The Accidental Life Swap

by Jennifer Joyce

  ‘Gosh, yes.’ Vanessa pulls out a stool and hops up onto it. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love Emma to pieces but she’s more of a creative person, you know? She hasn’t got a clue when it comes to organising my work life. My filing cabinets are horrendous, so good luck with that when you get back.’ Vanessa giggles, jumping slightly as the cork pops.

  ‘The thing is, Vanessa …’ I pour a drop of champagne into Vanessa’s glass and hand it to her. ‘I was hoping to move into a more creative role myself when I returned.’

  ‘You were?’ Vanessa frowns at me as she raises the glass to her lips, as though baffled by my aspirations.

  ‘I never planned to be a PA forever.’ I pour myself a large measure and take a huge gulp while Vanessa sips her thimbleful. ‘It was more of a stepping stone. I have a degree in events management.’

  ‘That’s right, you do!’ Vanessa places her empty glass down. ‘And we do need to replace Sonia …’ Vanessa taps her chin with a red-tipped finger.

  ‘Sonia’s left?’ I almost choke on my champagne, the bubbles making my nose sting.

  ‘There was a little … drama back at the office.’ She purses her lips, her foot tapping against her stool. ‘I may have accused her of sleeping with Tyler behind my back and things got a bit ugly. The next thing I know, she’s shouting abuse at me, accusing me of being manipulative and a nightmare boss, and saying she quits.’ Vanessa shakes her head, her hand on her chest. ‘It was most upsetting.’ She sits up straighter and gives my hand a pat. ‘Although it means we have a vacancy on the team, I was going to offer the role to Emma. She really has stepped up to the mark these past few weeks, and I’m not sure you’re quite ready to move up, but it’s certainly something we can look at in the future. Maybe you could sit in on a few meetings?’ Hooking her handbag onto her arm, Vanessa starts to move towards the hallway again. ‘Come and show me the master suite. I can’t wait to see if it matches up to my mood board.’

  Pouring a bit more champagne into my glass, I tip it down my throat before dashing after Vanessa, reaching her as she’s about to take her first step up the staircase.

  ‘Actually, Vanessa, I do think I’m ready.’ My pulse is racing and I feel a bit sick from terror and knocking back the champagne too fast. This isn’t me. I don’t stand up for myself. I am meek. A pushover. I don’t ever go for what I want. But where has that got me in the past?

  Squaring my shoulders, I tilt my chin and use my most commanding tone. ‘I’m more than ready, and I can prove it.’

  Chapter 39

  ‘Why are you showing me this?’

  Vanessa and I are standing outside the gates of the Blackwoods’ fields, taking in the crowds. And they are vast. There are so many people, I can’t quite believe my eyes.

  ‘This is Little Heaton’s first ever autumn festival.’ Vanessa is giving me a blank look, and I hear the slightest puff a sigh. She’s a busy woman and I’m keeping her from her exotic, whisking-away-to-foreign-lands plans. I need to get to the point, and fast. ‘And I organised it.’

  There’s a pause as Vanessa looks from me to the festival, her eyebrows inching up her forehead very, very slowly before she turns back to me again. ‘You put all this together?’ She jabs a finger towards the middle of the field without taking her eyes off mine. ‘On your own?’

  ‘Not entirely. I had a bit of help from some of the locals.’ I crane my neck, trying to spot Dianne or one of the other committee members, but the field is crammed and I don’t stand a chance.

  ‘But you organised it?’

  I nod. ‘It was my idea.’

  ‘But why?’

  I explain about the fundraising motivation as we make our way into the heart of the festival. The first round of the talent show has ended but there’s still plenty going on around us. One of Dianne’s Brownies is enthralling a bunch of pre-schoolers with a Winnie the Witch story in the spooky book corner, and I point her out to Vanessa.

  ‘This is …’ Vanessa shakes her head and puffs out a breath. ‘… incredible. I had no idea you had this in you, Becky.’ My smile falters at the shortening of my name, but I manage to push it back into place. ‘You’ve been hiding your talents away all this time, you little minx. We’ll definitely be having a chat once I’m back from Vienna.’

  I want to jump up and punch the air. I’ve actually done it! My dream job is practically mine, curled up in the palm of my hand.

  ‘Will you excuse me?’ Vanessa places a hand briefly on my arm before she digs into her handbag for her ringing phone. ‘It’s probably Ty, panicking that I’ll be late for the flight.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘He’s such a worrier, bless him.’

  I edge away as Vanessa takes the call, keeping her in my eyeline as I check in on Dianne, who’s supervising the pumpkin carving.

  ‘The fancy dress parade will be starting in ten minutes.’ She wipes her hands on a towel as I glance back at Vanessa. ‘Oliver’s volunteered to man the ticket booth so Talia can take part.’

  ‘He has?’ I’m pleasantly surprised that Oliver has offered his services, but then he is a good bloke and I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s coming to the aid of the Brownies at all.

  ‘Shall we?’ Dianne nods towards the stage, which has been allocated for the meeting point for those wanting to take part in the parade.

  I glance back at Vanessa, who’s still on the phone. ‘Can I catch you up in a few minutes?’

  ‘Of course.’ Dianne pats me on the shoulder before she makes her way across the field, gathering zombie princesses, witches and superheroes on the way. Vanessa is still occupied with her call so I take out my own phone and am about to dial Emma’s number to share my news when it dawns on me that I may have just usurped my best friend. Vanessa said she was going to offer the role to Emma, but now it looks as though I’m in the running for Sonia’s replacement too. Guilt gnaws at my gut as I slip my phone back in my pocket. What am I going to do? I can’t steal Emma’s promotion from under her nose, but I can’t give up on my own dreams either. I deserve this promotion just as much as Emma, so I guess the decision lies with Vanessa. Maybe, if we both prove our worth, there will be a place for both of us on the team.

  Ahead, Vanessa has finished her call and is pushing her phone back into her handbag. I hurry to join her.

  ‘The fancy dress parade is about to start if you’d like to watch?’

  ‘There are a couple of things I’d like to clear up first after that very interesting conversation.’ Vanessa folds her arms across her chest and quirks an eyebrow. ‘I’d love to know why you lied to me just now when you told me it was you who organised this event. And secondly – and most importantly of all – I’d be delighted if you could explain why you’ve been pretending to be me for the past few weeks.’

  I’m so shocked by Vanessa’s rapid switch from being enchanted by the festival to being so hopping mad her face is taking on a rather puce hue, her actual words don’t click straight away. I simply stand before her, my mouth gaping like a horrified goldfish as she rants at me, her arms flailing and nostrils flaring as she tells me exactly what she thinks of me and the festival that moments ago was ‘incredible’ but is now a suspicious-looking stain on my career.

  ‘I put my trust in you and you’ve abused it. You’ve been sneaky and duplicitous. You’ve stolen ideas from the company and passed them off as your own. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?’ Vanessa’s arms stops flailing and she opens them wide, her fingers splayed as she awaits my answer. I swallow hard and try not to wet myself under her furious scrutiny.

  ‘I, erm …’ I try to swallow again but my mouth has completely dried up. ‘I’m sorry, for using your name. That was stupid of me, and I’ve paid the price, believe me.’

  Vanessa snorts. ‘Believe you? Why on earth would I trust a word that comes out of your mouth now?’

  I nod, totally getting her point of view. It’s a shared opinion of me in recent days. ‘It wasn’t a malicious thing. Not at all.’ I look around the field, wondering who has ratt
ed me out, because there’s no way Tyler knew anything about my identity slip-up. Mrs McColl isn’t too far away, but she seems pretty busy on her toffee apple stall, and Vanessa was never out of my sight. ‘It was a mistake, to begin with. One of the builders misheard me and thought I was you, and I sort of let him.’

  ‘And stealing Emma’s ideas for the Heron Farm Festival?’ Vanessa places her arms carefully across her chest. ‘Was that a mistake too?’

  The horrified goldfish is back as I stare at Vanessa. ‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t stolen anybody’s ideas. I’ve only used my own.’

  Vanessa unfolds her arms so she can jab a finger at something behind me. ‘The Trick or Treat Treasure Trail?’

  I turn towards one of the stalls near the entrance to the field, where several children are busily decorating the paper bags that they will collect treats in as they make their way through the festival, collecting a sweet or chocolate whenever they see the treasure trail’s pumpkin logo on a stall or attraction.

  ‘That was one of the ideas Emma pitched to us a few weeks ago.’ Vanessa reaches into her bag and produces one of the leaflets I handed to her from the ticket booth earlier, which she folded and shoved into her handbag without glancing at. She studios it now before jabbing a finger angrily at the sheet of paper. ‘And this! The night-time pumpkin parade. That’s come straight from Emma’s proposal. And the Monster Hunt. Let me guess – the children have to find the pictures of monsters around the festival, which each have a letter underneath them. Then, once they’ve found all the letters, they have to rearrange them to make a spooky word and win a prize. Am I right?’

  ‘Yes.’ I frown. ‘How did you know?’

  ‘Because you stole the idea from Emma.’ Vanessa leans towards me, speaking slowly and carefully. ‘And I bet most of the ideas here have been taken straight from Emma’s proposal.’

  ‘What proposal?’ Emma never said a word to me about pitching any ideas to Vanessa. She told me she’d sat in on a meeting or two to take notes, that’s all.

  ‘Emma came to me a few weeks ago with a proposal for the Heron Farm Festival. It’s what earned her a provisional place on the events team.’

  Emma has had a creative part on the team? Why didn’t she tell me?

  ‘Most of her ideas have been copied here.’ Vanessa spreads her arms wide. ‘I could fire you for this. I should fire you for this.’

  A tremor has started, somewhere deep in my belly, and it’s spreading out, making my fingers quiver and my knees tremble. The dream of gaining Vanessa’s approval and respect, the promotion and finally freeing myself of Lee and the grim flat-share is slipping away from me and I don’t think I can clutch it again.

  ‘There’s been some mistake.’ There’s a wobble to my voice as I battle a torrent of tears that are preparing to activate.

  ‘Yes, you’ve already told me that.’ Vanessa shoves the leaflet back into her handbag, not even bothering to fold it this time so it crumples into a corner.

  ‘No, another mistake. One that isn’t my fault.’ The wobble’s still there, but less so. I need Vanessa to hear me and I’m determined to make myself heard this time. ‘I didn’t steal any ideas. Not from Emma or anybody else. I had a proposal of my own, with all my ideas for the Heron Farm Festival in there. I left it behind at the office before I came here.’

  I cover my mouth to stifle a gasp as it all becomes perfectly clear. But no. Emma wouldn’t have taken my proposal and passed it off as her own. We’re friends, best friends, and she isn’t that kind of person.

  ‘Was that Emma on the phone just now?’ My question is whispered, because I’m not sure I want to know the answer.

  ‘I don’t have time for this.’ Vanessa snaps her handbag shut and starts to walk away. ‘I have a flight to catch. Schedule a meeting for us on Tuesday afternoon and we’ll discuss your future at Vanessa Whitely Events – if you even have one, that is.’

  The tremor has increased, making my body practically vibrate on the spot. The dream isn’t so much slipping away, it’s packed its bags and jetted off to start a new life somewhere else, and the worst part is, I’m not to blame this time. I didn’t steal Emma’s ideas – I had no idea what her input on the Heron Farm Festival entailed until now.

  ‘I can’t wait until Friday.’ I’m taken aback by the voice that emerges from me, strong and confident and without a hint of the wobble I’m feeling so powerfully inside. ‘I need to know what’s going to happen to me now.’

  Vanessa stops and turns back towards me, but she doesn’t move any closer. ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen to you. I need time to mull it over.’

  ‘But this is my life we’re talking about.’ I squeeze my fingers tight into a fist against the tremble. ‘And it isn’t fair of you to leave me hanging while you go off on holiday with your boyfriend.’ I try not to yelp in fright as Vanessa stalks back towards me, her eyebrows pushing up towards her hairline.

  ‘Maybe I should fire you right now. Save you the injustice of waiting a few days while I decide what’s right for my business.’

  ‘Maybe you should fire me.’ My knees are like balls of jelly, and should be incapable of keeping my body upright, but somehow I’m still standing. ‘Maybe you’d be doing me a massive favour, because my talents are wasted at Vanessa Whitely Events. Just take a look around you.’ I throw my arms out wide, ignoring the way they jitter. ‘I organised this. Me, not Emma. I didn’t steal her ideas. In fact, I suspect she’s stolen my ideas and passed them onto you as her own.’ The thought makes me want to weep and throw up in equal measure, because it can’t be true, can it? My friend wouldn’t do that to me. ‘I’m not a PA, and I’m not a project manager for a property development. I’m an events planner and maybe it’s time I moved on to somewhere where I’ll be appreciated. Somewhere my boss doesn’t lie and manipulate to get what she wants. You push and push, Vanessa, but eventually people will get sick and tired of it and walk away. Like Sonia did.’

  Vanessa really is like my father. They’re both bullies who don’t know when to stop. Just like Vanessa has pushed Sonia too far, Dad pushes away everyone he cares about, starting with Mum all those years ago. With horror, I realise I’m following in his footsteps. I’ve somehow lost everyone I care about, including the sister who is still reaching out to me. Kate phoned me again this morning and I sent it to voicemail because I was too busy setting up the festival. How long will it be before she gives up and I’ll be truly alone? I didn’t intend for any of this to happen, but then I don’t think Dad pushes people away on purpose either. He has high expectations and dismisses those who fail to live up to them. A bit like Vanessa. But I refuse to be a part of it anymore.

  ‘I used to think I respected you, Vanessa, and wanted to be like you, but I was wrong. I didn’t respect you, I feared you, and there’s no way I’d want to be anything like you anymore. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. All this is because you selfishly bought a bit of useless land.’ I stretch my arms wide. ‘But one day your actions will bite you on the arse and you’ll find yourself on your own. Is that why you cling onto Tyler? You think he’s sleeping around and yet you’re still with him, celebrating an anniversary that hasn’t even happened yet.’

  ‘You’re overstepping the line now, Becky. And you’re this close to being fired.’ Vanessa growls the words as she holds up her finger and thumb to demonstrate my precarious position. But I won’t back down this time.

  ‘My name is Rebecca. And you can save yourself the bother of firing me, because I quit.’

  Chapter 40

  The freshly-carved Jack-o’-lanterns look beautiful as they pass, each design unique to its owner, their battery-operated candles glowing and flickering in the evening light. The festival has been a huge success, but I can’t quite bask in the glory. Maybe in a few days, once the shock of losing not only my job and future prospects but my best friend in one afternoon has died down. Because Vanessa accepted my resignation without a murmur o
f protest before she headed off for her romantic getaway. And when I finally managed to get hold of Emma, she confirmed my worst fears. She’d found my file on Vanessa’s desk after I’d left for Little Heaton, switched the front cover to display her own name and taken credit for my hard work.

  ‘How could you do that to me?’ Even as she was saying the words, I couldn’t comprehend the facts. ‘We were friends.’

  ‘We are friends.’ I’d wanted to laugh at the absurdity of Emma’s words but I didn’t have it in me. ‘But I deserved that promotion too. You always go on about how fed up you are being Vanessa’s PA, but what about me? I’ve been stuck on that reception desk for two years. My talents are being wasted just as much as yours are, and it isn’t as though you were ever going to do anything with that file. You had it in your hand, for goodness’ sake, and you still didn’t show it to Vanessa. You didn’t make her see that you’re creative and talented. You let her walk all over you, and you’ll always let people walk all over you.’

  But that isn’t true, not anymore. Because I finally did stand up to Vanessa; I just wish I hadn’t had to sacrifice my job in order to do so.

  ‘This is beautiful.’

  I turn to see Stacey standing beside me, looking wistfully out at the sea of lit-up pumpkins. Oliver passed by a moment ago, helping a little boy carry a pumpkin that was bigger than his head.

  ‘You’ve done an amazing job.’

  ‘Thank you.’ I turn away from Stacey and watch the parade. So much has happened over the past few weeks, my stomach is in knots and I don’t think I’ll be able to untie it again. ‘There’s been a great turnout. I’m pretty sure we’ll have raised enough to cover the extra cost of the land.’

  ‘Really?’

  I don’t dare look at Stacey – the hope in her voice is hard enough to take. ‘But whether or not Vanessa will stick to her side of the deal is another matter.’ My eyes are firmly on the pumpkin parade, though I’m no longer taking in the details. ‘I quit my job today, so Vanessa isn’t my biggest fan.’