I woke early the next morning and I looked at the beautiful woman asleep beside me. I realized I was starting to fall for her. I could not recall feeling this way about Amanda. Maybe it was the shared experience of the last week. Maybe it was just Rod's hormones surging through me.
I had worn Sarah out last night and wanted to let her sleep in, so quietly slipped out of bed. I had always enjoyed a morning jog while I was Zach and I knew Rod did as well. I wanted to try this new body out. As quietly as I could I collected shirt, shorts, socks and shoes and left the room. I went to the other bathroom, did my business and got dressed.
"Yap Yap Yap scratch scratch' Biddy our puppy had heard me and wanted to be let in. I went to shut him up. I opened the door and Biddy jumped in my arms wiggling in delight 'Shhh Biddy. Don't wake Sarah"
"Too late" I heard Sarah say behind me "Good morning Zach" flashing me her beautiful smile.
"Good morning Sarah. Sorry I woke you. I was about to go for a run"
"I'd like to come with you. Can you give me 15 minutes. Maybe give Biddy a walk around the block and I'll be ready when you return"
"Sure. Good idea. I'll see you soon" I got Biddy's lead and did exactly that.
I returned putting Biddy in the backyard and entered via the back door. Sarah was there in a lycra top and leggings "Ready to go? I have key. Catch me if you can”
By the time I had locked the doors and run to the street she was approaching the corner 100 meters away. I sprinted to try and catch her. Rod’s body was fit and I found myself gaining steadily. As I neared, I couldn’t help but admire the way her bottom jiggled as she ran. Sarah really was very attractive. We were a kilometer down the road when I finally caught up with her. I noticed she was breathing heavily after her sprint but then, so was I. Once I was alongside she slowed down to a more sustainable pace “Let’s follow the path along the creek” she suggested.
We followed the path through some shady bushland and after 5 minutes came to a children’s playground area where there were drinking fountains and some seats. We stopped and quenched our thirst. When we had both had our fill she said “Let’s sit in the morning sun for a minute” indicating a patch of grass on a gentle slope. She led me over and we sat down side-by-side. We had the park to ourselves.
“Tell me about yourself Zach”
“What would you like to know?”
“Your family for starters”
“Well… Konrad is my father’s name, he lives in Gladesville with his new wife. I have had very little to do with him since he and Mum divorced. That happened about 15 years ago when I was 10. They have their own family. I know I have 2 half-sisters who would be 11 and 9, but I have never met them. If I’m lucky I get a card at Christmas”
“I stayed with Mum after the split, her name was Jenny, I was her only child. We lived in Glenmore Street in our old family home. Mum was awarded it as part of the divorce settlement but always struggled with the mortgage repayments. She raised me as a single mother, working on the checkouts at Coles. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 16. It was hard to watch her deteriorate for 4 years. She died 5 years ago” I still teared up when thinking about Mum, now was no exception.
Sarah put her arm around me “I’m sorry Zach. I didn’t know”
“I should be over it by now”
5 minutes later I said to Sarah: ”We should get going, you have to work”
We got up and after a little stretching, jogged back to the house. On the way I thought that I would like to see the motor show myself. “How about I drop you off at the show this morning then I could come back and have lunch with you and look about the show until you can knock off?”
“Sounds like an idea”
When we got back to the house we both had showers. Sarah put on one of her “Penberthy’s motors” blouse and skirt combinations while I just dressed casually. I got her to the show grounds just as the exhibition hall was opening at 9. She gave me a kiss and said to come back at about 1. I watched as she entered the building then drove off.
On the way home I drove past the old house in Glenmore Street. It hadn’t changed much since I sold it after Mum’s death.
I spent the rest of the morning mowing the lawn then gave Biddy a bath. Once I saw it was 12.30, I cleaned myself up then drove back to the Motor show. I parked and entered to hall.
The Mazda booth was busy. I could see Mitch showing some customer’s over the MX-5 while Steven was with some other couple near the Mazda 6. There was a crowd of people in the bar. As I approached I was greeted by Helen “Hello, Rod isn’t it? We met at the Christmas party. I’m Helen in case you don’t remember” She was wearing a bright, flowery, dare I say Hawaiian style maternity dress. “Sarah said you would be coming. She has been run off her feet all morning. There’s a kiosk in the back corner where you can buy a nice lunch you must take her there”
“Hello Helen. You look very nice” She blushed “Where is Sarah?”
“I’ll lead you to her” I followed her to the bar. There was Sarah but she had changed into a grass skirt, a Bikini top, a flower in her hair and a garland around her neck. She was signing a poster that was on the bench in front of her. I watched as she wrote ‘Sarah’ above the picture of me posing (When I was Sarah’s doppelgänger) by the MX-5. A pimply boy thanked her, rolled up the poster and took off with a big smile on his face.
Sarah saw me with Marlene. And said to the crowd around her “Lunch time for me. These are the last I sign” as she signed another poster.
She signed 2 more posters and I quickly hurried her away before any more signature hunters approached her.
I took her to the kiosk that Helen had indicated and found her a seat in a corner where she was no longer on view. She asked me to buy her a chicken burger. When I returned with two burgers she said with a grin “I was a bit too eager to change back. I should have let you be Sarah today”
I replied quietly “I’m sorry about those posters, I was just following Karen’s lead. It’s not my fault that you are so attractive”
“It was flattering at first, but the novelty has worn a bit thin after 4 hours”
“I didn’t know you were to be in Hawaiian get up”
“I wasn’t meant to be but the hired bar girl called in sick, so it was either me or Helen”
“Have you been signing posters all day?”
“They come in groups. I think Mitch has been encouraging patrons to take a poster by saying that they will be personally signed today. Thankfully there are not many left….. Could you get me a cup of tea? I’m enjoying being able to sit down”
I told her about my day as she sipped her tea. She had to stay until 3 but said that after I had a look around the rest of the show I should come back to the Mazda booth and have a drink at their bar. The booth had a temporary bar licence so they were able to sell beers.
We were making our way back to the Mazda booth, when we saw Alan looking at one of the other displays. Sarah said “Hi Alan, I didn’t know you were here”
“Hello Sarah, I’ve only just arrived. How did you pull up after Friday?”
“I was a bit seedy in the morning" Sarah admitted, giving me a glance. “Alan do you remember Rod from the Christmas party?”
He turned to me and shook my hand “I remember you Rod, Congratulations by the way, You have found yourself a lovely girl”
“Thank-you Alan” I replied. Suddenly I had an urge to kiss him on the lips. It was very hard to resist. What was going on? Was my stint as Sarah turning me gay? Fortunately I did resist and was able to mutter an excuse about wanting to look at one of the booths back in the other direction. I walked away hurriedly, aware that I was blushing. 30 meters away I ducked into a booth and out of sight.
When I had finally got myself back under control, I peeked around the corner and could see Sarah and Alan strolling back towards the Mazda booth. Her grass skirt wiggled as she walked off and I found my eyes following her and thank goodness not Alan, until she was lost in the crowd.
I spent the next hour wandering around the show. Enjoying a F1 driving simulation at the Mercedes stand and some tasty slices at an insurance company booth. Eventually I found myself back near Mazda, it was now 2.30 so I thought I would see what beers they had.
I saw Sarah talking to some patrons near the Mazda 3, so left her alone and took a seat by the bar. Helen came across and asked “Hi Rod, can I get you a drink?”
“Yes thanks Helen. A beer would be nice” She went behind the bar and produced a stubby, removing the cap and putting it in front of me.
“Do you want a glass?”
“No thanks. The stubby is fine” I picked up the stubby and had a swig “That’s nice. What do I owe you?”
“On the house” said a voice behind me. It was Alan. “Your fiancé has made this show a great success. It’s the least I could do”
“Thank-you Alan” Boom it hit me again. An urge that was almost impossible to resist. I wanted to go and kiss him on the lips. What the hell is going on? Fortunately Mitch had come over to show something to Alan and I got myself back under control. I looked at Alan again. He was a nice guy but this body did not find him the least bit attractive. I remembered I had felt different about his appeal when I was in Sarah’s body. I remember as Sarah giving him a kiss on Friday night. I vaguely remembered Alan kissing me goodnight when he put myself and Marlene in the Taxi. He had just thanked us for a lovely evening.
Mr Illusio had given us a ‘parting gift’ the other night. Could this be linked to that? Maybe Mr Illusio had taken us for a couple and his parting gift was for us to kiss on some sort of cue. I hoped not. But I could think of no better explanation. What was the cue? I recalled our recent conversations. Alan had congratulated me on our engagement and I had thanked him…Urge. A moment ago he had shouted me the beer and I had thanked him….Urge. It began to fit. On Friday night Alan had thanked us for a lovely evening….Kiss. I couldn’t remember what had prompted me to kiss him earlier on Friday evening but I could recall that it was a spontaneous. Was saying ‘thank-you’ the trigger? Was Mr Illusio’s gift still with me in this body?
How to test this theory? I locked my feet under the bar and turned to look at Alan who was now at the back of the booth where Mitch was showing him something on a computer. Did I currently feel an urge to kiss him? …….. Definitely not. Here goes. I held up the drink and in my mind said ‘Thank-you’ looking at Alan - nothing happened. I tried once more this time saying “Thank-you” out loud. It hit me! I wanted to go and kiss him on the lips. Oh Mr Illusio. What have you done?
Did that mean I was in danger of Alan having an uncontrollable urge to kiss me on the lips? That I didn’t want to find out. I had to make sure I did nothing that he would want to thank me for.
Where was Sarah? We needed to get out of here. I didn’t want to run into Alan again. It was nearly 3 maybe we could go now. I looked and saw the family she had been showing the Mazda 3 to were still chatting with her. I went across to rescue her and see how much longer she needed to stay.
As I approached the father asked “Could you take a photo of us with Sarah?" handing me his mobile phone. Those posters had made her a celebrity. I reluctantly obliged, not impressed as he put his arm around Sarah’s waist. When they were gone she laughed it off “He was harmless”
“When can you knock off?”
“Things seem to be quietening down. I’ll ask Helen if I can go now” She skipped over to Helen, had a word with her then gave me a thumbs up and retrieved her bag from under the bar.
She came back to me, wrapped arms with me and started heading to the exit. “Don’t you need to change?”
“I can keep the costume, maybe someday I can use it for fancy dress. I just want to get out of here”
We walked to the car and I took my Hawaiian princess home.