Continue to the weekend

The two sped off in the direction of the coast for a trip that would take much of the day. They rolled through the swank neighborhood of Lisa’s home for a few minutes and soon merged on to one of the main roads in town. After a few more minutes of driving, the unmarked police car roared on to the highway filled with other travelers to places far and wide. The two rode along without talking a lot at first until Selina spoke. She looked over at the heretofore silent Lisa and asked “So, what is it that gave you the idea for this trip?” Lisa chuckled a bit. She smiled, “When I was a little girl, my dad used to take me to this spot up by the water. There wasn’t much else there at that time, and whenever I got really sad he would take me to the ocean and stand with my by the water as the waves came in. He told me that, if I wished it, the waves would carry away all my sorrows and all my fears,” she said with a laugh. “It’s cheesy, I know, but I’ve loved the water ever since then—the smell of the salt, the sound of the waves, the sheer size of it. I mean, you never know what it could bring you or where it could take you,” she said with a smile as she looked over at Jonny, who smiled back. “Dad also used to take me to this jewelry store on the coast . . . had all these beautiful rings and necklaces, and he would let me look at them for hours while he played cards with the owner, and I got to try ‘em on too,” she said fondly, “I think it was called ‘Riches of the Sea’ or something.”

“That’s not cheesy,” he said, “it’s maybe not an experience a lot of people have, but it makes you happy, and that’s good,” he said. Lisa smiled at the admirable sentiment. “Are you close to your family?” Jonny asked. Lisa thought for a moment. “Well, I have a sister I don’t see a lot because she lives down south, and we never got along a bunch when I was a kid because, after my mom and dad divorced, my sister—Lori—lived with my mom, and I lived with my dad. I kind of felt like she betrayed him, and mom was the one who had the affair anyway. That also explains why I don’t see mom much or talk much with her. She sent me a nice card for my 40th birthday a few years ago, but I actually found the attempt unnerving because I had tried to shut those memories out, and they all came roaring back when she did that—“ Lisa trailed off, seeming to struggle to contain the emotion she felt.

Jonny reached over and put his hand on Lisa’s. “I’m sure your mother and father love you very much,” he said. Lisa wiped away a couple tears as she looked over at him and smiled. “I can’t wait for him to meet you,” she said, “that’ll have to be our next trip.” “I would like that,” Jonny said. Suddenly, Lisa’s eyes widened as she looked at the car radio and seemed to listen intently. Music played faintly on the car’s satellite radio. “I LOVE this song!” Lisa said as she reached down and turned up the volume, thus sending Bob Seger’s “Roll Me Away” resounding through the car as she belted out the words as loudly as her voice would permit. Jonny just laughed. “Didn’t know you could sing!” he said. “Are you listening?! I can’t!” she yelled back with a smile just in time to belt out the chorus again. Jonny chuckled, and the car powered its way along the road.

After a couple hours of driving, Lisa tapped Jonny on the shoulder, and he looked over at her. “I’m hungry,” she said. “We’ll find a place soon,” he said, and a few minutes later he pulled the car into a restaurant’s parking lot. The two went in and were soon shown to a table. “You go ahead,” Jonny said, “I’ll join you in just a minute.” Jonny headed in the direction of the women’s restroom and closed the door. He walked his curvy body over to the mirror and gazed upon Selina’s beautiful face. “Shooting for the moon here . . . “ he said as his possessed vessel disappeared from the bathroom in a puff of black smoke. After a couple minutes, a second mass of smoke appeared, and Jonny was back. He calmly left the restroom and joined Lisa at the table.

“I was starting to worry about you,” she said with a laugh. “Well, this body is taking a bit of getting used to,” Jonny said with a mile, making sure to speak quietly. The two ordered their food and made pleasant small talk for the course of the meal. It was a bit passed the middle of the day now, and there were still a few hours to get to the destination. The two quickly hopped back into the car and headed off, now with full bellies, to make the final stretch. The hours rolled by, Jonny and Lisa laughing and having a great time in the car. Lisa talked about the time she’d tried to sneak into a Van Halen concert in 1986 only to get kicked out in time to see her car towed for being double-parked. Her dad had not been happy to come and get her after that one. Or the time when she was in law school and stumbled into class late during Contracts . . . the professor called on her for every single question he asked that day, and Lisa had not read very well the night before—a scary experience. She always thought that professor hated her.

Eventually, as the sun hung low in the sky, Jonny pulled the car into the resort as the smell of salt lingered around them, and waves crashed in the background. Jonny went in and grabbed the key for the room and parked the car as close as he could get it. He opened the trunk to reveal a gigantic suitcase—Lisa’s. “One or two bags I told you,” he said as he laughed. Lisa smiled. “Hey, you’ve been a woman for about two days,” she said, “when you’ve been in that body a while longer, you can lecture me on my clothing needs,” she said with a smile as Jonny slowly lugged the bag out of the car, huffing mightily. Lisa grabbed Jonny’s much smaller bag and tossed it over her shoulder. She walked along pleasantly while Jonny huffed and puffed to carry her suitcase. “I have half a mind to just possess the biggest, strongest guy in the hotel to do this,” Jonny said as the two reached the door to the room and Lisa opened it. “You’ve got to keep Selina’s meat suit in good shape for catching criminals . . . consider this cross-training,” Lisa said with a laugh.

The two stepped into the room and tossed the luggage on the bed. “I want to go to the beach!” Lisa said excitedly. Jonny huffed again, “Now?” he said as he sat down on the bed. Lisa just looked at him and smiled and nodded as she took Selina’s body by the hands and pulled it from the bed, leading Jonny out the door. The two walked toward the beach as the moon shone bright above. Lisa removed her shoes and let the sand squash about around her toes. The walked along the beach as they held hands together, and then broke the embrace as they came to a stop to watch the waves.

After a couple minutes of silence, Jonny spoke. “Okay, um, if you could just stand there for a minute and don’t, like, look down or turn around or anything, that’d be great,” Jonny said as he stepped behind Lisa and rummaged about in Selina’s purse for a minute. “All right; should I be scared?” Lisa joked as Jonny reached around from behind Lisa and put something around her neck. It felt cold on Lisa’s chest. “Well, I didn’t have to kill anybody to get it or anything, so it’s probably not booby-trapped,” Jonny said. Lisa chuckled. “Um, okay, you can look down now,” Jonny said, and Lisa did.

“Oh my God,” Lisa exclaimed, crying a little bit as she beheld the beautiful necklace hanging from her neck. She ran her hands over a glittering blue shell that hung on a gold chain, giving off this kind of aqua glow in the moonlight. Jonny stepped around to Lisa’s front to look at the necklace and gauge her reaction. She wiped a couple tears from her eyes as Jonny explained. “You, well, you said there was that jewelry place—Riches of the Sea, I think—that you used to go to when you were a little girl and that you liked trying on the jewelry. Well, um, I checked, and turns out the place is still open, so while you were at the table by yourself, I zapped on over and bought this for you . . . I hoped you’d like it ‘cause I don’t know much about jewelry, so I had the girl behind the counter help me pick it out . . . looks a hell of a lot better on you than it did on her though,” Jonny said with a smile.

Lisa wiped more tears of joy. “It’s beautiful,” she said as she hugged Selina’s borrowed body and pulled it close for a kiss. “And this one isn’t just for tryin’ on . . . it’s yours. It is the second most beautiful thing on this beach tonight,” he said with a smile as the two kissed.