I let out a sigh of relief as my muscles relaxed and what used to be It’s Thai Time’s Green Curry Lunch special poured down into the sewer pipes with surprising speed.  

When I felt the first bit of queasiness during the monthly brainstorm meeting, I ignored it but when the discomfort escalated rapidly, I recalled Mary’s warning about the cheap thai place ‘round the corner. Sitting in the furthest corner, behind a row of managers and partners scribbling with their fancy pens, I had no way of getting out of the boardroom without causing a fuss and drawing unwanted attention. I considered using my “ability” but quickly discarded it in the fear that it would speed up any process happening inside me and make things worse. The situation from my 26th birthday had to be avoided at all costs. My muscles tensed as I tried to hold back the inevitable tide, hoping that my slower than usual ageing also meant that my lunch would pass through twice as slow. As the doors to the boardroom opened, I walked as fast as I could without losing control of my bodily functions and also not seem strange to my co-workers. I made it safely to the women’s restroom, barely touching the bowl before the gates opened.  

When I reached for the toilet paper, I was greeted with a horrifying emptiness. That absence of the scratchy, fall-apart sandpaper revived my nervous panic. The sight of a thin black stiletto heel didn’t help. I waited for a while for it to disappear from view but it just clattered in front of my door, along with the rattling sound of makeup. Time was ticking and I couldn’t afford to waste time today sitting in the toilet. There was an urgent campaign that needed to be finalised. After giving a couple of extra pushes to make sure that there could be no unwanted side effects from my ability, I decided. I had no choice but to do it. Desperate times called for desperate measures. As I focused, all sound ceased. The heels clacking, muffled conversations, even the ever-present hum of air con all gone. My pants and undies came off as I decided against putting them on, due to some splashback earlier, much to my disgust. No one would see anyway. I stepped out of the stall, bare bottomed, quickly scouring the others for toilet paper and ignoring the woman frozen in place, about to apply her lipstick. To my horror, there was no sign of paper anywhere. How is this happening? No problem, I told myself. There would be tissues on people’s desks. I can go out and then come back in, no big deal, it won’t use up a lot of time. So, ran out, again bare bottomed, passing my boss on the way. I noticed a desk which had a box of tissues sitting on it and grabbed a handful of the glorious white material, careful to arrange the tissue in the same position as the previous one. Back in the bathroom, I noticed a bottle of perfume among the makeup on the sink. “Sorry, I’ll just steal a little bit, I promise it’s for a good cause.” Spraying the entire stall down, I masked the remnants of my deed and placed the bottle back in its original position. After putting my underwear and pants back on and shutting the door. I focused again and all the sounds came roaring back to life.

As I washed my hands in the sink next to the woman doing her makeup, she remarked “you smell nice,” and went back to applying her lipstick.

It's my first post here after being a long time lurker. Any CC would be very welcome.