My phone buzzed at 6.00 am in the morning. It was Rod saying he was on his way around. This time without Amanda.
We were both up and dressed when he arrived 15 minutes later. We sat in the lounge with me and Sarah on the sofa. I had let Biddy in and he was jumping on Rod demanding attention.
“Take a seat Rod and listen to what I say” he did so “I had decided before you returned last night that I was going to breakup with Amanda. I don’t love her anymore and have not the least objection to you two getting married”
“That’s great….”
“Wait and listen….. I don’t love her because I have fallen for Sarah and believe Sarah has fallen for me. I reached over and held Sarah’s hand. I want Sarah to move in with me and see how our relationship develops” I paused to let what I had said sink in “I think we have to tell Amanda about the medallion and the body swap. We need to think of a way to do it so she is not upset”
“That would be difficult” said Rod “Unless….Unless we make the swap permanent” He looked at me “I could be you and you could be me. We have already done it for a weekend. Why not? You have no family. I only have my Mum, and you and her have been good friends for years. I could still come around whenever I wanted”
What he was saying was true. Hilda was as close to a mother as I had. I had actually moved in with them for 6 months after my own Mum died. She had become my Mum’s best friend during her Illness.
Rod continued “That way I wouldn’t have to tell Amanda, I don’t think I could risk telling her”
Sarah piped in “And we wouldn’t have to break off our engagement” She was looking at me “I think it’s a great idea!”
‘Whoa everybody…..This is a big step, I would have to give up being me. I need to think about this” I got up. I couldn’t sit still. “I’ll take Biddy for a walk. That will give me time to think”
Sarah put the kettle on to make a coffee. I put Biddy’s lead on and he pulled me out the front door.
I slowly walked around the block, contemplating the proposition. What were the pro’s and con’s?
The pro’s were easy: I could stay with Sarah immediately. There would be no need for Sarah to break off her engagement or hide our love from her family. I knew Rod as well as anyone and thought I could easily step into his life. There was no need to tell Amanda, there was a strong risk that she would be horribly upset if the truth was revealed and would likely break-up with Rod. There was no-one else in my life who would miss me. I could continue to play basketball with my mates. Rod would still continue being my best mate even if I had to call him Zach. We could be best man at each others weddings
What were the Con’s: I would no longer be Zach. I had been Zach Inflick for 25 years. Mum would be upset - well mum was in her grave and probably didn’t care. I would never see my father or half sisters - but I hadn’t seen my father in 12 years and had never met the half sisters. I would have to change jobs - there was really no-one at work who I would miss and to be honest the job was not very challenging. I would have to get used to a new face every morning in the mirror - I had been wearing this face for a few days already, that was no big deal. We would have to learn to write each other’s signatures - That wasn’t such a big deal, indeed my hand writing at work yesterday had resembled Rod’s more than my own.
We had circumnavigated the block and I was back outside Rod’s house. That was a thought. It was Rod’s house. It was worth more than anything I owned. Would Rod give up his house?
Sarah and Rod opened the front door as I approached “Well?” Rod said looking at me expectantly.
“Could you handle been a courier driver?”
“Yes”
“Could you give up your ‘Mum’"
“No, but I wouldn’t have to”
“Could you give up your house”
“In a flash”
“I will buy it off you” They grinned at me “It might take a while”
“Does that mean you will do it?”
“Yes, but we won’t throw away the medallion just yet. Let’s stay as we are until the end of the week. One of us might think of a reason it is not a good idea”
“Does that mean I am now Zach Inflick?”
“Yes, You are now Zach and you are engaged to Amanda…… And I am now Rodney Burton and am engaged to Sarah McKenzie” I scooped Sarah into my arms and gave her a kiss
............
The day at work passed without incident. I spent half the day at a course learning about some new software the council was implementing. My new colleagues at work seemed to be a bunch of introverted nerds, they largely left me alone and no-one asked any tricky questions.
Tuesday night was basketball night. I was looking forward to the game as I had missed last week when stuck in Sarah’s body. Rod was a good athlete and a good basketballer so I was looking forward to see how my new body would perform. I was dressed in my uniform, ready to go when Sarah came home. I asked “Would you like to come and watch the game?”
“Not tonight” she said “I want to move all my gear back into the master bedroom”
I picked up Zach (Hard to not still think of him as Rod) and in the car on the way to the game asked “Have you had any second thoughts?”
“Only worried you might miss your old penis” I backhanded him, I knew from personal experience that we were of similar size. I don’t think I had lost anything in the exchange.
“We will need to get together to discuss money and finances” he said “Amanda is going to move in with me. We need to decide which flat to keep or whether we find somewhere new”
“I’ll come in after the game and show you where all my financial stuff is”
We won the game and my other mates said I had played really well. However it didn’t feel that way to me. I missed some shots I would normally get, it felt like ‘Rods’ co-ordination was not quite as good as ‘Zach’s’.
We stopped at Zach’s flat and I showed him the state of his new finances. I imagine it was a bit less than what he was used to. I had close to $100,000 in a share portfolio, the equity in Mum’s house which I had to sell after her death. Other than that ‘Zach’ had less than $10,000 in in three different bank accounts and the car valued at about $12,000.
The new Zach told me that ‘Rod’ had a $200,000 mortgage on the house I was living in but it’s value was about $450,000. He also had about $50000 in other investments, plus his car. We calculated that I would be about $190,000 in front. I said I would discuss finances with Sarah and we would come up with some kind of arrangement.
When I got back home Sarah had apparently already gone to bed. All the lights were off. I quietly snuck past the bed where I could see her shape and into the ensuite for a shower. I was feeling randy again and decided to get into bed naked and see where that led. I quietly re-entered the bedroom and slipped under the sheets. Suddenly she reached across and turned on the bedside lamp.
I was shocked to see it was not Sarah in my bed but Amanda. She was wearing a sexy black chemise.
I sprung back out of bed and scrambled to put my boxer shorts on.
“I’m sorry Amanda, I didn’t know you were here. I thought you were Sarah”
She looked at me and giggled ”It’s alright big boy. It’s me Sarah” I must have looked surprised “I used the medallion to give you a surprise. I’ll be able to turn back into Sarah in the morning”
“Is this wise? You know all the trouble the medallion caused last week”
“It will be fine. I found the leopard print dress you wore as Amanda last week. I wanted to see how you reacted to finding Amanda in your bed. You passed the test”
“Well now that I know that it is Sarah in there, I feel a lot more attracted” I slipped back into the bed.
…………
In the morning I watched with excitement as Sarah changed back into her true form. Our subsequent exertions left me needing yet another shower and without time to take Biddy for a walk. I promised him a walk in the evening as I hurried off to work.
Sarah was home before me so we both took Biddy for a longer walk. Sarah told me she had been speaking to her mum. It had been Jenna's day in court. The magistrate had ordered that she undergo psychological evaluation and she was fined $1000 and put on a good behavior bond, but no conviction was recorded. She also mentioned that Karen had invited her to a party on Saturday night.
When we were back home I discussed the finances with Sarah. She told me she had a nest egg of $110000 left to her by her recently departed Grandma. She would be happy to use that to pay back some of what we owed Zach. I insisted that if she did that, we would transfer the house into joint ownership. I immediately rang the new Zach he agreed to the arrangement. He told me the name of his lawyer. I said I would contact the bank which held the mortgage in the morning.
Later as we ate some home cooked fish and chips. Sarah asked “Would you do something for me tonight?”
“Sure. What did you have in mind?”
She held up some socks. I recognized them as a pair of my old socks when I was Zach. “I want to see how I feel about you when you are Zach”
She had me fetch the medallion and touch it to the socks. I watched as at long last I returned to my true form. When I was finished I asked Sarah “How do you feel?”
She replied “I think I would love you no matter what you looked like” She took my hand and led me to the bedroom. I taught her all the tricks that ‘Zach’ could perform.
In the morning I turned back into Rod. I couldn’t say which form I preferred, as long as I was with Sarah it didn’t matter.
I visited the bank later in the morning, the council were very obliging with flexi time. The bank was happy to agree to the change to joint ownership. I immediately contacted the lawyer and he said the change would be easy, mind you I thought his costs were extravagant. He would draft up papers for myself and Sarah to sign. He said they would be ready tomorrow morning.
That evening we stayed home and watched a movie. We left the medallion in the cupboard. We still ended up making love.