A man falls in love with a large woman but he is ashamed to be seen with her in public so he invites a thin girl to go with him to his parents’ anniversary celebration.

Mark Hallspringer was determined to find the perfect woman: bright, charming, witty, and of course, beautiful with a dynamite figure and great style. After all, he was handsome, successful and athletic, and quite a catch. He deserved the best.

When Mark started talking to Anna, he had no romantic intentions whatsoever. She definitely wasn’t his type. The funny thing is that sometimes we get what we need, not what we want, and it took Mark a long, long time to realize that.

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It all started when Mark was asked to coordinate efforts between the company’s sales director and the marketing division. Marketing, as it turned out, was being run very efficiently by a woman called Anna Coulton.

Even though Mark and Anna had been working in the same company and the same building for three years, they had never met, not at meetings, or mixers, or even the Christmas party.

Mark sent Anna an email asking her to explain how she was articulating her marketing push with the sales division (sales were lagging and blaming marketing).

Anna’s reply was concise, clear, and neatly put the ball back on the salesforce side of the fence. Mark liked the way her mind worked, and he also liked the fact that she had put forward several suggestions to help boost sales.

The next day, he called her on the phone to discuss her ideas, and to set up a meeting between her and the sales director. Anna had a lovely throaty voice, and a lovely laugh, and halfway through they were chatting like old friends.

Accept people for who and what they are.

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From then on, Mark found himself calling Anna — supposedly to check up on progress — but in reality to hear her voice. He liked Anna Coulton’s intelligence and sense of humor, and he loved talking to her.

A few weeks of daily conversations down the line, Mark asked Anna out on a date. There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “Are you sure about that, Mark?” Anna asked.

“Of course!” Mark said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I may not be what you expect,” she said quietly. “I’m not everyone’s cup of tea.”

“Tea…” said Mark. “Did I ever tell you my mother’s British? I love tea, every type of tea, I’m addicted to tea…” Anna laughed and reluctantly agreed to have lunch with Mark on Saturday.

The day arrived and Mark waited impatiently outside the restaurant for Anna to arrive. “I should have asked if she was a blonde or a brunette!” he thought to himself. “How will I know who she is?”

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Just then, a large girl approached Mark and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hello, Mark,” said Anna’s throaty, sexy voice. “I’m Anna.”

Mark was stunned. Whatever he had expected wasn’t this! Anna was beautiful, yes, very beautiful with a face worthy of the cover of Vogue, but she was overweight. She was what they now tactfully call a plus-size.

But then they started talking, and Mark forgot about her weight and found himself completely fascinated by Anna and her radiant smile. At the end of lunch, he already knew he wanted to see her again.

Over the next six months, they fell in love, but Mark found himself cringing from the idea that other people would know he was dating a big girl. The truth is, he was embarrassed, and that embarrassment shamed him.

At work, they kept their relationship under wraps, because of company policy, but Mark had already met Anna’s family and knew she was waiting to meet his. The issue became even more pressing when he found himself proposing one night.

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He loved Anna. He wanted to spend all his time, the rest of his life with her, but he didn’t want anyone to know… He imagined his kid brother’s smirk as he eyed Anna’s ample curves. No! It wasn’t going to happen!

Then disaster struck. His parents were having their 40th wedding anniversary celebration and Anna helped him to shop for a present. “So when is the party, babe?” Anna asked excitedly. “I can’t wait to meet them! Do they know we’re engaged?”

Mark nodded. “Yes, they do! They know all about you!” That was a lie. All that his parents knew was that Mark was in love and engaged to a beautiful girl called Anna, but they knew nothing specific about her at all.

Mark explained that the party would be at his parents’ home in Connecticut, and they would take the two-hour drive over on Friday night, then spend the weekend. Anna was delighted, and Mark was horrified. How was he going to get out of this bind? Anna expected to go, and his parents expected her there…

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Then Mark had an idea. It was a stupid idea, though it seemed to be brilliant at the time mostly because it would save him embarrassment.

Two days before they were supposed to drive up to Connecticut, Mark called Anna. “Honey, I have bad news!” he said. “I’m on a plane. The board wants me up in Colorado to sort out a labor issue, which means I’ll be flying directly to Connecticut on Saturday morning, if at all. I’m sorry, you won’t be able to go with me!”

Anna was very disappointed. “Oh, no!” she gasped, I’m so sorry. But what about your present? Do you want me to send it by special delivery?”

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Mark sighed with relief. Anna was taking it well. “Baby, that would be brilliant! Let me give you my parents’ address…”

Anna hung up the phone. Poor Mark! He’d sounded so disappointed! Anna stared down at his parents’ address and an idea popped into her head. Why not deliver the gift in person? It would be a lovely surprise for Mark!

That it would be a mistake didn’t even cross Anna’s mind until she knocked on the door of Mark’s parents’ house and a slender older woman answered.

“Yes?” the woman said politely.

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Anna gave her best smile. “Hi,” she said. “This is an anniversary gift for Mr. and Mrs. Hallspringer?”

The woman smiled and took the present from Anna’s hands. “Thank you!” she said and started to close the door.

Anna put out her hand. “I’m Anna. Anna Coulton, Mark’s fiancée?” She started to feel nervous when the woman’s mouth hung open.

“Is this a joke, young woman?” she asked sternly. “Because my son and his fiancée Anna are sitting down to dinner with me this minute…” Anna pushed past the woman rudely and walked into the house.

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There was a big table set up in the dining room and at one end was Mark, and next to him, hanging on to his arm was a slender gorgeous girl. “Mark!” Anna cried. “What is going on here?”

Mark jumped to his feet and his face turned deadly white. “Anna-” he stuttered. “It’s not what you think… This woman, she’s an actress…”

“I don’t understand,” Anna cried. “If you don’t love me, why did you propose!”

“I do love you!” Mark said. “It’s just that… I was afraid…You…You know…”

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“No,” Anna said. “I don’t know. What about me?” The other people around the table were sitting in absolute silence and most of them were looking down, and away from Mark.

Mark whispered, “You’re so…big.”

Anna looked him in the eyes for one long moment then she took off her ring and placed it on the table.

“You don’t know what love is. If you loved me,” she said sadly, “you wouldn’t be ashamed of me.” Before Mark could say another word, she turned her back and walked out.

Mark tried to phone Anna again and again, but she wouldn’t take his phone calls, not even at work. He was desolate. He missed Anna more and more, and he now realized he might have lost her forever.

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There had to be a way to win her back, to make her see that he’d learned his lesson… The next day, when Anna was walking up to the office block she and Mark worked in, she saw a crowd of her colleagues milling around in front of the building and pointing at a huge billboard on the other side of the street.

When they saw Anna, they all started to whistle and clap. Anna frowned, then she saw the billboard, and her mouth dropped open. On the huge billboard was a photo of herself and Mark, with their arms around each other.

A huge caption proclaimed, “I LOVE ANNA COULTON AND I WANT TO MARRY HER!” Anna was still trying to process the whole scene when Mark walked up to her and dropped to one knee.

“Please marry me,” Mark said with tears in his eyes. “I love you, now and forever, forgive me even if I’m an idiot!”

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“You ARE an idiot!” Anna said, “But I still love you!”

Anna and Mark are making plans for a winter wedding up in Connecticut and all their friends and both families are invited.

What can we learn from this story?
Accept people for who and what they are. Mark was in love with Anna but he was afraid of what people would think because she was plus-size.
What matters the most is the love and kindness in people’s hearts, not their looks. When he lost Anna, Mark finally realized what really mattered to him.

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