Ric and Pauline 5: Pauline's Party

This is Part Five of a series. For part one, see

The Airplane

Sunday afternoon, Pauline woke up groggily, unsure where she was. As the previous night slowly came back to her, she stood up, careful not to disturb Maxine who was still asleep, nude beside her. Pauline looked for her own clothes, remembered they were in the living room, and tiptoed out to collect them. Nat was nowhere to be seen. Pauline dressed quickly and was about to leave when Maxine zombie-walked out of Nat's bedroom, still fully nude.

"Paul, are we good?" Maxine asked sleepily as she walked straight to the bathroom.

"We're good. But I have to go home. Ta."

* * * * * *

They didn't speak again until Tuesday evening, when Pauline asked Maxine to come over to discuss the next dare.

"How is this possibly going to work?" asked Pauline, exasperated, staring at the emailed dare on her phone:

DARE: invite some friends and acquaintances to a party. Without warning anybody in advance, as soon as at least two members of each sex who haven't seen you naked before have arrived, announce that a dare requires you to get completely nude. Take off your clothes, and stay that way until the last guest leaves. Send a photo of you from the party, fully nude, with at least two members of each sex, fully clothed.

"Most people I know would be repulsed, walk out, and never want to talk to me again. Some might even call the police."

"First of all, have you seen yourself? Nobody's going to be repulsed," Maxine tried to reassure her. "Your body is a fine work of art, and that's what this event will be. Like an art exhibit."

"But who could I possibly invite? I can't jeopardise my relationships with close friends or colleagues. And it would be weird to invite people who I barely know. Why would they want to come to my party? Unless they think I'm trying to seduce them."

"Don't you have a gay neighbour? What's his name, the cute one?"

"James? I suppose that could work. He's always talking about the kinky parties he attends. I guess he wouldn't be scandalised or think I'm hitting on him."

"And Audrey? Isn't she taking one of those life drawing classes? She's probably seen more people with their kits off than a gynecologist."

"That's true. She probably won't mind."

"So you're halfway there," Maxine said. "And I don't even know all your friends. Surely you can think of two more."

"How about Craig?" Pauline joked.

Maxine grabbed a pillow off the couch and threw it hard at Pauline. "My brother? Are you mad?"

"I'm kidding," said Pauline. "Although I don't think I'd mind him seeing me."

"My brother? Ew."

Now Pauline was intrigued. She had originally said it in jest, but she liked getting a rise out of Maxine, seeing her squirm in disgust. "It's not like it's you who'll be naked. What's the problem?"

"Well, for one, he's my brother. Gross. And anyway, he's seeing someone."

"So she can come too. That way neither of you will be too comfortable."

"I tell you what," said Maxine. "I'll allow Craig and Susan if I can invite two other guests."

"Who?"

"People you know."

"You're not going to tell me who?"

"Nope. But you can set rules."

"Well, none of my family, obviously. And no one from my work."

"Of course."

"No one else from my building."

"Aside from James," Maxine piped in.

"Aside from James," Pauline agreed. "And nobody I've dated. Obviously nobody much younger or older than us."

"Fair," said Maxine. "When's the party?"

"Let's say Saturday night. Seven o'clock. A formal supper at my place. I'm already planning the menu."

"Excellent. Paul," said Maxine in a rare delicate tone. "Did you want to talk about

what happened last Saturday night

?"

"What's there to talk about?" Pauline smiled. "Everyone had fun, right?"

"Of course. No regrets?"

"No regrets. Why? Is there a problem? Did Nat say something?"

"Nat's fine. I'm fine. We've both done plenty of weirder, kinkier things. Maybe not together, but we're cool. I'm more wondering about you. This is all new for you, isn't it?"

"It is new, yes. I won't deny that I've been very uncomfortable with some of this. But somehow I'm enjoying the discomfort. Is that weird?"

"Not at all," smiled Maxine.

Pauline decided that she had to invite people immediately, before she got so nervous that she would try to back out. She composed a short message:

You are cordially invited to a dinner party at my place this Saturday night at 7 pm. Formal wear. RSVP as soon as possible.

Not overthinking it, she sent it to Maxine and Audrey, the friend with the drawing classes. She instructed Maxine to forward it to Craig and Susan. She realized she didn't have James' contact in her phone, so decided they better go knock on his door. As they were about to leave, she instinctively checked herself out in the full-length mirror. That quickly led to fixing her hair and applying a bit of makeup.

"Paul, who are you trying to impress? The man is gay."

"Exactly," said Pauline. "He's always dressed immaculately. If I want him to come to this, I have to look the part."

"Well then, makeup's not the problem. Look at what you're wearing." Grey yoga pants and an oversized sweater.

"You're right. Choose something for me while I finish this up?" said Pauline.

Maxine was already rummaging through Pauline's closet. "This is the one. Your little black dress," said Max. It was a simple form-fitting top with spaghetti straps and a loose skirt that flowed halfway down to her knees.

"Fine." Pauline quickly got out of the sweater and the yoga pants, revealing her most comfortable grey granny panties and bra, and pulled the dress over her head.

"Those straps are showing, and they don't look good," said Maxine.

"Fine. I'm just going to James and back. I don't need it," said Pauline. She pulled the dress straps down, undid her bra and threw it on the floor, then pulled the dress straps back into place. Then she hiked up the dress, pulled her panties loose and let them fall to the floor too.

"Well, those weren't showing," Maxine laughed.

"No. I just want to see how this feels. Let's go."

They walked to the end of the hall and Pauline knocked on James' door.

"Hey Pauline! Looking fabulous!" said James.

She did a bit of a twirl. "Thanks, James. This is my friend Maxine. We want to invite you to a dinner party Saturday night at my place. 7pm. Can you come?"

"Ooh, a party. I think so. I'll have to check my calendar and get back to you. What should I bring? What should I wear?"

"Just any old thing."

They exchanged pleasantries and chat contacts. When James had closed the door and they had walked away, Maxine poked Pauline in the ribs, "you dirty tease, you almost flashed him."

"Almost?" laughed Pauline.

* * * * * *

Soon enough Saturday came around. In the afternoon, Maxine did some last shopping and came around to help out with preparations. Pauline baked some bread and put a whole chicken into the oven to roast with some potatoes and onions. Together they made a crumble for dessert.

There was a video call from Rick. Pauline answered in the living room, just as Maxine was taking the crumble out of the oven.

"Hi Rick. How's it going?" asked Pauline.

"Great. All set for your party?"

"Just about. But we agreed not to talk about this dare until after we've both done it."

"I know. I just wanted to wish you good luck. I hope you have fun tonight."

"Thanks, Rick. I'm excited, but really nervous. When's your party?"

"Next Saturday."

"Then I'm not telling you any more until after that. Got to go!"

"Bye Rick!" yelled Maxine from the kitchen.

"Bye Maxine, have fun!"

Pauline hung up and started setting the table.

"Well Paul, I've got to go," said Maxine. "I'll see you at seven."

"You're not going to stay and help me finish setting up?"

"Do I look like I'm ready for a fancy party? I have to get dressed. Not like you. It doesn't matter much what you wear tonight."

And with that, Maxine left Pauline all alone with her thoughts, two hours before the party.

Pauline ran around nervously, straightening furniture, switching the table settings, not sure what to do with herself. At five-thirty she decided to drink a glass of wine and take a hot bath, hoping it would calm her down. She lay soaking in the tub, staring at the ceiling, her mind drifting between Rick, Maxine, Maxine's hot brother Craig. Without noticing it, she started touching herself. Finally she started to relax.

Ding-dong! Pauline was stirred by the doorbell. She had fallen asleep in the tub!

"Coming," she yelled, quickly standing up and pulling a robe on. She glanced at the clock on the way to her door. It was already seven. "Shit!" she said.

The doorbell rang again, and now there was knocking too. She tied her robe loosely around her and opened the door, still dripping wet. It was James, the gay neighbour, plus another guy.

"James! Come on in. Sorry I'm running a little late. It seems I fell asleep in the tub."

James and his companion were wearing matching tuxedo shirts, black dress pants, and cute little hipster bow ties, blue for James, red for the other guy.

"Pauline, this is Carlos, my boyfriend." While James was cute in a boyish lanky-pale-nerd way, with thick glasses framed in thick black plastic, Carlos was shorter, swarthy, with piercing sparkly eyes and a neatly-trimmed beard.

"Pleased to meet you, come in, come in," said Pauline flustered. She closed the door and ushered them to sit down. "I'll only be a minute. Make yourselves at home."

Pauline rushed back to the bathroom to dry off. She sent a text to Maxine: Get here quick! I'm not ready and James just showed up with a +1. I need backup.

Maxine responded: I'm already on my way.

Pauline got dry as best she could, quickly did her hair up, and stepped out of the bathroom, still in her robe. James and Carlos were sitting on the couch, chatting. There was a buzz from the intercom.

"James, can you let that person in?" Pauline called out, as she got into her bedroom, slammed the door, and quickly pulled on her nicest strapless red bra and panties set and some nude stockings, and the same little black dress, which she had luckily picked out and set aside earlier. She slipped on some simple black heels, grabbed some makeup and did her best quick-fix setup as she heard her apartment door open and close, and some chatting from the other room. Ok, ok. This is fine, she thought. No time to worry about anything.

Pauline stepped back into the living room to see Audrey had shown up, and was chatting nicely with James and Carlos.

"Hi Audrey, welcome. Would anybody like a drink?" she asked. "Please pour your own." There were wine bottles and glasses on the table. Pauline went to the kitchen to warm up the food, then remembered there was an extra guest. They were supposed to be eight, but with Carlos showing up unexpectedly, they would now be nine.

"James, sorry to bother you," she said. "But I've got an unexpected extra guest coming tonight." She didn't mention it was his. "Could you perhaps bring a chair from your place? I'm one short."

"No problem," said James. "I'll be right back."

Carlos stayed behind, chatting with Audrey. Pauline set another place at the table and then sat down to chat with them. Carlos said he was born in the Philippines, and had moved to London only three years ago. He was finishing a degree in graphic design in London.

"Oh, so you're into the arts. I as well," said Audrey. She began telling him about all the art classes she'd taken. Audrey was a small, mousy woman with short-cropped dark red hair. She was dressed in a simple green dress.

The intercom buzzed again. Pauline answered it and saw it was Maxine, and she wasn't alone. Her brother Craig and his girlfriend Susan were with her. Pauline buzzed them in and she knew what that meant. By the rules of the dare, as soon as they walked in, there would be two members of each sex present who had never seen her naked. She would have to get undressed immediately. Her heart felt like it was going to explode as she stared at the door, imagining the three of them walking to the elevator, counting how long they would wait for it, then how long it would take to get to her floor, and then for them to walk the length of the hall.

There was a knock at the door. She answered, but it was only James with the chair. She took it from him and set it up at the table, when there was another knock. This knock she recognized as Maxine's traditional DUM da-da-da DUM dum rhythm.

"Have a seat, James. I'll answer that," Pauline said. She walked to the door, opening it wide with a big smile. "Maxine! Craig! And you must be Susan. Welcome, come on in."

They stepped inside and introductions were made all around. Chairs were pulled from the dinner table to congregate around the couch. Craig looked as good as ever. Dark like Maxine, but where she was short and round, he was slightly taller and muscular. He was dressed sharply in a blue blazer over khaki pants. Susan seemed tall as well, though that may have been due to her pencil-thin figure and chunky platform shoes. She wore a light blue summer dress and delicate subtle jewelry. Her pale skin and long vivid orange hair contrasted sharply with Craig's look.

Maxine looked at Pauline expectantly but Pauline just stood there, frozen. "Paul, didn't you want to say something?" Now everybody was looking expectantly at Pauline. She stood at the edge of the living room, surveying the six faces around her.

"Umm. Well. We're expecting a couple more people, aren't we, Max?"

"Yes, but..." Maxine said, pointing at her phone.

"Right. Everybody, um," Pauline stammered, turning bright red. "Thank you for coming tonight. I hope you'll have a great time."

Maxine wasn't going to let her get off so easily. "Everybody listen up," she said, now standing up and walking over to Pauline. "Paul's got a dare to do. Isn't that right, Paul? Right now."

"Ooh, how exciting!" shrieked James, clapping his hands.

"That's right," said Pauline, swallowing hard. She took a deep breath, and said quickly, "I've been dared to get completely naked and stay that way until the last guest leaves. If that's a problem for any of you, I suggest you leave immediately."

Pauline scanned the faces around the room, looking for reactions. People seemed frozen.

"Craig, did you know about this?" Susan asked, accusingly.

"I had no idea, honest."

"That's the truth," said Maxine, earnestly. "I'm the only one who knew."

Nobody moved. "Well, here goes nothing," said Pauline. Standing in the middle of the room, with everyone watching, she stepped out of her heels, reached down to grab her dress at both sides and pulled it up over her head, revealing her bright flowery red bra and panties. Quickly, before she could think too much, she dropped the dress to the ground, reached behind her back, unsnapped her bra and let it fall to the floor. Somebody gasped, but she wasn't sure who. Everyone's eyes seemed glued to her. As she had rehearsed in her mind many times over the past week, she now turned her back to the room, pulled her panties down from the sides and, without bending at all, let them too fall to the floor. All that remained were her nude knee stockings. These could not be removed without bending, so still keeping her back to her rapt audience, she bent slightly at the waist, bent her right leg back at the knee to pull the right stocking off, then repeated for her left. The whole operation of disrobing couldn't have taken more than 15 seconds, but to her it felt like an eternity. At each point she imagined which of her body parts Craig might be staring at. Her flat stomach. Her small soft breasts and hard dark nipples. The lines of her back. The curve of her butt, accentuated as she leaned over. Her calves as she bent her legs.

"Wow!" said somebody. Pauline slowly turned around, blushing hard, not knowing where to put her hands. First she instinctively moved one arm to cover her breasts, and the other hand to cover her shaved crotch. Then she awkwardly moved the top arm down and clasped her hands together in front of her crotch. Then looked down, away from everyone and moved her hands behind her butt. Then looked back at the crowd. "Ok," she tried to sound funny. "Who's hungry?"

"You should model," Audrey spoke first. "Honestly, you'd be great for drawing. And they pay. Handsomely."

"Maxine, did you put her up to this?" Susan asked. But before she could answer, Susan said, "Craig, stop staring. Maybe we should go." She stood up. Craig didn't move.

"I'm not the one that dared her, no," Maxine giggled. "But I'm all for it. You go girl."

"Craig?" Susan stared at him.

Craig finally unfroze and looked directly at Susan. "Sorry. No, I'm not staring. I was just taken by surprise. Let's just stay and enjoy that delicious smelling dinner. I'm sure Pauline worked very hard on it." He didn't break his gaze from Susan.

There was a buzz at the intercom. "I need to finish up some prep in the kitchen," said Pauline, trying her best to get back into normal hosting mode. "Maxine, would you let that person in, please?"

Pauline headed to the open kitchen, trying to steady her nerves by keeping busy. There was a cheese platter to prepare, so she started chopping. She had to be careful because she was so nervous that her hands were shaking. She heard Maxine buzz the arriving guest in, and she realized she had no idea who it was going to be. There were two more people to arrive.

She could hear Craig in the living room, trying to get the conversation going again. "So, life drawing. Tell me about that," he said.

"Oh, it's really simple actually. There's not much to tell. I take a class once a week at an art school. There's a teacher who demonstrates techniques and concepts, and then we all sit around and draw a model in several different poses."

"A naked model?" asked Carlos. "Like, totally naked?"

"Usually. Well, it depends. Sometimes the teacher or the model has an idea for a pose that involves partial clothing, or props. She holds a pose for ten minutes while we draw, and then she holds a different pose and we draw again."

"She?"

"Or he. Sometimes there are two. There are several different models that work with the teacher."

There was a knock at the door. "Can you answer the door, Maxine?" Pauline called out.

Maxine came into the kitchen, speaking loud enough for the whole party to hear. "I think you're supposed to get it, Pauline. It's your party." Pauline made an angry face. She stuck out her tongue. But this was part of the game, and the excitement. She didn't know who was on the other side of the door, only that it was someone she knew who would be totally surprised to see her totally nude.

"Coming!" yelled Pauline, and rushed to the door before she could change her mind. She opened it wide, trying to act as if everything was completely normal.

"Welcome, Sarah. So nice of you to come," she said.

A pale young woman stood in the doorway, clearly frozen in surprise. It was Sarah, a shy girl who had been in classes with Pauline and Maxine at university. They had never been close, but had kept in touch, seeing each other once in a while. She lived close by.

"Did I misunderstand something?" Sarah said, looking worried as if she had done something wrong.

"Not at all, Sarah. I've invited you and some other friends for dinner. It just so happens that I'm also fulfilling a dare which requires me to be nude for this event. I hope that's alright with you."

"Am I to get nude as well?" she asked, innocently. Pauline wasn't sure which answer she was hoping for.

"Not at all. Just make yourself at home. Everyone, this is Sarah from school. Please, introduce yourselves."