Chelsea felt hounded, harassed, bothered. It wasn’t overly serious. She coped well. It was Tom from two doors down. He obviously had taken a fancy to Chelsea and had become a bit of a pain in the neck. Chelsea was too kind to tell him to go.
They were both quite young. No one was surprised that Tom had taken a shine to Chelsea. Chelsea lived alone, and Tom was left on his own all day. Everyone in the house went to work.
“He hangs around like a bad smell,” said Chelsea.
“Why don’t you give him the heave-ho?” asked one of Chelsea’s friends who was visiting.
“I’ve tried to but he takes no notice,” said Chelsea.
“Send him packing,” suggested another of Chelsea’s friends.
“I don’t have the heart,” said Chelsea.
“Why don’t you go one evening and visit the people home from work and ask them to try to restrict Tom a bit?” suggested yet another of Chelsea’s friends.
“He’s attracted to food,” said Chelsea. “Young males have insatiable appetites. For everything.”
“Don’t tell us you feed him,” exclaimed Chelsea’s astonished friends. “No wonder the dog comes to your place all the time.”