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.