Body Double (2 page)

Andrea laughed. “I couldn’t agree more. The weather is one reason I love California.”

Sarah entered an office and offered Andrea a seat in one of the two upholstered chairs in front of the desk. Though the building was older, the desk, curtains and area rug gave it a comfortable, modern feel. To Andrea’s surprise, Sarah grabbed a manila folder from her desk and sat in the vacant chair beside her rather than across the desk from her. “As eager as I am to find out more about you on a personal level, I’d like to get the most pressing questions out of the way. First, tell me about your life at The Delmar Center.”

Andrea recapped her three-year career counselling runaway teens before the center was shut down. Delmar was a non-profit arm of a larger corporation that was recently purchased by a bigger company, which had no interest in a non-profit organization. Rather than offer it for sale, the new owner just shut it down. The poor kids were shuffled off to another organization or left to fall through the wide-open cracks, and six social workers and psychologists were suddenly in the unemployment line. Andrea was grateful that her boss, Raymond, had given her the tip about the opening at The Lighthouse.

Sarah in turn told Andrea about the job, about providing emotional support for the shelter residents. Most were girls and women who’d been abducted and sold into sexual bondage, but there were some boys too, whose emotional and physical scars ran every bit as deep as their female counterparts’. It sounded like deeply fulfilling work that called to Andrea, and she was more afraid of not getting the job than of the emotional toll it would take on her to work with severely abused clients. She knew that this was where she belonged, and she listened eagerly to Sarah explaining the benefits and the salary.

“Raymond gave you a glowing recommendation, and you have all the credentials I want in a social worker,” Sarah said, smiling. “I knew even before I met you that you were the one, but I never make a job offer without first consulting my VP and CFO, Charlotte. She’s out of the office right now, but I’ll talk to her this evening. I expect to make you an offer by the end of the day tomorrow. Will you call me if you get another offer before then?”

Andrea felt giddy. Everything was working out better than she’d hoped. “Sure I will.”

“Perfect. Now, I’ve got to take off my CEO-interviewer hat for a minute and ask about you personally. Do you mind? I wouldn’t normally ask these kinds of questions, but our circumstances are unusual.”

Andrea laughed, feeling very much at ease. She liked Sarah and could see them remaining friends whether they worked together or not. “I don’t mind at all. I’m as curious as you are. How can two people who are unrelated look so much alike?”

“I know!” Sarah pulled off her designer shoes and sat cross-legged in her chair like a child eager for a story around the campfire. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight.”

Sarah nodded. “Twenty-nine here. What’s your birthday? I’m December fourteenth.”

“August fifth. Do you have siblings?”

“No, just me. I almost had a baby brother when I was six, but his birth was difficult and he didn’t make it. How about you?”

“A brother and two sisters, all blond-haired and blue-eyed.” Andrea noted that Sarah’s eyes were green. She noticed a few other differences too. Sarah’s lips were thinner, her hair was several inches shorter, and she had a small birthmark on the side of her jaw. Her eyebrows were thicker and unplucked, whereas Andrea carefully shaped her own.

“Your eyes are such a lovely shade of blue. Do you wear contacts?”

“Unfortunately, but they’re not tinted,” Andrea said. “You?”

“Not yet. I use reading glasses when no one’s looking.”

They spent the next half hour comparing hands, shoe sizes, and food preferences, and tried mind-reading games like a couple of teeny-boppers at a sleepover. It was the most fun Andrea had ever had at a job interview.

“Are you married?” Sarah asked.

Despite her best effort, Andrea’s mind conjured the memory of standing in her wedding gown at the window, watching for Sean’s car to pull screeching to the curb. She’d been annoyed to find out he was late, and that annoyance turned to concern that he’d been in an accident, but when one of his groomsmen came knocking, cell phone in his hand and a look of sympathy on his face, Andrea knew she’d been jilted. She spent the next six months crying herself to sleep, the year after that foreswearing men, and had only started dating again eight months ago. “Not yet. Still waiting for the right guy. How about you?”

A shadow crossed Sarah’s face. “I’m engaged.”

“Congratulations. You must be so excited,” Andrea said, though there was nothing about the bride-to-be that conveyed excitement.

“It’s... complicated.”

As soon as Andrea was in her car, she crammed her Bluetooth headset into her ear and dialed Monica, her best friend since their freshman year of high school.

“Hey, girlfriend,” Monica said on answering. “How’d the interview go?”

Andrea pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. Though the traffic was heavy, her apartment was only a few miles away. “Beyond awesome. I can’t even begin to tell you how well it went.”

“So you got the job. Congrats.”

“Technically, she hasn’t made an offer yet, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure she’ll be making one tomorrow. She just has to discuss it with her VP, and then, if all goes as expected, I’ll be gainfully employed again. I might even be able to make next month’s rent, assuming I don’t get the hankering for a pizza between now and then.”

“Hot damn! So it sounds like a good place?”

Andrea told her what she’d learned about The Lighthouse and what an excellent cause it was. She was eager to get started, though she knew it would take time to learn how best to approach and help people who’d learned to trust no one.

“But the most interesting part about the whole thing was the CEO.”

“Oh?” Monica asked with a drawl. “Is he cute?”

“She’s a she, and get this. She’s my double.”

“What do you mean ‘double?’”

“She looks exactly like me.”

“Cripes! Another stunning blonde? Average-looking girls like me are probably crying into their beers right now.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re gorgeous, and besides, you’re married.”

“Does she really look that much like you?”

“Mo, I swear it was almost like looking in a mirror. Even her receptionist mistook me for her when I walked in.”

Monica paused a few seconds. “That’s a bit freaky. How would that work? I mean, if you look that much alike, won’t that make it hard to work with her? People always double-checking who you are before talking to you, or confiding personal information or spilling corporate secrets because they think you’re the CEO?”

“As the CEO, she probably spends most of her time in the administrative offices or out doing businessy stuff. I’ll be working with the shelter residents. Besides, we’re not exact duplicates. She has green eyes, for instance, and thinner lips, bigger boobs, and she’s a tiny bit taller. There are other differences, too, minor things.”

“That has got to be strange.”

“It was so funny. Both our jaws dropped at the same time, which made it even more mirror-y. It feels like this was meant to be, but I’m afraid to get too invested, you know? In case the VP nixes the whole deal.”

Monica laughed. “That’s not going to happen. It sounds like this is the right job for you.”

“I sure hope so. I’ll be on the edge of my seat until that call comes though.” Andrea didn’t have any money saved up, and her parents couldn’t afford to bail her out of a jam. She pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building and navigated into her assigned spot.

“If only finding the right guy was so easy.”

“Don’t go there,” Andrea said, throwing the transmission into park.

“Didn’t you just say it was meant to be?”

“I wasn’t talking about guys. I was talking about a job.” She shut off the engine but made no move to get out of the car.

“Hey, you never know,” Monica said. “Love can be found in the unlikeliest places—or circumstances. Maybe you’ll meet someone at work—another social worker or one of the lawyers.”

“Love isn’t the problem.” It was trust Andrea had a problem with. And commitment.

“I know, hon. Just keep your heart open. Maybe your new boss has a cute brother.”

“She doesn’t, but even if she did, I’d be too afraid he would look like Tony. I couldn’t date anyone who looked like my own brother.”

“Yeah, eww. Not that I think Tony’s eww, of course, but I get what you mean. Hey, look, I’ve got to get dinner started. Pete’ll be home any second, and the baby’s getting fussy. I’ll call you tonight.”

“All right. Kiss kiss.”

“Mwah.”

Andrea disconnected the call, gathered her things, and walked up to her apartment. It was lonely and quiet, with only a clock ticking when she went inside. She set her purse and portfolio down and went into the bedroom.

Her mind kept going over the events of the last two hours, relieved about the interview, amused about meeting her own double, and excited about the job ahead of her. The salary wasn’t anything to get excited about, but social work wasn’t the field she’d have chosen if she’d wanted to make lots of money. It paid the rent, kept her car running, and put food in her belly.

She stepped out of her pumps, unzipped her skirt, and slid it down her legs. She didn’t really mind shopping at second-hand stores for clothes. This skirt had cost only three bucks, and it had a designer label on it. No one would ever need to know where she’d bought them.

Barefoot and dressed in athletic shorts and a t-shirt, Andrea padded to the kitchen and popped a frozen entree into the microwave. It was gummy and bland, but it was already paid for. After dinner, she called her parents in Arizona and told them about her almost new job. Though they were optimistic she would get the offer, she didn’t want to get her hopes up. She’d had enough of dashed hopes and broken dreams. Until the call came, the wait-and-see armor she’d put around her heart would keep her from getting discouraged.

The waiting part was much harder than the seeing.

Chapter 2

Andrea was sitting at her dining table the next morning, sorting her unpaid bills in order of importance while she finished off the last bagel. She’d received only a two-week severance, and her first unemployment check hadn’t arrived yet. If she didn’t get a job and its accompanying paycheck soon, she’d be singing for quarters on the street corner.

With a sigh, she pulled the cable bill out of the stack and picked up the phone to call the customer service line. She didn’t need the TV or land line. The cell phone was all she needed, but job hunting without Internet access would be tough. She’d have to borrow Monica’s WiFi or sit at some coffee shop for a few hours while she combed the employment web sites.

Her cell phone vibrated on the table beside her. From its sharp, old-fashioned ringtone, it couldn’t be anyone she knew. The caller ID listed a local number but not a name. She answered with as cheerful a hello as she could manage.

“Andrea? It’s Sarah Gentry.”

Andrea’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
Yes!
“Sarah, hello. How are you?”

“Great, thanks. I’m calling to let you know that I’ve spoken with my VP, Charlotte, about you. She’d like the chance to interview you herself before we make an offer. Are you free this morning at ten?”

Andrea fist pumped. A second interview was always a good sign. She checked her watch: nine-oh-five. That gave her about forty-five minutes to shower and dress. Piece of cake. “Yes, I can be there at ten.”

“Excellent. We’ll see you then.”

Andrea disconnected and let out a whoop of excitement, leaping out of her chair to dance. She put the cable bill back on the stack. Maybe she wouldn’t have to disconnect anything yet.

After a quick shower, she rummaged through her closet for something business-like and settled on a burgundy tweed skirt and a gold, scoop-neck blouse. She brushed her teeth and hair, swiped on some mascara, and applied a touch of tinted lip gloss. After checking her dark reddish-brown pumps for scuff marks and wiping them with a bit of water, she slipped them on, grabbed her purse and portfolio, and headed over.