CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR #2
I yanked my hand away and Corey cleared his throat. We glanced around the room like teenagers who’d been caught kissing behind the shed. I should know, it’s exactly what happened when I was fourteen.
‘Nora?’ I whispered.
‘Oh, right. Me.’ Corey started picking at his nails again. ‘I came with Corey. His mum’s on the committee.’
‘Oh, and who is that?’ she asked.
‘Vivienne Flemmington.’ Thankfully I’d read up on the fundraiser last night, learning his mum not only donated a large sum of money, but happened to be an integral part of the committee.
Mum widened her eyes. ‘I had no idea you were her son. Vivienne is wonderful, always making sure the shelter has everything it needs. Honestly, I think it would fall apart without her.’
I smiled at her response, similar to Corey’s last night.
He’d had no idea she was on the committee, assuming she cuddled animals and threw money at them when they needed it.
Rowan and Oliver eyed Corey, whispering to each other like students at the back of the classroom.
I narrowed my eyes at their scheming lips.
A knot formed in my chest. Now we needed to juggle both our families without raising suspicions.
I stacked the mental blocks in a messy tower to form a plan.
‘Nora?’ The nasally voice behind me managed to penetrate my ears with a pitch that could only be described as melted wax.
Corey’s face froze as though he’d shat his pants, then he sighed. ‘Not the cat lady.’
I nudged him until his face no longer resembled a scrunched ball of paper. ‘Her name’s Diane,’ I hissed.
Shit. Another person to juggle. Another block to balance.
‘Diane.’ Corey held his hand to her for a hi-five.
Diane stared at it confused, then held her hand out to me. ‘I’m Diane, I started work on the same day as Nora.’
I smiled at the memory. I’d been in the staffroom searching for coffee when Diane had stumbled into the room explaining it was her first time wearing high heels. She’d kicked the black shoes off and flopped onto the emerald sofa, groaning in satisfaction.
‘Corey, nice to meet you.’ I shook her slim hand.
‘Is this the reason you’ve been avoiding me lately?’ She spoke to Corey, but her gaze slid uncomfortably slow over my body, admiring my broad shoulders.
‘I, ah, what? I’m not dodging you.’ Corey shook his head in a way that meant he’d definitely been avoiding her.
Worry twisted inside of me, and I hoped he hadn’t been unkind. Diane wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but her kindness and honesty outweighed everything. I may get most of my advice from Hayley, but Diane’s comforting smile was invaluable.
‘We’ve been planning to hit the town and meet some people, but it looks like she already did,’ she explained to me.
‘Oh, we’re just—’
‘Seeing each other,’ Corey blurted.
My eyes widened at the exact moment my mother and brothers did. Like meerkats, our heads lifted as we looked back and forth. Corey grabbed my hand as though it was a bag of chips and held our tangled fingers up like a trophy.
‘Yep. Me and him. We’re a thing.’ Corey gave a quick nod, one of his black curls falling from its pin.
‘Well, that’s wonderful.’ Mum smiled as though I’d been announced Miss Universe.
This was not how I’d planned on telling my family I was in a fake relationship with my own body. My mental tower blocks started to wobble, and my confusion that my mum was happy to see me in a relationship only swayed them further.
‘How did you meet? Tell us all about this secret little relationship.’ Diane watched us in delight.
This secret relationship was an absolute shitshow of emotions. Going from hating him to wanting him, but him looking like me and me looking like him was a prickly ball that couldn’t be touched. It was off limits. We were off limits.
‘Corey,’ Ben barked from a nearby table.
‘Oh, shit,’ I muttered.
We were like The Brady Bunch gone wild. Our families and their problems colliding, us powerless to stop anything and everything from happening. Even Corey looked like he wanted to cower beneath the covers during the cyclone headed our way.
His whiskey sloshed over the side of his glass as he stopped next to us. His eyes narrowed until they were nothing more than an entrance to a dark tunnel. Unsure of whether he’d forgotten he looked like me, Corey took Ben’s glass and handed it to a nearby waiter.
‘Rumour has it you’re his girlfriend,’ Ben spat the word girlfriend, ‘but that doesn’t mean you can take my drink out of my hands.’
‘Well, I can either take the drink out of your hands, or security over there can take your body out of the hall.’ Corey pointed his beige fingernail to the corner of the room where stocky men in black suits spoke into walkie-talkies.
I marvelled at the confidence he exuded from my body, though I don’t know that he remembered he wasn’t himself. Ben snarled and turned away, his brain apparently unable to conjure another sentence.
‘You owe her an apology.’ Rowan shot daggers at Ben’s blonde hair.
‘I don’t owe her a damn thing.’ Ben turned back, broad shoulders looming over Rowan.
‘Okay, boys, I think that’s enough.’ Mum stepped between them, narrowing her eyes at Ben until he muttered incoherently and walked away.
‘Sorry about him,’ I grumbled to my mother.
Corey grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.
Pretending to be part of their pretentious family sent jolts of pain dashing between my chest and stomach.
My mother may be strong willed, but at least she’s passionate for the right reasons.
I missed her advice, and I’d never been so grateful for my brothers.
The two of them may tease me relentlessly, but I’d never known how hateful brothers could be until I’d met Ben.
Not to mention, this wasn’t the life I pictured when I pictured success.
Sure, I’d get his thriving career, but what happened once I stepped outside the building for evenings and weekends?
How would I ever be able to laugh and dance with Hayley on weekends again?
Listen to her latest theory on love? This wasn’t a life at all. For me or Corey.
The speakers squeaked and an amplified voice asked everyone to find a seat.
Candelabras glowed in the middle of each table creating a warm feeling of comfort at each one.
They were filling fast as everyone obediently did as they were told, so I tugged Corey to the left mouthing ‘follow me’ to everyone else.
At the table we’d claimed, Oliver and Diane sat opposite me, deep in conversation with her nose occasionally crinkling as she smiled at something he said.
Rowan and Mum were next to them, enjoying a heated conversation about the health benefits of red meat that I refused to be pulled into.
The table across from us was filled with Corey’s family, and I wondered how the hell this evening turned into a family reunion for both of us.
‘How are you doing?’ Corey nudged me with his shoulder.
‘Good, I think. I can’t stop thinking about Ben. Is he okay?’
Some of Corey’s hair had fallen from the pins, and my fingers scraped his bare shoulder as I brushed it back. Goosebumps scattered down his arm and his pupils grew. My chest tightened at the power of my touch.
‘I don’t know what I can do to help him.’ Corey frowned.
‘If we don’t manage to switch back, I promise I’ll do what I can to make a difference and try,’ I whispered.
‘He was a different person before the divorce. Honestly.’
‘I didn’t know he was married. Tell me about him.’
Corey remained silent for a moment, his gaze darting around the room until it landed on Ben at the next table.
‘He was happy,’ he said. ‘Then a year and a half ago, one evening at dinner, he drank too much. I didn’t think much of it, but the next week, the same thing happened again.
I stopped by his place a few days later, and as his feet thudded to the door, something smashed.
He opened the door and out wafted a stench strong enough to knock out an elephant. ’
‘What happened?’
‘We have no idea.’ Corey snapped his fingers.
‘That’s how fast he changed. No warning, no nothing.
Refused to tell us a thing. He met a girl in Hawaii, married her within the month, and said he’d bring her to the family dinner so she could meet us.
Instead, he arrived alone and told us they were over.
I’d never seen him cry before that night.
Not even as a child. He used to shut himself in his room before he let the tears fall. ’
A high-pitched screech interrupted us from the microphone as Corey’s mum adjusted the stand. Unable to get it to hold at the right height, she yanked the microphone out and walked to the side of the stand.
‘Welcome, everyone,’ she began.
‘How much money do you have?’ I whispered to Corey.
‘Like, here tonight?’
‘No, in general.’
‘Don’t you dare bid on anything.’ His eyes flashed.
‘It’s for a good cause.’ I batted my eyelashes.
‘Don’t,’ he warned again.
I took a sip of champagne while he started eyeball chicken, waiting for me to confirm his money was safe. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t. How could I just sit here knowing there were others in need and I could help?
‘Fine, buy what you want. Save the dogs.’ He surrendered with a playful grin.
Everyone clapped as his Mum finished speaking and the first item appeared on the screen behind her.
It was a ruby pendant that would have looked perfect on a long gold chain paired with my favourite lipstick, and it sold for a ridiculous five thousand dollars to a tall, silver haired man who motioned to his purple haired wife while everyone cheered.