Shit! Mr. Bedi was coming up! Crawling up that way slowly, I could not reach the roof in time. In a few seconds he would come up to the fourth floor, turn the lights on, and see me naked. Worse, in the backwards crawling position I was in, he would get to see my pussy and my boobs. On the other hand, if I turned around and sprinted up, the footfalls would definitely tip him off to the presence of someone. Already suspicious about the lights, he would assume it was a thief. Even if I made it to the roof unseen and locked the door behind me, he would raise hell and wake up everyone in the building.
Either way, I was doomed. I was caught. There was nothing to do but give up. I straightened my back, and sat on the stair with my knees folded in front of me, to hide my private parts the best I could. The Bedis were nice people. Maybe I could throw myself at their mercy and beg them not to tell my parents. And maybe they would be understanding. I sure hoped they would be.
Mr. Bedi took two more steps. A few seconds now and his head would be over the banister and even in the darkness, he could have seen me. Right then,
"Where are you going?" Mrs. Bedi said.
"I thought I'd turn the fourth floor lights on too."
"Let it be. Come here and help me put her to bed. I have been carrying her up the stairs."
"Yeah, it'll just be a minute..."
"NOW!" she said in a tone I myself didn't discover I had until I got married.
"Okay okay"
I breathed a sigh of relief when the footsteps receded and the door closed.
I slowly walked up to the top of the stairs in front of the roof door and sat there, on the verge of tears. What had I gotten myself into? This dare of locking all my clothes up had seemed like such a cool idea. And the extra thoroughness of locking the bed sheets and blanket with them now seemed even more stupid. Here I was, naked in my building, in a conservative society, with my family's honor on the line and my own reputation in serious jeopardy. In a small town like mine, you never recover from scandal of the sort I would kick up if discovered.
Even with all the distress, there was a part of me, definitely with horns and a red cape, that was turned on and naughtily pleased. That part of me also tried to calm me down or egg me on, depending on how you look at it. Think about it carefully, it said. Yes, the Bedis came home and you almost got caught. But almost. You are still safe. And even if they hadn't come home, you would still have to go behind the building and hunt the keys. It's not like you can wrap yourself in the mattress and knock on your front door. And for all you know, the key might be right there and easy to retrieve.
And come on, when you started this, surely you didn't expect not to encounter any people at all. Isn't it thrilling ALMOST getting caught but then escaping? Don't you feel the rush? Yes I do. Well, come on then!
With a new resolve I started deciding what steps to take next. Yes, the Bedis were back home. But they had come from a long train ride. They would probably be asleep soon. Yes, the stairs were now almost completely lit. But really, was their being dark anything more than just psychological protection? If someone were to step out of their home, dark or light, I would still get caught. And based on the previous two nights, I knew that it was still going to be mostly dark and quiet. It is unlikely that someone else would now come home. Lightning doesn't strike twice.
I gave the Bedis about 20 minutes to fall asleep. Then I started tiptoeing down the stairs. The fourth floor was still dark. So that was fine. Looks like Mr. Bedi hadn't come out to turn the lights on there. I stood halfway on the stairs between the third and fourth floors and listened intently. No voices coming from the Bedi residence. Maybe they had gone to bed. Slowly I started descending the stairs again. Once I crossed their door, and got to the second floor, I started feeling more confident. I considered turning the lights off again, but decided not to. If by chance Mr. Bedi decided to check again, he would definitely suspect foul play.
Soon I was at the entrance passage. Poking my head out, I checked the surroundings. All clear. Instead of taking the usual clockwise way, I took the shorter anticlockwise route to where I had thrown the key. There was an added risk with the usual route - the Bedis' apartment had windows and the balcony on that side. So it was best to avoid it in case they were still awake.
Standing at the southeast corner, I peered over and made sure that the coast was clear. Then I turned back to make sure another late night traveler wasn't about to return. As I looked back, I couldn't help but admire how sexy my ass looked, jutting out as I bent over. What a sexy view someone would get if they were to see me from the back. Hey! Focus! I checked again to make sure the coast was clear and on tiptoes ran to the northeast corner. Made sure the northern side was completely dark. And then took a few steps towards the general spot where the key had to be.
On hands and knees, I scoured the area, doing my best to ignore naughty self-suggestions about how hot I would look if someone were to walk out into a balcony right then. My eyes got used to the darkness but I couldn't see the keys anywhere. I even looked under, inside and behind the shrubs and plants. the leaves and branches tickled my nipples as I did so, forcing me to suppress my giggles. No sign of it. I expanded my area of search. Fifteen minutes later I had scoured the entire north side of the building without any luck.
It had to be on the other side of the fence, I decided. I had thrown it far enough to avoid falling into any balcony. I made my way through the shrubs, their thorns and branches scratching my sides and my ass, and was leaning against the fence. I looked around. And almost screamed in delight as I spotted the key from a glint of the star light. It was sitting there, looking very innocent, in grass some distance from the fence. I bent down and reached out with my hand. Nope, too far. I got on my knees and inserted my leg through the fence to reach it with my toe. Gah! About 8 inches too far. I looked around for some sort of a stick or branch I could use to reach the key. Nothing.
I pulled my leg back, knowing I had to cross over. Like I had done many times before as a kid. I put my hands through the fence, then my head. And that's where the progress stopped. One of the barbs from the wire started pressing into my boobs and I stopped trying to push myself through. I remembered reading somewhere that in terms of thickness, your head is the biggest organ. If your head can make it through something, so can the rest of your body. Yeah well, that might be true for men. And flat chested women. As I gently tried different angles to make it through the fence, I realized that the rule doesn't hold for women big big breasts. The last time I had climbed through this fence was about three years ago when I was a lot less chesty than I am now.
I gave up trying to crawl through the fence and just sat on my ass in the mud trying not to acknowledge the inevitable. This challenge had just gotten a whole lot challenging. To reach the key, I would have to go back to the front of the building, open the gate, step out, walk along the houses on the west side, walk around to the back to the open fields, get the key and then come back all that way.
By this point, I was beyond despair. I was starting to relish my predicament. I did not want to get caught. Nope, I really did not. It just gave me a thrill to think that I would somehow be getting out of this predicament too. It wouldn't be easy but it was going to be one hell of a ride.
I got up, dusted the muck off my naked body and started walking back. I stayed cautious despite my enhanced sense of anticipation. The coast was still clear. Soon I reached the building's gate. Standing there, I was visible from two sides of the building. Obviously, no one was around or they would have yelled out. I was about to open the door when I remembered. Its hinges were drier than dinosaur fossils. The last thing I needed was to wake someone up with that screeching noise. Luckily, I realized that it was very easy to climb. It didn't have spiked on the top or anything. Great work, Mr. Architect! What was the point of the barbed wire then?
But why was I complaining? It made my life easier. I climbed over the gate, feeling distinctly uncomfortable and also unhygienic when the top bar of the gate rubbed against my inner thighs and my labia. I got down. And suddenly, felt a rush of accomplishment. I had crossed another important milestone, although I hadn't planned to cross it before. I was now out of the relative safety of my building. The small lane from the entrance of our building formed a T-junction with the lane opposite the other houses. Along that lane were some plants. I crouched behind the plants and made my way north. The porch lights of those houses were on, but these lanes had no street lights so I felt mostly safe.
I finally reached the open area past the last house. A few steps and I had to bite my fist hard to avoid crying out. I had stepped on something very sharp. Damn! I thought flip flops would be too noisy. But doing this whole thing barefoot wasn't a great idea if I was going to step off concrete. I checked my foot. No bleeding. I had stepped on a small rock with a sharp edge. But luckily it hadn't broken the skin.
I walked more carefully, avoided any suspicious looking rocks and pebbles in the dark as I made my way towards the key. Looked around again to make sure that the windows and balconies were dark. They were. I finally made it to the key and picked it up. I kissed it a few times with relief. I have never loved a key more in my entire life, not even the keys to my first house or first car. I walked back with a sense of relief. The toughest part of the night was done. I had the key.
I was walking back. I was in front of the first house when my throat went dry again. There was the unmistakable sound of a door opening. Instantly, I jumped into the shrubbery on the lane along my building wall, hoping it would hide me completely. I stayed completely still and listened. There was the sound of flip flops in a short distance. Moving very slowly so I didn't move the shrub and give myself away, I raised my head and looked in the direction of the sound.
