Story: The Cleaner Returns. Chapters 51-52.

by BigBird74

Dahlia had received a few shocks in the past few days and was about to experience one more. Until the moment she had stepped from the limousine, Dahlia’s newfound identity had been rather a private affair. Sure the doctor, Ms Nechita and now Melissa had provided a daily witness to her decline, but they all shared one important piece of knowledge. They all knew who it was under that vast bulk. For, despite all that had happened to her, inside her head, Dahlia still saw herself as a slim supermodel contained within some kind of fat suit. She had yet to accept that her new shape might be ‘permanent’ or long lasting in any meaningful way. But as she eased her fat body from the luxury of the limousine to the dusty poverty of Barton High Street, she was about to experience what her new life might really involve.

One cannot blame Dahlia for her myopia. After all, she had lived a life of luxury and privilege for almost the whole of her adult life, starting on her modelling career at such a tender age. Before that she had been cosseted within the bosom of a loving family. She had never wanted for anything, nor had to experience the harsh realities involved in ekeing out a living from one’s own meagre talents. Everything she was drove away in that car. Melissa now inhabited her space and seemed intent on shutting the door on Dahlia’s route back.

Captions Sunday!

Three more captions from Dolores Azul. Excellent work. Again, all three short-story length. Enjoy!

Holiday In Plain Sight!!!!

Can an introvert rise up the corporate ladder? I’m proof that you can. I am also proof that it takes its toll! I am also proof that that it takes money to get what you want—even if what you want is to be POOR!

That doesn’t make ANY sense! What do I mean? I’ll explain...

You CAN be shy, and still be a “People Person”. I’m good enough with people that I was pulling down six figures in income a year. But I didn’t SPEND most of that money! I lived way, WAY below my means, and used what I saved to buy real estate. I even have shares in a hotel chain! The hotel chain, of course, manages itself—I mean that I don’t have to manage it—and I’ve hired good people to manage my other properties, who I keep in contact online.

Living for years on a tiny fraction of my income, I got USED to it! That convinced me I didn’t need the corporate world any longer to live the life I want! I set up a very modest trust fund for...myself! For my OTHER self! Most of the fund pays for a basement apartment in a twelve-unit I own just off the bus lines. The rest is for food and clothing—the weekly budget I set up for food is what I used to spend on ONE business lunch! The only “luxury” item I have in my apartment is a tanning bed—so I can “revert” back to my “natural” coloring!

Two weeks after resigning from the corporate rat-race, I used the I.D. for my “Other Self” and hired on as a housekeeper in one of the hotels I own stock in!

Story: Miss Cassandra Fellows. Chapters 9-10.

by Jackie J

Chapter 9.

Following the meeting with Doctor Jenkins Cassie was back at work in the restaurant steaming off the griddle plates and cleaning the ovens ready for the week ahead. Whilst she laboured Cassies mind could not help reflecting on the questions Miss had asked her. She was still confused what it was all about. The calculation’s, ratio’s, percentages? She had no problem with those, or so she thought, but were they relevant for a maid? She knew everything about her rota and work at Temples and maids work in general. Surely that is what Miss really wanted to know how good a maid she was, like Miss Lockwood had told her she must be. The games at the end were familiar, she had done something similar before, with Miss, matching words and pretending to be someone else, but it was already a little foggy in her mind. That was over now, she had work to finish and rubber gloved, Cassie continued scrubbing at the caked-on grime from inside the ovens.

Thursday of Cassandra’s second full week a maid at Temples and the thoughts of high finance and the life- style enjoyed by Miss Cassandra Fellows continued to be unconsciously and effectively suppressed by the industrious and willing maid Cassie. Kept busy with her work and being constantly reminded by Mr Roberts, and indeed all the other staff at Temples, what a good maid she was, there was little capacity or scope for thoughts of other than what she was, who she was.

Cassandra Fellows had been convinced to and willingly embraced her maid persona under the pretence of Evelyn Lockwood’s scheme to remove the conflict with her inner maid. With Maid Cassie exposed, Cassandra’s maid was to be contained, isolated, and separated from the troubled Executive. Cassandra would then free to continue her executive career unfettered, the interfering and debilitating maid persona banished to be buried deep within the darkest recesses of her mind, or so Cassandra had assumed.

Captions Sunday!

Dolores Azul deliver three new excellent captions. Three short stories basically. Very well done. Enjoy!

Undercover in a Rival Hotel! 

I am (or was) a manager of a national chain of hotels, breathing a huge sigh of relief that, with COVID-19 finally under control, people started to travel—and, of course, stay at hotels again! It was I who came up with our newest little slogan: 

“We won’t mask our delight to see you again!” 

After a full year of working seven days a week, eighteen hours a day, I figured I (finally) earned some time off; but I just couldn’t rest, because of a nagging suspicion... 

Most of the national hotel chains were starting to do well, but one new company was apparently making money hand over fist! After only a year in business! How they could erect brand-new hotels in all the major cities in such a short time boggled my mind, that shouldn’t have been possible! I had my personal assistant search the ’web for information—and who should ultimately turn up as the owner but a very famous gentleman whose father-in-law is even more famous! 

Yes, I deserved a vacation, but I couldn’t let this go! Armed with fictitious I.D., and traveling to a city where our chain had no hotel (yet) so where I haven’t visited, I went undercover—yes, undercover, as housekeeper for hire! This was going to be hard work; but I think I look, and physically I think I am, much younger than my forty-eight years. I figured I could keep up with the duties, and NOBODY looking for evidence knew better where to look than I! 

Story: The Cleaner Returns. Chapters 49-50.

by BigBird74

In the modern world, time is becoming an increasingly rare commodity and not just for those sitting atop society’s pyramid. Think of those among us who simply never have time for themselves, for example the small army of cleaners and manual workers whose days breeze by in a blur of simple tasks that keep them constantly busy. Even so, you may say, surely it would be possible to devote even half of one’s attention to something as important as literally handing one’s life to another? The gravity of situation facing Dahlia would no doubt have commanded the attention of most people. But, from the moment she walked out of her sister’s room that fateful day to when she started packing her ‘luggage’ for the trip back to the outside world, Dahlia seemed unable or unwilling to contemplate just what was about to happen.

As per usual in this sordid tale, initial appearances can be deceiving. You see, Dahlia had spent months training herself not to think much at all. After all one of the reasons she found herself in this mess was because she thought too much. Her imagination, always vivid and colourful, went hand-in-hand with an intense sensitivity that had sparked those early doubts about her self-worth. Unable to let go of her worries, Dahlia’s anxieties had grown and she found herself fuelling a debilitating cycle that had led all the way to the psychologist’s couch.

Breaking that spiral was why she had found herself in this clinic in the first place. Her menial work had provided a great amount of solace, as she learned to enjoy the peace of mind those moments gave her, so far removed from the usually hectic pace she lived at. In those first days at the clinic, she had literally trained herself to empty her mind, developing her ability to still her thoughts and bring on the inner peace she craved so badly. Once her steely self-discipline was deployed to the task, she found herself going minutes without an unwanted thought entering her head. With time, she perfected the technique of using diversionary thoughts – simple things like listing the foods she liked to eat or how dreamy the doctor was – to occupy her increasingly sluggish mind.

Story: Miss Cassandra Fellows. Chapters 7-8.

by Jackie J

Chapter 7

Mr Roberts office being just down the hallway was not hard to find and having knocked on his door Cassie nervously entered, did this man know who she was, a co- conspirator to Miss Lockwood’s program? Offered a seat she sat by his desk and soon realised he was not.

“Another Tutteridge maid I see from your uniform Cassie. Very smart I must say. Have you worked for Miss Tutteridge long?”

Cassie adjusted her glasses perhaps they were a little stronger than she had first thought.

“Yes, a number of years.”

It was not a lie she had, albeit only part time but ever since she moved to the area and she had started working for Hobson and Lloyd. Cassie chuckled to herself considering Miss Lockwood’s demarcation, since Miss Fellows joined Hobson and Lloyd.

Mr Roberts offered a temporary contract to sign.

“Just routine Cassie get you registered, here is a pen sign across the bottom.”

Story: The Cleaner Returns. Chapters 47-48.

by BigBird74

If the moments leading up to that moment of delicious triumph had been among the most nerve wracking of her life, the release Melissa felt the moment her sister had stepped into the bathroom was pure ecstasy. For weeks now her anxieties had been building as the day approached that she would try to supplant her sister. All those sleepless nights, bouts of self-doubt and moments of near panic had suddenly paid off. Melissa closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, replaying recent events in her head, recalling how she had snatched away her sister’s undeserved fortune.

For a moment, Melissa thought she recognised the old Dahlia trying to assert herself. She feared she was about to fight back and upend all the careful planning. However to her palpable relief and just as the doctor had expected, Dahlia’s desire to reclaim a life she now associated with pure stress and near terror was so tepid, any remaining willpower she possessed simply imploded at the moment of truth.

Melissa nodded at Ms Nechita who duly left the suite to collect the doctor. In any good cop, bad cop routine, you need a foe and a friend, and it was now time for the doctor’s soothing manner to convince Dahlia make the right decision for everyone. After all, no one could rest easy until she was safely consigned to her new life. That thought sent a shiver through Melissa, as her moment of reverie was interrupted by a forgotten ghost. Despite everything that had been achieved in such a short time, in spite of standing so close to having it all, she knew she would never be able to relax until Dahlia was out of the way. Melissa hated uncertainty and was eager to push things as far as she could and finish this.