Official Description:
Chocolate. Carbohydrates. Edward Cullen. These are the things Bella Swan is not letting herself have. Some things are harder to resist than others. One shot.
Word Count: 9,988
WhatsMyNomDePlume’s new one-shot, Delicious, is truly one of my favorite one-shots ever. In it, we are presented with an extremely relatable Bella who has body issues and is dieting.
Hello, my name is Bella Swan and I’m hungry. I’ve been hungry for approximately one week and three days.
And a simply adorable Edward who is a chef.
“Bella? It’s Edward. Emmett’s brother? From Nicos? The chef? Last night?”
Their relationship progresses in a very sweet and natural way. But their interactions are always colored by Bella’s insecurities.
When he asks whether I’d like to grab dessert, I lie and say I’m still full from the class, which served dinner. That’s a piece of crap. My dinner was wilted spinach doused in garlic and a terrible rice pilaf. I’m starving but gobble up the way Edward’s eyes look me over once, then again, and I don’t want that feeling to go away, that look to go away once he sees me wolf down some ice cream.
On the other hand, while Bella is plagued by these thoughts, the reader can see how completely oblivious Edward is to her struggles. This is not because he’s insensitive, rather because it hasn’t even crossed his mind that she should feel this way because he is entirely smitten by her.
Interestingly, we are never told objectively how she looks or what her weight is. All we know is how she feels about it. And WhatsMyNomDePlume writes in such a way that every insecurity Bella feels, the reader also feels on a gut level. After all, what woman can’t identify with the feeling that no matter how others perceive her, she is sub par in some way. In Delicious, Bella is neurotic about not wanting Edward to feel the rolls on her hips or her doughy stomach. She’s terrified that she won’t fit into his sweatshirt like a girl “should.” And she can’t let him get too close or he’ll KNOW.
But swoony Chef Edward continually makes her withdrawal more and more difficult. She becomes increasingly unable to control her feelings for him and is compelled by her desire.
It’s so precious, this feeling of being wanted, of being in someone’s arms, of Edward’s tongue and lips chasing and catching mine whenever I pull back to see if he’ll follow. My heart pounds in double time, once for what he’s doing to it, then again because I’m scared it’ll go away.
The way that this conflict unfolds is so refreshing and so beautifully handled by Edward’s sincere and loving, but never placating, responses. This story addresses the issue of beauty but the remarkable thing is that the reader doesn’t feel hit between the eyes with a treatise on body image. It’s just a beautiful and realistic telling of their love story that leaves you feeling warm and happy. And swoony. And gushy.
What can I say that RainyGirl didn’t?
I love love love WhatsMyNom for writing this. Every girl has body issues. And every girl needs a man that’s going to understand them. What could be better than having a man who loves you for you, no matter what?
Nothing.
Read this. Identify with Bella, and then fall in love with another one of WhatsMyNom’s Edward’s.
It’s impossible not to.
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