Chapter 4 - the step-daughter's return

Chelsea was a picture of happiness when Marie saw her next. She’d had such a great time during her first semester and was bursting with stories about the things she had done, the people she had met, and the experiences she had had. College suited her; she had come to life; bursting with confidence and a reinvigorated sense of self. She hadn’t lost any weight, Marie noted, but she also hadn’t gained any either; as she probably would have done, had she allowed Daniel to go up there with her. No, this time it was her boyfriend who was looking remarkably altered…

Out of his ill-fitting work clothes, Daniel looked even chunkier. A thickness had taken hold of his torso and his handsome face was somehow ‘puffed-up’ with the extra mass he was carrying. His old pants looked stressed and uncomfortable, while his t-shirts clung, rather unattractively, to the fleshier areas he had been developing in his love-handles and nipples.

Marie had expected her step-daughter to comment on the change. Maybe she had, in private. But, to all the world, she still seemed just as besotted with this idiot, as she had been before. Daniel didn’t mention it either; although he frequently tugged awkwardly at his shirts, or at the waistband of his pants.

With Daniel living in the hotel now, Marie had seen much more of Chelsea than she had done in a very long time. The holiday period was always a time of overindulgence, but it seemed like her step-daughter was indulging more than most; encouraged very cleverly by her cunning boyfriend; always lurking somewhere in the background, holding snacks for her. Chelsea’s seasonal love of eggnog had been noticed by him, and he was pouring it into glasses for her multiple times a day. In the end, Marie found it a relief to get Chelsea out of her sight and back to college, where she was less easily manipulated by her devious boyfriend.

“No luck then, madam?” George asked, as he witnessed Chelsea giving Daniel her teary goodbyes early on in the New Year.

Marie turned to the old man, with a stern face of determination. “I’m playing the long game here,” she stated calmly. “With Chelsea gone, we’ve got all the time in the world! I hope you're ready. Now we can really step-up our efforts...”