I am incredibly happy.  Truly, I am.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy about what has happened, but I’m happy that I am one step closer to the end of my nightmare.  OK, so maybe I’m being a bit sarcastic.  But I am one step closer, and that is a good thing.

Of the twelve tasks I have to complete, I only have eleven left.  And that is a very good thing, because I don’t know how long my sanity will last.

This morning, when I woke up, I hoped yesterday would turn out to have been a bad dream.  So you can imagine my horror when I pulled back the covers and confirmed my nakedness.  Of course, I could have dreamt it and disrobed in the process, but my feet were quite dirty too, so I knew what happened last night must have been real. 

I got out of bed and reached for my robe, but then I knew that I had better not put it on.  If this was really happening, it might piss "Levi" off.  So I got up and tried to walk to the kitchen without being too easily seen through the windows.  I cooked breakfast, again naked, and ate like a pig.  I guess last night did make me a bit famished.  After eating, I sat down at the computer, and there was an unusual email in my inbox.  It simply said, "Don’t forget, I’m still watching.  Love, Levi."  That horrid Levi.  I casually glanced out the window to see if I could see any signs of being watched, but I saw none.  But rather than chance it, I stayed as I was.  I went into the bathroom to shower, and then I remembered the instructions, so I trimmed my pubic hair as requested.  After this, I got my clothes ready for work, but I didn’t put them on.  I realized that I had grabbed underwear out of habit, but I set it aside, just in case.  

When it came time to leave for work, I carried my clothes out of the house into the garage, put them on, walked to the car, and I was horrified to find an envelope taped to the window.  I opened it, and the note inside said, "Melanie, my dear, I am proud of you so far.  Your report was forwarded to me, and I saw your plans to clean the garage.   This is fine, but you must remember that the garage is part of the house now, so you cannot wear clothes until you are outside it.  I hope that you didn’t get dressed inside this morning, but if you do, I will overlook it one time, since I have not specified yet.  This afternoon will be a good time for cleaning, though, with the garage door open.  You should start as soon as you are home from work.  And don’t forget to undress BEFORE you go inside.  The cleaning of the garage, naked, with the door open, will be your second task."

I suppose I should have been thankful that Levi isn’t going to punish me further for dressing inside the garage today, but thankfulness was the furthest thing from my mind.   When I got to work, I tried to focus on my job and not the task that lay ahead.  But this is easier said than done.  All day, I was shuffling papers, fielding phone calls, and sweating bullets.  After all, I had no idea what could happen, who would drive by, and what kind of repercussions might occur.  It consumed my thoughts all day, but I think I hid it well at work.  How would I undress outside?  Should I undress inside the car?  Perhaps I should wait until I have the door open and sneak inside quickly afterward.  But then again, what was the point, if I was going to be cleaning the garage with the door open, and nude, anyway?  

The minutes each seemed to last 20 minutes at the beginning of the day, and stretched to days as the afternoon rolled on.  Finally, at 5:00, I was done with work.  I have to admit, though, that I was so preoccupied with the torture that awaited me, I almost forgot that I was only wearing a skirt, a shirt, a jacket, nylons and shoes.  I guess at least the undressing would be quicker, since I had less than normal to take off.  But that didn’t make it any easier.

When I arrived home, at about 5:20, I parked outside the garage, and I froze with anticipation of what I was about to do.  I thought about chickening out.  I thought about calling Levi’s bluff.  But then I remembered that he did find me, and I remembered the camera flashes from last night.  I realized he meant business, and that stalling would probably only make him mad.  So I stripped, right in the car, and hit the button on my garage door opener.  I carried my clothes inside, unsure whether I would look worse running around naked or running around naked carrying clothes.  I realized it really didn’t matter, though.

So into the garage I strode, and on into the house, leaving my clothes in the hamper.  I grabbed some vodka from the liquor cabinet and had a few shots to help my courage level, and by 5:40 I was in the garage again, naked. 

I almost started at the front of the garage, but I realized that, if I started in the back, I would be able to work my way forward with some junk blocking the view of passersby.  I wasn’t sure if this would make Levi mad, but he did not specify where I should start, so I figured the worst he could fairly give me was a tongue-lashing. 

About an hour went by while I completed my task.  I took the various tools that were lying around and put them away, organizing them so I could find them later.  I found a hook that I could hang my bicycle on.  Eventually, I realized that the lawn mower was the only thing blocking passersby from seeing me in the altogether.  I looked out at the road, and saw a familiar car drive by -- my boss’s car!  I forgot that he had a daughter who lived down the road from me, and would no doubt drive by often while going to visit her.  As luck would have it, though, he didn’t look my way.  I moved the lawn mower off to the corner, and then I don’t know how it happened.  I had a sudden burst of courage, so I grabbed the spare car key I had hanging by the door, strutted outside like I owned the place (which, of course, I do), started the car, and backed it into the garage.  Now my task was complete, and I could go inside and relax.

When I got out of the car to shut the garage door, I saw another car go by, and I think the driver looked in my direction.  After he passed, I saw a flash of his brake lights, as if he was slowing down to stop.  But thankfully, he thought better of it, and sped back up. 

Once the garage door was closed, I went back into the house, sat down at the TV, and figured it was time to get my mind off this.  God, I wished I could get dressed, but I didn’t. 

After a few minutes, the phone rang, showing "private caller" again.  I picked it up, and it was Levi’s now-familiar voice.  "Nice job, Melanie.  I really didn’t know if you would pull it off.  That was pretty sneaky starting at the back, though.  When I saw that, I thought I might need to increase your punishment again.  But I never told you to bring the car in while it was still light.  That extra touch was just enough that I will call it even.  Now you only have ten tasks to go.  What do you think of that?  Be honest."

By this point I was trembling in anger.  "What do I think of that?!? What am I supposed to say, ‘Thank you Levi?’   You know damned well what I think of all of this.  You are a pervert.  Your online cohorts are perverts.  Everything about this is perverted.  But you do have some control now, so I’ll play along with your sick game, at least for the time being." 

At this, he chuckled, "Of course you will.  You do have a choice, but the alternative is nothing you will enjoy."  Of course he was right.  He had me.  "Since I am pleased with you right now, I am going to give you another task." 

"Your being pleased with me gets me another task?" I asked in disbelief.  "I fail to see the logic in that!"

"Well, I’m not trying to be logical here, Melanie.  And it is really not in your best interest to question me.  If you’d prefer, we could drag this out for many months, even years.  Is that what you want, or would you rather get it over with?"

I had to admit he was right again.  "OK, what’s the task?"

At this point, Levi started to explain what I was to do, and my skin was probably pale enough to blind someone, were anyone there to see.  He said he figured that my car would probably stay quite a bit cleaner now that I was keeping it in the garage, so I ought to get it good and clean to start with.  At the car wash.  Naked. 

"C... c... can I wait until after dark?"

"Of course you can.  You can also add another 6 tasks if you like.  The choice is yours."  ***click***

I got my ass up at that point, grabbed my car keys and purse, and stopped.  Was I really going to let him get to me?  I should mention that I tend to be quite stubborn.  I hate to let anyone else have control over me, so the loss of control is probably as difficult for me as the nakedness.  But I realized he still had the upper hand.

So out to the car I walked.  I got in, still naked, and opened the garage door.  I pulled out and drove to the only car wash in town.  Shit, it’s self-serve.  So I drove to the next town, and the only drive-through car wash had a line of about eight people waiting.  Waiting in my car naked in broad daylight is not my idea of a good time, so I found the local coin-operated car wash, which was mostly empty, and drove into the furthest stall from the road.  You could still see the road, but there was a tree blocking a clear view.  The only way anyone could get a good look at me was if they stopped in the middle of the road.  Anyone else would only get a glimpse, and they might not believe they really saw a naked woman washing her car.  So I chose that stall.

The wash itself was pretty uneventful, surprisingly enough.  I went through all the cycles, and I’m sure I was quite a sight.  It was a windy night, after all, so a lot of the water was blowing right back at me, and I was quite wet by the time I was done.  All in all, it probably took ten minutes. 

I must be the queen of bad timing, though.  Just as I was about to get into my car, I saw a car waiting behind me to get in.  And they undoubtedly saw me -- all of me.  I started to open the door of my car to speed away, and I heard a voice from the other direction. 

"Are you okay?" he asked.   I looked, and there was a man in a polo shirt with a key in his hand and a bag of change.  He must have been the owner, and he was collecting the money from the machines.  I didn’t know what to say to him, so I just told him that I lost a bet and I had to do this to pay my debt.  He seemed to buy it, but now I can no longer say I haven’t been seen by anyone.

Again, I drove home, this time on back roads, and on the way I couldn’t remember whether I had shut the garage door.  When I pulled into my driveway, I breathed a sigh of relief, as it was closed.  But when I hit the button to open it, nothing happened.  I tried again.  Nothing.  I just put a new battery in it three weeks ago, but just to be safe, I grabbed a spare battery from my glove box and changed it.  Still nothing.  I didn’t know what to do!   Eventually I realized I would still have to park outside and go in and manually open the garage door, so that’s what I did.  When I got inside I saw some wires that had been snipped, connected to the garage door opener.  I had been sabotaged!  I was beyond pissed at this point, but I opened the garage door by hand anyway, went back to my car, and drove inside.  Once inside, I manually closed the door, went inside, and sank into the couch again.   And then I saw the light blinking on my machine.  Great.  Probably the damned pervert again.

I checked the messages, and there was only one.  It was Levi, with three words: "check your email."   So I walked over to the computer and logged in.  I had three new messages, none of which had subject lines or sender addresses, so I opened them one at a time.

The first one was spam.  Something about generic Viagra.  Great, that will do me a lot of good.  The second one was from Levi.  It said, "You should remember to close the garage -- otherwise you never know who could sneak in and do some damage :)"  The smiley face did not impress me.

Finally, I opened the third, and it read as follows:

"Nice job tonight, Melanie.  I hope you don’t mind my garage door prank, but I so enjoy watching you open and close it.  I think from now on you should always park in the garage, and don’t even try re-connecting the wires.  In addition, you need to post this story before you go to bed, too.  For the record, the trim job is well-done, so make sure you keep it groomed appropriately.  And remember the rules about where you can and cannot dress.  Remember, I am watching you.  You will hear about your next task shortly enough, but it won’t be tonight.  Go get some rest, so you can be ready for work in the morning.  From now on, you need to check your email at least once every two hours.  I don’t like delayed responses.  Farewell for now, my dear.  We will talk more later; and I can’t wait to read your post."

Each of these tasks seems to be getting a little bit worse, so I’ll admit I’m a little scared.  But now I’m down to nine left, so I’m going to try to relax for the time being.  Hopefully it will be awhile before you hear from me again, but I guess that is up to Levi.

Melanie