Switched, Bothered and Bewildered by Suzanne Macpherson

table she and her husband, Teo, had set for them was picture-perfect, on a brick patio covered with a rustic twig canopy, draped in climbing roses and wisteria. Dean did date good.
    Teo poured them a glass of white wine. He asked her a few questions about the food, whether she liked capers, and if she was allergic to anything. Mighty thoughtful. No menu, she guessed, just a surprise. Teo shook Dean's hand again, and Fran left a warm basket of bread, olive oil with balsamic vinegar, and the bottle of wine for them to enjoy.
    Nice folks. When Dean had introduced her as Jana Lee, Jillian had felt sick. She closed her eyes and let the sun warm her face as she sat back in the cushions of her wicker chair. She sipped her wine. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was lying her head off to nice people, she'd have found the relaxation she was looking for. She opened her eyes briefly and saw that Dean was drinking his wine, relaxing and watching her intently.
    She closed her eyes again. Maybe she'd wake up and find herself in a nice office somewhere with a budget to balance. Maybe Dean would turn into a really horrible date and start hassling the help and acting like he was God's gift to the universe in-
    stead of being a very interesting, talented guy with great taste.
    Maybe she'd just let guilt overcome her and melt her onto the brick patio in a pool of bad-girl ooze like the wicked witch of the west in The Wizard ofOz.
    6
    Sister Twister
    cx?
    Gloria Kissinger was not related to Henry which would no doubt have helped her chances with the Hawks family and her relationship with Jackson. The humiliation she felt at his disinterest in her after their perfect night was more than she could stand, and yet she was still compelled to correct his thinking on that score. He just didn't realize how good she'd be as a mate. Or how much better she could do the comptroller job than Jillian Tompkins. Gloria was all about control.
    But to have Jillian move in and take both spots was just beyond Gloria's ability to bear. Her only solace was that Jackson was prone to losing interest in women extremely quickly. Perhaps another week and he'd dump her like he did all the others.
    If there was one thing her harsh, demanding father had taught her, it was that vigilance paid off. She'd been watching Jillian very closely at every meeting, every coffee break, every company holiday bash and Softball game for the past two years.
    Gloria had actually taken a special personal day to celebrate when Jillian had cracked up and tried to pound the vending machine into submission. But now something was up with Jillian Tompkins.
    When she'd returned, Gloria had spotted a significant difference right away. No way had she rounded out that much in one week. No way had she turned all soft and nice in one week. Was she the only one with a brain around here? That just simply wasn't Jillian Tompkins, it just looked like her.
    That made Gloria's mind reel with all sorts of sci-fi possibilities—had Jillian been cloned? Was she a robot? Gloria had always thought the term artificial intelligence applied well to Jillian. Gloria decided she'd been watching too many Deep Space Nine reruns. It hadn't taken much poking around to find out Jillian Tompkins had a twin sister. One Google search had brought up their former child-star status.
    Whatever was going on, Gloria decided it was in her best interest to continue to observe and stay quiet, although it gave her a twitch in her left eyelid to know that the Tompkins office had received a huge flower delivery this morning. What had
    that imposter woman done to deserve that, she wondered?
    The office was full of flowers: big, huge, extremely fragrant, blousy, romantic, white lilies. Jana Lee saw Ollie peering out between two large crystal vases.
    "Apparently your date went well?" Ollie commented more than asked.
    "Sort of. He's a bit of an arrogant ass." Jana Lee stood in front of Ollie's desk like she was in the principal's