CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE #2
Ice trickled through my body with each word.
I was conscious of every breath she inhaled, her daunting stare, and the painstaking disbelief written all over her face.
Keeping my brothers from being stuck in the Flemmington insurance cycle came with two reasons.
One, they’d get to live their lives. Two, I was a coward, and now she’d know it.
‘What if I’m not cut out for it?’ I finally admitted.
‘I think you’ve made it clear that you are.’ Nora flicked to a random page. ‘I can’t believe those drawings in your briefcase were all by you.’
‘Sure, friends and family think it’s all great, but art school? They’re professionals. I could be the worst illustrator there.’
‘You can’t stand the idea of failure.’ Her soft words hurt my ego more than she would ever know.
I wandered to the kitten picture on the wall and blinked back the pain. I’d treated my life as a game plan so my brothers could live the lives they wanted while I used the Zealy obligation to avoid disappointing myself. Disappointing my father was easier.
Sensing a need to change the topic, Nora let out an extra-ordinarily long sigh and managed to summon some cheer to her voice. ‘Geez, I hope the solution to switching back comes to us before this bloody event, eh?’
I bent down and picked up Lucky like he’d been hoping I’d do for the last week. I supposed it wasn’t his fault I looked like his owner. I wondered if this would be our new normal. ‘You don’t want to come to the black-tie event?’
‘More like I don’t want you to have to have me at another family event. It’s getting complicated.’
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Having Nora around had been an anchor during the shitstorm of the Flemmington get-togethers, but for her, it must have been torture.
‘I get it.’ I nodded and slid down the wall to the floor with Lucky in my lap.
Nora’s mouth parted. She scrambled across the floor like a dog trying to grip a slippery floor and kneeled in front of me. ‘I meant for your sake, not mine,’ she clarified. ‘I don’t want you to feel like you’re stuck with me.’
‘It wouldn’t matter how I felt. We’re already stuck together, aren’t we?’
And little did she know, I didn’t mind a single bit.
I typed in Nora’s NeverGiveUp100 password and clicked through her emails first thing on Tuesday morning. For a moment, I was back in my own body staring at an email from my father’s address. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. It was still there.
Did he know? Had he figured it out? Or was he so furious with ‘Nora’ for ruining his deal that he’d decided to rip her to shreds in an email. I clicked into it and braced for the blackmail sure to be waiting for me.
Dear Ms Claremont,
I am writing to congratulate you on such a thorough discussion during our meeting last week. I would like to organise a time to discuss your potential and some opportunities for your future.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me on 0486 628 148.
Kindest Regards,
Craig Flemmington
CEO of Zealy Insurance
What the fuck. My dad was trying to poach Nora? I closed the email as my gaze shifted from Izzy to Chris, heart racing. He wouldn’t replace me – Flemmingtons had been running Zealy Insurance for too long for him to throw it away. It only left one option.
I’d be her boss.
Did she deserve the chance? Absolutely. Did I want to be the one in control of her chance?
Absolutely not. Not after learning how much her career meant to her, something I’d never had to worry about.
Trust my father to find a way to make my life miserable even when I wasn’t myself.
Jumping bodies but maintaining problems? This is what Nora would call karma.
‘Nora?’
I jolted and my hands flew through the air releasing the papers I’d picked up.
They scattered and floated through the air like nervous pigeons crashing into each other.
As they settled on the floor in a jumbled mess, I lifted my gaze to find Freddie in front of me for the second time in the short hour I’d been at work.
‘I need Gerry’s Gyms report. They’re going to be pissed if they don’t get the forecast by the end of the week.’
I’d started that last week, and a strange sense of accomplish-ment settled deep in my chest at having an ongoing project at Nora’s work.
The work itself wasn’t exciting, but the opportunity to establish my own research and achievement filled me with an independent thrill of satisfaction compared to trudging through each day managing everyone else’s work.
I missed being responsible for my own private tasks instead of managing an entire team.
In fact, managing an entire team filled me with dread.
‘You’ll have it by the end of the day,’ I assured the little shit.
‘Not by the end of the day, by lunch,’ Freddie ordered.
Despite Nora being a head shorter than Freddie, I stood to make my point.
‘Is there a problem with end of day? You said they wanted it by the end of the week, and end of day means you’ll have it on Tuesday.
Did you need to do something with my forecast that would take an extra three days before passing it on to them? ’
His nostrils flared wide enough to display a yellow crust of snot inside. Instead of replying, he turned and stormed back to his office to ignore the view Nora had been dying to gaze at each day.
‘Nora?’ a nasally voice whispered in my left ear.
I jolted for the second time this morning. Then again when I turned to find the cat lady from down the hall so close to my face that I could smell the fur covering her shirt.
‘I’ve got tickets to an event on Wednesday for us. Are you free?’
I forced my face into a pout. ‘I’m so sorry, I have plans.’ I even scrunched my nose to cement the disappointment I didn’t feel.
‘Oh, Nora.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘We’ll get together eventually. I’m sure of it.’
‘Try me again next week?’ I suggested.
Her eyes widened like a toddler experiencing ice cream for the first time. ‘I will.’
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.’