It was just another average Friday at Wilko. Michael had just finished his lunch and had returned to the shop floor. It was the last day of his working week and the young man's thoughts were more about the upcoming weekend than his duties as an employee of the company.
His daydreaming came to an end when he caught sight of his attractive fiancee Amy talking to someone at the end of an aisle. He and Amy had shared a small flat for some time now. He had no immediate plans for marriage between them, much to Amy's annoyance.
They both had fairly busy lives. It was part of the reason Michael was daydreaming so much. They hadn't been able to be intimate with each other for a few weeks and he hoped that situation could be rectified this weekend. Neither had anything to do, so he hoped a lot of it would be spent in bed.
He smiled, thinking about it as he watched Amy idly stroke her long brown hair. His eyes were drawn elsewhere though. His gaze naturally moved downwards over her breasts contained in her blouse. His eyes moved down further over her slim waist. Her generous hips were emphasised by the tight black leggings she was wearing.
She seem to be quite animated as she talked to the mystery person obscured by the shelving. Michael wasn't used to seeing her body language be so spirited, she wasn't completely introverted but she could be quite reserved, especially in public.
"...that sounds perfect," she said as he got into hearing range. Amy noticed his presence as he approached. "Hey, Honey!" she said excitedly as she waved.
Before he could respond he finally discovered who she was talking to. It was his co-worker Rob. The primitive lizard part of Michael's brain started sending him signals. Irrationally, he felt slightly jealous. He was wondering how Rob was getting Amy to open up, something he'd found difficult himself. His rational mind quickly kicked in, he and Rob were friends. It was more than likely it was all perfectly innocent, Rob had a girlfriend of his own, of a sort. Still Michael couldn't shake an irrational feeling of suspicion.
He stared at Rob before turning to Amy, before his expression changed to a confused smile. "What are you doing here Amy?" he asked.
"Oh, I was in town and I thought I'd come see you at work, talk some more about –"
Rob interrupted, quite excited himself. "Is it true man? Can you swap people's minds between different bodies?"
Michael looked aghast as he turned to Amy. "Jesus Amy, that is supposed to be private," he said angrily.
He could have denied it of course but he loved Amy so much he didn't want to even so much as suggest she'd been lying in any way. So his big secret was a secret no longer. It had taken literally months of him being together with Amy before he could confessed it to her. She'd however managed to spill the beans in less than a week. To say that she was obsessed with his ability would be a bit excessive but she had brought it up in conversation quite often.
She hadn't even questioned him. Without proof she believed him completely. She'd seemed quite keen to try out another body. Surprising Michael, she had even talked about experiencing being a man.
For Michael's part, he assumed it was all these ideas were coming from her out of control imagination. He wasn't even entirely sure he could still swap minds around. It had been so long since he'd tried.
He had made the incredible discovery when younger, whilst on the cusp of puberty. In an typical set of circumstances he'd been fighting with two of his younger siblings at home when he happened to touch them both on their hands at the same time. In his emotional state the swap had just accidentally happened.
It had certainly taking the fire out of their battle as his younger sister and brother just blinked at each other in total confusion. It took a bit of time for Michael to establish what happened between them. Thankfully, through trial and error, within a few days he'd returned them to their own bodies.
Knowing it was reversible, it had then soon turned into a game between them both. They regularly begged Michael to swap them again. During that time Michael had practised his magical skill. Eventually, one day his siblings tired of the body swapping game and no longer asked to him to do it. Worryingly, they had become so good at impersonating each other, he could no longer remember if they were still in their original bodies or not at the time.
That had been over ten years ago. He hadn't done any swaps since. Nobody else had known. It wasn't the kind of thing you brought up in casual conversation without sounding like a crazy man. He still wasn't even sure if it worked on people outside his own family.
"I'm sorry Honey," Amy said as she dropped her head.
Michael didn't have time to respond before Rob interrupted again. "Who have you been man? Someone from work? A chick?" he asked in excited speculation.
"Rob!" Michael said loudly before shushing him. "It doesn't work like that. I can't swap myself, only other people. I'm kind of like a bridge or a..." Michael struggled to think of another suitable word.
"...conduit?" Rob suggested, now understanding a bit more.
"Yeah, something like that. The two people hold my hands and I concentrate. They swap bodies and I end up exhausted." He once again looked at Amy in disbelief. "What were you thinking, telling other people?"
"I know, I know," said Amy still in an apologetic tone. "You can't swap yourself though, it needs two other people so we had to tell somebody, if we want to use your power."
"Who says I want to use it? Maybe I was happy keeping it a secret?" Michael asked.
"And let such a wonderful gift go to waste? Just think how you can help people gain an understanding of others. Surely that's worth exploring?" Michael stared silently at her. "Besides," Amy said, "if you didn't want to use it, why did you tell me? Why not keep it a secret forever?"
Michael had to admit to himself she had a point. Maybe at some deep subconscious level he'd realised that he wanted to swap people around. "Okay, so where do we go from here?" he asked her quietly.
"Rob wants to swap with someone or rather someone wants to swap with him. " Amy informed him.
"Who?" Michael asked, wondering who else Amy had told.
"Me, of course!" Amy said with a big grin on her face.