Chapter Fourteen

Marina Gonzales carefully set down the tea tray on the small round table in front of her daughter and took her time straightening out the cushioning table cloth and unnecessarily set herself up to rearranging the delicate china cups and the accompanying serving plate of tiny square shaped, delicious looking biscuits.

"Tea..?" She inquired politely of the young lady before her, as though she were just another random visitor to be entertained and not infact, her very own daughter.

Sophie stared at her mother for a moment and seemed to be realizing for the first time, how weird and unfamiliar Marina Gonzales looked. The paleness of her skin and the unhealthy pallor of her face, caused Sophie to worry.

It seemed as though Marina had shed more than just a few light pounds in less than a week..? Or had her perceived deficiency endured for much longer than Sophie had taken care to notice..? Sophie wasn't sure.

Everything just felt different, and it wasn't only her mother. It was the usual