24. The Mistake #2
“No, I’m sorry I should have been clearer. You didn’t call me, Pamela did, from wherever your body is physically located.” Their eyes locked, and she tried to hide the panic. After a minute of silence, Jenkins held her gaze, and her lip quivered.
“Drats! You know, don’t you?” The fancy accent dropped, and she rose to start pacing, talking without taking a breath.
“I have no clue how this happened. I was lying in bed last night thinking about how nice it would be to switch with someone, anyone, to get away from my miserable life,” she paused to take a breath, her eyes wild with bewilderment.
“Then I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I found myself in this mansion surrounded by staff and workers asking me all kinds of questions and calling me Ms. Shaw. Then, when I looked in the mirror, I realized who I was. So I freaked out and spent the whole morning trying to pretend to be her while I figured out what’s going on. ”
Jenkins laughed.
“You think this is funny?” She stopped pacing to glare at him.
“Kind of. This is a best-case scenario for me honestly.” The warmth of the laughter spread through him as he processed what Darla did.
“How so?” Pamela sat back down.
“Well the person who is now in your body has a ‘gift’ that allows her to switch places with people. She was lying in bed last night as well, thinking about switching with someone. Not sure why the gift randomly chose you, but here we are.”
He watched as Pamela bit her lip and avoided his eye contact.
“So … I just happened to be thinking about switching places with someone when she was wishing to switch places?”
Jenkins nodded, his amused smile still plastered on his face.
“What’s your name? I mean what was your name before the switch?”
“Callie, Callie Stone. I’m thirty years old and I live at 46 Westbrooke Road in Traverse City with my… husband. I work at a gas station down the street, and I walk there every day for my shift.”
“This isn’t a police interrogation. Take a breath.” Jenkins raised and lowered his hands, mimicking slow deep breaths. Pamela followed his lead and took a few deep breaths. They sat in silence for a few moments.
Jenkins watched her as she looked around the library. Her skin looked so much clearer than when he last saw her. There was a glow to her that just radiated a sense of deep joy.
“Why would anyone want to switch out of this life?” Pamela waved her arms in the air.
Jenkins considered her question. I need to answer these questions carefully so that she doesn’t think I’m a part of this.
“I don’t have an answer for you. I just know that she switched with a friend of mine, and I tried to stop her. When I couldn’t, I walked away. I told her I wanted nothing to do with any of this.”
“Why are you here now then?” Pamela crossed her arms and bore her eyes into his.
Jenkins shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
The phone in his pocket gave a quick buzz. He pulled it out to see a message from the same unknown number.
WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT? WHAT IS GOING ON?
What is going on? Jenkins pondered the same question, he rubbed his subtle chin scruff.
Pamela stared helplessly at him. Her big, round eyes were innocent and sincere, something he’d never seen before. His heart instantly went out to her, and he wanted to help her.
Poor girl, he thought.
She has no idea of the mess she’s in or the terrible person she’s battling with.
Greta entered pushing a tray with an assortment of breakfast items and a silver coffee pot.
“As requested, here is a standard breakfast spread. Please let me know if there is anything I can get for you.” Greta regarded him carefully from a safe distance. Uncertainty plastered her eyebrows in a tight scrunch.
“Actually, could you please bring a notebook and some pens?” Jenkins took a step back away from Pamela.
“Thanks Greta,” Pamela offered, using her normal voice.
Greta bowed her head and disappeared. Jenkins helped himself to a cup of black coffee. Greta returned within a minute and had all the supplies he requested.
“Thank you, Greta.” He watched her leave and wondered if she knew about the body switching secret.
It wouldn’t make sense for her to tell too many people. We may need to be extra careful around her for now.
“I am ravenous!” She grabbed a plate and added a croissant and some fresh fruit. “Wait, do I eat carbs?”
Jenkins laughed. “I say, regardless, you should go for it!”
Pamela smiled and added a muffin with a crumble top to her plate. The fresh fruit variety was a rainbow of colors on the tray, and she nimbly picked through putting a small pile next to her blueberry muffin.
“So what’s the plan? How do I get back to my body?” She talked around a grape and popped another in.
“You want to go back? I thought you were wanting to get away from your life?”
“Well yeah, but I didn’t want to take something that isn’t mine.” Jenkins froze. She was literally handed a way out of her previous life, into a life of luxury, and she didn’t want to take it. His heart beat slightly faster as he considered her selflessness.
“Technically you didn’t take anything. You don’t have the gift that caused this.” He looked down at his coffee, a sad attempt to hide his flushed cheeks.
“It is the right thing to do. The real Pamela needs to come back. I don’t have any idea what I’m doing here.” She stuffed the rest of the muffin in her mouth and poured herself a cup of coffee. The steam wafted off the rim of the mug and she sipped it black.
Jenkins sipped his coffee. He wanted to say the right thing to assure her this was the right decision.
“Pamela has this gift. She used it to hurt people, a friend I cared about. She wants me to help her, but I don’t want to.”
“But—”
Jenkins held up his finger, fighting the urge to put it against her perfect pout.
“No buts. She is going to try and get back to this life, because she has money and power here.”
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right to stay here. I don’t know what to do or how to act.” She leaned back in her chair, both hands wrapped around her mug and she steepled her thumbs against her lips.
“I want to help you.” His gaze lingered on her face. She swallowed hard and looked away, blushing. “Callie, this is an opportunity for you to have the life you want. You didn’t take it; it was given to you.”
Her face relaxed as her eyes drifted away, she was here physically but mentally she went somewhere else. She shook her head and brought her attention back to him.
“I just don’t feel right about this. I can’t do this alone.” Her green eyes held a hint of sadness, but he could see that there was a part of her that wanted this.
Whatever life she left behind is Darla’s problem now.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said softly. “Let me make some phone calls, and we’ll figure this out…together.”
“Oh, thank you!” She cried out and threw her arms around him in response.
He didn’t know how he was going to help her, but Jenkins knew he had to try. When she pulled back, soft blond tendrils fell in her face, and she looked up at him with a tender smile. “Really, thank you.”
“Um … ” He cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go get dressed?
” He desperately needed her to change into something else.
The robe hugged her curves, and he wanted to keep his thoughts clear.
He was surprised that Pamela was affecting him in a way that she never had before.
Then again, her body had never been filled with this person before.
She was different from both previous souls, older and more mature than the original girl, and infinitely kinder than the shape-shifting body snatcher he’d come to loathe.
“Okay, I am going to try to limit who I talk to for now. I feel like I am screwing up, because I have no idea how to act.” Pamela stood to leave. “There are also way too many clothing items to choose from, so please forgive whatever outfit I put together.” Jenkins smiled at her innocence.
“Just keep doing what you are doing now. If anyone asks why you are being weird, just tell them you are trying out different characters for an upcoming movie.”
“Right, good plan. I am an actress after all.” She flourished her arm in the air with a dramatic flair as she exited the library.
Pamela left the door open, and he watched as she turned right into the hallway, and then a few seconds later, she crossed back over with a quick, “The bedroom is this way,” accompanied by a sweet, sheepish smile.
Jenkins smiled alone in the library. He opened his phone and called the unknown number.
“Jenkins, what is happening? Do you know how I got here?”
“I have an idea.”
“And?!”
Jenkins thought for a moment whether he should really tell her the truth or keep it a secret.
“You’re Callie Stone now. You’re thirty years old and you live at 46 Westbrooke Road in Traverse City, Michigan with your husband. You are much younger than in your previous body, so you should take that as a win. Goodbye, Callie.”
“Jenkins!”
He closed his phone and quickly dialed his secretary. “Hi Bridgett, can you please reschedule all my meetings for the rest of the day? Something has come up that is urgent and needs to be handled today.”
“Of course, Mr. Jenkins. Would you like me to hold all your calls as well?”
“Yes, I will be turning my phone off for the rest of the day.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, and one more thing. Can you please get me a new phone and a new number? I would like to start having a personal phone and a business phone. Don’t give out my personal number to anyone.”
“Will do, Mr. Jenkins.”
He hung up and pushed the button to turn his phone completely off. I’m guessing she got my phone number from the office. Up until now, I had no reason not to give it out to potential clients. But she doesn’t know where I live, so I am good there in case she comes looking for me.
Pamela returned just as he hung up, dressed simply in a white collared shirt and jeans with a pink floral pattern. Her golden blond hair lay down her back, wet and wavy.
Her freshly clean face caused Jenkins to draw a quick breath. She commanded the room despite her efforts to appear small and insignificant.
“Who was that?”
“Just my assistant. I asked her to clear my schedule. There’s a lot to cover if we are going to make this work,” Jenkins responded as he settled into a seat with a notepad and pen. He did everything he could not to stare at her.
“Won’t Pamela be angry?”
“If she is angry, she needs to be angry at herself.” Jenkins shrugged. “If you really want to go back, then I will help you get back. But I really hope you’ll consider staying and giving this life a shot. You laid in bed wishing to switch for a reason. This is your chance at a new life.”
His blue eyes bore into hers, and he wished more than anything to know what she was thinking. Her face was unreadable as she hid the lower part behind the coffee mug.
“Okay, let’s do it. If I wished for a new life, and she wished for a new life, then maybe we should give her what she wants.” He smiled at her, and she returned her own brilliant smile.
Jenkins grabbed the notebook and pen, and the two huddled together.
“First things first, I think we should call you Pam since calling you Callie would raise suspicions. Second, I am going to teach you everything I knew about Pamela so that you won’t be caught without important information,” Jenkins paused to make sure Pam was following along.
Pam nodded. “Are you sure we should do this? This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done.”
Her eyes shone bright and when he stared into them he felt a wave of peace.
“I think this is the only right decision, we can do this,” he lowered his voice. “Together.”
In this short time with Pam, he felt like this was the beginning of the end for Darla. He knew there was a high chance she would show up to try and take back her life, and when she did, they would be ready.