Chapter 24

A shaft of sunlight woke me up. We were so wrapped up in each other that we forgot to make sure the curtains were completely drawn. When the sun popped up, a shaft squeezed through an opening in the drapes, straight into my eyes. That one shaft of sunlight ended my restful sleep and got me thinking.

Beth Ann and I had something that went beyond good and well into magical. We fit together in ways that were both beautiful and comforting. Although I kept my other self a secret, there was nothing else I wasn't willing to share with her and some of the things Beth Ann told me about herself were surprising, to say the least. We shared our stories of masturbation freely. I let Beth Ann see me stroking my hard dick, something I would have never allowed with any other woman. Beth Ann often touched herself as we made love. She showed me many intimate parts of her life and body, with no shame. I tried to do likewise.

For the first time in my existence I wanted to please someone else at any cost, not thinking about my own pleasure at all, but concentrated only in the pleasure I could give Beth Ann. That was a level of love I never knew existed. Sometimes I could feel my heart beating wildly fast, just because I saw Beth Ann smile.

Rather than wake her, I snuck out of bed and made us breakfast. After giving me her all last night, I decided she deserved breakfast in bed which got me thinking about our first intimate moments the first time I brought her breakfast in bed. As I put the finishing touches on breakfast the quiet seemed to urge me to contemplate my life – my current life. Knowing how lonely and pointless my former life had been, I was still enthralled by the changes in me due to Beth Ann.

Mostly I wanted to think, right then.

In my old life, I pretty much stumbled from pillar to post, taking things as they came and not asking tough questions about my life, my goals, or dreams. Carl was my name but avoiding commitment and happiness was my game.

And I knew how to avoid.

The things I avoided best were the things that needed to give personal attention so that they could get better and make me a better man. For too many years I'd had a crappy job that paid fairly well. My apartment was nothing more than a place to sleep on those nights I wasn't staying in generic motel rooms. If you opened my closet you would see that my clothes were as nondescript as my life. I actually had an address book and it only contained the names and contact information of people that were gone from my life. I hadn't added anyone to take the place of those who left.

Before the accident I had become the world leader in living invisibly. If the Department of Defense or the CIA needed someone to model the perfect lifestyle for a spy, they would have given their recruits a folder with my name at the top. When I thought about it honestly, I realized that Carl had been a walking around dead person.

As Brian, I was painfully in love, ecstatically happy and couldn't wait to wake up to see what adventures would come to me each day. Beth Ann filled so many empty places in my heart, there was no room left for emptiness.

She made me so much better than I was.

Why had the masters of the universe tilted everything to exchange a young man with everything to live for, for a broken down, worthless fool who worked damn hard to ignore every possible good thing that life could offer? Maybe THAT was the point. Maybe God had chosen to "fix" me and because Brian was going to die in that accident, it wasn't going to change the course of history very much if I took his place and then learned to live in the bargain.

But what if the secret was that there was no secret? What if it had all been a random event, hard to reproduce but not impossible? What if there were other Carls walking around out there in the bodies of Brians? How would I know? How would I recognize another body traveler? Would I even want too?

I chose to decide that God wanted me here and that it was either for me to learn to live, or I was here to do something important for Beth Ann. Either way I was happy to oblige. God was going to have His way with me, no matter what and I suddenly realized how happy that made me.

Thoughts of my new life kept me busy until I heard Beth Ann moving around. I carried her breakfast in and set it beside the bed so she would see it when she came out of the bathroom. Beside her tray I placed a note I'd just written and climbed up to the fly bridge to watch the morning unfold, still contemplating life and joy and love – with a little sex thrown in.

Ok - A lot of sex thrown in.

Um - Well, let's just say in between thinking about sex, I contemplated love and life.

Eventually Beth Ann wandered up, carrying a cup of hot tea for her and a glass of orange juice for me. Her smile told me she liked my note and her soft, warm and oh so sexy kiss confirmed it. "You, Mr. Morse are one inveterate romantic. I think I'll keep you."

Settling down beside me on the bench seat, Beth Ann read aloud.

"Dear Occupant,

Due to your outrageous attractiveness, it is my solemn duty to inform you that you have earned breakfast in bed. Please enjoy your morning repast and remember that your wait staff is eagerly looking forward to your arrival on the top floor of this dining establishment, at any time of your choosing, when it is convenient, of course.

Sincerely,

Your Not So Secret Admirer"

"So -this passes as a love note - Yes?" Her voice would have sounded stern if she hadn't cracked a smile and started to giggle. "Seriously Brian, you're going to have to work on your love note skills. First you make me breakfast and serve it to me in bed. Then you write me a note designed to make me hot and wet with desire and address it to, 'Occupant?'