Charlotte and the Landlord

One day, in my earlier forties, I was hanging out with some of friends at the bar, drinking too much for a weekday. As it sometimes did, the conversation turned to past exploits with women. I never shared much with the group, only punfunctory tidbits here and there to keep them satisfied, but my mind always drifted back to a girlfriend I had nearly twenty years ago, and the traumatic series of events we went through. A story I never dared to share, until now, in the comfort of anonymity.

My girlfriend and I were traveling through Australia in the early 2000s. We were childhood friends growing up in Toronto, but it was until university that we expressed feelings for each other and started dating. We had been together almost five years, including two difficult years working office jobs that we both hated after graduation. So we did what many do, or which many they wish they had done before having any real responsibilities: we took what we had saved and decided to see the world.

Australia was our last stop. At that point, after months of travel, we didn't have much money, and we didn't have proper visas. That didn't prevent us from staying, and we scraped by on the generosity of others and by earning a dollar or two when we could. We were staying at a small surf town on the coast, and it was pretty much as cheap as Australia could be.

Charlotte was pretty. She had a face on which my eyes could just rest for hours - dark eyebrows, piercing eyes, small nose, soft jawline. Her frame was petite, athletic. Her tan she had worked on for months, although we never went to a nude beach and the tan lines were dramatic - tan lines that reminded us of what we left behind us at home. Her breasts were medium sized, a lovely swooping shape. They were slightly bigger than you'd expect from a girl of her size, but not disproportionate. Her nipples were soft and large normally, but would get smaller and tight when she was aroused.

We didn't have much to our names, but we managed to find a one bedroom place near the water. The landlord lived in the unit below. An older guy - maybe early fifties at the time. He taught surfing to the tourists that came into town in the summer. The rest of the time he seemed to be a functioning alcoholic. We never really saw him with a woman, but had plenty of surfing buddies.

Life was carefree. Our only real concern was our dwindling funds. Neither of us had worked during the trip, as we had expected to return home as we came close to running out of money. What we hadn't anticipated was our complete lack of desire to return home and, as a result, our need to live as cheaply as possible for as long as possible.

One day, we came home to a ransacked apartment. They had found the small safe that was kept in the back of the apartment, tucked away in a laundry closet and bolted into the wall. They hadn't cracked the code but instead had simply ripped the safe from it's mounting points and walked away with the entire unit, to be opened later with proper tools.

Our remaining cash was in the safe, along with our passports. We immediately filed a police report. They informed us they didn't deal with many robberies, but would do what they could. They hadn't had a robbery reported in months. It seemed so strange to the police - and to us - that we'd get robbed in this town, and that the thieves had turned the place upside down but had only taken the safe. Almost as if they knew where to look. The cash only amounted to a couple months of rent, for which we were only paying five hundred dollars a month. It seemed so high risk for such little reward - but I suppose the thief couldn't have known what the take would be. But wouldn't there have been a string of robberies known to the police if it wasn't some random event?

Part of me was thrilled that our passport was stolen. Of course, it would be a huge headache to replace, having learned from experience losing one a couple of years earlier in Europe.

The bigger issues was that we'd run out of money. The remaining cash was whatever was left in our wallets - thirty dollars. Our cards were maxed out. Charlotte was too proud, or maybe too headstrong, to ask anyone for money, and I didn't feel like I had anyone to turn to in my family.

We took a long walk down to the water and then west along the beach, up above the dunes. We tried to come with a plan. It was the last week of November. The food we had we could stretch a couple of weeks, but rent loomed over us. It was due in a few days.

One of us would have to get a job, which seemed nearly impossible. Staying without visas meant that we couldn't put our office job skills to use easily, and neither of us had any experience in the service industry, where one may expect to be paid under the table. Our surfing skills were limited, and we didn't have any other marketable skills.

We decided that we'd split up the tasks. Charlotte would look for remote work, which was limited in those days. I'd try to find a job as an unskilled worker, somewhere in town. Somewhere, hopefully, within walking distance, since we had no car.

The remaining days of November came and went. On the first of the month, a Wednesday, we found ourselves knocking on our landlord's door, then sitting in his living room. We told him we wouldn't be able to make rent, and asked if we could get a one or two week extension.

Tony shook his head. "I can't do that. If I started to give you extensions, it's a slippery slope. I have bills to pay, too."

We were silent. I thought for sure Tony would be amenable. I could see that Charlotte was devastated.

Tony exhaled slowly and looked up. He open his mouth to say something, but stopped.

"What are you thinking?" I said.

He sat there, unmoving. After a few seconds, he spoke.

"I like you guys as tenants. But I also like money for rent, and you don't have that. So, I ask myself: what else would I want in exchange for my services as a landlord? And that's really the only thing that I can come up with. A simple transaction."

He took a sip of his beer, eyes fixed on Charlotte.

"If I can see Charlotte naked, I'll let you stay."

I gasped involuntarily but Charlotte kept her composure. Before I could even get my bearings, she responded coolly. "That's it? You see me naked and we get to stay for free?

He shook his head. "That's good enough for the first week" he said. It was clear he was making everything up as he went. "But once I've seen her naked, that's no thrill the second week. So the price will increase." He leaned back into the couch and took another sip of beer. His gaze never left Charlotte's face. She shifted her weight on the couch.

"What then?" she asked apprehensively.

Charlotte's reluctant interest emboldened him and he was more blunt in his delivery this time. I could tell he was thinking about how much more he could ask for.

"Second week, you suck my cock. Third week, I get you for the entire Saturday. If you complete the third weekend, I'll give you two months rent free. After that, you have to start paying me again. Unless I get access to Charlotte for one day every month - the entire day, with nothing off limits - and I'll let you live here free indefinitely."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and I stood from the couch. "You're fucking disgusting" I said meekly. It was all I could say. Somehow, it sounded more devastating in my head.

He didn't even look at me. His eyes continued to burn into Charlotte's face. She looked at the ground for a long few seconds. She seemed to be running through her options, trying to figure out how to negotiate, how to play it.

"Hypothetically, if we agreed to your plan, I'd want to put down some ground rules. You seem like a reasonable guy. I'd know you'd honor them."

I couldn't believe what she was saying. The thought that she was even entertaining this to any degree at all made my heart race. I just looked at her.

Tony smiled. "I'd expect some rules. What did you have in mind?"

"First, Steve has to be here at all times. Whether he watches or not is up to him. But I don't want to be down here with you alone."

"That's fine."

"Second, you have to wear a condom. Third, no anal sex. I've never done it and never will. Lastly, we have a safety word. I say stop, and we immediately stop. At that point, you give us a week to get our things together and move out."

Tony nodded. "Anything else?"

Charlotte considered. She ran through a list in her mind of how this could get out of control, and how to put rules in place now to prevent that from happening. But she thought her list was complete. The safety word gave her a catch-all in case there was something she missed.

"No, that's it."

"Okay. We have ourselves a deal, miss Charlotte. Since I'm a reasonable guy, I'll even give you the rest of the week to get your money together before our first....session."

We argued most of that night. Charlotte insisted that the worst that would happen is that Tony would get to see her naked, that no matter what we'd leave before the second session if we didn't have the money by then, but I found that unacceptable. I couldn't believe that in her being so headstrong and too proud to ask for money, she was willing to let a man twice her age - a total stranger, essentially - see her completely naked. The rest I couldn't even comprehend. What upset me was that it was a conversation she took part in. To think of what he would do to her, to the imagery that the conversation had sparked. Even the mention of using a condom...the details of a surreal conversation. I felt like she - we - had already been violated by him.

The next morning, I rose silently and had coffee early to began my job search in earnest. It was Thursday, and the thought of earning $500 in two days seemed impossible. I contacted anyone I knew in town asking if they had work. I think a lot of them were polite in saying they didn't have anything. I wasn't much qualified for the type of work that they'd be doing, but I was an able-bodied young man. But there were enough of those to go around. The tourist market hadn't exactly been hot this year, due to uncharacteristically bad weather. But my motivation was also at an all time high. I couldn't stop picturing being in the apartment downstairs, watching Charlotte get naked in front of Tony, his eyes seeing what should only be reserved for me. The rest I couldn't even fathom. There was no point going there, because I knew Charlotte would never let it happen. We just needed to go along with his game for maybe a week, and I hoped desperately it wouldn't come to that.

Charlotte spent the morning searching online and reading through the classifieds. In the afternoon she headed into town to read postings on telephone poles and asking around in the bars and restaurants. She didn't have service experience, but I encouraged her to lie. Anything to get a job.

In the meantime, I had a bit of luck in the afternoon. A loose acquaintance of mine, Manuel, had a contracting job that he needed help with, and he was willing to take a risk on me. Manual was the rare South American living in Australia, but he had been here for so long that he had an accent. The pay would barely be enough: $10 per hour, and Manuel could only guarantee me 20 hours of work per week. Assuming Charlotte didn't find work, it'd take me just over two weeks to make the $500 we needed - meaning that for two weekends in a row, Charlotte would have to visit Tony. And on that second visit......

I begged Juan for more hours. I couldn't tell him the situation - it was too mortifying - but I told him I desperately needed the money and I'd never been more motivated in my life. He agreed that if I showed myself to be a quick learner, he could maybe leave me unsupervised on the job site while he worked his second job. If I put in 10 hours tomorrow, a Friday, then maybe there was chance I could put in a full 40 hour week and just come up with the money in time. Again, only if I showed myself to be a competent worker, and only if there was enough work to go around. I'd have to learn basic carpentry, and fast.

I knew the first weekend was inevitable. There was no way we could come up with the rent money in one day, and we had nowhere to go. No money, no car, no friends that had space for us and all of our stuff - none of which had much value, at least not enough for several hundred dollars. No family that I could contact. No family that Charlotte was willing to contact. I knew Charlotte would insist that we stay and that it wouldn't be a big deal.

I tried to convince myself that if Tony just saw Charlotte naked once, just for a brief moment, then we could continue this dream life, and that we wouldn't have to leave everything behind. We'd find the work, we'd settle in. We'd get proper visas. And we'd move out to a different place as soon as possible. We just had to make sure that we had enough money by the end of the next week, so that Charlotte's stripping for Tony wouldn't be in vain. Otherwise, we'd be forced to leave, and he'd have seen her for nothing.

In the evening, I told Charlotte about my job prospects with Manuel. She nodded when I told her I was hoping we'd have enough by the second weekend, otherwise we'd just leave town. Her search had been unfruitful.

She agreed with the plan. "Although.....even if I started the second weekend, I could just say the safe word before anything really got started. Then we'd have an extra week to make enough to move out somewhere else. Maybe we could avoid being homeless."

I ignored her comment. The second weekend wasn't even a thought I could entertain. "How can you stay so calm when this guy is going to see you fully naked? You don't even go topless at the beach when there's no one around."

"I don't know. It feels more transactional. Plenty of guys have seen me naked." Sensing that I didn't want to hear this, she quickly added "And I know it's keeping our dream alive. We can move out, and we'll never have to see Tony again."

I tried to make light of the comment and teased her. "Plenty meaning....?" though I full well knew the answer.

She responded coyly. "5 or 6."

Saturday morning rolled around. I barely slept that night.

Charlotte dressed early. She put on her most modest panties and a comfortable bra, in a vain effort to keep things from getting too sexual. Overtop she wore sweatpants and a t-shirt, with no socks - one less thing to take off.

"You okay? We don't have to do this. We can leave all of this stuff behind. I'm sure someone could take us in."

"No, let's do this. We can't be homeless. No one has space for us. I don't want to be someone else's problem. We just need to get through the next few minutes."

At noon we walked down the stairs and knocked on Tony's door. He opened it, and, beer in hand, he beckoned us in.

"Charlotte, make yourself comfortable on the couch. Steve, you can sit in that chair over there if you want to be in the room. Otherwise you can hang out at the table in the other room."

"No, I'll stay" I murmured. I took a seat on the hard wooden chair he had set out for me, off in the corner. I'd have a side view of everything that happened. Tony took a seat closer, on a comfortable chair closer to Charlotte.

"Well, let's begin. Stand up and take your sweatpants and t-shirt off."

Charlotte stood and did as she was told. A few seconds later, she stood there in her bra and panties. While the bra didn't reveal much, the panties were small and clearly outlined the beginning of her pussy. You could see the faint dark shadow of her pubic hair that she kept shortly trimmed. The panties sat around her waist in a slightly different spot than he bathing suit typically did, and you could see the white skin that was never exposed to the sun. My heart jolted as I thought about him seeing the rest.

I had to say something. I tried to appeal to his basic decency. "Tony....be a good dude. Please, let her keep her bra and underwear on. Can't this be enough for the first week?"

Tony glanced at me. "New ground rule: your boyfriend has to keep his mouth shut. Even one word and the deal's off. And no free week either."

Charlotte looked at me. She didn't have to say anything for me to interpret the look. "Remember, I'll use the safe word if it becomes too much. Don't blow this, we've already come this far."

Tony turned his attention back to Charlotte, and Charlotte back to him.

"Turn around."

Charlotte turned. The panties she wore were her most modest but still were basically a thong at the back, and didn't leave much to the imagination. Not that he would need to imagine for much longer. Her ass was tight from the many yoga classes that she had attended over the years, the folds of her white cheeks giving way to a shapely set of legs and small, delicate feet.

Tony took the sight in. He was in no rush. After a few seconds, Charlotte turned to look over her shoulder, waiting for the next set of instructions.

"Bend over, and take your panties off. Slowly"

She turned back and hesitated for a brief second. But then she slowly bent at the waist, spreading her legs slightly to stay balanced. Grabbing the sides of her panties, she slowly peeled them off. Slowly, her beautiful ass came into full view, no longer obstructed by even a tiny bit of underwear.

She continued pulling them further down, until the bands had passed the perfectly shaped folds where her ass met her legs. The bit of fabric covering her vagina resisted at first and then slowly separated from the skin. She bent further down, pulling the panties over her knees. Her lips hung down, the skin on her lips beautifully patterned and pink. They jiggled slightly as she lifted one foot and then the other to fully remove her underwear. Tony got a full view of her oversized labia, something she was always self-conscious about. I'd occasionally seen her lips from behind as she walked around nude in the apartment, but only if I was lying down on the couch or bed and had the right angle. Here Tony was, getting a full view in slow motion - something I never had seen myself. Her tan line now was on full display, showing off her pale milky skin underneath - a glowing reminder that Tony was seeing something that was sacred, that wasn't for anybody else. As soon as she was done pulling her panties off, she turned around, revealing her tightly trimmed hair.

"Take your bra off."

Again, Charlotte dutifully followed his orders. She reached behind and unclasped her bra, letting it fall off. Her perky, plate breasts bounced slightly as she tossed her bra to the side as well. I couldn't help but notice that her nipples were hard, something that only really happened when she was at least a little bit aroused. But I didn't want to believe that. I told myself that it was the air conditioning in Tony's apartment, which seemed unusually cold.

Charlotte stood there, completely naked. She shifted her pose slightly, trying to modestly cover her vagina with her legs by turning to the side, and brought one arm up to half-heartedly cover her tits. It seemed like she was hoping that he wouldn't notice these maneuvers.

Tony smiled. "Stay right there." He got up and walked into his bedroom. You could see his hard cock trying to force its way out of his pants. He made no effort to hide it.

Once he was out of the room, Charlotte quickly sat down and crossed her legs, keeping her eyes on mine.

"Oh my god" I said and exhaled for what felt like the first time since it started. "Are you okay?"

Charlotte nodded. "I hope we're done soon. I didn't lay any ground rules for him seeing me naked and I don't want to give up now. But please trust me that I will if I need to."

Before I could answer, Tony reappeared, holding a camera. My heart sank further. He was going to take nude photos of my fiancé. Naked, explicit photos he'd have forever. Photos he could jerk off to any time he wanted. Photos he could post on the internet.