“Can you believe it!” Krista practically yelled, “the ladies toilets in our department closed for a whole day! Just because some stupid teenagers decide to clog all the stalls, I have to spend the entire day tomorrow walking halfway across the building if I need a piss!” She snarled.
“That really sucks babe” Mark replied, “some kids just have no respect for public places.”
“Yeah, tell me about it” Krista grumbled, “the whole bathroom flooded, and the plumbers won’t be able to start until it’s been cleaned properly. Of course the gents is fine, not that anybody in our department uses them! We’re all women there” she sighed.
“Why don’t you just use them instead?” Mark asked as he took a bite of his food.
“Because there’s no cubicles, just a couple of urinals” Krista said, “otherwise we would” she added.
“Well at least it’s only for one day” Mark shrugged.
“True, but it’s still a pain in the ass” Krista replied, “how’d you’re meeting with Eric the editor go?”
“Came back with more work than when I went in” Mark sighed, “apparently the focus readers didn’t think my female lead was believable enough. Feedback was that it was lacking in ‘female perspective’” he added, using finger quotes to punctuate the end of his sentence.
“So what does that mean for you?” Krista asked.
“Means I’ve got to re-write half the bloody thing” Mark replied, taking a vicious bite out of his food.
“Aww, I’m sorry to hear that” Krista said with a soft smile, “I know you felt proud of what you’d written”
“Yeah, like you said, ‘pain in the ass’” Mark replied, “I don’t mind constructive criticism, but I prefer it to be less vague” he added with another shrug.
Once they’d eaten, they retired to the living room to watch some tv, before deciding they’d had enough of an awful day and headed to bed.
The following morning Mark awoke to find the bed empty, but could hear sounds of movement from down in the kitchen. He rolled out of bed and pulled his dressing gown on and headed downstairs. Krista was already dressed in a loose black and white checked dress, patterned tights, and a smart pair of heels. She placed a cup of tea on the table and sat down.
“Morning babe” Mark yawned, “you’re up early” he added groggily.
“Yeah,” Krista replied, “couldn’t get back to sleep so I thought I’d beat you to the shower, plus I want to get in early, I’m waiting on some files to be sent to me” she added.
“Anything exciting?” Mark asked, pouring himself a cup.
“Hopefully,” Krista smirked, “I’ll tell you about it later, but I’ll most likely be working late tonight.” she added with a wink.
“Oooh secretive!” Mark chuckled. Not long after Krista said her goodbyes and headed off to work. Mark decided to head into his study and booted up his computer. He opened the manuscript he was working on and folded his arms.
“Female perspective” he muttered, “how in the hell am I supposed to figure that out…” he trailed off as thought came to his mind. He remembered something in the note that came with the medallion, something about using new clothing. He didn’t want to skew his writing by using a borrowed body, but if he could make his own…
“No, we promised we wouldn’t use it without each other” he said to remind himself. He started at the words on the screen for an another 15 minutes, but nothing was coming to him. He glanced at the clock, which told him it was 8:45.
“But then again, if she’s working late, I’d have time” he mused.
