Week 2 Part 2
The next few days of week two fell into a normal pattern.
Morning: Chris would wake up (on time) using his new pink phone and get ready for the day. This included checking his nail polish to ensure it was up to Miss Valentine’s satisfaction. On the last day of the week (Saturday), he decided to touch up a few nails that had chipped from the week's activities, but otherwise they didn’t require much maintenance. He'd quickly gotten used to having painted nails, and it didn't bother him nearly as much by the end of the week.
He ended up shaving twice, which was unusual as he normally needed to do it every day. He attributed his sparse facial hair to his low-calorie intake. After the bathroom activities were done, he’d get dressed in general workout attire, meet Miss Valentine, and eat his light breakfast + pills. The exercises for the week consisted almost exclusively of cardio with a few stretches and yoga poses here and there for good measure. Upper body and strength building were nowhere to be found.
Afternoon: After the workout, Chris would drink his shake and take a shower using Miss Valentine’s products. He would then watch ‘Sex and the City’ while wearing his flowery headphones but fall asleep after an episode or two. Each day he woke up in a puddle of sweat next to an empty water bottle with weird dreams and memories flashing through his head. But, like any dream, they would soon fade. What didn’t fade, however, was his knowledge of the show. He had become a secret superfan of ‘Sex and the City’ just like he had with ‘Desperate Housewives,’ but he’d never admit it!
Evening: Chris would groggily enter the kitchen behind Miss Valentine while sucking down a bottle of sweet water. He would then eat his sparse dinner and nighttime pills and then head upstairs to get ready for bed. Chris spent an increasing amount of time playing games on Madison’s cell phone while lying in bed. Some of the games were much deeper and more strategic than Chris initially gave them credit for. At least some of the games were. His favorite, “The Princess Ball,” was on the more...mindless side. There was something about it that felt almost...hypnotic to Chris, and he found himself losing chunks of time while engrossed in the game.
Miss Valentine returned Chris’ keys on the second day, and he put them back where he originally kept them: a cabinet in the kitchen. She was generally mild-tempered throughout the week (after the first day) because Chris consciously put effort into preventing her anger. She was consistently professional and reasonable when he did what he was supposed to. Despite that, the memory of her insanity in the dark of Chris’ bedroom stuck with him, and he had a constant feeling of being on edge whenever she was paying attention to him. He was in much better control of his libido this week, and he rarely got an erection, even when Miss Valentine tried to tease him. He figured he was finally starting to see through her tricks and mind games.
On Saturday night Chris was so excited and looking forward to the morning because he could finally get out of the house and buy his new cell phone before Sylvie arrived. He planned to buy the most expensive model he could find. He opened Madison’s pink phone and clicked on “The Princess Ball” once more for old times sake. It was a dumb children’s game, but it had helped him get through the week, and he probably wouldn’t be downloading it once he had access to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and the like. Bright, pastel colors flashed across the screen, and Chris’ brain dulled and grew fuzzy as he began to play. Throughout the week he had unlocked more mini-games and play modes, which encompassed more than just makeup and hair. He busied himself with a game of ‘match-two’ that determined the quality of the dress a princess had picked out. He followed through with makeup, hair, shoes, accessories, and everything in between. He was completely engrossed in the game, like in a trance.
When he finally beat a particularly difficult stage, Chris’ glazed-over eyes glanced at the time, and he gasped. He had been playing a game made for little girls for almost five straight hours! He had to wake up soon! He hurriedly gulped a mouthful of pink water and snapped his eyes shut. He almost immediately fell asleep. He was exhausted but didn’t feel it until he’d removed himself from the game’s hypnosis.
Chris had vivid dreams that night where he was a princess just like in his game. He felt so pretty and young and happy! There was a woman’s voice somewhere very far away, as quiet as the wind, telling him that being a princess was a good thing and he was right where he was supposed to be. Thankfully, Chris’ own, deep, booming voice sounded much louder and warned him to get away. He listened to the stronger voice and pushed away the dresses and makeup surrounding him. He was no princess!
Chris flailed himself awake and toppled out of bed when his frenzied eyes saw a woman standing in his bedroom. His heart pounded, and his mind reeled with the memory of Miss Valentine terrifying him the previous week.
Instead of Miss Valentine’s cold, haughty alto, Sylvie’s warm, inviting chirp soothed him gently from afar, “You’re okay, Chris. It’s over now. You’re okay. I’m here now.”
Chris fought to catch his breath, noticing light was streaming through the cracks in his blinds. He croaked in confusion with his dry mouth, “Sylvie? What—what are you doing here?”
Sylvie smiled and offered her hand. “When you didn’t answer your door at 10:00, I let myself in and heard you having a nightmare. I was going to let you sleep, but you seemed so...lost.”
Chris took her silky hand and slowly rose to his feet. He sat on the edge of the bed to avoid the worst of his vertigo. Sylvie brought him a bottle of pink water, and he pounded the whole thing. His stomach growled angrily.
Chris winced and clutched his tight belly as he asked, “What time is it, Sylvie? Do we have time to get me a new cell phone?”
Sylvie sighed, “I’m afraid not, Chris. It’s already almost noon, and we have some things we have to do today. I’m sorry. I can try to bring you one next week if you want.”
Chris nodded somberly and thanked Sylvie for her help. He sat for a minute to catch his breath. He’d screwed it up again and forgotten to set his alarm! At least Sylvie was much nicer about it than Miss Valentine. He had to limit his time on that stupid game!
Chris turned his gaze to Sylvie, who was standing demurely next to his bed, smiling. Here he was in his bedroom with a beautiful woman wearing only his boxers. In any other scenario, he would have been trying to get busy. Hell, he would have tried to seduce her just two weeks prior! But now Chris just wanted to eat breakfast. He still found her attractive, but food was more important!
He stood and grabbed a pair of jeans from the nearby drawer and slipped them on, followed by some gym socks and black tennis shoes. The pants didn’t come close to fitting as they were far too loose. He had to constantly hold them up. Strangely, even his shoes were feeling a tiny bit roomy. He considered if the weight loss was starting to affect other areas of his body, not just his stomach and arms. As if to answer his question, Chris shifted his legs around and found his normally well-fitting jeans were baggy around his entire lower body, not just his waist. Even his legs had noticeably slimmed down!
To compensate for his smaller waist, Chris fished in the drawer and procured a belt, which he tightened to the last hole. He wasn’t surprised that he’d gotten thinner, but, again, the speed that he was doing it was just so insane! He may have had mixed feelings about Miss Valentine, but that woman could sure make a man shed some pounds!
Chris entered the bathroom and examined his shirtless body in the mirror.
His body hair had already been sparse the previous week, but now it was so light and thin that he looked almost hairless! Any body fat left on his bones had withered away, and his waist had contracted tightly. His arms were still noticeably muscled, but nothing even close to where he was just two weeks prior. He flexed and frowned at the result. His arms, shoulders, and chest looked weak and thin. He was probably close to the average man in terms of upper body strength.
He examined his face and scowled at what he saw. His skin looked like it was droopy and saggy. He had subtle wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes and mouth while his cheeks were gaunt and his jaw was pronounced. He looked several years older now! Chris ran his hands through his brown hair, which, on the opposite end of the spectrum, looked strong and vivacious. It tickled the middle of his ears, and he swept it to the side.
Chris took a minute to check his nails, brush his teeth, and comb his hair. He took one last look at himself before heading back to his bedroom. He saw Sylvie standing in the same spot but looking around the room with a sad expression. When she saw him emerge, the sadness dissipated, and she regained her wide, toothy grin.
Sylvie asked with concern, “Is everything okay, Chris? You look troubled.”
Chris searched his drawer for a shirt as he responded, “I’m okay. Not too excited about my appearance from all this, but I’ve been through worse. I should ask you the same question, Sylvie; I saw you frowning when I walked in.”
Sylvie’s grin faltered, and she nodded, “I’ll get to that later. First, I need to help you with YOUR problem. It’s your face, isn’t it? It’s super common with weight loss like this to have wrinkles, saggy skin, and the accelerated appearance of age. I have the solution!”
Chris pulled on a dark green t-shirt that was way too big as he joked, “Oh? What do you have in that bag there, a facelift?”
“Yes.” She replied.
“Wait, r-really?”
“No, but wouldn’t that be funny?”
Chris chuckled, “Yeah, hilarious.”
Sylvie grabbed her bag from the floor and motioned for him to follow. She spoke with excitement, “I’ll show you the miracle skin fixer in my bag...after you get breakfast and lunch in your belly!”
Chris’ stomach growled at the perfect time, and both Chris and Sylvie burst out laughing. With their moods lightened, the pair made their way to the kitchen, where Chris, despite his hunger, slowly and respectfully enjoyed his tiny breakfast.
He then slurped down a kiwi and salt-flavored shake. The kiwi flavor mixed with the copious amount of salt certainly gave the shake a...unique taste. Despite that, Chris found himself warming up to the shake. It wasn't the worst thing he'd ever drunk!
He then swallowed down a handful of pills with a mouthful of sweet water.
While eating, Sylvie and Chris discussed their thoughts on ‘Sex and the City.’ Sylvie was clearly very knowledgeable, but Chris was able to hold his own. They discussed the various characters, romances, plot hooks, and dramas from the series. He would have normally kept his enjoyment of a show made for women to himself, but Sylvie was different. He felt like he could trust her, and he allowed this one vulnerability to show because he genuinely enjoyed discussing it with her.
Chris felt comfortable with Sylvie and was confident in his ability to ask her something straight up, “How do you know what I’ve been watching? I’m betting you aren’t just randomly bringing these shows up out of some crazy coincidence.”
Sylvie rested her arms on the countertop and responded casually, “I know what you’re watching because I’m the one choosing it! Do you think Valentine knows anything about television shows like that? Come on now, she’s too busy... I don’t know, drowning puppies or something. It’s good for you to research and fun for me because I can finally talk about my favorite shows with somebody else!”
Chris smiled and nodded. Did Sylvie hate Miss Valentine’s guts? This was the first time she had spoken about her negatively. Chris asked another question, “I’m also wondering how you got a key to my house because I’m guessing a girl like you isn’t finding windows to climb through.”
Sylvie took Chris’ empty dishes and discarded them in the sink before answering with a scoff, “Yeah, no. I’m not jumping through anything. Valentine gave it to me when she was making copies of your keys.”
Chris tensed up and asked, “Keys as in keys plural?”
Sylvie procured a small brass key from her dress pocket. It looked like Chris’ house key. She spoke nonchalantly about it, “This house key here. I mean, it’s the only one she gave me. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had other ones. She’s a real control freak, you know?”
They sat in silence for a few beats before Sylvie tapped the counter. “Well, let’s get to it.”
Sylvie proceeded to remove several expensive-looking jars of skin cream from her bag.
The labels on the bottles were a welcome sight, but they had clearly already been opened. Sylvie went into a long lecture about skin care. She worked with Chris to plan out a proper skin routine. The words, “You don’t want to keep looking older and older, do you?” really resonated with Chris’ observations of himself, and he listened intently. She explained the process of removing the oil and dirt from his face with a cleanser. She then went into the importance and proper application of moisturizer. She provided a specialty product for wrinkles and sensitive areas like the eyes. She demoed a few oils and showed Chris how to properly utilize the really high-end stuff. He was instructed to apply products every morning and night, with some being for the day and others being for the night. He was also given a thicker cream and told to apply a full mask overnight on Sundays.
Sylvie explained the entire lineup of products twice before asking Chris to explain it back. She didn’t even have to correct him. He had absorbed the information like a sponge. He wouldn’t normally be excited or interested in beauty products like this, but he figured it wasn’t a bad idea to keep his skin healthy. He didn’t like what his face looked like in the mirror and knew it was only going to get worse if he didn’t address it.
He carried his new products up to his bathroom and placed them on the counter next to his nail polish. It was starting to look like a woman lived with him! He stared at the mixed-gender bathroom counter and took a second to reflect. Was he really willing to go down this path for an acting gig? He knew all the changes to his body were easily reversible, but was all this more trouble than it was worth? He stared at his sparsely wrinkled eyes in the mirror. Could he really do this? He imagined the interviews and press circuit for ‘A Woman’s Soul.’ He pictured himself on the couch of ‘The Tonight Show’ with his thin, emaciated body. Everybody would be amazed and in awe at his commitment to the acting profession! The best part, in Chris’ mind, would be Sal standing backstage and eating his words. Chris giggled to himself. He would be sure to thank Sal, by name, in his Academy Award acceptance speech.
Satisfied, Chris moved to return downstairs when he stopped in the bathroom threshold. Sylvie was standing in his bedroom. Her heeled foot kicked at a discarded, stinky workout shirt.
She held her nose. “Chris, this house reeks. I’m sorry, but this can’t continue. You have to help me clean this place up.”
Chris glanced around and felt embarrassed at the state of his bedroom. Was the rest of the house really that bad?
She continued, “Here, let’s start with your bedroom today. We’ll clean it together, then it’ll be your responsibility to maintain it from there. Every week we’ll clean another area, and you’ll have one more room to maintain. We can make it a Sunday activity for us. What do you say?”
Chris agreed. It wasn’t a bad idea to keep his house clean. He’d gotten so used to being inside that he worried he had gone blind to the stink and filth. They began picking up the room. Sylvie quickly tottered downstairs and returned carrying a pile of equipment. She had a vacuum, wipes, window cleaner, a duster, and clean bed sheets. She also returned wearing a cute, pink, flowery apron over her flowing dress.
She held another apron towards Chris; this one was plain and blue.
Chris declined, and Sylvie shrugged her shoulders, tossing the blue apron towards the door.
They spent well over two hours deep cleaning the room until it was sparkling clean. Every surface was immaculate. Chris admired Sylvie, who seemed to not only do a fantastic job but also enjoy the work as she did. She was so pretty that Chris caught himself staring at her in awe on multiple occasions. Thankfully, she never called him out on it. When the bed was freshly made and the laundry was piled into a hamper, Sylvie clapped her hands together joyfully.
“Great job, Chris!”
Chris beamed a smile and thanked Sylvie for her hard work. She made him feel so good! He assisted her in bringing the cleaning equipment down the stairs. She stored them in a relatively empty supply closet by the front door and insisted he keep them.
“Now,” she chirped, “it should only take you five minutes—maybe even less—to keep your bedroom looking sharp. I’m so glad we’re on the same team with this one, Chris. You know I just want you to be happy, healthy, and clean!”
At Sylvie’s words, Chris glanced around the house and suddenly noticed how filthy everything was. His cheeks blazed in embarrassment. The place was a pigsty! Still, it felt good to have one room nice and clean, and he was proud to have done it with somebody that cared about him. He made a mental note to keep his bedroom spotless. Disappointing Sylvie was NOT something he was willing to do.
The sun was getting real low, and Chris felt a pang of hunger. He met Sylvie in the kitchen and enjoyed his last Sunday meal.
He engaged Sylvie in a very pleasant conversation as he ate. They talked about anything and everything, including and especially their shared interests in television. She was so kind, cheerful, and friendly that Chris found himself swooning for her as time wore on. Before she left, Sylvie ran through Chris’ skincare routines one more time and even did a little remedial instruction on nail polish. She made him promise to follow through with their plan and watched as he swallowed all his supplements. When it was finally dark, she thanked Chris for the fun day and excused herself. Chris watched her dress sway as she was swallowed up by darkness.
He remained sitting on the stool in the dim lighting of the kitchen, contemplating his thoughts. He really liked Sylvie. He REALLY liked Sylvie. Chris wanted to make her like him, too. The romantic attraction he’d felt for Sylvie last week was still somewhat present, but he was starting to see her more as a friend first and a potential sexual conquest second. He was proud of himself; he hadn’t had an unwanted erection all day. His uncontrollable sexual attraction to Sylvie and even Miss Valentine seemed to be under control.
He couldn’t believe he was actually excited to watch women’s programming because it gave him another topic to talk about with Sylvie. Her smile, her dresses, her positive attitude, her feminine perfume—there was nothing to critique! Chris vowed right then and there to take Sylvie on a date when this was all over. Once he had built his muscles back, of course.
Chris entered his bathroom and dutifully started on his skincare routine. He used the cleanser to wash off all the dirt, dust, and oil, then applied the thicker of the two moisturizers. He then added the specialty cream with a drop of argan oil near the trouble spots on his eyes and mouth. Finally, he followed Sylvie’s instructions and covered his face in the thickest of the creams for an overnight mask. With his face complete, he scooped the most topical of the products onto his hands and rubbed it in. Sylvie instructed him that he needed to keep his hands nice and healthy with good hydration. And, if Sylvie wanted him to do it, he was going to do it. He carefully flipped his ear-length hair away from the mask and smiled at himself in the mirror. He looked like a different person!
Chris left the bathroom and took a deep, proud breath at the sight of his immaculate bedroom. He crawled into bed, being sure to avoid impacting his mask. It was almost a shame to get into bed and mar an otherwise perfect space, but Chris had to sleep somewhere! He picked up his pink cell phone and opened ‘The Princess Ball,’ vowing to play a few quick rounds. The pastel colors flashed across the screen and reflected off his mask and painted nails. Chris’ eyes glazed over as he matched some colors and watched a pretty princess gain some shiny earrings. Thankfully, in his daze, the fear of Miss Valentine’s wrath was more powerful than the app, and Chris put his phone down with the alarm set at a slightly earlier time to account for his new skin care routine.
Chris fell asleep shortly after.
He dreamed of Sylvie.
