Part 3,  The Contract

Nina awoke refreshed, noting from the angle of the rays of sunlight entering her room that she had slept in a little.  Climbing out of bed, she was startled by the feeling of the satin sheets against her bare skin, and remembered the events of the night before.

She sat for a moment, her eyes on some birds outside her window, her mind on the decision she had made.  In the light of day, it looked quite different, yet Nina still felt relaxed, less tense.

She stood up and went the bathroom, going through her morning routine as she did each morning, only this time doing it nude.  When she approached her closet, she paused.

Now was the time she usually chose what she was going to wear for the day, and she knew that inside her closet all her clothes were nicely laid out or hung up ready for her.  But she had made a promise not to wear them again as long as she was home, hadn't she?  It was going to be how she paid the rent for the fabulous room she slept in and the wonderful house and grounds she lived in, to always be naked here.

Nina took a deep breath and turned to the door of her room.

On this side of the door, she was safe.  She could be naked if she wanted to, with nothing else implied.  She had, after all, been given one more chance to think over her decision.  But if she was to step outside the room, naked as she was now, then that was it.  But not to do so meant either spending real money that she couldn't afford for a place to live in this expensive town, or go home in disgrace unable to fulfill her Grandfather's plan for her future, a future she wanted very badly.

What was being asked of her really, anyway?  Just that she go about her regular activities while allowing her host and probably his housekeeper to see her au naturel!  There were plenty of people who would have no problem doing this at all; why should she be any different?

Nina stood facing her bedroom door for several minutes, considering all of this, before finally reaching for the handle and taking the plunge.

The hallway outside her bedroom was well lit by sunlight, and Nina was once again reminded about how much of this house was open to the outside via the large number of oversized windows it had.  As Nina slowly padded down the hallway, she wondered if there was a single place in the whole building not visible from the outdoors, or she thought, looking at her reflection, not visible in one of the many mirrors that coated whatever wasn't glass.

Certainly, no one IN the house could miss her, and with all the mirrors, they would have an easy time seeing every side of her with no effort at all!

Nina made an effort not to cover up, and started down the stairs.

She remembered her skinny dip the night before, how different the house looked then.  It certainly wasn't the same now, walking down the stairs in broad daylight.

Nervously she looked about, wondering if anyone was around, but saw no one.  She made it to the first floor and padded on her bare feet to the kitchen.

Here there were signs of life, for as usual Mrs. Terry was busy making breakfast.

Nina hesitated before stepping into the kitchen, acutely aware of her nakedness versus the housekeeper's full dress and apron.  But it turned out her covert action had been wasted.

"Ah, Miss West!" said Mrs. Terry, catching a glimpse of the nervous girl in a mirror.  "Good morning!"

Nina jumped, then smiled a little.  She screwed in her courage and stepped into the room, expecting to see the housekeeper's eyes narrow in disgust.  "Good morning, Mrs. Terry," she said.

The older woman turned from the sink where she was washing a pan, and while drying her hands, took a good long look at Nina.

Nina was stunned, but didn't move.  To be honest, she didn't know what to do!  A part of her wanted to run screaming upstairs for something to cover herself up with.

"I see that you have decided to accept Mr. Cook's offer, then!" said Mrs. Terry, not giving any hint of her opinions on the naked girl in front of her.

"You...you know about that?" Nina asked.

"Well, girl.  He can hardly have you walking around here in the all together without consulting with me first!  It may be his home, but I live and work here too!"

Nina supposed that was true.  Her host was a lawyer, although a retired one, and the fledgling lawyer in Nina considered that such things as the threat of sexual harassment had to be considered.  He couldn't afford to offend his housekeeper, which meant that she evidently gave her approval for this adventure Nina was going through.

Oddly, that made Nina feel a little better, but then she wondered just how legal this form of "rent" was, anyway.

Mrs. Terry turned back to her sink.  "Breakfast is at the usual time," she said.  "You'll have time for your swim!"

"My swim?  Oh...yes," replied the young woman.  "But Mrs. Terry, do you know where Bri...where Mr. Cook is right now?"

"He said to come up to his studio after you've eaten."

"Oh...okay."  Feeling self conscious, Nina crossed the kitchen and stepped through the doors to the outside.  Again she paused, standing in the sunshine.

She had been out here naked just last night, but that was in the dark, not out in the bright light of day.  Nervously she scanned her surroundings, but saw no one.  Intellectually she knew that no one could have seen her, the house and grounds were very private after all, but the novelty of the situation still made her cautious.  But after a minute Nina shrugged and walked out onto the patio.  She berated herself for her jumpiness.  She knew she couldn't keep acting the way she had, or the stress would murder her.  The only way she was going to get through it all was to just DO IT!

So she went through her stretching and warm up exercises, and slipped into the water.

As she began her workout, she failed to notice the man in the window looking down on her from the second floor.  Brian Cook nodded to himself, acknowledging how well his plan was going.  She was just the subject he needed for his art; timid, self conscious, and strikingly beautiful in that girl next door way.  Already in his mind's eye he had a couple of pieces of sculpture planned; he looked forward to many more.  But there was just one more step to go.

Down in the pool, Nina enjoyed her swim.  Just like the night before, she could tell the difference between swimming nude and swimming in her swimsuit.  She felt unrestricted, powerful, able to push her workout to limits seemingly unreachable before.  She could feel the slipstream of her passage through the water over every inch of her body, and she knew that she was not getting the drag that she used to get from her suit.  As she pounded down those last few laps, she thought about how much better she could have swum at college and high school had she not been required to wear a suit.  But then with a smile that almost made her break her rhythm, she figured she wouldn't have had the courage to swim naked in front of all those people, but then it might have been interesting if the entire swim team had to be nude as well...including the men!

She touched the side at the end of the final lap with a giggle, her mind filled with the image of one or two of the male swimmers she had known, sans trunks!

Getting out, she realized that she had neglected to bring a towel down, and that dimmed her mood a little.  But the morning sun was already strong, so she just did her cool down stretches wet, her skin air-drying naturally.

Two more thoughts passed through her head before she went in to breakfast.  She first thought that some of the positions she assumed while she stretched were very revealing indeed, and as she padded to the house, she also figured she would have to get more sun tan lotion if she was going to expose everything to the sun from now on.
 
 

---***---
 
 

The elderly Brian Cook was sitting at a table doing some sketches based on what he had seen out the window, when he heard the knock on the door.  He looked up and smiled before bidding entrance.

The door opened slowly and Nina's head poked around the side, one bare shoulder also visible.  "Hi...Brian.  You wanted to see me?" Nina asked, mentally kicking herself for her choice in words.

Brian caught the double meaning as well, and chuckled.  "Yes, do come in will you."

Nina stepped through the door and closed it behind her, her face composed although her body language showed her ill at ease.  It was exactly what Brian had been looking for, and he studied her for a moment.  She was quite lovely, he thought, and he knew he wasn't TOO old to appreciate the sight of a beautiful naked woman.  But this WAS for art, so he told himself.  He wondered if he should keep the girl standing there for him to observe, but didn't want to push her too much.  Brian was actually quite fond of his best friend's granddaughter, and didn't want to cause her any distress, at least not yet.

"Come, sit over here!" he said with a smile.

Nina smiled back and quickly padded over while Brian admired the slight bounce her steps gave her breasts.  No, he wasn't too old at all!  He watched Nina's graceful slide into the chair on the other side of the table, and thought she was probably glad to be at least half covered up.

"How was your swim?" he asked, making her jump.

"Oh...it was fine...thank you!"

"I'm glad you're getting a proper use out of that pool.  Only my granddaughter has ever used it before."

"You mean Kelly?  I think you mentioned her yesterday," said Nina.

Brian nodded.  "Yes, but we can talk about that later.  What I wanted to see you about now was this."  Brian Cook pulled an envelope out from a drawer on his side and opened it.  Inside were several sheets of paper, all identical from what Nina could see.  "Forgive this old lawyer," Brian said, "But as you might be aware, there are legal issues here we have to deal with; after all, our arrangement could have potential consequences that neither of us want.  So I took the liberty of drawing up your lease."

"My lease?"

"Yes, of course there will be a lease; a contract defining what I am asking and what you will provide in return for your lodging here.  One thing you have to learn, young lady, if you expect to succeed in the legal world, is that nothing can be accomplished without the proper written agreements first.  So, here you are."  Brian handed her one copy of his lease and Nina began to dutifully read it.

It was not as long as it could have been, considering who had drafted it, so Nina was able to start frowning almost right away.

"What's this?" she asked, looking up at her host who sat watching her calmly.  "You're taking away my clothes?"

"They are merely going into storage, where you can get them whenever you leave the property," Brian replied.

Nina looked at the contract again.  "The garage?"

"Yes.  There is a small apartment there and your clothes will be locked inside."

"But why locked?"

"So as to avoid temptation on your part.  I know there will be times when you will want to run and get dressed; I feel you have the urge already, don't you?"

Nina nodded guiltily, her face flushing a little.

"Well if they are locked away from you, then it will help you resist that urge.  But you need only tell me when you need to leave the property, and I will come down to the garage with you and give you access.  Of course when you return, you will stop there to undress again.  But it's all there in the lease."

It was, complete instructions as to exactly when she would be allowed clothing and how to get it.  The contract was short on 'whys' but detailed in everything else.  From what Nina could see, it was certainly true that she would not be getting any farther than the garage with anything on.

One other section also made her frown.

"It says here that you will determine who sees me like this and who doesn't!  I thought it was just you and Mrs. Terry!"

"My dear, I do entertain quite a bit, and you don't expect me to stop doing that over the next couple of years just to preserve your modesty!"

"But I can't be seen by strangers!" Nina said, horrified.

"Nonsense.  For my work to be effective, I need you to retain that self-consciousness you display so readily right now.  In time, I know that you will grow accustomed to appearing as you are in front of us, so your exposure to others will be a reminder of your condition."

"But you can't!"

"Now, now.  You act as if I'm going to expose you to the whole world.  I promise that your integrity will be cared for.  It will not affect your reputation or your image.  The people that would see you are perfectly accepting towards nudity and art; in fact, for the most part they are fellow artists like myself that would no doubt find inspiration in you as I have done.  To them you are NOT Nina West, paralegal, but simply a young, fit, female body with interesting highlights and curves.

"You need not worry."

"I'm still not sure."

Brian reached out.  "Trust me.  You will be able to hide in your room when I have people over that wouldn't understand what we are doing here!"

Nina swallowed, but the honest look on Brian's face convinced her that he was sincere.  "Okay," she said presently.

Brian smiled and Nina finished reading.  The rest of the lease detailed what would happen if she violated any of the agreements.  Basically, it said that in breaking the lease she would be liable for the monetary amount due at that time had she been paying in legal tender for her room and board.

Nina's eyes opened wide when she saw the monthly totals.  But it also said that successful completion of the lease would entail Brian Cook paying her the full amount she would otherwise have paid him.  She looked up at that.

Brian smiled.  "Call it, an investment in your future," he said.  "I know that Law School can be tough, especially if you have to work to pay your way through.  The firm is of course picking up your tuition, but as for living expenses, you were on your own.  But now you needn't worry."

"Thank you!" Nina said startled.

"So, are we in agreement?" Brian asked.

Nina looked down.  She had two choices.  Not sign the lease and go get dressed, which meant leaving this house, this town, her new job, and most likely her career, as she couldn't afford to stay here.  Or sign the lease and live here naked for two years, with a big fat check at the end of it to help her pay her way through Law School.  Yet the second choice would expose her to not just her host and his housekeeper, but anyone he chose, and she would not have access to any of her clothes.

Brian carefully laid a pen down on the table.

Nina looked at the pen, then with a sigh she reached out and took it.  It took just a minute to sign all the copies and she was committed, and as she did so, Brian stood up and went to an intercom on the wall nearby.  "Mrs. Terry," he said quietly as he watched the girl work through the paperwork, "she has just signed the contract, you can begin right away."
 
 

End of Part 3.