Graham had stared at the invite for many minutes before placing it among the mess of paperwork on his kitchen counter. There it had sat all week, the unending focus of his attention during all waking hours. Now it was Friday and he had to do something about it.
Graham,
it read,
you have been invited to a stare and share with Gemma Goodborough, who has readily consented to appear naked before a select group of admirers. She will not know that you attended, nor will any of the other participants. This event will take place on 17 November between 21:00-23:00. Admission is £250. RSVP 'YES' or 'NO' to the number below before midnight 3 November.
It was a cell phone number. Graham had entered it into his phone and deleted it at least 20 times already. At work he'd tried not to be too obvious when glancing at his colleague Gemma, a tough boundary considering her desk was only two away from his.
"Interesting broach," another colleague - Amber - had commented privately to Gemma at lunch earlier that week. It was a silver broach with two staring eyes and an open mouth. Stare and share. Graham thought that the coincidence was strong.
'YES' Graham typed again after work on Friday. Today Gemma had been wearing a short skirt and tight top. He pressed send. Within seconds there came a reply:
Please send £250 to this account
, there followed a sort code and bank account number along with the recipient name 'STARE AND SHARE'. The message continued:
Be sure to include your name as reference. Remember: Gemma has fully consented to appear before you, we asked her to constantly wear a broach featuring staring eyes and an open mouth so that you could see this for yourself.
I knew it,
Graham thought.
---
When Amber had commented on the broach that lunchtime, Gemma had almost lost her nerve. But Amber had apologised later and assured her that it would be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It had been Amber who'd told her colleague about Stare and Share in the first place.
"But you don't do it for money?" Gemma had asked.
"No, it's for the enjoyment of being put on display for a group of people you know lust after you."
"And so I have to compile a list of anyone I think might like me that way? What if no-one wants to see me?"
Amber had then reassured Gemma that of course there would be people who would pay to see her naked. She also reassured Gemma that it wouldn't be possible to see who was there: she would be blindfolded and wearing headphones. When Gemma had consented, the Stare and Share organisation replied immediately with a thorough description of what would happen, assurances that no-one on the evening would know who else was there, and that consent could be withdrawn at any time. She agreed to all of this and received the broach in the post.
---
Just as the text message had said, there was a red door between numbers 51 and 52, Emery Street. There were several buzzers, one of which had 'S&S' and a logo featuring eyes and a mouth printed beneath. The logo exactly matched the design of Gemma's broach. Graham pressed the buzzer.
The person who opened the door was wearing black boots, black overalls, a black hoodie and a black mask that covered their face. They led him down a corridor and into a room that had, along one wall, shelves filled with the same outfit. After looking Graham up and down the person selected suitably-sized boots, overalls, hoodie and mask, handed them to Graham and instructed him to undress completely in the room next door, place his clothes and other belongings in locker number 8, then dress in the outfit before stepping back outside.
As a result of his nerves it took Graham several minutes to complete this simple task. When he exited the room the person took him down the corridor. It began to curve, and closely-spaced numbered doors appeared. After walking almost a full semi-circle the person opened door number eight and Graham walked in.
It was a small room, almost triangular in shape. At the narrow end was a waist-high barrier looking onto a circular room featuring nothing but a platform about 25 centimetres off the ground. There was a chair in Graham's room. He could see into some of the other rooms beyond the circle, like his they were dark with walls painted black. Only the circular room in the middle was lit. Judging by the movement in the outer rooms there were other audience members who had been invited tonight. A full house, in fact.
"Dear audience," came a voice from a speaker hidden in the wall, "tonight you are to enjoy your acquaintance, Gemma. She will be naked and displayed for your pleasure. We encourage you to share what you're enjoying and what you would like to do with Gemma. Your voices will be distorted so that she can listen to this. Remember: Gemma cannot see you and you cannot see each other. On the table to your right are some headphones, please now put them on."
Graham noticed the headphones through the gloom and placed them over his ears. He also noticed a camera above him.
