Confessions of a Mail Order Bride - Complete Read Online Free

asked. “You look upset.”
    I shook my head. In the past I’d put up with Roxanne’s little games without saying anything, but this was too much.
    “It’s Roxanne.” I said angrily, wiping away the tears. “I’m so pissed…without my knowledge she signed me up to the Luscious Lads and Ladies site. That’s the site we mentioned at the meeting.”
    “Yes, I remember, it’s the dating site,” Judith frowned.
    I nodded. “She…she got Jamie from Personnel to go into my file. They used the information to fill out the questionnaires on the site and they uploaded a photo of me, and then they forwarded my profile to Adrian. He’s one of the shifters looking for a match.” I could feel my face flushing as I thought of my dream about Adrian. “I even got an email from him this morning…”
    Judith shook her head. “If this is true, she and Jamie will both be fired.”
    “Thank you,” I said. I wanted to feel relief, but then I remembered that Roxanne was divorced and supporting several children on her own. Jamie’s husband barely made minimum wage. It would be hard on her kids also.
    “I guess…I don’t want them fired. But I would like something done. What they did was just not right.”
    “Hmm, well let me think about what is best to do here,” Judith said as she waved her hands under the auto dry machine.
    “Thank you, Judith.”
    She cocked her head towards me. “So, what happened to the email?”
    “Huh, what email?”
    “The one you mentioned that you got from the shifter?”
    “Oh, that. Well, nothing. I will delete it I guess.”
    “Why not respond?”
    “Judith…” I swallowed. “I know it was a joke. They retouched my skin removing my birthmark. I don’t think they even thought he would respond, but if he did they knew he would never want me if he saw what I really looked like.”
    “Why wouldn’t he want you, Sherry? You’re a beautiful woman, with or without the birthmark.”
    “I wish,” I said sadly. And then I just blurted it out. “I…I feel so ugly. But you wouldn’t understand. You’re…you’re so perfect.” Judith was beautiful. She was a tall, curvy woman with lush red hair and sparkling green eyes.
    Judith stood in front of me. “I’m not perfect by any means.”
    “Oh come on…” I said. “Just look at you.”
    “Take a look at this, Sherry.” Judith yanked up her pink sweater. Her chest was a mass of angry scars.
    “Wha…?”
    “Burn scars. When I was five, my family took me to a bonfire. I got too close and an ember from the fire ignited my shirt. I suffered severe third degree burns over my chest and pelvic area. The pain was excruciating. I almost died.”
    “Oh my God!”
    “People aren’t perfect, Sherry. None of us are. We all have our mental and our physical problems.”
    “I never realized…” I said, shaking my head. I could just imagine the pain she’d experienced when it happened and the issues she probably still suffered to this day taking care of them. Yet, she never once complained and she was always confident. I’d had no idea.
    “I’m sorry, Judith.”
    “Yes, it’s sad that it happened. It’s sad that I was burned. But they made me a stronger person. They’re part of me—badges of courage…mine for life. Just like your birthmark is part of you.”
    I shook my head. Here I had always thought Judith had this perfect life. I had no idea she’d obviously been through so much. It always surprised me how great things could look on the outside, and yet…
    “Sherry, what you are saying Roxanne and Jamie did was very wrong,” Judith said softly. “I will see what I can do about it. But letting anyone make you feel bad about yourself is not going to help matters. You need to stop the pity party. Get over the birthmark. Get laser treatment, cover it, or live with it…but get over it and live your life!”
     
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Judith was right. When I thought about it, I realized how much I let what other people say,