Manhattan Miracle

by Dawning, Dee

  Chapter Thirteen

  Brad and I got to the office an hour late, and when we did I found a business card on my desk. I picked it up, looked around to see if anyone was overly interested and read it:

  Madame Soriano

  Psychic & Fortune Teller Extraordinaire

  222 W Canal Street, Suite 100,

  New York, N. Y.

  How curious. There were no phone numbers or email addresses. How can a business do business without a phone or a computer? I threw the card in the waste basket and strode to the ladies room.

  When I returned, what looked to be the same card rested on the seat of my chair. I picked up the card. Someone must have fished the card out of my waste basket and put it in on my chair. But why? Who? Once again I glanced around. No one looked suspicious. Then I looked into Brad's office and he stared directly at me. Could it be Brad? Naw!

  But then I saw he held a card similar to mine. He also looked irritated. He waved for me to come into his office. When I got there he asked, "Who is Madame Soriano, and why did you put all these cards around my office?"

  I was confused. "I didn't." I held my card up. "Look, I got one, too!"

  "Just one?"

  "Well, I got another and I threw it in the trash."

  He set his waste basket on his desk, reached in and pulled out what had to be a dozen cards. "There's at least twenty in here. They're all over my office." He grasped my hand and led me back to my cubicle. "Let's go see."

  When we got to my desk, I saw at least a dozen more cards spread around my desk and cubicle. "What the…"

  Brad's nostrils flared "Something very strange is happening here!"

  "Stranger than switching bodies!"

  Brad cupped his chin and stared off into nothing. "You think there could be a connection?"

  I gulped. "Maybe, one strange occurrence begets another?"

  He frowned. "Begets? Now we're using Bible terms. What the eff is going on?"

  I cocked my head and chuckled. "I guess we have to go see Madame Soriano to find out."

  "You're right. Let's go." He grabbed my arm.

  I pulled my arm away. "Just like that. Don't you have to tell anyone we're leaving and why?"

  "No, I'm my own boss now and you work for me."

  "Hi Brad, Ms Allen."

  We turned. It was Wally. "You haven't seen Lew have you? He got sick from something he ate at lunch yesterday and went home and now he's not here yet."

  Brad nodded. "No, I didn't see him, but I did talk to him on the phone briefly this morning. He didn't say anything about being sick, but come to think of it he didn't sound like himself."

  "Okay, thanks. How're things going?"

  "Really great. I closed a big deal with a mutual fund manager yesterday."

  Wally grinned. "Wonderful."

  Brad grasped my hand again. "If you'll excuse us there's someplace we have to go."

  Wally's eyes seemed to glaze over. "Oh, to Madame Soriano's?"

  I looked at Brad, who looked just as surprised as I was.

  Brad shuffled his feet. "What do you know about her?"

  Wally's eyes narrowed. "Who?

  "Madame Soriano. You just said her name."

  "I don't know what you're talking about."

  Brad whispered to me, "Let's get out of this asylum," and turned to Wally, "We'll talk later."

  "Okay."

  When the elevator door opened, I was surprised to see Steven Boyd, the Director of Human Resources, standing there. "Good afternoon Brad." He spoke to Brad, but his eyes covered every inch of me.

  "Hello Steve. Have you met Ginger Allen, my secretary?"

  Boyd directed a smarmy smile my way and held out his hand. "Well, hello, again." Still scoping my figure, he spoke to Brad, "Of course I met the lovely Ms. Allen. I hired her."

  "Of course, I forgot."

  "How are you, Ginger? I do hope Mr. Fairchild is treating you well."

  I shook his hand and forced a smile. "Well, he hasn't given me a raise yet, but other than that he's a great person to work for."

  He snickered. "Actually, I give the raises. Usually, we wait to give raises until after the annual performance evaluation, but…" He winked. I'll see what I can do." Then out of the blue, Steve's eyes, like Wally's, glazed over. In a monotone voice, he continued. "So where are you going? To see Madame Soriano? You know, she needs to talk to you."

  Both of us were taken aback. "You know Madame Soriano?"

  The glaze faded and his brow dipped low. "Who?"

  I slid my lips to the side of my face and pursed them. "Nothing, forget I asked."

  The elevator doors opened and we all stepped into the lobby. Steve said, "Brad, call me so we can go over Ms. Allen's performance."

  Brad patted him on the back as we exited the elevator. "I'll do that."

  Steve scampered across the lobby to the Human Resources office, then turned and waved, before entering.

  Brad grabbed my attention and my arm. "We seem to be getting communications from this Madame Soriano, whoever she is, through unwitting messengers."

  "I know. This is so weird."

  As we walked by the security desk Claude the elderly security guard said, "Going to see Madame Soriano? She knows all."

  Brad nodded and waved. As we exited the building, he flagged down a cab. When it pulled over to the curb we scooted in and Brad said, "222 West Canal Street."

  I almost jumped out of the taxi, when the cabbie said as if he went there all the time, "Madame Soriano's, huh?"

  I should have known better, but I asked, "You know her?"

  He stared at me in the rear view mirror. "Who?"

  Brad waved his hand in a forward motion. "Just drive on. We're in kind of a hurry."

  Ten minutes later we pulled up to a four story office building. Brad paid the driver, while I approached the building. Suite 100 turned out to be a door sandwiched between a cocktail lounge on one side and an import store on the other. A sign on the door read MADAME SORIANO EXTRAORDINARE. I shook my head.

  Brad joined me as I reached for the door handle. "It looks like the extraordinary Madame Soriano operates out of a closet."

  Brad shrugged, "It could be stairs. Open it and let's find out."

  I pushed the door open and Brad was right. There was a flight of stairs. An astonishing flight of curving stairs that seemed to occupy an area the width of which was at least ten times the narrow door we entered. "This is spooky."

  He tittered. "Like everything that's been happening to us this morning isn't."

  "Yes, it's all been spooky, but this is super spooky. I can't even see the end of the stairs. They just go on and on and seem to die in that…" I grabbed his arm tight. "Are those clouds up there?"

  "I can't tell." He grabbed my upper arm. "We aren't going to learn anything standing here gawking." As we alighted on the first stair thread, everything started spinning. When it stopped we stood in a hazy white room. I stared around.

  A nice looking woman with short blonde hair sat behind a white desk. She smiled. "Good Afternoon, Welcome to Madame Soriano Fortune Teller and Psychic Extraordinaire. We've been expecting you."

  We stared at each other. "Are you Madame Soriano?"

  She snickered. "Gosh, no! I'm AFC Suzi Carpenter, Madame Soriano's apprentice."

  "AFC? Is that a title like Apprentice First Class?" I asked.

  She smiled. "Something like that. Madame Soriano and I belong to a large organization."

  Brad stepped forward, a determined look on his face. "Where is Madame and where are we?"

  A middle-aged woman with long, flowing, white hair emerged from somewhere I couldn't determine. Speaking with authority, she said, "I am Madame Soriano. Thank you for coming."

  "You're welcome. Now, why are we here?"

  "I will ask the questions here, if you please."

  Frowning, Brad paused for a moment, then continued, "Just tell us why you summoned us here—you did summon us, didn't you?"

  "That is
accurate. It was imperative that my associate and I interview you before the solstice."

  I scrunched my nose. This isn't making any sense. "Why?"

  "Why don't you make yourselves comfortable while I explain?"

  I glanced around, but there was no place to sit until a white leather loveseat mysteriously appeared behind us. When I turned back, Ms. Carpenter and Madame Soriano were seated on a matching couch and a glass coffee table rested between the set.

  "Please sit. Would you like refreshment? Water, tea, coffee, soda, fruit juice? You may feel like you need something alcoholic, but I'm sorry we don't have access to such items."

  "I'll have an orange juice." As soon as the words left my mouth, a large glass of orange juice materialized on a coaster on the coffee table.

  From the pout on Brad's face, I could tell he was not pleased. "You don't even have wine? What kind of place is this?"

  "Mmm. This orange juice is delicious. Taste this, honey."

  I held the glass to his lips and he took a sip. "Wow, I've never tasted OJ like that before. I'll have a glass of that too." As soon as the words left his mouth, a large glass of orange juice materialized before us. "How'd you do that?"

  "There are limits to what I can tell you, but I will tell you this. Ms Carpenter and I are beings with abilities that are far beyond your understanding."

  "I can see that."

  Brad demanded, "Why did you summon us?"

  "I will get to that. Last week, together you had a life altering experience. Am I correct?"

  "I'll say." I set my glass of orange juice on the table and leaned forward. "Go on."

  "Previous to that, you each expressed an interest in being a member of the opposite sex."

  I crossed my legs. "What do you mean?"

  Madame Soriano leaned back, rested her arm on the back of the couch and spoke to me. "Ginger, the person who became you, dreamed of being a beautiful, glamorous woman like you, so he could be free to be himself, to let his inner-self flourish and show through the fashionable clothing he would wear, not to mention the attention he would garner from the opposite sex."

  I fidgeted.

  "Am I wrong?"

  "No, you're right."

  She gazed straight at Brad. "The person who became you had a deep desire to be what her college education trained her for and what she had a gift for—to be, a successful investment banker. To prove she was so much more than beautiful—that she was smart, resourceful and imaginative. Am I wrong?"

  Brad sighed. "No, I did want to be an investment banker."

  "That's why Suzi, my apprentice, being new in this business, took you at your word and without asking my opinion, switched your bodies while you slept."

  My jaw dropped.

  So did Brad's.

  So that is how it happened. I gazed at Suzi Carpenter, who seemed to prefer looking around the room. "So you're the reason I'm in Ginger's body!"

  She turned to me. "I'm sorry. I thought it was what you wanted. I thought you'd like it."

  "Like it? I don't like it." I rose and smiled. "I love it. Being Ginger thrills me. It completes me." I stepped up to her and hugged her. "Thank you."

  Madame Soriano spoke, "We suspected you liked the change. At least for now you do, and you verified that, however we're not sure about you, Mr. Fairchild? Or should I direct my question to Ms. Allen, the current occupant of Mr. Fairchild's body. What is your feeling about being thrust into Mr. Fairchild's body?"

  Brad shifted in his seat. "Well of course I'm still getting used to the change. A little bit of me misses being a woman, but so far I'm pleased. There are distinct advantages to being a man. For instance, as Brad, I'm getting to do what I wanted to do, but was denied as a woman."

  I giggled. "And don't forget you get to pee in a urinal."

  Brad flushed. "True, and I don't have to fix my hair and wear make-up."

  My jaw muscles tightened. "I like that. For you it was a chore. For me that's a right and privilege."

  Madame Soriano waved her hands. "We're getting off topic. The reason I wanted to talk with you is that, if you aren't happy with the present situation, we have the ability to change you back, but only until the passing of the solstice. After that nothing can be done—the change becomes permanent."

  I crossed my long, shapely, new legs. "I hate to sound stupid, but when is the solstice?"

  Ms. Carpenter answered, "The winter solstice is December 21st and summer is June 21st."

  Brad leaned forward. "That's about four and a half months away."

  Suzi nodded. "Correct."

  Brad continued, "What if we're not sure by then?"

  "You have to be," Madame Soriano, explained, sternly.

  I uncrossed my legs and sat up straight. "What if we don't agree? What if I want to remain Ginger and Brad wants to be Ginger again?"

  "Then we change you both back. We can't force someone remain in a body they don't want simply because the other doesn't want to give it up."

  I didn't like that answer, at all! "All right, where do we go from here?"

  "Just follow your normal routine. If you decide you want to change back or have a question you can email me or Ms. Carpenter. My email address is Soriano439@wings.net. Her address is Carpenter17897@wings.net. We'll make sure we see you again before the solstice."

  I rose. "Are we finished?"

  Brad stood too. "Thank you." He grabbed my elbow. "We'll email you if we need you." He led me to the door. He opened it and I screamed. There was nothing there but a thick haze as if we were in a cloud.

  Brad jerked me back and slammed the door. We turned around, but Madame Soriano and Suzi Carpenter were no longer recognizable. They'd morphed into some kind of electrical charge—golden electrical sparks—and even that faded. In thirty seconds they were gone and the room, furniture and even the floor began to vaporize. I grabbed Brad. I thought we'd fall, but when the floor had totally disintegrated we started spinning. When the spinning stopped, we found ourselves on the sidewalk in front of the building we'd entered thirty minutes previous. The cocktail lounge and the import store were still there but the door that had been squeezed between them had vanished.

  Somebody wrenched my arm. It was Brad leading me to a cab he'd flagged. He opened the door and we got in. I turned to Brad. "Where are we going?"

  "Libation Station. I don't know 'bout you, I need a drink…bad!"

  "Me too. If anyone told me a story, like what just happened to us, I would think they were ready for the funny farm."

  "That's why we can never tell anyone."

  "We already told my roommate."

  "We probably had to tell her, but she and I are close enough that I was able to convince her. I hope she doesn't say anything to Lew."

  "I know. One person knowing our secret is enough."

  Chapter Fourteen – Lew & Amber

  I felt a pang of guilt when, for the second day in a row, I lied to Wally about being sick. But, hey, this was my dream girl we were talking about.

  Arriving at Libation Station at eleven on the dot, I went in search of the most obscure, least visible booth available. 'Lo and behold', when I found it, dream girl was already there, smiling at me. Images of the beautiful, innocent-appearing Amber having sex with numerous faceless men flashed through my mind, threatening to ruin the moment, when Brad's admonishment came to the rescue. You can't dwell on it, Bud. It's a done deal. If you don't move past it, it'll flat eat you up.

  I planted a chaste kiss on her ruby lips and as she moved over to make room, I slid in next to her. "Missed you."

  "Missed you, too."

  "What're you drinking?"

  "Coffee."

  I grinned. "Good idea. Would you like something to eat?"

  Amber brushed a wayward tuft of her long, straight, beautiful, auburn hair out of her face. "No thanks, I'm not hungry. Can't eat, can't sleep."

  I nodded. "Me too. Can't eat or sleep."

  She snickered. "Looks like if we want to sleep or eat, we ne
ed to be together."

  I looped my arm over her shoulders. "They say those are signs of love."

  Amber frowned and pursed her lips. "Really…love. In less than twenty-four hours? May I be honest?"

  I squeezed her shoulder. "I would like that. It isn't something you always get from a woman."

  "Or a man," she mumbled almost inaudibly.

  "What?"

  "Nothing. Okay, here goes." She took a breath. "The fact that you're here after our short discussion last night, means that despite my means of income you're still interested in me."

  "True."

  She placed a hand on my knee and squeezed. "And the same goes for me. If you're right for me, and I think you might be, I'm interested in a relationship. That's something I'd given up on and hadn't believed in since my lofty, altruistic days as a college freshman and sophomore."

  I frowned. "You were altruistic, too? What happened?"

  "Yes, I was, until reality, in the form of a giant recession set in. First my job went, then government programs and loan cutbacks. Even the occasional modeling jobs dried up. The options were quit school and run back to parents, who were also having financial trouble or…suck it up and become an escort. Recession or not, there's always money floating around for sex."

  "But that was five or six years ago."

  Her lips tightened. "I know…I know. I've gotten spoiled. I make so much money now and I couldn't earn ten percent of what I make now just starting out somewhere.

  "Really, how much is that?"

  "Including the seventy-four thousand dollars, I made modeling and acting I made almost nine hundred thousand last year."

  I whistled. "That's an impressive sum."

  "And that doesn't even count the eighty grand Ginger made for me in the stock market."

  "Ginger made money for you in the stock market?"

  "Ah-huh. She's a wiz at finance. Her major was Business and whenever she has money she dabbles in the market."

  I shrugged. "I don't know what to say."

  "I know. Listen, I know you have issues with what I do, but can we please put discussing those issues on hold and just have fun for today. I love being with you and I'm in desperate need of having fun."