Tabitha Ch 07 1

Chapter 7

That Sunday night, the four reconvened for their traditional Sunday dinner.

Tabitha wept tears of joy at the table.

It caught her by surprise, as she didn't think of herself as a particularly emotional person. But in just a few short weeks, she had gone from having enjoyable but pedestrian relationships, to suddenly having three beautiful, fulfilling lovers that she felt deeply connected to. It seemed like all the nagging disappointments from her relatively good life had not only vanished, but had been swept aside by a torrent of joy, excitement and transcendent sex.

She couldn't believe that such harmony and deep sexual experience could exist between four souls. After her weekend with Alison, she couldn't conceive of being more vitally connected to another human being. Her weekend with Bradley, while a completely different experience, was as deeply emotional as she could imagine. Coming into the weekend with Maria, she had wondered if it would be an emotional letdown. To the contrary, her weekend with Maria, again while very different, was a revelation. She was grateful and needed Alison, Bradley and Maria to know it.

In a moment, all three of them were in tears along with Tabitha. Before Tabitha, their three person relationship was wonderful. With Tabitha, it felt like a magnet bringing them even closer together. It would be so easy for another entrant into their world to have been disruptive...having Tabitha made everyone feel more committed to what they were experiencing. She brought a harmony to the dynamic that they wouldn't have expected.

After dinner, none of them wanted to return to their respective homes, as was their norm for Sunday evening. Without saying anything aloud, they all felt silently that they needed to be together for another night, as if to honor their weekend and their bonds.

Smiling at the others, Maria wordlessly stood up, removed her earrings and placed them on the dinner table. As she slowly walked away from the table towards the staircase up to Bradley's bedroom, she peeled off her tee shirt and dropped it on the floor, looking back at the others with a teasing look. As she ascended the stairs, she stripped off more clothing, leaving a trail of garments on the stairs. She got to the top of the stairs and then disappeared from view...all the remaining three saw was her bra and panties tossed down the stairs.

Everyone laughed, and knew that that was Maria's invitation for the three to join her in Bradley's big bed. Tabitha rose first, holding her hand out to Alison and Bradley. The three held hands and followed Maria upstairs. In the bedroom, they joined Maria in bed, all of them stripping nude. It had been another rich weekend, and now they ended it with smiles and caresses before falling to sleep in a tangle.

Over the next two week period, Bradley and Alison worked in earnest on the next installment of Bradley's performance art project. The response to the "Armoire Mystery" and "Tunnel of Contours" was immediate and uniformly positive. It had not been at all, though, an assurance that the reaction would be so positive. After all, the performances were essentially public sex acts. Alison had been in the auditory presence of strangers in a public place. Yes, it had been within the private property of Bradley's studio, but there had been no charge for the event, and it was open to the public.

Alison was separated from the audience by just a wood panel, with the closest observers less than three feet from Alison herself. It certainly could have sparked outrage, or some lesser degree of negativity.

Bradley wasn't sure which performance was more daring. Alison's performance, or Maria's "Tunnel of Contours" exhibition. The separation between the observers and the medium was significantly less...that being just a thin layer of fabric. Strangers had been able to feel the breasts, torso, even genitals of a real female form. Suppose if Maria, instead of being suspended in that ceiling compartment amongst many other fabricated forms, had been simply standing alone in a jumpsuit, allowing participants to walk up and feel her up?

Would that have been met with as much acceptance and praise? Probably not.

Of course, the anonymity of the performers had been paramount. Bradley, Alison and Maria, though, had predicted that there would be some effort by others to figure out the identities of the performers. After all, Tabitha had been easily able to deduce that Alison had been the girl in the armoire. Anyone who was sufficiently interested could certainly stake out the gallery, see who came in and out, and at least in Maria's case, compare the proportions of her body to what they had observed.

At the end of the day, nothing could be proven, and Alison and Maria both weren't particularly concerned if someone figured it out. Nonetheless, it was a risk, but a risk worth accepting in their minds...for the sake of presenting the art and the excitement of being part of it.

Tabitha's event would be visual, and potentially the most provocative. Actually allowing patrons to see live sexual activity.

The opening was rapidly approaching. All four were anxious, but excited. While Bradley was getting broad attention in the art world, he had purposefully not responded to interview requests...sometimes silence was the most enticing approach. And it was. The lack of formal publicity was replaced with an impromptu word of mouth dynamic. There had been a buzz forming in the local art community, and it was now spilling over into a broader audience.

That was, in most respects, what Bradley had hoped for, but it did have the potential to develop into something that was more rooted in titillation than in art appreciation. Bradley hoped that it would be worth the risk. To dampen the attention, he put out almost no notices of the upcoming event, which would take place over three evenings during the course of a week...just a small flyer posted on the window facing the street, that said: "Our recent art explorations continue at this spot starting this Tuesday at 9:00 PM. Don't tell anyone..."

Bradley spent some time talking to Tabitha about the project. He explained that the windows facing the street would be lined with a moveable wall of the same height and width of the storefront, and would be comprised of a complex arrangement of wooden slats that could be opened or closed to any angle, and create apertures that could be made as small or large as required. The wood Bradley chose was varied and of visual beautiful. Ebony, cherry, walnut, ironwood, oak and hickory components were interspersed and finely finished. Openings would be carefully chosen to allow glimpses of two models engaged in intimate acts.

As with Alison's and Maria's exhibitions, Tabitha's anonymity would be carefully guarded. Bradley did want to share the visual beauty of Tabitha's body, but he took measures to make sure that she wasn't specifically identifiable...except perhaps to those who knew her naked body thoroughly, which was basically limited to Bradley, Maria and Alison.

For example, he insisted that Tabitha get a spray tan to darken her skin. He had her get temporary, tasteful tattoos on her shoulders, her upper thighs and ribcage. He even bought a high quality chestnut colored wig to disguise her thoroughly. Her face, of course, would never be revealed.

To assure the precision of the openings, the four practiced each scene, and took pictures and videos from the angles that would be made available to the outside viewers.

The four had a fine time debating which three scenes should be offered for viewing.

They all felt that in order to convey authenticity, the scenes should depict acts that Tabitha genuinely found most pleasurable. Since Maria, Bradley and Alison had each personally witnessed, and in fact were responsible for, Tabitha's most intense experiences, they offered suggestions. Tabitha, though, had final say on what she felt would be most reflective of the joy she had found with each of them.

Finally, the first night of the exhibition arrived. The day prior had been a beehive of activity. The storefront windows were thoroughly blocked with heavy drapes while they staged the scene. Not surprisingly, the foot traffic in front of Bradley's property had noticeably increased. The purposefully low-keyed announcement had had the predictable effect. Excitement. By 9:15, a dozen or more audience members had assembled.

In advance of the performance, a small but noticeable sign read, "Photographs and video are prohibited during the performance. Out of respect for the artist or artists, kindly police each other in this regard."

The viewers tucked away their cell phones, not wanting to mar the experience. Bradley had written that note with two things in mind. First, he wanted the experience to be ephemeral, something to be burned into each viewer's consciousness, only retrievable from their own minds. As such, each viewer would essentially see the same thing, but would process it differently depending on their prior experiences, personalities, etc.

Also, this was to further protect the identity of the performer. Videos and photographs could be analyzed at length in an effort to discover identities.

Finally, at 9:45 PM, the drapes were slowly drawn, revealing the artistically pleasing wooden framework, which was highlighted by warm lighting from above. The beautifully rendered paneling was indeed art. At the moment the wooden wall was revealed there were fifty or more viewers assembled along the 20 foot length of the storefront window through which the audience would view the performance.

After a few minutes of anticipation, Bradley slid a two feet high section along the entire lower part of the wall, revealing warm, but ample lighting inside.

Tabitha then slowly walked into the field of view, wearing a green skirt of medium length, with sneakers with short socks. She took her time, as if she had just returned home from a workday and beginning the process of undressing. She turned away from the opening, showing her taught calves, and up to the bottom of her skirt and lean lower thighs. Taking her time, she walked distractedly back and forth, allowing each viewer to leisurely glimpse her beautiful legs.

After a few moments, she paused, her hands distractedly running along the folds of her skirt, as if she was having an intimate thought. The hands disappeared towards her front, leaving the viewers wondering if her hands were wandering elsewhere. She appeared to be fidgeting a bit, which led to more unspoken speculation that perhaps she was fingering herself.

The crowd was hushed, waiting to see the scene unfold. A moment or two later, Tabitha's hands reappeared, clearly reaching under her skirt, finding the elastic of her panties, which she slowly revealed to be plain white bikini panties that she slowly pushed down and let drop to the floor. Her subsequent actions seemed to suggest that she was indeed touching herself under her skirt.

The audience could see the panties clearly. While they couldn't know for sure, they wondered if they were damp. Tabitha's movements certainly exuded an anxious heat, as if she was anticipating that her return home would lead to...something.

Her legs seemed to shiver a little as she paced back and forth. Suddenly, though, she stopped, and though the audience could only see her legs, one could imagine that she was on the phone...walking a few steps, stopping, walking back the other way...then she stopped, as if she was having a conversation and waiting for someone.

Suddenly with a brisk step she strode to the left of the viewing area, stopped, and appeared to open a door. Another pair of female legs appeared. This woman, though, was in loose shorts and strappy heels, and her posture seemed confident. Tabitha, though, appeared anxious, excited and eager to please.

They stood face to face, and one could imagine that a conversation was taking place between them.

After a short while, another panel of the framework was slid to the left, revealing both woman from just above the hip to the bottom of their ribcages. The girls on the right that had removed her panties began to unbutton her top, letting it slide off her shoulders. The blouse appeared on the floor, landing on top of the previously discarded panties.

After removing her top, the girl stood facing her visitor with her arms at her sides, apparently awaiting instructions. The clothed girl on the right moved in a little closer, reached around and unhooked the bra, letting that cascade to the floor in the growing heap of clothing gathering at the increasingly bared girl's feet. After a moment, the clothed girl's hand freely wandered over the exposed skin, across her back, up her arms, and though it couldn't be directly seen, obviously cupped the bared breasts. All the while, the recipient of these attentions stood still with her arms still at her sides, accepting the caresses.

An additional panel was removed, allowing the growing crowd to see from both girls' knees to a level tantalizing high up on each pair of thighs. At last, the nearly naked girl reached behind her back, apparently unzipping her skirt and letting to drop, fully baring herself to the still clothed visitor.

The two stood still for a moment...the inspected and the inspector.

Everyone was invested in the moment and wondering what would happen next. Suddenly, all panels were abruptly slide back into place, leaving the assembled viewers, up to that moment utterly rapt, suddenly having to shake themselves back into the present amongst others. It was a moment that was equally private and shared.

Undoubtedly, most in the group were in some stage of arousal. Each person probably struggled with embarrassment, but also mixed with some conflict. Why should they be embarrassed at arousal which was almost certainly uniformly felt? It would've been very odd not to be, but the notion of shame surrounding sex is so ingrained that each person felt somewhere inside that they should hide their reactions.

Performance art is intended to evoke reactions, uneven uncomfortable reactions. For maybe 90 seconds, the band of voyeurs wrestled internally with the mix of emotions.

Charitably, a panel crisply opened, immediately garnering everyone's attention. Any pretensions of maybe disengaging from that voyeurism were quickly dispensed with. No one, despite the internal conflicts, opted to leave the scene. Everyone intently returned to being riveted to the story that was unfolding.

Someone breathlessly murmured, "thank God" and there were a few chuckles.

They were all in this together, uniformly admitting to their enjoyment in watching a naked, beautiful girl willingly offering herself to a clothed, more dominant figure.

And that was the point. A lot of art critics try to build a story to explain modern art. What is the hidden meaning to be unraveled. Here the message was clear. Beauty is beauty, sex is sex, arousal is arousal. The scene and the timing were intended to dispense with pretenses. If someone was offended, she or he was free to leave. There was nothing presented that was more provocative than many advertisements seen on broadcast television. No one left. All were engaged and ready for more.

On the other side of the framework of course, was Tabitha. The story had been hers to construct. She wanted to convey the nervousness, the joy, and ultimately, the deep pleasure when she had laid herself bare to Alison. As such, it was Alison that was to be her partner in this first scene.

Thus far into the scene, the nervousness, the vulnerability in being bared, had been shown. The coda, the climax, would be to convey the deep pleasure. The four had talked about it at length and had arrived at the way to show the power of the experience while carefully protecting the privacy of the principals.

First, the bottom panels were slid to the left, revealing the still clothed Alison on her knees, from her high heels to the bottom of her blouse, her arms obviously upraised as they were not visible with in the viewable frame.

Second, a vertical frame to Alison's right opened up, revealing just long chestnut colored hair hanging from about three feet high down to nearly the floor. The hair swayed from the motion of Tabitha's head. It was clear that Tabitha was laid back on a table, with Alison knelt down in front of Tabitha's spread legs. Of course, this could only be inferred from the slivers of view, the context of what had been seen before, and the way that the movement of the hair coincided with the Alison's movement.

The viewers knew what they were watching. While it was certainly staged, it didn't look fake. The luxurious amount of time Alison lavished on naked Tabitha portrayed a relaxed, generous pace. Given the number of people witnessing and the limited field of view, the crowd now needed to work together to assure that everyone got to see through the two panels.

The crowd was in this together, they were complicit in viewing this secret moment.

After a few moments, a thin sliver was pulled horizontally to the right. This was a daring, tantalizing move, as it bared the full expanse of Tabitha's skin pressed against the table, from her upper thighs to where her butt contacted the table, to her lean back, to her shoulders...terminating at the base of her neck. Just three vertical inches were shown, but that three inches confirmed what was only suggested before.

There was a naked woman reclined on her back with a clothed woman kneeling between her legs giving obvious pleasure. Alison's hand would appear, grasping the sides of Tabitha's upper thighs and butt. Tabitha's back would arch in response to Alison's increasing pace. A sheen appeared on Tabitha's skin as the Alison's pace and Tabitha's urgency quickened.

Tabitha's hand appeared at her side, alternately clenching and pressing flat against the table...her body movements clearly signaling an impending climax. Her long brunette wig swaying more feverishly. Suddenly a vertical slat was removed that revealed Tabitha's flat, toned stomach shuttering. Then, finally, her abs clenched in obvious orgasm, her back arching in rhythm with the contractions in her convulsing pussy. As the climax ebbed, Tabitha's stomach heaved with each panting breath, which slowed as she came back down to earth.

Finally, there was one last heavy sigh, her thighs lowered to table level, and she began to turn to her side which the crowd hoped would offer one additional glimpse of her backside. As she turned, the lights dimmed to black. One light remained to the left, which showed Alison's still clothed legs facing the recovering Tabitha.

As the lighting faded to dark, she could be seen removing her shoes, implying that this was only the start of a their lovemaking. The remaining light was dowsed, and the drapes descended, concluding the show.

The crowd tried to find a way to return to the present, and to conventional mores, somewhat unsuccessfully. In a moment, a woman in the crowd muttered, "I need a drink." Laughter spread...some gathered with the woman in search of a nearby bar, other dispersed to wherever.

Inside, Tabitha quickly threw on sweatpants and a tee-shirt, and the three hustled to the back door of the studio facing an alley. Bradley's gallery owner friend had agreed to wait out back with an SUV...allowing the four to pile in, duck their heads and exit. They had anticipated that there would be viewers that would want to congratulate the artist, or to gawk at the participants. As it happened, there was no one there, but they felt the caution was worth the effort in order to protect Alison's and Tabitha's privacy.

Everyone whooped in celebration. The show had come off perfectly.

Alison campily licked her lips and said that she was happy to be the paint on Tabitha's canvass. Tabitha was quiet, but excited. She was enthralled with the notion that she was the subject of voyeurs' gazes. She correctly believed that there would be several satisfying orgasms on the part of the viewers...either alone or with others, thinking back on what they had seen. She was also happy that she was able to have a genuinely pounding orgasm, herself. She had wondered if she'd be able to authentically convey her joy of being with Alison that first time.