Risten Riss a Lot to Pay a Debt!

"I can't believe you were crazy enough to make another bet like that with Dave," Tina told Kristen as they had lunch on a summery Friday afternoon in May. "I mean, you had to know he'd insist on a penalty involving you being naked somewhere inappropriate if you lost!"

"Yeah, I guess that should have been easy to predict," Kristen replied, "but in my defense, Gonzaga hadn't lost a game all season; I thought letting him decide what my penalty would be wasn't going to matter since there was no way the Zags were going to lose! And technically the task he's given me to do doesn't necessarily require me to get naked."

"Maybe not, but based on what you've told me it seems likely you're going to end up showing a fair amount of skin before you're done, but maybe that's what you hoped might happen?" Tina chuckled, then laughed out loud as she saw how her joking accusation made her friend blush.

"I won't lie, ever since Dave had me do that first dare on the roof of our building, I've enjoyed doing an occasional flash," Kristen admitted, a bit sheepishly, "but what little he's told me about his plan is beginning to make me nervous. He's hinted that the location might be a little closer to home than I'd like, considering how likely it will be that people might be able to see me!"

"If you're that worried, I'm sure he'd give you a safer alternative," Tina suggested.

"As far as I can tell from what he's told me, I should be perfectly safe the whole time, just risking serious embarrassment if things don't break in my favor," Kristen replied.

"You mean you don't even know the whole plan yet? No wonder you're nervous!" Tina said, "And what's this about things not breaking in your favor? You make it sound random."

"It kind of is, he says, at least in theory. I could end up all dressed up, ready for a nice dinner out. It's also possible I could end up completely naked in a very public setting. He's picked out the place and time, but says I don't get to know where or when until just before it takes place. The uncertainty is making me crazy, but he's hinted that 'the big night' will be coming up before too much longer! The suspense is probably making me imagine something more outrageous than he actually has planned.

"Not unless you have a pretty wild imagination," Tina thought, but chose not to say.

Wish me luck!" Kristen said as they crossed the street heading back to their office.

"Good luck!" Tina replied.

Both women went back to their respective workspaces, but only for long enough to gather up a few things they planned on working on at home over the weekend. The office had begun its usual switch to summer hours, giving everyone Friday afternoon off. Other than a few IT guys doing software updates in the quiet office, the place was empty by 1:30. The last IT guy was headed for home well before 4:00.

Kristen changed into some workout wear as soon as she got home and headed out to the gym for some exercise, then went home for a luxuriously long shower and a late afternoon nap.

Kristen napped until Dave arrived home, waking when she heard him come in the door. Seeing her in a baggy t-shirt and some frayed gym shorts, he said, "You look like you feel like staying in tonight."

"Well, we didn't discuss going out tonight, so I dressed for comfort, not style," Kristen replied.

"I should have said something earlier, but I was thinking we haven't been to Pablo's in months," he said, adding, "If you'd rather stay home and watch something on Netflix we can go some other..." before being cut off.

"I'm happy to get changed if it means getting some good Tex-Mex. I'll go make myself presentable while you make a reservation!" Kristen replied enthusiastically. She hopped up from the couch and gave Dave a welcome home kiss which almost made him think twice about going out, then headed for the bedroom, peeling her shirt off before she was out of the living room.

Half an hour and several rejected outfits later, Kristen was ready to go, having settled on a gold button-down blouse, a slightly short, pleated, black silk skirt, sheer black stockings, and open-toed black heels. "Wow!" Dave said when she came out from the bedroom, "We should go to Pablo's more often! Stay right there," he asked, and took several photos of her. The way her outfit showed off her fit but curvy figure, he knew he was going to be having dinner with the sexiest woman in Pablo's, or any other restaurant he could think of. Kristen returned to their bedroom to put on her best big night out makeup, not overdone, but definitely not her everyday look. Dave spent a few minutes at his laptop while he waited.

The night was warmer than usual for early May, so Kristen suggested they put up with a little wind noise; with the top of their Miata down, they headed across town towards Pablo's. Kristen didn't hear her phone ringing, but when they were stopped at a red light she noticed she had a new voicemail from Tina. She returned the call, holding the phone tight to her ear. Dave could only hear Kristen's side of the conversation, but that was enough to give him a pretty good idea who was on the other end of the line.

"Hi, you called?

'No, we're going out to dinner.'

'What do you need?'

'Sure, we're near there now.'

'You'll pick it up tomorrow? Not too early, I hope!'

'See you then."

"Can we spare a few minutes to pick something up at my office as a favor for Tina?" Kristen asked.

"Sure, I guess. The earliest reservation I could get is over an hour from now; I thought we'd hang out at the bar while we waited anyway, so a short detour isn't a problem." Dave answered, "What does she need you to do?

"Just bring home some files in a big FedEx box at her desk; it shouldn't be hard to find."

Dave turned towards the building Kristen's office was in; in just a couple of minutes, they pulled into the parking garage below the building. Their car was the only one in sight, not a surprise on a Friday night, especially since the two largest tenant spaces were vacant. The single largest tenant had gone to 100% remote work and another large tenant had gone bankrupt, leaving Kristen and Tina's firm as the only tenant of any size until the landlord could find some new tenants. Kristen and Dave walked up the stairs leading to the lobby to get to the elevators serving the offices in the 18 story building.

The lobby was striking, a vast two-story glassed in space, opening onto a courtyard between the two wings of the building. Four glass-walled elevators were located at the wall facing the courtyard; one just for the two floors of the building bordering the lobby and three serving the rest of the building. The floor directly above the lobby level could also be reached by climbing up the elegant curved stair in the center of the space.

As Kristen and Dave rose above the ground floor on the one elevator in service at that hour, they noticed a stage set up in the courtyard, with a woman giving a speech. They couldn't make out what she was saying, but Kristen remembered seeing a memo advising employees that the building's lobby entrance from the courtyard would be locked because there was going to be a fundraiser for the county Zoo in the courtyard that night. "Well, that explains all the animal masks, "Dave laughed, "as they both noticed almost everyone dressed in black tie while wearing various masks. There were dozens of different species represented; elephants, tigers, and gorillas seemed particularly popular.

Kristen loved the Zoo and all of its residents, visiting it often. "Maybe we can stop on our way out and make a contribution?" she asked Dave.

"Absolutely, we can give them something if you'd like to," he answered.

When they reached the 14th floor, where Tina's office and Kristen's cubicle were located, Kristen found the package Tina had told her about. She was about to pick it up when she noticed a note taped to the box; a note from Tina, addressed to Kristen! She pulled the note off and read it, initially confused by its presence in the first place, thinking, "why would Tina have left me a note this afternoon on a package and ask me to pick it up several hours later? The first sentence of the note went a long way towards explaining what was happening.

The note read, "Sorry for the subterfuge; the contents of the box are meant for you, from your devious husband. I haven't opened the box, so I don't actually know what's inside. I'm guessing this is about the bet you lost, but all I really know is Dave wanted you to have what's inside, and wanted you to be here at a specific date and time. I hope you enjoy whatever he has planned for you, best wishes!"

"Okay, what's this about?" Kristen demanded.

"It's about it being time for you to pay the price for being so confident Gonzaga couldn't possibly lose," Dave said, grinning, "everything you'll need to pay off your debt is either in the box or part of your outfit. Everything, except possibly some audacity."

"Is this whole setup just a way of getting me naked?" she asked, not sure what answer she was hoping for.

"The odds DO favor you being at least somewhat exposed, but there is a chance you'll escape without showing off much more of your body than you are doing right now. I'm going downstairs now to wait for you; if you have any questions not already answered by what's in the box, my phone will be on the whole time until we're together again."

"You're just going to leave me here?" Kristen asked, furious and intrigued in roughly equal measure.

"Everything you need,..."

"I know, I know, it's all in the box." Kristen fumed. Dave went back to the elevator; she tore open the box dumping the contents out on Tina's desk.

"That's it?" she shouted to the empty office. All she saw was a lightweight, fairly short trench coat and a large canvas tote bag; whatever Dave had planned was still a mystery. The only scenario which seemed likely by what she saw so far was outrageous enough, to be sure. She wondered if her hubby was hoping she'd strip down, putting most or maybe ALL of her clothing in the tote bag and go on to the restaurant wearing only the coat? "That does sound kind of hot," she whispered to herself, "but it doesn't seem complicated enough for Dave."

Kristen picked up the coat and gave it a shake to get the wrinkles out and saw a large envelope drop out. "This is definitely it," she thought as she picked up the envelope. The envelope marked "For Kristen." She felt a shiver as she tried to imagine what kind of scenario her husband had set up for her, pausing a moment, then excitedly tearing the envelope open. Out fell a single sheet of paper, a tiger mask, and three dice. She began reading the longish note, printed in Dave's typical neat style...

"Kristen, my love, you really shouldn't make bets with open-ended penalties, but I do love that you do, as long as it's with me!

Instructions and rules:

Please take off whatever top (blouse, sweater, etc.) and bottom (skirt, pants, shorts, etc.) you're currently wearing and place them in the tote bag. No other clothing needs to be removed at this point, but going forward any part of your outfit you take off should also go in the tote after it comes off you.

Put on the coat and mask; you might want to be anonymous at some point soon!

Bring the tote bag, dice, and your phone to the elevator. Call it to your current floor and get in. Set a timer on your phone for 15 minutes, but don't start it yet. Prop your phone up in a corner of the elevator so we can have a Facetime call at some point.

Your task is as follows: Start the timer and roll the dice, then go to whatever floor number matches the total roll of the dice. Once you reach the floor selected, you are to either take off one item of clothing if you are at an even-numbered floor, or put one on if you're at an odd-numbered floor. Once you've made whatever adjustment to your outfit is called for, repeat the process. If you get all the way through 6 cycles before the 15 minutes are over, you have the option of being done, whatever you are or are not wearing.

If you continue past the first six cycles, whether by default because you took longer than 15 minutes or simply because you didn't want to quit just yet, toss one of the dice into the tote bag and tackle the next 6 cycles using the two remaining. By starting again, you are committing to finishing the entire new group of cycles before you can be done (assuming you make it through the new group in less than the new 15-minute interval).

If you are continuing after the second group of 6 cycles, toss another die in the tote and continue as before.

This random, dice dictated process is to go on until you either finish one of the groups of 6 cycles in less than15 minutes and opt out, OR the dice were unkind and you've lost all of your clothes! If you find yourself facing complete nudity, you may take the option to sacrifice your mask in place of whatever final piece of clothing is left, in hope that some good luck is just around the corner.

If at any point you DO end up completely naked, take the elevator all the way down to the lobby. When you reach the ground floor, press the button for the 18th floor, then step out of the elevator, into the lobby. Place the tote bag on the security checkpoint counter, leaving everything you've placed in the tote inside. Go back to the elevator and call it back down from the 18th floor, get in and take it all the way up to the 18th floor. Step out of the elevator, wait for the doors to close, then press the call button and get in for your last elevator trip of the evening. Press the buttons for EVERY floor and stand in the middle of the elevator facing the courtyard until you reach the first floor. Get off the elevator on the 1st floor (don't forget your phone) and walk down the grand staircase to the lobby. Retrieve the tote bag from the security desk and walk to the parking garage. Go ahead and put the clothes in the bag back on if you'd like. I'll be waiting for you at the car.

Kristen read the instructions at least three times, trying to work out exactly what kind of outcome Dave's instructions were leading her to. "I wonder how long he spent setting this scheme up?" she said as she unbuttoned and unzipped her skirt. Despite being certain there was nobody but her in the office, she felt nervous as she unbuttoned her blouse and slipped it off. "I'm going to have to scold Tina for not tipping me off about what he was up to," she said as she put her placed her discarded clothing into the tote.

She put on the coat and mask, then headed for the elevator, remembering at the last minute to take Tina's note, and more importantly, Dave's instructions with her, imagining the embarrassment she'd be facing at work Monday morning if she left them behind!

Her heart already racing before she'd even risked any serious exposure, Kristen made her first roll of the dice, getting a total of 12. She pressed the button for the 12th floor. "Even," she thought, "Great, losing ground already." She slipped her feet out of the black heels and dropped them into the tote.

Her next roll worked out better, sort of. She got the unlikely total of 3, which being an odd number meant she got to put something on. The bad news was that she'd be getting into her skirt fairly close to the level of the event in the courtyard. She decided that in the absence of any rules about this in Dave's damned instructions she was justified in facing away from the courtyard, as far from the glass exterior wall as possible, letting the angle and the coat hide what she was doing.

Kristen rolled the dice again, getting a total of 14. "Damn, even again," she said, "at least I'm far away from the courtyard here." Shortly after the elevator came to a stop, her phone buzzed; looking at the screen she saw Dave's name pop up, looking to begin a Facetime video call. She knelt in front of the phone and accepted the call, saying, "Please hold, all of our representatives are busy following twisted directions from their husbands."

"Sounds good, keep up the good work." Dave replied, "Just thought I'd join the party, you know, providing moral support."

"Immoral support, more likely, but sure, welcome," she replied. "I'm a little lonely here, with nobody to help me out," she whispered. "I have to do everything myself," she continued, slowly rolling down one of her thigh-high stockings. "So much to do, and no help from anyone," she said coyly as she worked the other stocking down her calf and off her foot. After rolling her stockings up and dropping them in the tote, she said, "Gotta go now, time to roll the dice."

"YES!" Kristen shouted as she saw the dice settle in place showing a total of 9, "just what I needed!" She pressed the button for the 9th floor; once there she took off her coat to make putting her blouse on possible. With the blouse on and coat back in place, she buttoned about as many buttons as she would normally at work, surprised that this game of Dave's was, so far, allowing her to stay fairly respectable. She wondered if that was intentional, but decided that him letting her off the hook too easily was unlikely. She moved on to the next roll of the dice.

"Crap," Kristen mumbled as she saw her latest roll total 14, sending her back up to the floor she worked on to remove a piece of clothing. She smiled, thinking how her weekday elevator trips to and from her office would never feel the same. Not wanting to lose the overall cover provided by her coat, she reluctantly unbuttoned her skirt and unzipped it, letting it slip down to the floor. She dropped it into the tote and picked up the dice.

Kristen's next roll, a 7, let her dig her skirt right back out of the tote and put it back on, at a floor high enough that she didn't need to worry about the people below catching on to her odd behavior. As soon as she finished zipping up her skirt she checked the timer on her phone; 14:32, allowing her to be done if she wanted to. The fact that she'd managed to get her blouse and skirt on, actually ending up more covered than when she started, made her fairly confident that she could carry on without truly making a spectacle of herself.

Knowing how her husband's mind worked, she had prepared herself for a penalty way more scandalous than this one was turning out to be. While she didn't exactly want to be seriously exposed, after the way her imagination had built up how this evening might go she kind of wanted to get just a little bit naughtier, and was sure Dave would feel the same.

"Let's do it, six more rolls!" she said, her heart racing as she committed to...something. She dropped one of the three dice into the tote and rolled the two remaining. She frowned at the result, a 3 and a five, sending her up one floor, thinking about how to proceed. Having finally managed to get back into her blouse and her skirt, she decided to remove something less obvious. She reached up under her skirt and pulled her panties down far enough for them to drop the rest of the way to the floor. She kicked the purple thong towards the tote, but missed by a few inches, giggling as she bent over to retrieve them and finally deposit them in the bag along with her shoes and stockings.

"Okay, dice, time for an odd number," she whispered to the two red cubes before rolling them. "Damn!" she grumbled at seeing two 5's, "Maybe I didn't make myself clear, I wanted an odd-numbered TOTAL, not two odd numbers! Oh, shit, am I really talking to inanimate objects and hoping they'll respond?" She thought about her options, trying to decide which piece of clothing's absence would matter least, eventually settling on removing her bra.

Being all the way up at the 10th floor made her feel a bit less self-conscious, but the whole process of taking off her coat, undoing the hooks through her blouse, and wrestling the straps down the sleeves of her blouse and over her hands took a while. By the time she finally was able to pull the lacy black bra out through the open front of her blouse and reunite it with her shoes, stockings, and panties already in the tote bag, she began to worry a bit about completing the current group of dice rolls and associated outfit adjustments before passing the 15-minute deadline; having just parted ways with what was left of her lingerie, she was thinking a third group of 6 cycles would likely leave her naked or close to it.