Legally Nude

This story is part of a series. The previous six chapters will provide context but, hopefully, this story can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone work.

*****

A few weeks later, Mala came into my office. "You know that Claire is chair of the trustees of the Modern Dance Troupe?"

I did not know that, but felt it best to nod affirmatively.

"Two of their principal dancers are having a problem with their landlord. Claire wants us to help. It is probably a pretty minor thing, but you know that I want to keep Claire happy and I'd like to get work from the MDT."

I nodded again. "Certainly, we can take care of it."

Mala asked, "Would you and Sarah and Carla meet with them? I'd like to give them the full show to start, then you can probably hand it off to Carla."

"Of course," I responded. Mala handed me a sheet with names and a phone number. Jessica and Keith. I took the sheet into Sarah's office and explained the situation to her. Sarah then called Carla in and I explained the situation to her. Claire had become a fairly important client, as well as being a genuinely interesting person. Carla and Sarah were both happy to help.

We got on Sarah's speakerphone and called the number Mala had given me. The person who answered identified herself as Jessica. If her voice was any indication, Jessica was an exceptionally beautiful lady. After some preliminaries, Jessica explained the situation.

"Keith and I have been together about two years. He's my dance partner and, well, my lover." Jessica giggled slightly. "We each took less money to come to MDT because the Troupe would hire us both. We found what seemed like this great apartment. It is an old manufacturing plant that was completely redone into apartments. The location is fantastic because we're only a couple of blocks from our rehearsal hall, and only five blocks from the auditorium where we usually perform. And there's parking in the basement."

Jessica continued, "Unfortunately, we soon noticed that the apartment is very damp. Just recently, we've begun to find mold in various places. Also, and I didn't notice it at first but Keith did, when we are away from the apartment in different air, there is a slight chemical smell to our clothes. Honestly, we're worried about what we're being exposed to and would like to just get out; but, we signed a two-year lease six months ago. We've taken photographs of the mold spots and the stains that are developing on the walls."

Sarah took the lead. "It sounds preliminarily like we can help you. Let's set a time that at least one of us can come out and meet with you."

Jessica giggled again. "We'd really rather come down to your office for the first meet. Claire told us how you work. Keith and I have never seen naked lawyers. It will be a new experience."

Carla, Sarah, and I glanced at each other. Carla and I shrugged and Sarah nodded her head affirmatively. "Certainly, we can meet here," Sarah responded. "Do you know where our offices are?"

Jessica confirmed that she did know, and we set a time for the meeting. To end the call, Sarah chuckled and said, "Oh, and you and Keith should feel free to look as much as you want." Jessica giggled again and broke the line.

A couple of days later Jessica and Keith came to our offices. Sarah, Carla, and I met them in our reception area, nude of course. Both Jessica and Keith had plainly accepted Sarah's invitation to look as much as they liked, so I reciprocated. Jessica was, indeed, a very beautiful lady with thick, shoulder-length black hair; and a slightly olive complexion. She stood very straight and her t-shirt and jeans suggested a stunning body, if a bit more solid than I would have expected for a dancer. Keith had wavy blond hair, a jaw that should have been cut into Mount Rushmore, and a classic V shape from broad shoulders to narrow hips. Jessica and Keith also gave every indication of being very much in love. I had a brief thought that the children of such a union would probably be physically perfect.

We went into the big conference room and got down to business. Jessica and Keith had taken a very comprehensive set of pictures of the interior of their apartment. While it looked like it would have been a very nice apartment when first built, there were many areas of mold and some stains of unknown origin seeping through the paint on the exposed brick walls. Wisely, Jessica and Keith had recently seen their doctor, had some tests, and were reasonably confident that they were not suffering any illness from the exposure. Also wisely, they had temporarily moved in with friends.

We suggested that the first step would be to get an environmental assessment company to do a thorough inspection of the apartment with air testing. There was a pretty good company in town that owed us a few favors, so we thought (correctly as it turned out) that we could get that work done for free. We also assured Jessica and Keith that, by virtue of Claire, there would be no legal fees.

As Jessica and Keith were leaving and we were shaking hands, Jessica gave all three of us, and Terry working nude at her computer, a final look. "I have to admit that naked lawyers sounded like a sleazy gimmick to me when Claire first told us about you. Still, we trusted Claire. I'm glad we did. You don't seem sleazy at all. Nude seems to fit all of you and, odd as this sounds, actually made me more comfortable with you." Of course, we thanked them.

Carla took the lead on the case. Our environmental friends quickly reported an extraordinarily high count for several types of mold in the apartment, likely attributable to water leakage into the drywall used for the interior partitions. More significantly, they found that piping used to transfer industrial gases during the building's first life had been left in place unclean and improperly capped. Consequently, there were a couple of types of potentially harmful gases present in the apartment in concentrations which could be harmful with prolonged exposure.

Carla put together a great letter to the landlord summarizing the violations of the city's building and health codes and the state landlord-tenant law, outlining the landlord's liability, and enclosing the environmental assessment report. The upshot was that Carla not only got Jessica and Keith out of the remaining term of their lease; she also got a full refund of all rent they had paid to date.

Sarah also contributed. Through her expansive network of friends, Sarah was able to find Jessica and Keith a lease on a beautiful Victorian house in the uptown area at a monthly rent less than they were paying before. Better, the house had off-street parking and was only a block from a light-rail stop so Jessica and Keith could get to rehearsals and performances without driving.

Jessica and Keith made the appropriate grateful noises and promised to return the favor. While I was sure that they were sincere, I was equally sure that it would not happen.

Summer had turned into early Fall when Jessica called me again. The MDT would be premiering a new dance over twelve performances just after Thanksgiving. The Troupe needed non-professional volunteers for the "chorus." The "chorus" did not sing, or dance. Rather, they would walk across stage or be standing on stage at various times during the dance. They were looking for twelve volunteers: six men and six women. Oh, yeah, the chorus members would be fully nude at all times they were on stage. Jessica thought that we might enjoy doing this so this was her "return favor."

Like me, Sarah and Mala were eager to appear in the "chorus." Carla was newer to the experience of being nude most of the time and was hesitant to appear nude on stage in the town in which she practiced law. After some thought, Carla declined. In order to maintain gender balance, Sarah successfully solicited a male friend who belonged to the resort east of town. Ironically, since he would be appearing on stage nude with one of the two most beautiful ladies I've ever met, Sarah's friend was gay.

While the professional dancers were in rehearsal already, the "chorus" would meet to begin clothed instructions and walk-throughs in mid-October. The first meeting at MDT's rehearsal hall was interesting. In addition to us and Sarah's friend, we were reacquainted with Jenn and Justin from Claire's party last winter. The other six "chorus" members were a cross-section: an African-American couple, a Jewish couple, and an older couple. My impression was that, except for Sarah and her friend, the couples really were couples.

The choreographer's first speech to us left little ambiguity. "You will be completely nude at all times you are onstage. We will not ask you to dance, but we will expect you to move at times. This is not porno or a strip club, but we expect, and want, the audience to see your cocks and cunts. No erections, however, we don't want to be shut down by the cops. You will be on and off stage frequently so we will expect you to stay nude throughout the performances. The professional dancers will be clothed throughout the dance. Most times when you are on stage there will be professional dancers dancing around you. Be aware of them and, please, don't hurt any of our dancers."

I never completely understood the concept of the dance. What I did get was that we were supposed to represent a repressed society while the dancers represented some sort of new idea or freeing of the spirit. Through the early parts of the dance, we were to walk across the stage, or up and down stage, at various times. We were to look straight ahead and be expressionless. The choreographer's assistants spent some time teaching us the robot-like walk we were to use. As the choreographer explained it to us, "You are all nude, which should be somewhat sexy, right? But, we want to contrast that against your automaton-like behavior so that your nudity is completely de-sexed."

The final scene of the dance was supposed to show that the new ideas, or freeing of the spirit, were having some impact. Each couple would be standing on stage embracing. "Make it as sexy as you can without getting us busted," the choreographer said. But, to show that civilization still had a ways to go, we were to stand completely still in our embraces while the professionals danced around us.

Oh, yeah, the chorus would stay nude for the curtain calls.

We had rehearsed separately from the professionals up until what the choreographer called our "undress rehearsal." The dress rehearsals were conducted at the performing arts center downtown where the dance would be performed. To my surprise, we were in the large auditorium with its huge house. Standing on that stage looking at all those seats was a bit intimidating at first, even for me.

As the professional dancers filtered in, I was not too surprised to learn that Jessica and Keith were the featured dancers in this dance. Before we had time to chat, the choreographer was standing center-stage clapping his hands.

"Chorus, you have to get used to being naked in this big auditorium so STRIP NOW!" Mala, Sarah and I were perfectly happy to strip down as were, I think, Jenn and Justin. The others took a few minutes longer as they confronted the reality of what they had agreed to do. There was more than a bit of nervous laughter. Another thing you have to experience to realize is that a virtually empty auditorium is cold. None of the chorus men were making a very impressive showing, but the ladies' nipples looked quite nice.

Things went reasonably well as we marched from stage right to stage left, from down-left to up-right, and then off into the wings. We were given props to carry, like briefcases and smart phones. The second act opened with six of us, three men and three women, standing rigidly on stage facing the audience for about 15 minutes while the professionals danced around us. The six had not been chosen before the first dress rehearsal because the choreographer wanted "to see what you all look like naked." At the rehearsal, Mala, Sarah, Jenn, Justin, the African-American gentleman, and I were selected.

Part of this first scene in the second act had Jessica miming rubbing her hands over each of the rigid nude men and Keith doing the same with the ladies. Jessica was not supposed to actually touch us, but her hand gently brushed my dick several times. I had to remain rigid with eyes front. However, when Jessica was in front of me, facing me, she winked. Mala and Sarah later told me that Keith brushed their nipples.

Mala and I paired up for the final scene. As the chorus couples took their places, we all assumed our rigid embraces while the choreographer walked among us inspecting us. After a few minutes, he said, in a tone of frustration, "You call that passion? I want real face-sucking, hands on asses." Mala and I got as close as possible. I put both hands on her buttcheeks and pulled a bit, gently spreading her cheeks. Mala did the same to me. The choreographer walked around us twice. "That is what I want, " he declared. We held that position, with both of our assholes exposed, for about 30 minutes of rehearsal.

After the rehearsal finished came our next surprise: make-up. Stage lights tend to washout human skin, so we would all need to be made-up over our entire bodies. MDT had recruited a, primarily female, group of student make-up artists from the university theater department to do our makeup. Chalk up another new experience: a 19 year old college girl putting make-up on my dick and balls. Then another surprise: the make-up we would wear at the start of the dance was meant to make us look white and slightly dead. For the final scene, the choreographer wanted a look like real human skin. This meant a group shower between our next-to-last appearance onstage and the finale, and hurried application of different make-up by our college artists. Over the three rehearsals in which we used make-up, we quickly figured out that we would have to wash each other to get the make-up change done in time. At some point during the run, I washed and was washed by every lady in the chorus.

Before the opening, the chorus put in one variation that we did not run by the choreographer. We agreed among ourselves to change partners for the finale of each performance. With twelve performances, that meant each man and lady would be paired embracing nude on stage twice.

Mala, Sarah, and I were actually looking forward to the opening night. The biggest problem we saw was that, with make-up on our asses, we could not sit down when offstage.

Our first couple of appearances onstage opening night were marches across the stage right to left and later left to right. Because we were supposed to be very stiff and look straight ahead, you could not really appreciate the audience's presence. The third march went from up-right to down-left. You were looking straight at a segment of the house. I was a bit surprised to realize that the house was completely full.

During the opening of the second act, Jessica became a bit more brazen, actually flicking my dick a couple of times. Mala and I came out and embraced for the finale, spreading each other's cheeks. Unfortunately, we were facing at a right angle to the house so the view was mainly for the stage hands. The curtain call was also interesting. As the least important performers, the chorus went first. We stood in a line, holding hands and facing the audience, all of us naked. We took one quick bow and walked backwards as far upstage as possible. We stood there naked while the professionals took their bows.

After the performance, the choreographer announced that he wanted the chorus an hour and a half earlier before the next day's (Saturday) matinee. He wanted to make a change.

After we were showered and dressed, Jessica and Keith came up and asked if we wanted to get a drink. There was a decent enough faux Scottish pub across the street. We agreed. Carla had come to the opening and was waiting for us outside the auditorium.

In the pub, after some chitchat, Jessica announced that she had "a serious question." "How was it being completely naked on stage in front of 2,000 people?"

Sarah answered immediately, "It was wonderful. I am so glad that I did this."

Jessica wasn't quite buying it. "Weren't you embarrassed that all those people were seeing you with nothing on?"

Mala bent down, grasped the hem of her long skirt and raised it up. Because Mala wasn't wearing anything under her skirt, she was flashing Jessica and Keith. After holding her skirt up for a moment, Mala dropped it and asked Jessica "Do you really think that I should be embarrassed about someone seeing my body?"

Keith made a slight mistake by saying "No, I see your point." That brought him a nasty look from Jessica.

Jessica and Keith both looked at me. After a sip of ale, I said "Look, I enjoy being nude. It just feels better to me. And, to be honest, it is a bit of a thrill to know that people are looking at your bare genitals and bare ass. I can't fully articulate why it is fun, but it is. You both should try it."

Jessica and Keith shared an odd look at each other when I said that. At the time, I thought it was their way of silently agreeing with each other that I was a pervert.

At that point, Carla spoke up. "I made a mistake. You guys looked so good up there. Sitting in my seat, I had an urge to take my clothes off. I really wish I had agreed to do this."

Sarah smiled, looked at each of Mala and me, then lifted her wine glass and looked at Carla. "Carla, you are becoming one of us."

The change which the choreographer wanted to make in our part of the performance was fairly major. He felt that we were too distant from the audience. He had a thick black plank put across a corner of the orchestra pit and a set of black steps placed at the house end of the plank. After our up-right to down- left march, we were to cross over the plank, go down the steps, and parade past the first row of seats. Then we were to march up the center aisle of the main floor and out into the lobby. That was followed by a frantic run back to a door leading backstage, which now had to be attended or we'd be left standing naked in the lobby.

The choreographer instructed us that "I want each of you to come down the steps slowly, and wait a bit before following the person in front of you down. I want you spaced out so that the audience can see each of you, front and back." Since we were walking up a long center aisle with people sitting about 18 inches to our left and right, there was little risk that we wouldn't be seen. After a few rehearsals of the move, it seemed to go pretty smoothly.

Doing the revised move for the first time before the audience was actually quite fun. Walking up the aisle, you were close enough to the audience to smell perfume or after shave, and could make eye contact with individual audience members. Since we did this first at a matinee, it was daylight outside and very bright in the lobby. Passerby on the street outside could see us through the clear glass doors leading into the lobby.

The march up the aisle became one of our favorite parts of the show. In the Saturday night performance, I made eye contact with a lovely blonde who looked like she was about 18-20. She was sitting with what I took to be her date, a young man who also looked about 18-20. She smiled broadly at me. I noticed her again Sunday night, sitting on the other side of the aisle with an older woman who also smiled. Her mother? We were off Monday and Tuesday, but the blonde was back Wednesday night, sitting a bit farther down with two other girls who looked to be about her same age.

For the finale on the first Sunday night, I was paired with Frances, the older lady. She was still quite attractive, but things were starting to droop a bit, as is inevitable. As we embraced, Frances took a position with her downstage hip and thigh touching mine, which concealed our genitals from the audience. She had her upstage hand between our groins and, during the scene, started very minutely rubbing a finger under the head of my dick. It was tough to avoid the forbidden erection.