Wednesday 26 August 2015

CLEANER II: Chapter Five - Part Two



MELISSA

“I want you to know how proud I am of you Melissa,” I said, sitting opposite her at the table.

“Thank you,” she replied haltingly.

“Really,” I said. “You’ve come so far and your dedication has been phenomenal. It’s helped me so much; seeing you stick to your path. Lots of times I felt I couldn’t go on with all my training and beauty treatments, but seeing you doggedly stick to your own path has reminded me time and again that it can be done. With absolute dedication it is possible to change. You’re the person I look to when my will is weak. You’re…” I fixed her eyes in mine. “You’re my inspiration.”

I smiled at Dahlia. She squirmed under my benevolent gaze, uncomfortable with the praise.

To look at her it was impossible to believe there was a confident beautiful model hidden under the rolls of fat, the dowdy clothes and hair, and the thick glasses. She had changed so much. She had bloated into something almost disgusting.

Was she as fat as I had once been already?

No. Not quite. Not yet. But she wasn’t far off and her former self was simply gone.

“I thought we’d do something different on your visit today,” I said. “Normally we tell one another stories about our old lives but this time I want to hear more about your new life.”

“My life… now? At the hotel?” she asked haltingly.

“Yes. I want to hear the latest on your new man; the cook.” I smiled, hoping it didn’t sound like I was making fun of her.

She shrugged. “He’s…”

“Hmmm?”

She shrugged again, obviously reluctant to go into it.

“Doesn’t he treat you well?”

“I suppose.”

“Does he take you out?”

She became pensive. “No. Not really. Mostly we… If we meet up then… we just…”

She blushed redly, lowering her head.

I longed to see them together. From the description she’d given me I could only imagine his hackneyed, scrawny looks: his bulging eyes, his big hands, his skinny wrists and greasy hair. What a couple they would make: the fat four-eyed butterball and her slimy foreign suitor! I could just imagine the sight they’d be, walking arm in arm through the streets!

I really had to try hard not to laugh out loud.

“And how much English does he speak?” I asked.

“Some.” She left it at that.

“Do you talk much?”

She squirmed.

“What do you talk about?”

She didn’t make eye contact, blushing ever brighter. She knew exactly how low she had fallen. She didn’t want to admit it to me or to herself.

But that wasn’t good enough for me and I wanted to flex the muscles of how much power I had over her. How would she react if I pushed a little?

“I don’t like being ignored really Melissa,” I said, my voice harder. “I’m showing an interest in you and your new boyfriend. Don’t beat around the bush. I want to know what he’s like.”

She sat up straight: alarmed, guilty, shocked, afraid… unconsciously subservient. “Sorry Miss Western. He’s…” She swallowed. “He doesn’t treat me very well really. He doesn’t take me out at all. We drink together sometimes, while he watches TV. He mainly just… He just wants to have sex. He isn’t interested in me or my life.”

I smiled. “Sounds ideal in some ways. No strings. And you wouldn’t want to fall in love – not with that husband of yours waiting at home.”

She flushed. “No. No. You’re right.”

I narrowed my eyes.

It was at moments like these that I couldn’t be sure how far she was gone; how much further I could push. I wished I could ask her outright but I was afraid that would break the spell.

I’d mentioned “her husband” back in England and she had played along. Fine. That meant she was willing to pretend she was the real Melissa as long as she was here. But did that show any inclination to return to Nockton Vale and continue the charade? Not necessarily.

We’re running out of time.

Saying that, she’d implied that she was still on course only for our original plan: a total swap but only lasting a few months; only continuing while we were abroad.

The trouble was I liked to fantasise about it being more than that – and we were obviously deeper into this crazy game than maybe anyone had ever gone before – but signals though there were, I had no guarantee of anything longer term. I was starting to worry she was going to turn up one day soon and say it was time to change back.

I felt ill at the thought of it: of going back to England and having to fit back into my life as a cleaner; to go back to Robert. I was too used to the wealth and pleasure now. I could never go back. I would die if I had to.

I would kill myself.

“Miss Western?”

I looked back at her. I’d been gazing off out the window. “Yes?”

“Are you alright? You looked… unwell.”

I put on a smile. “I’m fine,” I said. “Fine. Just thinking about things.”

A long pause fell between us. “About the future?” she asked tentatively.

All expression fell from my face. “Yes. About the future.”

We looked at one another.

“I sometimes think about that too,” she said. “But…” She tilted her face forward and looked at her crumpled hands on the table. I waited for her to go on. “I’m not really ready to think about it yet. You know?”

I nodded as kindly as I could manage.

“It… hurts still… to think about it.”

I nodded again and reached my hand across the table.

Hesitantly, she extended her hand too and I took it.

“All play aside…” I said. “You should always remember that I’m your friend. Above all else.”

She looked at me with moisture rimming her eyes and inside me the part of myself that wasn’t heartless, that hadn’t really meant to say those words except as a way of manipulating her, felt a warm stirring that surprised me. It actually disturbed me because I didn’t want to feel that way toward her. I was still angry at the way I had been made to feel all my life, by her and her ilk. It didn’t matter that she had never treated me badly directly. She had made me feel inferior simply by being pretty, slim and wealthy, and by paying my wages.

“We’re doing this for you,” I said, “this thing we’re doing; this swap. We’re doing it because you needed it.”

She nodded, wiping her eye. “I still need it I think.”

“I know. I know,” I said. I squeezed her hand. “And we can go on doing it as long as you want. Okay? As long as you want.”

She nodded, putting on a brave smile. “I’m sorry that I’m so pathetic.”

“Not at all,” I said reassuringly. Then I grinned. “And don’t worry. It suits your new persona perfectly.”




62 comments:

  1. Chilling! Melissa gave the nudge and Dahlia revealed that she still 'needed the swap'; just what Melissa wanted to hear. Dahlia views herself as pathetic and Melissa asking about her 'new' life only reinforces it. Dahlia is on a slippery slope and Melissa wants to give her a good shove!

    I love that Melissa offers to extend the swap 'as long as you want' !!! Subtle, but magnificent manipulation!

    Masterfully done, Emma!!! (applause)

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    1. Thanks Anonymous! (you should sign your posts)

      But don't forget that Dahlia thinks they're coming to the end. This ain't over yet!

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    2. Sorry, Emma, I should sign! :)

      Dahlia seems disappointed, almost sad that her fantasy is ending, but I don't think it will take much convincing on Melissa's part to extend the swap. At present, it would take a lot of work and time for Dahlia to become Dahlia Western again; she closer to being Melissa Chapman and unsure if she wants to go back quite yet.

      Dahlia is also thinking of the 'wonderful husband' waiting for her in Barton if she remains as Melissa.

      We'll see!

      --Robert

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  2. It kind of reminds me of watching a kid with a magnifying glass and an ant hill. At this point is there anything dahlia would refuse if Melissa asked. I guess we're just going to have to wait and find out.

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    1. Indeed we are. And you might be surprised by the answer.

      Or not.

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    2. Mmmmm, ambiguous as ever Emma.

      BillA

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  3. awesome! another terrific addition! I really think that Melissa should enter herself and Dahila in a wet t shirt contest or something that would put them on display for people to judge. Also, does Melissa know how turned on Dahila gets by all this? If so, i wonder how she will use that to her advantage... the strings are being pulled more and more...

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    1. Mmm. Well they've both been aroused by things before. I wonder what would happen if they shared their experiences.

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  4. Once more the last line reveals Melissa's real character and Dahlia doesn't even notice it because she really is so pathetic. It's also interesting that when, as Melissa says 'putting all play aside' she actually feels a little sympathy for her victim but only a little.

    I see Dahlia has now stopped calling her 'employer' by her first name (even though it's really hers) but uses 'miss' or even Miss Western. I wonder if it just happened or Melissa insisted on it. But that last section seems to me the most significant.

    Thanks, Emma. You're keeping us all entertained and on the edge of our seats. If this were finished I'd be buying at just slightly under the speed of light :)

    Robyn H

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    1. Well it isn't sadly. I'm still only as far through as this very episode, but I know what is going to happen almost to the end.

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  5. I don't see it as a beauty competition, it's a story of transformation and the psychological affects and implications which Emma has presented so skillfully. Dahlia knows she has the potential to be beautiful, she has been all her life, but throughout the transformation, Melissa is becoming beautiful while Dahlia seeks comfort beneath the plain and obese guise of Melissa Chapman. Dahlia doesn't like what's going on in her life; what better way to escape it than to retreat into someone else's life?

    Experiencing Dahlia's life has revealed a darker portion of Melissa's mind and she enjoys the power of being Dahlia's superior and discovers that she can use Dahlia's own game against her. She pushed just a little and Dahlia responded exactly as she'd hoped. She tells Dahlia that they are 'doing it for her' and they can do it 'as long as she wants'. Melissa needs a little more time and she'll be able to reach the brass ring that gives her Dahlia's life.

    Dahlia doesn't need to be judged in comparison to Melissa to feel the humiliation which she seems to enjoy at the moment. I think once Melissa is living in Dahlia's mansion, wearing her clothes, and enjoying her revitalized career, it will be too late for Dahlia to get it all back and being trapped in Melissa's life will be humiliation enough.

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    1. I like the imagery of the brass ring. That's cool.

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  6. WOW! M is so clever & manipulative she should be the ENglish PM! Intertesting that she talks about ROvert being d's husband & d goes along with it, & maks her discript the humliation of D's being thk slutty GF of the slimy Greek cook. & M is pushing the bounds of maybe an extention very cleverly. Even saying we're doing this for you.
    Bye the bye still no bit about voices. Next chapter?

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    1. We've already gotten a taste of this when Melissa talked to Dahlia's brother while Dahlia was cleaning the garden shed. Melissa was able to fool Dahlia's brother in a short conversation. She just needs to practice to the point where Dahlia's voice comes more naturally than her own. If she can fool family, she could probably fool just about anyone.

      --R

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  7. Poor Dahlia.
    Digging herself in, deeper and deeper.
    Of course she thinks that Melissa is standing by the hole waiting to give her a helping and when she decides to get out. Ha !!

    BillA.

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    1. Buit surely she is! Melissa seems like such a nice person!

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    2. Emma,
      Don`t trust her.:-).

      BillA.

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    3. Methinks you`re deceived by her physical beauty.
      (Would`nt have said that a few months ago) :-)

      BillA

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    4. Maybe if Bill Shakespear had met Melissa he would have wrote Cassous differently saying beware of very fat men such men are dangerous they eat & thinkt to much!

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  8. I also like M´s manipulative style very much. I am sure that M will never allow D to climb out of that hole she dug herself. She would rather step on Dahlia´s fingers if she was trying to get out of it. ;-)
    I have to admit, though, that I wondered a little bit when M merely thought of killing herself before returning to the miserable existence of a common cleaner.
    I was of the opinion that she was unscrupulous and determined enough to make use of her new-found power and monetary means in other ways as well...to defend what she thinks is now rightfully hers... Not a single thought about killing...or at least...getting rid of D, taking her money and living the "high life" permanently.
    I also think, that D´s subservient behaviour would have allowed M to push a little more.
    Okay, her kindness was played, her friendship feigned...I get that.
    It would have been nice, though, if M had been putting it straight to D that the impact of their previous swap affected both womens´life and that any termination needed some sort of agreement that M was currently not willing to negotiate. M could have told D that she needed a little bit more time herself addressing to open ends in her new "temporary" life.
    I am not so sure if I can buy it when Dahlia abandons all plans about the temporary/limited nature of the swap and agrees to prolong it simply because M says: "We are doing it for you."
    A little more pressure by M, a little more "forced" acceptance of the swap´s prolongation, spawned by D´s subservient nature and her "need to please", would have served very well.
    But that´s just my 2 cents. As always, I am deeply impressed by your style of writing, Emma.
    Given the fact that I am not the biggest fan of transformation stories but generally more interested in fantasies of social downgrade and/or erotic humiliation, it is really astounding that I consider your "Cleaner" one of the best (probably even "the" best) stories I ever read. A masterpiece!!!

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    1. Forgot to sign...;-)

      marc

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    2. Thanks Marc.

      Well these are good points and I always bear them in mind.

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  9. Just a thought for a scene, maybe have M take D to city for a 'treat/ & have M admired & turn heads males with admiration, women with jealousy & of course people look on D with disgust, reinforcing iow patethic she is.?

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    1. Maybe walking by a shop window and seeing their reflections side by side to reinforce the contrast between them. :)

      --R

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    2. (grin)
      Maybe having Melissa wear something of Dahlia's from before their swap, something Dahlia would recognize; a favorite dress, blouse or skirt. It may show Dahlia just how far along Melissa has come, although she may not quite be there yet. :)

      --R

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    3. It would be even more demeaning for Melissa to buy some less expensive clothes for Dahlia while buying designer ones for herself (with Dahlia's money, of course). She would of course be very patronising (matronising?) throughout the trip and treat Dahlia as very much an inferior she was giving a day out.

      Robyn H

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    4. Remember, Dahlia didn't used to buy off the rack. She said all of her clothes were custom tailored. Melissa wearing Dahlia's custom tailored wardrobe would drive home the fact that Melissa now has Dahlia's model physique.

      Melissa is trying to convince Dahlia that her determination to become slim and beautiful is actually to support Dahlia's fantasy and play the role properly rather than her own determination to take over Dahlia's life.

      --R

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    5. Yep. I'm agreeing with all of this.

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    6. I think Melissa should wear something of Dahlia's that's form fitting like a ridiculously expensive elegant lambskin leather skirt and maybe some custom fitted boots to emphasize that she has achieved Dahlia's original figure. Just a thought. :)

      --R

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    7. Also, the question remains...
      If Dahlia sees Melissa looking as beautiful and elegant as she once was, will it scare her into ending the swap or urge her to continue and take it all the way?

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  10. I don`t know why Melissa should worry about the best way to humiliate Dahlia by parading around in her clothes right now.
    There are other problems at hand of a more urgent nature.
    Melissa is planning long-term. She wants to live Dahlias life, wants to get rid off her former employer, taking everything as her own. Further humiliations/downgradings of Dahlia as well as reveling in D´s misery might happen when Melissa has achieved her principal object: stealing D´s life. I am sure of that.
    But "now" seems not the right time for vanities or demonstrations of power. M has to ensure that Dahlia gets stuck in her miserable existence while working all necessary switches to live a life in luxury as a supermodel herself...forever.
    M is not propelled by any kinky desires, it seems. Her main objective is not humiliating D but upgrading her own status and rising to the top of the society.
    She is very pragmatic in working towards that goal, ready to use every chance that arises. And taking advantage of D´s kinky desires and subservient fantasies offers lots of chances...

    marc

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    1. I totally agree. Melissa needs to nudge Dahlia beyond the point of no return, but we don't know how close Melissa is to being able to pass herself off as Dahlia Western. I think being able to do so is critical to her master plan.

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    2. I think Melissa is kinkier than you think.

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  11. Melissa needs amazing Plastic Surgery. To go from an attractive slim woman to a super model.
    Rememeber the poem "is this Face that launced a 1000 ships" Has any one heard serious are these the tits that launced a thousand ships. Of course not. A Woman's face is what takes her beauty to super levels, They picked Diana Kruger for Diana of Troy, not because of her figure, which they made her change but because of her face, look at Heidi Klum or Cindy Crawford, it's their face that sets them apart. Remember Liz Talyor it was he r face, not her body - she was attactually a little short in the legs, that set her apart.
    No somehow Melisa has to turn her face into Dahlia;'s & Dahlia's face into hers to make it work > Just resembling Dahlia isn't going to work. Dahlia is a world famous model & woman. not just a pretty woman.
    Ah, yes Melissa's victory is yet to come & I can hardly wait for M arriving back home looking lIke D & the real D looking just like M & being seen & greeted by those who know them as each other.

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    1. Golden Gloom. Sorted.

      (Just kidding)

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    2. Emma, you are a tease ;)

      Robyn H

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    3. Seriously though. Golden Gloom. Sorted.

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  12. You have to suspend disbelief a little bit and not get so hung up on the details. At least that's my humble opinion. It's plausible that they look enough alike that extensive cosmetic surgery isn't required. Extensive surgery would require months of recuperation. Maybe a simple reshape of the nose is all that's needed or something simple. We don't want to lose the spirit of the story in the details. :)

    I read an article about a woman that found a woman living close by, not related at all, but they looked like they were twins. (twinstrangers.com I think) It's plausible that Melissa has looked very much like Dahlia already ("our faces more similar than different") and was just hiding it behind glasses and excess bulk.

    I don't think anyone would recognize or even suspect that the 'cleaner' is really Dahlia Western at this point. Weight gain reshapes ones face and she has the glasses and bobbed/dyed hair.

    Well...that's my two cents. :)

    I'm thoroughly enjoying the story so far!!! Great job!

    --R

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    1. Agree absolutely. Bringing some futuristic (and currently not available) plastic surgery techniques into the story would spoil it IMO. Emma has valiently kept the story within the realms of possiblity even if it's highly improbable. I think that makes the horror of Dahlia's self destruction even more telling.

      I see photos of fashion models and they're hard to tell apart if they're all wearing the same 'look' in both clothing and make up.

      The interaction between the 2 main protagonists is what makes the story for me and I wonder what will happen if Katherine eventually turns up. I'm sure there will be clues somewhere for her to find, like account billing on credit/debit cards to which she probably still has access. Then the plot will really start to spiral - upwards for Melissa and down for Dahlis ... perhaps!

      Robyn H

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    2. A magical transformation would solve all our problems.

      (Looks evil)

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    3. I really do hope you are just teasing...
      No magic...you promised...
      Please, Emma, say that it´s just a tease... ;-)

      (looks desperate)

      marc

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    4. (Continues to look evil)

      (While smirking slightly)

      I wlll do my best to make the incredible credible... without magic.

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    5. (breathing a sigh of relief)

      marc

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  13. here is an idea, have M dress D in some of her old huge clothes

    Jessie

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    1. Dahlia from Part One: "I didn't know why but I liked the idea of her slimming down. I imagined how cool in would be if she could really fit into my clothes: really play the part of Dahlia.
      And if I could fit into hers..."

      --R

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  14. I'd like to remind other enthusiastic readers of Emma's hypnotic & wonderful story that it is only marginaly 'realitic'. Which is OK we believe it, Emma's skill ensures that. As for surgery break or medical break throughs. Raise a quiet hnd if you re aware of them all. LOL My wife works for one of the best teaching hospital & research University in the world. What they do in DNA & gene replacemnt is to an averge person is wildly scientific fiction. Who knows really what goes n the reseach places in the world They're even combining the metal god to animal DNA! So sit back & relax if any suurgery takes us out of the originary. Don't forget where they come from either.

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  15. I still think that looking only 99 per cent alike might work wonders for the story´s plot. It would leave some flickers of hope for D after their return to Nockton and gave Melissa something to do: maliciously eliminating any possible counter-evidence, thus vanquishing D completely by ruthlessly crushing any last ace in the hole Dahlia might think of having ...

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    1. I think the willing suspension of disbelief is going to play a large part.

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  16. Another thought.
    Given Dahlia`s loss of self confidence, I think she`ll find it harder to resist whatever Melissa`s plans are.
    Oh and my disbelief is happily suspended.

    BillA

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