Leah wasn't very happy when her company closed her office and reassigned everyone as remote workers two years earlier. She enjoyed the personal interactions of working in the office and found that it gave a welcome separation between her work and personal life.
When the change happened, she found an article about remote work and how to best approach it. She took the article's advice and did her best to treat every day like she was heading to the office. She got up, showered and dressed in business casual clothes and did her best to maintain professional habits. She supposed it helped with productivity, but it left her feeling like she was playing a role, rather than going to work.
As time wore on, she fell into a much more casual routine. Most days, she worked in either her pajamas or a tee shirt and shorts. Not often, but there were occasions where she only wore the tee shirt.
The one major change to her life was that she stopped wearing underwear, especially bras. It helped that she was fairly athletic, and her b cup breasts were just fine without additional support. The comfort more than made up for the minor nod to modesty. One day she woke up and realized she hadn't worn them for any reason in a year and simply threw them all away.
She took a little more care with her appearance when the company began requiring web cameras for meetings, on the theory that it "personalized" the experience, and everyone would feel more connected. All it really meant was that most people wore a nicer shirt, and did their best to look more attentive. Leah made a concerted effort to wear shirts that didn't immediately highlight her braless state.
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The house she shared with her friend Paige was too small for a dedicated office space, so she spent her day with her laptop working at the dining room table. She had a nice view of the back garden through the sliding glass door. It was a lot more interesting that the tedious status meeting she was attending.
She did her best to appear engaged as the quarterly status meeting dragged on. She had to give an update for her team, but all in all, she was struggling to see any value in the call.
Even worse, it was a very warm day in early July, and the old air conditioner stopped working earlier that morning. Every window in the house was open, but the day was already uncomfortably hot and humid. Perspiration was already causing her tee shirt to stick to her skin and the tabletop fan was struggling to keep her cool. The dark fabric hid all this from her web camera, but she regretted her wardrobe choice. At least her thin shorts were more breathable, and nobody on the call could see how loose they were. She couldn't wait for her daily calls to be over so she could change into a more comfortable tank top.
It was going to be a struggle waiting until the landlord could get a new air conditioning unit installed...
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Paige listened to her friend's call in the other room, and suppressed a giggle. She'd decided to liven up Leah's day and play a little prank on her. She stood there wearing nothing but a pair of headphones and carefully schooled her face to an oblivious expression.
She pretended to listen to music on her phone and casually walked through the dining room to the small kitchen, making sure the sway of her naked buttocks was clearly visible. She looked down at her phone while reaching in the cupboard for a cup. She glanced up to see what reaction she'd gotten just as Leah stopped mid-sentence in her presentation and turned around to look at her naked friend.
"What are you doing? I'm on a work call!"
Paige turned and mimed as if she couldn't hear her, and lifted one side of the headphones, while simultaneously turning fully towards Leah and her web camera, displaying her large breasts and her taut, hairless body.
"What?"
"You're on camera!"
"Oh. Hi everyone!" She waved with a cheerful smile. "AC is broken!"
She turned back to the refrigerator, and took out a pitcher of water, filling her glass. She picked it up, and just as casually as she entered, slowly sauntered out of the room.
She heard Leah talking in the background, apologizing to the team for the interruption and desperately trying to get the conversation back in focus.
She was sitting in the living room, still naked, laughing quietly to herself when Leah came storming in.
"What the hell was that all about?"
"What? You didn't find that funny?"
"It doesn't matter, I don't want to get fired."
"Don't be silly, they can't fire you. First of all, it was me, not you, second, the law is on your side. Haven't you been paying attention to the news?"
Paige was referring to the recent passage of the Body Freedom Act, which effectively legalized public nudity throughout the country. A few years ago, it would have been hard to believe, but it was now against the law to discriminate against a person for their clothes free lifestyle.
"So? It's still going to make things weird with my coworkers."
"If anyone asks, just tell them your roommate has embraced the new laws, and never wears clothes. Oh, a better idea! Tell them we are both nudists when the camera is off!"
"Oh god... I have to get back to work, we'll talk about it later."
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None of Leah's coworkers mentioned the on-camera show. She thought she'd gotten away with it until she received a message after lunch, inviting her to a call with Maria from Human Resources.
She reluctantly accepted the call request, and turned on her laptop camera. She viewed the smiling face on her computer screen with trepidation. She applied what she hoped was a professional looking smile on her face and said "hi."
The woman looking back at her on the screen appeared to be in her mid-thirties, pretty, with shoulder-length dark curly hair.
"Hi Leah, thanks for taking my call on such short notice. First, I want to set your mind at ease. You're not even remotely in trouble! The company fully complies with the new Body Freedom legislation."
"That's a relief, I don't know what came over my roommate! She's normally a little more subtle than that."
"Well, there's nothing wrong with the human body! I promise you."
"So, if I'm not in trouble, what is this about?"
"I'm glad you asked! One of my roles is to act as liaison and advocate for company policies applicable to the Body Freedom Act. When I receive a notification of incidents like your call today, it's my job to investigate, and to help you as necessary."
"Oh. Interesting. I'm not sure there's much to say. My roommate has embraced the new law and spends as much time as she can in the nude."
"I see, that's your friend. What about you? Sorry if these are a bit personal, you can decline to answer anything you're not comfortable with."
"Thanks, ask away. I honestly haven't thought about it much, but I'm not against it."
"Okay, great! First things first. The purpose of this interview is to determine whether you are interested in Nudist status under the Body Freedom Act. This has implications outside of work, but will, in effect, give you legally protected status as a declared nudist."
Leah was taken aback. She wasn't looking for this, she was just trying to be polite in her relief at not being in trouble. She was about to object, when the fact that her air conditioning was currently broken, just as the summer was starting. She decided to see what came next.
"Okay, let's see where this goes." She heard herself saying.
"Excellent! Do you mind if I get comfortable? You can feel free to do the same."
She nodded, not quite understanding until Maria pulled her shirt over her head, revealing a large pair of breasts, capped with dark nipples about the size of quarters.
Okay, I didn't expect that!
she thought.
After a brief pause, she pulled off the sweaty tee shirt, sighing in relief as the air from the fan blew across her newly exposed skin. She stood up and hooked her thumbs in the elastic waistband of her shorts, dropping them to the floor. For a brief second, her mind quailed at the realization that Maria was getting a full view of her untrimmed pubic hair. She quickly sat down and smiled wanly at the camera.
"That's so much better! So, I guess that partially answers what I was going to ask, but let me get to the official questions for the application. First, are you interesting in applying for nudist status under the Body Freedom Act?"
Leah hesitated for a moment, then said "Is there an expectation that I would be nude all the time?"
"Generally, yes, but it's not like it's a legal obligation. The law recognizes that it is not always possible. We at the company comply with the law, and also realize this isn't necessarily a full time thing. We are just making sure to protect your choices."
"Well, in that case, sure. I am interested in pursuing this." She felt a flutter in her stomach as the implications sank in.
Do I really want to be naked?
As she thought about it, she realized that as time had gone on, she was wearing less and less in the name of 'comfort.' Since she'd never talked about it with Paige -- who honestly HADN'T been spending time naked, she'd been careful not to overexpose herself. Until that morning, it never occurred to her that Paige would be good with it.
"Okay, onto the rest of the interview questions then. Do you regularly find yourself nude, either in private or in front of others?"
"In private, sure, but other than in settings like a changing room, or with a significant other, no, not very much."
"Oh! Does this make you uncomfortable then?"
She thought about it for a moment. In fact, while she was a little nervous at her current vulnerability, she wasn't really uncomfortable, it was just a new experience. She answered with an honesty that surprised her. "No, not really, there's nothing wrong with this, it's just not something I've done much of. Don't worry about it."
"Okay. That leads to the next question then. Are you uncomfortable being nude in front of strangers?"
Leah flashed a quick grin. "I guess it depends on the circumstances. I haven't really thought too much about it, but it's not like you and I really know each other."
The questions went on for another fifteen minutes or so. At the end, Maria said "I think I can fast track the application by the end of the day. Don't feel obligated to dress for the rest of the workday, as long as you don't have any meetings. Once the status goes through, you will be tagged in the HR system as a registered nudist. This will allow the IT folks to add you to the filter group, so that people who object will not have your nudity displayed to them."
Leah felt a tingle of excitement, realizing that while it may have been a prank, Paige had set her down the path to working naked at home. If nothing else, she could get a lot more comfortable in the stiflingly warm house.
"That sounds good. I don't have any other scheduled calls for the day."
"All right. I'll email you in a few minutes with a recap, and your rights under the new designation. I'm also obligated to tell you that you are not required to register at all, but it does provide you with protections and some perks as well. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions."
"Thanks Maria, I will."
The call ended, and she leaned back in the chair. She let out a deep breath, and gasped in realization at what she'd done. It's not that she was obligated to be naked, but now everyone in the company would see her that way.
