The sound of a car starting up startled me out of sleep. I wasn't sure who it could be, so I cautiously lifted my head from the little spot I had staked out under the tree. I was naked, after all and would feel so embarrassed if the owner of the farm came back to see me out on her lawn.
Except she wasn't going to be back for another day, I remember. So who was it? Angela, I assumed. I stood up but that wasn't her car in the driveway, it was just my car and another. Then it hit me; it was the car of the two guests from the other night. I freaked out and ran to the back door of the farmhouse. Hopefully, no one saw me.
Big problem. The door was stuck. Jammed. I don't know. But I couldn't get in the farm house. I wondered if Angela was in there and had locked it, like if she was using the shower. But I didn't want to knock and give away my position.
"Hello?" I heard a woman's voice from the driveway. "Hello?"
I didn't respond.
"Is Asher here?"
I had to do something. I stepped off the back landing and hugged along the side of the house. The leaves of little hedges and flowers from decorative plants tickled my naked body as I tried to keep hidden against the house. Then I peaked around the corner so just my upper half was visible from the driveway.
"Hi, that's me."
"Oh good, Gerianne told me you could help."
"She did? Help with what? Who are you?"
"I'm Reggie, I was a guest here a few days ago. I remember you, I was here with my boyfriend before he left for college. I think I forgot my necklace here, probably somewhere in the room we rented."
"Look, I'm not sure I can really help you. I'm having a little situation."
She started to step closer. "What do you mean."
"Please just stay there,"
"What do you mean, what's going on here?"
"Look." I decided to come clean since this was making me look creepy. "I was skinny dipping then took a nap since I was all alone, and I think I locked myself out of the house. I don't have any clothes on right now."
"Oh," Reggie said. "That's so awkward."
"Yeah, I'm so sorry. This is awkward."
"Well, I told Gerianne this was the only time I could swing by before my shift tonight."
"Where do you work?" I was just buying time
"Road construction, overnight shift. So like, I need your help now before I drive out to the bridge we are working on."
"Yeah, but I'm totally naked."
"This seems like a total accident, and everyone seemed pretty sex positive on this farm, so I'm not going to hold it against you. I don't even know you, it's fine. I just want my necklace. It was my grandma's."
I thought about the one piece of fabric available. "Okay, just close your eyes and I'll wrap up with the blanket I have then help you."
"Deal. Let me know when you're... decent"
I ran back to the shade and picked up Angela's yoga blanket. I thought about her body stretched out on it, heaving deep Om vibrations and then wrapped it around me in a kind of shawl. It was long and covered down to my calves. I grabbed my book and tucked it under my arm then walked back to the drive way.
"Okay, I can help."
"Great," said Reggie and started to cross the way to meet me. She looked just like before, rail thin, young, handsome in a boyish way with little touches of femininity like a single whisk of mascara on each eye. She wore baggy clothing, knock-off Carhartt khaki in dark grays and blacks. Zippers everywhere. And a little beanie, for the aesthetic, not the warmth. Up close, I could see how the shirt clung to her chest and I recognized the faintest outline of her two nipple piercings I saw the other day. My mind had sudden dirty thoughts of spying on her getting hammered by her boyfriend and my penis finally awoke after all that early fear and anxiety had kept it down since waking up. I wasn't immediately hard, but I felt a little buzz at knowing something about her body she didn't know I knew. The playing field felt a little more equal, even if I was the one naked, now.
I tried to de-sexualize the situation. "Where does your boyfriend go?"
"Just the local college, maybe an hour away. But I drive pretty far and work overnights for my job, so I won't see him much during the semester."
"Must be hard," I commiserated.
"It is, but that's life. We're still young. I'm twenty one and he's eighteen." We got to the old renovated chicken coop where they stayed the other night. It was spotless now, and Reggie remarked how clean it was.
"I didn't see the necklace here," I said, pointing around the first floor.
"I'll try the couch," she announced, before digging under the cushions. I admired her lithe body bend down in a perfect arch. Her t-shirt rose up and I saw beautiful skin rippling with muscles along her flanks. She dug for a few minutes then declared the couch was clear. We started talking about her stay, as she fished around for a few more possible spots where lost jewelry could hide.
"What do you think about the owner?" she asked.
"Gerianne? She's pretty kind."
"She's kinky as fuck."
"What do you mean?" I was curious now.
"She and her new boyfriend go hard. My boyfriend was shocked."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, they are out in that plunge pool at dawn, taking turns skinny dipping, stroking their parts, sixty nine on the grass. And we could see them right from our bedroom window."
"Like you think they are exhibitionists."