"Lisa," the real Heather said with a small smile. It looked so strange to Lisa to see someone else speaking with her face, hearing her voice from someone else. "I'm glad you're okay. They were worried when you didn't wake up as quickly as I did, but I think that's just because I'm a deep sleeper."
"O. M. G." Lisa said, staring at Heather across the room as the other woman moved in Lisa's body. "It really is you isn't it Mrs. Rhodes?"
"It is," she said with a growing grin. "And Lisa, let me say how much it means to me that you were willing to let me rent your life in the first place. I feel like Megan and I have been growing apart lately, and I really wanted to spend the time with my little girl before she's gone. But I never thought this," she said, gesturing to Lisa's toned young body, "would happen to us."
"About that," Emma said, taking a seat in her office behind her large desk. "Why don't you both sit down and we can discuss this." Waiting for the two women to take a seat, Emma watched them closely as they moved. Already it was obvious that Heather was having an easier time in Lisa's body than Lisa was in Heather's... but that could simply be because a younger body was easier to adapt to... or because Heather had woken up nearly twenty minutes before Lisa had. Either way.... "First off, I'm glad you're both okay. We were very worried Lisa when you didn't wake up immediately and we're still looking into that, but for now, I'll take Heather's suggestion and run with it. There are several other details that we need to discuss though."
"You can fix this, right?" Lisa asked nervously.
"Well," Emma said after a deep breath. "I think so. But I don't know for sure. Like I said earlier, this has never happened before. We're going to need to take things slowly to make sure we don't cause more problems. Right now, I'd like to start with some very short term plans, and give the engineers and sorcerers some time to get things sorted out."
"What did you have in mind?" Heather asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. Every inch of her eighteen year old body shouted a maturity that Lisa didn't yet possess, from the relaxed posture to the tilt of her head. She radiated a confidence that had to be hard to feel, and was well beyond the years of Lisa's body.
"Well, for starters, I don't want to try doing anything with you two until the term of your rental is up. I understand that this is more of an exchange than you had signed up for, but in effect, you'll both have no difficulty fully living each other's lives for the next two weeks. If anything, Mrs Rhodes is going to enjoy an even more real vacation from her own life."
"But what about me?" Lisa asked, gesturing to Heather's enhanced body with her gleaming red nails. "I didn't sign up for... this. I mean... it's cool to be older and all Mrs. Rhodes, but.... what if I can't change back?"
"Lisa, I understand where you're coming from," Emma said gently. "But look at it this way. You're also getting an upgraded experience. And, since we understand that this is a bit more, um, intense than what you signed up for, The Nexus is willing to match Heather's rental fee, dollar for dollar while you're in her body."
"Well, I guess that's okay," Lisa said, still very unsure about where things were going. "And in two weeks, you'll be able to swap us back?"
"That's the idea," Emma said. "We'll need you to both take some tests today, and for the next two weeks, we'll be following up with each of you regularly. Once Heather is back from her vacation in Mexico, we'll work on getting you two swapped back. Who knows... if we can replicate this, you may be the first of our clients to offer a whole new level of service," she said on an excited note. "And believe me, we'd pay you for that, very well."
"Then it's settled," Heather said, bounding out of her chair in a spurt of youthful enthusiasm that she'd refrained from displaying thus far. "For the next two weeks, I'm Lisa, and you're my best friend's mom! You're the best," she finished, flinging her arms around her former body and giving Lisa a giant hug.
Slowly, Lisa melted into the hug, smiling a bit herself. The extra money was nice.... but honestly, she didn't care. Seeing how happy this was making her best friend's mom was worth it. After all, how often could you do something this amazing for someone? "It's settled. You have a good time now, you hear me young lady?"
"OMG," Heather said, imitating Lisa's manner from earlier. "I promise."
"Excellent," Emma said as she stood. "In that case, if you'll each follow me, I'll show you to the exam rooms where we have a few tests to run before you each go home."
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