of Truth or Dare. The penalty was to choose someone in his friend group and kiss them.

All the guys aggressively backed away.

But Bella stepped right up, wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and smashed her lips against his.

The entire venue had gone completely silent.

Everyones eyes immediately darted to me.

When they finally broke apart, Bella just shrugged at the crowd with a completely unfazed smirk.

"What? Just because I am a girl means I am not one of the bros anymore?"

The comment section on the viral post was an absolute warzone.

"Is this guy blind? His so called best bro is a massive pick me girl."

"Knowing the guy has a girlfriend and still throwing yourself at him? This girl has zero shame!"

Hans was sweating profusely, frantically typing out a public response.

"We are genuinely just very good friends! Please do not read into this and twist the narrative!"

But the internet was absolutely not buying it. The mockery only intensified.

"Oh wow, pure innocent friendship between a man and a woman? The kind where you shove your tongues down each other's throats? How do you even look your girlfriend in the eye?"

Reading the brutal comments, Bella started hysterically sobbing, threatening to end her own life.

Desperate, Hans turned to me, demanding my help.

"Sienna, go online and clear this up! Tell everyone you were there and it was a joke! Do not just stand there and watch her die!"

I lowered my eyes, my expression utterly void of sympathy.

"But you two actually kissed. Are you seriously demanding I go online and lie to thousands of people to protect you?"

Bella rubbed her tear stained eyes, looking at me with overwhelming manufactured innocence.

"Sienna, even if you hate me and want to ruin my life, you should at least think about Hans's reputation!"

Before I could even turn away, Hans violently grabbed my wrist. His voice was lethal.

"Sienna. Do not push me."

The very next second, Bella pulled out her phone and started a live broadcast.

In less than five minutes, the viewer count broke ten thousand.

She stared directly into the camera lens, tears streaming down her perfectly contoured face.

"Actually, I know exactly why Sienna leaked those photos to destroy me. It is because she has always been insanely jealous of me."

"And what you guys probably do not know... When Sienna was younger, she was stalked, kidnapped, and locked in a dark basement by a psychopath. The extreme trauma completely ruined her brain. She has severe paranoia and is mentally unhinged. She cannot stand seeing normal people be happy."

It felt like a bolt of lightning struck my spine. I froze, completely paralyzed.

That secret... that horrific trauma... only Hans knew.

When I finally trusted him enough to tell him, he held me tightly and swore to the heavens.

"Do not be afraid anymore. I will protect you for the rest of my life. I will never let anyone hurt you ever again."

Yet here he was, standing completely silent as the woman he loved took my most excruciating, intimate pain and forged it into a blade to butcher me in front of the world.

Silent tears cascaded down my cheeks.

Hans shielded Bella from the cameras and escorted her away, leaving me standing entirely alone.

That night, Bella went on a massive posting spree, claiming my past psychiatric medications proved I suffered from severe clinical delusions.

She even dug up the most unflattering, bloated photos from my heaviest weight and posted them everywhere.

Her caption read: Your ugly soul manifests in your ugly body.

Placed right next to her heavily filtered, delicate selfies, the public opinion completely flipped.

My personal information was leaked online. Strangers tore my life apart, mocking my appearance and my past.

My parents' phones rang endlessly with harassment calls.

Someone threw a bucket of red paint entirely over my apartment door.

Furious at the embarrassment, my father called and officially disowned me.

My mother slapped me across the face so hard my ears rang, screaming at me to never show my face in their hometown ever again.

But the next morning, something inexplicable happened.

Every single piece of information, every photo, and every malicious thread about me vanished from the internet. Completely wiped clean.

Furious, Bella posted a cryptic, passive aggressive update.

"Someone clearly has a very powerful sugar daddy backing them up. No wonder she managed to secure the broadcaster position over actually talented people."

The comments underneath were filled with people cursing my name.

The toxicity lingered right up until the day of the championship broadcast.

Sitting in the studio, the moment I looked at the red recording light on the camera, my entire body began to shake uncontrollably.

I closed my eyes.

I forced myself to remember the absolute faith Sebastian had poured into me over the last three months.

I forced myself to remember the agonizing muscle soreness, the pools of sweat, and the sheer grit it took to rebuild myself from the ground up.

It was all for this exact moment.

Even if I only managed to be brave this one time.

I had to fight for my own dignity!

By the time I finally steadied my breathing, there were only ten minutes left until we went live.

Suddenly, the heavy studio doors were violently pushed open. Hans stormed into the broadcasting room.

"Sienna, do not embarrass me on national television. Get up. We are going home right now, and we are going to discuss wedding plans."

Bella trailed right behind him, her arms crossed tight.

"In what universe is she better than me?! The company definitely rigged this selection!"

The production crew and my co hosts began whispering among themselves.

Hans let out a heavy, patronizing sigh and marched straight toward me, grabbing my arm.

"Let us go home. You do not belong in that chair. You are not meant for this."

I ripped my arm out of his grasp, my blood turning to ice.

In his eyes, I would always be fundamentally worthless.

Even now, as I sat on the verge of finally shining, his first instinct was to pull me back into the dirt because he genuinely believed I was incapable.

Just as Hans raised his hands to physically drag me out of the chair, the main doors of the studio swung open once more.

Over a dozen men in sharp black suits marched in, forming two intimidating lines. The oppressive aura they carried instantly silenced the room.

A familiar, towering figure strolled casually down the center.

The mans voice was absolute and unyielding, echoing off the high ceilings.

"Whether Sienna belongs in that chair or not, I make the final call."