I gently fluttered open my eyes. Shafts of light burned through my lashes. I groan. It's Monday morning already.

A head appeared from underneath a pile of duvet.

"I'm up!" She yelled at the computer. The woman stretched her legs out and yawned. It had clearly been a long night. After staggering into the bathroom, she peered in the mirror. She grabbed a flannel and wiped away yesterday's crusty mascara off her long dark eyelashes. Her heavy dark eyes looked back at her. She sighed. She was nowhere near the blue-eyed girl that everyone likes. She had tried dying her hair blonde a while back and you could still see the light streaks running through her glossy chestnut hair. It wasn't the blonde she'd been hoping for but her streaky hair suited her. Picking up a hairbrush she began her daily debate, as to whether or not to chop off her hair completely to save her the trouble off brushing it out. She winced as she hit another knot. Lopping it off really did seem appealing right now. Meara proceeded to turn on the sonic shower. Whether or not she had the time to, she needed a shower. That's when she heard the knocking on her door...

"What now?" She grumbled. She looked down. She couldn't answer the door looking like this however tempting it might be. She picked up an oversized hoodie off the floor and then shouted at the door to come in. The door opened and in walked the ship's first officer. Black scruffy hair and the softest brown eyes. Most of the female crew considered Commander Grey extremely handsome. Our hero, however, could not care less about her pretty boy boss.

"Morning Commander Grey," she said. He looked at her closely before speaking. She was barely awake. He couldn't help but wonder if she knew she had a hairbrush hanging off her hair.

"You're late Lieutenant Meara."

Meara's face dropped. She hadn't been expecting that. As far as she was concerned she was perfectly on time. Yet another discipline seemed to lurk on the horizon. Meara had struggled to get where she was. A lot of the old prejudices against women were still very much held in the Federation despite centuries of gender equality in our species. The ferengui didn't help either with their ideas of an ideal woman either. After a while, it got a little tiring being looked down upon simply because she was a woman.

"I'm sorry I must have overslept. It won't happen again." She said knowing full well it would. Commander Grey smiled. They both knew it would. He liked Callie Meara. She was a straight-up girl. Most of the time... He walked to the replicator and ordered a coffee.

"Here get this down you. And I'll cover you until you're on the bridge." Meara smiled and took the coffee. Grey paused before leaving and walked back over to the Lieutenant. He removed the hairbrush from the back of her head and placed it down on the table. Meara frowned looking immensely confused. She looked at the brush with childish suspicion. It must be following her. She shook her head and walked back over to the shower. Best not keep Grey covering for too long.

***

Meara walked down the corridor to the turbolift. She hated the damn thing but she was in a rush to get to the bridge before she upset Grey. Usually, she would take the Jeffries tubes to wherever she needed to go, much to the amusement of her colleagues. She could feel her heart pumping as she stepped onto it. Her fear wasn't actually down to agoraphobia or claustrophobia. It was more a fear of falling. She grabbed the handrail and ordered the lift to go to the bridge. Unfortunately, it wasn't Meara's lucky day.