Page 76 of Exchange of Heart

‘Wait, what? Congratulations on my new pay rise?’ She looked up to me with my grey eyes, conjuring her own astonished sparkle in them.

She gave me the kind of smile that punched deep in my stomach, and I’d never felt more satisfied than right now. The confusing upturn of her lips from the way she’d injected her own personal Nora touch to my smile.

‘Good for you. You deserved it,’ I told her.

She looked back to the screen and clicked and tapped away. ‘You did this? You got me a pay rise? How much? Was it a—?’

Her gaze bounced between me and the screen, her lips moving but no words coming out. I wasn’t sure what she looked at, but it seemed like a good guess that it would be the new figure in her contract.

‘Holy shit, that’s an impressive pay rise,’ she shrieked with my deep voice.

I shrugged, because I couldn’t decide what to say when all I could focus on was how much joy it brought me to make her this happy. Her arms were moving all over the place, unable to decide what to do with the energy running through them.

‘Don’t shrug at me, this is a big deal. I can’t believe you did this.’ She bounced on the couch like an excited child.

‘Stop jumping before you break a spring in the couch with my weight. The opportunity presented itself, so I simply pushed for the best possible outcome. You’ve been worth that amount for a long time. They’re lucky I didn’t insist on back pay.’

‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘Well, consider it a mutual benefit. If I’m going to be stuck in your body, I don’t want to earn shit pay.’

Nora winced and I wished I could snatch the words back and rinse them down the sink.

‘I’m kidding. We’re going to switch bodies back, and you’re going to continue earning what you should have been earning all along. Maybe I will work on getting you that back pay after all.’

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish. Eventually, she shook her head and grinned. Since getting naked with my feelings and letting her into my family life, I decided to test the waters by sharing more of my problems.

‘Hey, Nora, did you know everyone at work likes you?’ I asked.

Nora lifted her shoulders and stared at me through the blue-framed glasses I rarely wore. ‘Well, not everybody. But yeah, I get along with almost everyone at work.’

‘But they like, really like you. You’re like the beating heart of that place, the morale everywhere needs for good work culture. Nobody at work feels that way about me.’ I frowned. ‘If I get my body back—’

Nora held her palm to my face. ‘When.’

‘Right. When I get my body back, I want to do better.’ I didn’t like my job, and no one else seemed to like me there. I was in a vicious cycle where none of us were coming out on top.

A smile peeled across her face like the opening of a zipper. She tightened her fists and gave a few delicate air punches in front of her chest. It was almost cute, and I didn’t like how much joy it brought me to see her proud of me. The smile she wore on my face was one I hadn’t seen since I was a child. The realisation gutted me. Had it really been that long since I’d been truly happy?

‘Yeah, yeah.’ I rolled my eyes at her.

‘Well, when I get my body back, I’m going to quit.’ She gave one decisive nod.

My mouth dropped open. ‘But I got you a kickass pay rise.’

‘That’s it, Corey. Everything you and my mum said earlier? I hate to say it, but you guys were right. This proves they haven’t cared about me all along. I kept thinking if I worked hard enough, they’d see how valuable I was. It probably shouldn’t have taken me this long to realise how invaluable I was. I mean, look how much they were underpaying me!’

I wanted to shove a coat hanger under her shirt to prop up her drooping shoulders. I wanted to be that coat hanger. She wilted like a flower that had been sitting in a vase too long. I rested my hand against her back. ‘You’re valuable. Maybe they don’t realise it, but you are.’

She twisted to face me, red-rimmed eyes holding back tears. ‘I’m sorry, I’m grateful for the pay rise. It’s just, well…’ She threw her hands in the air, and they landed with one on her leg and one on mine.

Hairs prickled my neck, and my insides squeezed like a snake slithering through and coiling around my chest. ‘Nora.’ My voice turned hoarse.

‘Seeing everything through your eyes – literally – has changed everything. But now I’m not even me, so I can’t change what I want to change.’

I didn’t know what she thought she needed to change, because if I’d learned anything from being her, it’s that she was already pretty darn perfect. Weird style and all. ‘What would you change if you could?’

Her fingers twitched, the reminder of their presence sending goosebumps across my skin. For once, I was grateful not to have a flesh announcement between my legs screaming I’m getting horny.