This is the third chapter in a series. I expect the series to conclude with the next chapter. While I hope that this story can stand on its own, it will make a lot more sense if you have read my previous stories "The Performance" and "The Performance CH 02." This story draws on some real experiences but is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real person or entity is coincidental and unintended. Thank you for reading my story.
*****
Megan and I didn't have the opportunity to start working on the show immediately. Summer term, with its reduced class schedule, was when most academics traveled to do their research. Megan had a trip to Paris and several other towns in France scheduled. I had research to do in archives in Berlin and in libraries in Tubingen and Heidelberg. It cost some money that I didn't really have, but I changed my schedule so that Megan and I could fly over and back together. I'd take the train from Paris to Berlin.
We were both in Europe for two weeks. However, apart from the flights, we could only be together the last weekend of our trips. At my suggestion, Megan agreed to spend that weekend in Baden-Baden. I spent some more money I didn't really have on a very nice hotel room in the center of town.
Eleven days was the longest time Megan and I had spent apart since we first met. I had really missed her. We played our own little "separated lovers reunite" movie scene in the Baden-Baden station that Friday morning. I surprised myself by how happy I was to see Megan again.
After I got Megan settled in the hotel and fed, we walked around the town. "Baden-Baden is famous for its baths," I said. "Do you want to try the Roman-Irish bath first?"
"What is that?" Megan asked.
I explained that it was a rather structured progression through a wash, steam, and rub down, ending at a rather nice pool. I also explained that it was coed, and that nudity was mandatory for the patrons. Megan liked that part, so we walked to the rather intimidating building on the hillside that housed the Roman-Irish bath.
I had not been there in many years. It was more structured than I had recalled. The building was rather dark. The clothed staff chided you in German if you didn't follow the prescribed procedures exactly or if you took too long. There were also more old men than I had recalled.
I think it was the old men. Before we had made our way to the final pool, which I thought made the rest of it worthwhile, Megan got a look on her face and asked if we could leave. With some additional chiding from the clothed staff, we went back to the changing room, dressed, and went outside. My spirits lifted a bit being back in the sunshine.
"Can we do better than that?" Megan asked.
"I think so," I replied. It was only a short distance to the more modern, well-lit, and airy Carracolla Therme. "The pools on the main floor are clothed," I warned, "but I think you'll enjoy their 'saunaland.'"
"If I need a swimsuit," Megan said, "I didn't bring one."
"I didn't either," I replied. "If I remember correctly, we can get suits good enough to get through the main floor at the spa."
My recollection was correct, although the suits were not what either of us would normally buy. Mine was a very, small bikini-styled brief. Megan got a tight-fitting blue one-piece. Neither suit had any lining. We'd be "decently" dressed, but the suits very clearly outlined all the features of both of our bodies. Megan looked incredibly sexy.
Megan looked at herself in a mirror in the changing room. She turned to me, smiled, and said, "Well, we won't see anyone we know here."
We left the changing room and went into the main part of the spa. It was humid, but comfortable, and full of people of all ages. The feature of this large, glass enclosed room was a huge pool that was partially indoors and partially outdoors, built around a fountain. The pool was full of people with many more walking around or sitting in chairs, either around the pool or near the bar/restaurant in one corner of the large room.
I led Megan through the main pool area to a spiral staircase. We climbed up and came to a landing facing a solid door. On the door was a sign that said "Nudity Mandatory" in four languages. I opened the door and let Megan walk in. Just in front of us were plastic shelves against a wall. A middle-aged couple were standing in front of the shelves putting their suits back on. The "saunaland" was also busy. The difference from downstairs was that everyone except the staff was nude.
Megan and I peeled our thin swimsuits off. I led her into the shower. We showered next to a boy and girl who appeared to be in their very early twenties. They also looked like they might be brother and sister. That impression was reinforced when a middle-aged woman put her head into the shower and told them that they had to hurry because they need to meet Aunt Katy in an hour.
I took Megan through a succession of sauna at different temperatures. We weren't alone in any of them, but the crowd was a mix of men and women rather than the virtually all-male clientele we'd encountered at the other spa.
After we'd had enough heat for a while, we showered again. In the center of the room was a Jacuzzi and several footbaths with chairs around them. There was also a small bar. That had been closed during my previous visits but was staffed that day. I'd had the presence of mind to carry a small vinyl pouch with about twenty Euro in it. I bought us both beers. We picked two chairs, spread out our towels, and enjoyed a footbath as we sipped out beers.
A few minutes later, a couple who seemed a few years younger than us came up. Both the man and woman had robes on. They asked in German if the chairs next to us were taken. I said no. They took off their robes and sat down. After a few minutes, the woman reached into her robe, pulled out some money, and asked the man to get her a beer. He walked nude up to the bar and brought back two beers.
After a couple of sips of beer, the woman said to us, in German, "It is nice to get the clothes off, have beer, and relax, yes?" Megan didn't speak German, so I had to translate. The four of us started talking. The woman and man were both lawyers from Frankfurt. They had come to Baden-Baden for the weekend.
Where we were sitting, we could see the entrance to the saunaland. People were going in and out, dressing and undressing, steadily. I wasn't paying much attention until I heard a female voice with a distinct New York accent say, rather too loudly, "Nudity mandatory huh?" I looked towards the door and saw two very attractive young women, a blonde and a brunette, in pretty conservative bikinis. I'm guessing they were both in their mid-twenties. Without undressing, they moved past the shelves and began walking around.
The two girls were soon accosted by an older woman in the white pants and smock worn by the spa staff. She said something in German to the girls. The brunette New Yorker responded, "Sorry. We don't speak German." That produced a bit sterner admonition in German to the effect that nudity was mandatory in the saunaland as the sign on the door said.
The blonde was just standing there as if uncertain what to do. The brunette started to walk past the staff woman. The woman reached out a muscular arm and stopped the brunette. In heavily accented English, the staffer said, "Clothes must be off. Naked only!"
The brunette looked very offended and somewhat angry. She wisely decided, however, that she didn't want to extend the confrontation with the stout woman staffer. The brunette turned to her friend and said, "No way I'm getting naked!" The brunette strode to the main door and forcefully pushed it open, almost hitting a couple coming in. She elbowed her way past them and started down the steps.
The woman sitting with us said, with a chuckle, "Americans are such prudes."
The blonde was still standing there. The staff woman started staring at her. The blonde looked around. She hesitantly walked over to the shelves. She stopped and looked around again. She took a deep breath. She turned to face the shelves and slowly took her bikini top off. She put her top on a shelf and stopped. She turned around again to look over the saunaland, revealing two very nice bare breasts with very prominent tan lines. She turned back to face the shelves and slowly pushed her bottoms down. Her ass, which was also nice, also had very pronounced tan lines. She pulled her bottoms off her feet and put them on the shelf. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her waist. She looked around again as if trying to decide what to do now that she had her clothes off.
