My name is Ana Fleiss, and I am an exhibitionist.
It's the thing that most makes me feel alive; the thing that feeds my deepest, most erotic desires. But this isn't quite a story about my current life as an exhibitionist and all of the many incredible experiences that I have had since discovering and embracing this side of myself. This is an account of how I got here-- the experiences that led me to that turning point in my life. All of them leading up to the most shocking thing I've ever done; the thing that still leaves me shaking my head in disbelief.
The single push of a button.
But that comes later. Like most life developments, it all started out quietly and gradually, planting its small seed in my uninitiated mind one ordinary summer afternoon, about a year ago, when my boyfriend Chris and I decided to have a little picnic in a section of Central Park called the Sheep Meadow.
On the weekends we sometimes went for a walk in the park, carrying crusty French sandwiches with us and small bottles of juice from our local bodega which, tsk tsk, didn't actually contain what was indicated on the labels. We'd pass through a small gate onto the grass and lose ourselves in the maze of humanity, beginning to wind our way through a sea of sun-drenched flesh sprawled out on blankets, each body daring to wear a little less clothing than the next.
Chris and I found a comfortable enough spot to lay down our blanket. He tossed it out into the air in front of him and then guided it smoothly to the ground where it settled onto the soft cushion of grass. He began to unpack our sandwiches while I kicked off my sandals, removed my shirt, and revealed a navy blue bikini top. We ate, we drank, we relaxed in the sun. It was shaping up to be the perfect day for doing next to nothing.
"Having fun?" asked Chris, smirking as he observed me focusing on a certain shirtless guy. Just like when we're at the beach, I tend to discreetly check out the guys around me, but who doesn't?
I grinned and replied, "What do you expect? We didn't pack any dessert." Chris chuckled. He never gets jealous. I don't know why he's so easily trusting, but I like that about him. He leaned over and rested his head on his hand, staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
"You know, it's legal in New York City for women to go topless."
"I know. Your point is...?"
"I'm just saying... if you ever wanted to offer me something for dessert."
I rolled my eyes and smirked back at him. "I'm sure you'd love that... just like when you went ga-ga over that all-nude female theatre performance in the park last summer."
"Oh my god, yeah," he said, becoming lost in thought. I could tell he was thinking about those naked girls we had seen so animated and romping about as they performed a play in their birthday suits, seemingly undaunted by the dramatic lack of support otherwise required to contain certain body parts.
He added, "If it's for artistic purposes, full nudity is allowed. That's why they have all those nude body painting events in Times Square, too." He continued to dwell on this matter for a few moments, no doubt imagining all the pink and blue and orange bodies we once saw, naked from head to toe, the scandal of their exposure mildly obscured by swirling psychedelic patterns and cosmic beasts crawling across their skin.
I sat upright and studied his face. "Are you kidding me?"
"What?"
"What are you thinking about right now? Are you, like, imagining that I might actually just stand up here, rip off my clothes, and deliver lines of Shakespeare in the nude for everyone?"
He laughed. "Well, no. But you could start simple and work your way there in time."
I rolled my eyes at him again-- but hey, that was a more innocent time for me. As I lay there in the sun, thinking about shirtless dude sitting a few feet away with his glistening, pulp romance muscles, I actually felt tempted for the first time to just go for it; to go topless. Because, why not? Were these not the rights that those performers and artists were defending for me as a woman?
I'm quite sure it was the juice-bottle-wine talking, but after several minutes I turned my head to glance over at Chris and said, "Do you dare me?"
He turned to face me with his interest clearly piqued. "Dare you to do what?"
"Go topless," I said.
He stared at me, not quite knowing whether I was joking or not. Finally he sat up, wrapped his hands around his legs, briefly surveyed the area, then turned back to face me. "Yeah. Let's see you do it," he said.
I laughed. "Really?"
"I don't believe you will, but sure!"
I'm not sure if I really believed I would do it either, at the time, but as I said I was a little drunk on wine and sunshine and Mr. Shirtless Eyecandy over there. "Fine," I groaned, my heart starting to race. Chris leaned back into a comfortable position to observe with a wide grin forming on his face.
"Look at you, settling in for the show..." I mumbled.
For a little while I sat there, fidgeting nervously, observing each and every person around me, trying to either come up with additional motivation for what I was about to do, or to find some reason to justify getting myself out of it. However, we were surrounded by strangers, mostly couples, a few groups of friends-- all absorbed in their own lives, seemingly without any interest in what anyone else was doing around them.
I focused for a moment on three sweaty college-aged guys reclining on the grass with a football cast down between them. I wondered what it would be like to reveal my breasts to them and what their reaction would be. I imagined them gesturing to one another, smirking, gazing down at my chest, and then up at my eyes, giving no real indication of what they thought of my body other than sheer amusement and surprise at what I had done. It was a terrifying, nerve-wracking daydream.
But I think that's what did it. That anxious anticipation of the unknown. It was frighteningly erotic, and somehow I loved it...
Trembling, I reached back to undo my bikini top. I tried to do it as nonchalantly as I could, pretending that I did this all the time and it was no big deal. "Whatever, get over it," I practiced saying in my head, to some imaginary observer. My top came loose faster than I had anticipated, and I felt my breasts bounce free. The warm breeze danced across my nipples. A bolt of anxiety shot through my body. I felt completely exposed, expecting all eyes to suddenly fixate on me.
At first no one noticed and I sat there with my heart thumping in anticipation of what was to come. A few girlfriends having a day in the sun together were sitting nearby and were the first to notice. They had been chatting incessantly, but when they spotted what I had just done they sat there staring through the dark lenses of their Gucci sunglasses like observant owls, saying nothing, exchanging knowing looks without forming any actual expressions.
I'll admit: at first I wondered if they were jealous. Not that I routinely check out other girls, but I've ogled my fair share of boobs at the Korean spa. Maybe it's just me, but they're not always that fantastic. I guess I'm proud of my body in general, but that might just be because Chris constantly fills my head with the idea that I have "spectacular tits," making it known that he would probably spend the entire day caressing those "beautiful melons" if I somehow never got bored of his boundless enthusiasm for kinky breast play.
Here and there a guy began to notice. They glanced up, did a double-take, looked away, and then casually snuck another peek while pretending to look for a friend or to watch someone walking a dog. I wanted to say, "Wow, you're seriously into watching that woman picking up dog shit." I couldn't help but smile when I saw a young man with his girlfriend take notice and stare. She watched him checking me out. He realized she was staring at him with irritation and quickly looked away, saying nothing.
Most importantly, shirtless guy laid back on his blanket with his twitching pecs, narrowing his eyes at me, making his interest obvious, even at the risk of upsetting Chris. I imagined two alpha males fighting over me. "Boys, boys..." I said to myself, briefly caught up in the fantasy of it.
I began to discover the thrill of the subtle scandal that I had caused, as the volume of muddled voices surrounding Chris and I ticked down a notch or two. My boyfriend seemed to be amused by the whole matter, taking note of the football guys suddenly discovering the shocking sight of my boobs wagging about as I took another sip from the not-juice bottle. Their eyes widened. They exchanged looks of quiet delight. They had no reason to look away. Their girlfriends were not present to protest.
I began to feel exceptionally self-conscious as the attention aimed at me began to reach a crescendo. I turned to lie down, feeling anxious about the attention-getting pendulum swing of my breasts as I repositioned myself. The faces around me were transfixed on their movement. I exhaled deeply as my body made contact with our blanket, obscuring my breasts as they compressed softly against the fabric, which in turn crunched into the grass beneath.
I felt the relief of being safe and securely contained, proud of myself for making it through the terrifying task. I smiled, replaying in my head the various reactions that I had witnessed, knowing how much of a turn-on it must have been for the guys to look up suddenly, only to find a pair of perky pink nipples pointed cheerfully in their direction.
I turned my head to the side to face Chris. He pulled off his shirt, perhaps wishing to compete with Shirtless Guy, or maybe to draw some of his own attention. He gently rubbed my bare back, glancing about as if wanting to catch more reactions to us. I spotted a few girls noticing him, scanning his body with their eyes. Chris is drop-dead gorgeous and they knew it. As he caressed me, I felt like I just took a hit from someone's joint. I closed my eyes, feeling the sun beat down upon my body and the gentle breeze on my cheek. I slipped into a state of perfect relaxation.
This was the reward for my fear. This was the return on investment for taking such a risk with my body, and it felt wonderful; the release of all the pressure and nervousness that had built up, followed by the rise of a certain arousal taking root and spreading slowly.