Page 83 of Exchange of Heart

The cat lady wandered back down the hall, so I turned to my computer. The Gerry’s Gyms document no longer hid amongst an array of other documents, apps, and photos on Nora’s desktop. I’d arranged everything into alphabetical order, each folder filled with relevant documents for quick retrieval. I clicked into it and picked up where I’d left off last week. To be honest, I could have this done by lunch, but I refused to give Freddie that satisfaction. Instead, I finished the forecast and searched for ballgowns online. Nora would look stunning. I’d make sure of it.

‘I’ve got to talk to you.’ I bit my lip.

‘This sounds serious.’ Nora laughed.

I sat on the wooden dining chair next to Nora, breathing in a hit of citrus. Nora had her own smell again. Sort of. It wasn’t the same citrus smell that weaved into my brain and shorted the wires. It was Nora with a hint of me. A unique speciality.

‘I got an email today. Well, not me. You. Nora. Nora got an email today. From my father.’ My nerves had me babbling with a perfect Nora impersonation.

Nora’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. ‘Should I be worried?’

‘He wants to discuss future opportunities with you.’

‘Future opportunities? You mean, like, he wants me to work for him?’

My head moved up and down, but my heart and my brain were shaking side to side. Working for my father would be wrong. He’d beat out every positive atom in her soul, and then she wouldn’t be the person I’d got to know.

‘But how can I do that when I look like this?’ Nora gestured her hands from head to toe.

‘Consider it extra motivation to get our bodies back.’

I sure as hell wasn’t taking the job in her body and returning to work for my father now that I’d escaped his demoralising clutch. That would be ironically stupid.

‘What will you do with your life, otherwise?’ she asked.

Oof. I wasn’t prepared to get into a conversation like this. ‘Probably sell feet pics.’

Nora slapped my arm. ‘I’m serious. Are you going to keep working my boring job?’

Keep working for a company that strung her along with minimum wage and false pretences? ‘I don’t know. I mean, I’d hate for you to lose your place if we switched back in a year or so.’ I shrugged.

Nora blew out a large breath. ‘A year is so far away, I really thought we’d have more ideas on switching back by now. Besides, do you really want to work a job so beneath you for that long?’

Fuck no.

I sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so hard on you in class. I didn’t realise how much impact my words had, and I’m only now realising what a dick move it was. But also, that job is beneath you. You’ve got so much potential.’

‘Wow, I should record that apology and make it my ringtone.’ Nora managed a smile with my lips so pure and sincere I thought water was trickling down my spine.

‘You know what? My treat, let’s get dressed up and go somewhere nice.’ I stood to change.

Nora bit her lip. ‘I have a better idea, let’s get dressed down and order something really nice in.’

I wandered to the couch and flopped onto the soft cushions with a grin. ‘Well, it turns out you’re more than a pretty face after all.’

‘Are you calling yourself pretty?’

‘Okay. You’re more than a pretty soul. How’s that?’

‘A pretty soul. I think that’s how everyone should be complimented. A body is just a body after all. It’s our soul and the way we treat each other that really matters.’

My stomach twisted. Noticing her Nora ways in my body had been exactly that. I was noticing her soul.

‘Well, Nora. You have a really nice soul, and I’d like to treat it to some Mexican tonight.’

Nora’s eyes widened. ‘But you hate Mexican.’

‘But I like you.’ I didn’t clarify that I’d come to like her in more ways than a friend.