‘There you are! We’ve been looking for you. Where have you been?’ asked Maureen.
‘What have you done to my hair?’ asked Liz, when she saw her body looking quite dishevelled.
‘Waiting for you to come and change me back. I haven’t left Liz’s room until just now’
‘We were knocking. You didn’t answer so we came down here to look for you. Roger felt like a drink so we chose this spot to wait for you. We can watch the both the front and back entrances of the hotel’
‘I must have been in the shower’ Roger decided to not say what he had been doing in the shower.
‘I can understand. You feel so dirty after a long trip’ said Liz ‘But you should have dried and brushed my hair. I don’t go around looking so unkempt’
‘Well you are welcome to take the hair back and do whatever you like with it. Where were you last night? I thought we were going to swap back as soon as we arrived’
‘We came to your room but you were sound asleep on the bed. We didn’t have the heart to wake you’ said Liz
‘Actually, that is something. If you are going to be a single woman in a hotel room you need to make sure your door is securely locked. Lucky it was us who knocked on your door and not some random stranger’ added Maureen
‘Well I’m not planning to be a single woman for too much longer. How about we head back up to the room now and you swap me back’
‘We’ve actually ordered lunch at the bar. It should be arriving soon. Why don’t you join us? Here’s a menu’ Maureen handed Roger the menu.
‘I think you will find you would enjoy the Caesar salad’ suggested Liz. ‘You acquire the tastes of the body you occupy’
‘I didn’t think you normally drank beer’
‘It seems I do when I’m Roger’
‘Sit down and enjoy a glass of Cava, It’s the local Champagne. You’ll love it!’ Maureen was holding up her own glass. She waved to the barman who approached. ‘My friend will have a Caesar salad and a glass of Cava. Actually get a bottle of the Cava and another beer for Roger’
‘Si Senora’
So Roger sat down and enjoyed a late lunch. He did enjoy the Caesar salad and Cava. He also had a chance to ask more about the medallion.
‘So for how long have you had this medallion?’
‘About two months. Liz found it at a garage sale. It only cost a dollar. I don’t think the woman knew what she had’
‘I didn’t believe the note when I first read it. I only bought the thing as a lark. And even then you didn’t select it as the best bargain of the day’ added Liz. The giggle he gave sounded too effeminate coming from the Roger body.
‘But then by accident we found that it was magic. Can you remember the day when Liz gave you a kiss in the shed? It was that day. I was in the Liz body’
‘Oh..’
‘Then there was the day you made love to Liz. Guess who that was?’
‘I guess that explains things’
‘But we found out it does more than just swap bodies. If you touch a piece of worn clothing with it you change into the last person who wore that clothing. We both made ourselves younger. We don’t just look younger. We are both actually in our 30’s once more. I wore the dress that I got badly sunburnt in when the kids were little. That was my skin peeling. It wasn’t really a magic cream. It was the magic medallion’
‘I would find all this hard to believe if it wasn’t for the fact I’m currently proof that it works. When were you planning to let me in on this little secret?’
‘I told her to tell you when we first discovered what it could do, but Maureen wanted to keep it a surprise for you on this trip’
Maureen continued ‘When we change you back it won’t be into this body’ She indicated “Roger” ‘We have a younger version of Roger, from when you still playing basketball. I guess you are about 33. The only problem is you have a black eye’
‘A black eye?’
‘It’s fading. It was the best we could do. Anyway, that’s why I told you not to pack too much. We plan to buy a whole new wardrobe for “Young Roger”. Remember when you actually had a six-pack?’
‘That sounds exciting. Do you mean I will actually be 33 again?’
‘Yes, though your driver’s license and passport won’t change. But it will be the exact same body you had at 33’
‘But what happens when we go home? I will have to be old again’
‘That’s up to you. We plan to keep these bodies. Maybe Roger can also discover the magical skin cream that makes him appear years younger?’
‘Sounds exciting. I can’t wait to see the new young me’
‘Well drink up girl. We have a bottle of Cava to finish’