The Bullpen Ch. 05

When she finally saw Erica, Jamie wasn't quite ready for how different her friend would look. She'd never seen the other woman naked, but the Erica Rivers of old did not have breasts the size as those in front of her. Easily a D cup, Erica seemed to have the very same breasts as the blonde being gawked at in the grocery store, right down to the erect nipples that, this time, weren't shielded away by any sort of material. And, Jamie noted, Erica's nipples didn't stick straight out, but rather slightly upward, perched just a bit too high on the girl's tits. She wondered whether the dark haired girl's nipples had always been that high, or if they were a product of the breast augmentation.

Colin had buzzed Jamie in, but hadn't yet alerted Erica to Jamie's presence beyond the mirror glass. The girl, with significantly shorter black hair than Jamie remembered or expected, was typing away on the floor of the Bullpen, seated Indian-style and staring up at the projection screen on the wall.

"So she can't see me?" Jamie asked her husband incredulously, daring to take another few steps towards the glass.

Colin shook his head.

"And she can't hear me?"

"Not unless she had her ear to the glass," Colin replied. "Or unless the intercom were on."

"Jesus," Jamie breathed, staring into the barren white room that Erica called home. "She's like an animal in a zoo."

Her husband nodded.

Jamie took a glance around the room that her husband worked from throughout the day. There were exercise machines, a lunch table, a random cooler, and a few other objects scattered here or there. On one wall, to Jamie's right, were a few lockers, and in one, a pair of pink, lacy bikini panties hung for all to see. They matched, at least from that distance, the exact pair of underwear that her fantasy girl had been adorned with that afternoon as Jamie had been eaten out, the exact pair that had been hinted at by the baby blonde's low-riding skirt in the produce section.

In front of her, Erica stretched. The enormity of the scientist's chest was once again displayed as the girl reached upwards and backwards, exposing herself for Colin and one unseen visitor. The scene felt as it had been lifted directly from a late night T&A movie on cable, complete with an actress who might not be completely believable in her role, but who was nonetheless gifted in more aesthetic way.

Jamie couldn't help but stare. She felt like a voyeur, peering in from another room to watch an unsuspecting nude. Even though Erica simply sat and typed, the blonde felt her spine tingle at the notion that she was watching Erica in a private moment. She glanced back at her husband, thinking that this was how he spent his days.

"Should I announce myself?" Jamie asked.

"If you're ready," Colin replied, sounding suspiciously nervous. He motioned for his wife to come behind the ops desk, and to take a seat in front of the monitors.

"So how's life in the terrarium?" Jamie asked through the intercom.

Erica's face lit up. She looked towards the mirror glass, and back to the projection screen, where the blonde's face had replaced the data streams in front of her.

"A little bit more full of life now," the scientist answered, her voice a bit huskier than Jamie remembered.

After exchanging initial pleasantries and opening small talk, Jamie blurted, "You look great, by the way."

Erica almost blushed. "Thanks."

"No really," Jamie continued. "I'm sure it's already gone through your head, or maybe it still is – because I know it would be going through mine – that your whole body is just out there. Out there. Every angle. Every private place."

"Er....thanks."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to remind you."

"No, no," Erica said, seeming genuinely undisturbed by the memorandum. "I've had a couple of weeks to get used to it."

"But so many people!" Jamie went on. "So many people must have come through, must have looked in!"

"Jamie – " Colin tried to interrupt.

"I mean, Colin, and Pete Bowie, and Wendy Milne." The blonde hadn't seemed to notice her husband. "And that's just the people that I know!"

"Jamie," Colin said again, more sternly this time.

"Yeah, it's been about twenty-something or so," Erica shrugged.

Jamie couldn't even wrap her head around the idea of that many people. Still, she had been trying to make a point. "But you look fantastic. That was where I was going."

"Well, I don't know," Erica replied modestly.

"No, no. You do." The blonde tried to convey the seriousness of what she was saying. "I had no idea – I mean, I'd never seen you naked, of course – but I had no idea – and that's not to say that I ever thought you were ugly – but beneath the sweaters and pants and bulky clothing, you're drop-dead gorgeous, Erica!"

Erica blushed all over.

"Which makes being seen naked that much easier," Jamie finished, flustered by her own babbling.

They talked. They talked for a long time. They talked about the project, about ConnPharm in general, about Jamie's class, about Jamie's relationship with Colin, about Erica's relationship with Colin. They talked about how Erica would be seen by her fellow ConnPharm employees when the deuterotone experiment had run its course. They talked about the size and sex appeal of the scientist's D-cup breasts, as well as Jamie's own C's. They talked about Tom's infidelity, about the Eggerts' home life, and even – half-jokingly – about Jamie's boredom with her married sex life.

Jamie connected with Erica in a way that, until that point, she had never been able to before. Erica had always been so guarded, so reserved, that she and Jamie had never found common ground. With her clothes shed, it was as if Erica had become a different person – she was naked, both body and soul. The three and half weeks, the dirty blonde thought to herself, had done a tremendous amount in opening Erica up.

All of the heart-to-heart girl talk came through the intercom, however. Erica sat on the floor of the Bullpen, staring up at a projected image of Jamie ten times larger than real life. Jamie, on the other hand, talked into the camera, but had to peer out across the desk and into the hold to see the black-haired girl. Their eyes never truly met, but Jamie couldn't fight the sensation that Erica was sizing her up, staring at her, with an intensity she had been lacking in their previous meetings.

Colin, guessing that Erica needed to have another woman to talk to besides blunt-to-a-fault Wendy Milne and taciturn Tessa Romero, gave the two girls space. He had been skeptical as to whether Erica would be able to behave in the presence of his wife. But she had assured him an hour earlier, even while lying legs-spread on the lunch table with a glass dildo buried in her twat, that she'd be good. With this orgasm before Jamie arrived, and another to be administered upon her departure, Erica was more than capable of portraying nothing more than scientific nudity. She hadn't, after all, lost all self-control – she'd just lost the will to practice it.

Still, Colin had been sweating when Jamie first arrived. But Erica had kept true to her word, and the technician had grown more and more capable of believing she'd be able to make it through the visit without doing damage to the Eggerts' marriage. After showing his wife how to call him if needed, and letting Erica know he was just headed off to the server closet down the hall, he left them alone.

"I think I need to stretch my legs," Erica announced a few minutes after the technician departed. She paused, oddly, before continuing, as if she was trying to make up her mind about whether or not she should carry on. Jamie watched the girl's face, and even from across the observation room and through the mirror-glass, the kindergarten teacher could tell that Erica was struggling with something important.

Finally, the nude girl blurted out, "And I need to ask you for a favor."

What the favor was, Jamie could only begin to speculate. But she was able to ascertain, from the girl's tone, that it was important. Important enough, in fact, that Erica wanted to leave the Bullpen to discuss it with Jamie.

"You don't need to stay in there?" Jamie asked. "I mean, I know you need to come out to eat, and exercise, but now? Can't you just ask through the glass?"

Erica pointed upwards, then to one side, then to another, and then all around her. Her every word, her every movement, was being recorded for ConnPharm's records.

"The more data we collect, the better," Erica answered. "But a break here or there, or a short walk around the observation room, or a face-to-face conversation, won't hurt the readings too much."

"Shouldn't we wait for Colin?" Jamie had already been informed of the corset, and the extensive amount of time that it tended to take in putting it on. She was not thrilled at the prospect of having to do so herself.

"It's kind of a personal thing," the scientist said. "A girl thing."

"Oh."

"But don't worry, I'll talk you through the corset."

And so, having opened the door to the Bullpen and having retrieved the black electronic corset, Jamie found herself face-to-face with Erica. Or rather, face-to-ass. The dirty blonde squatted just behind the raven-haired girl, her face just inches from Erica's bare buttock, while she fingered the bottom-most latch that held the corset in place. Erica watched with her head twisted behind her downwards, her own hands busy holding the cups of the corset in place.

No, Jamie thought to herself as she glanced up at the other woman, not cups. Erica was holding the corset at the top, but the fabric stopped just below her enormous tits, leaving both breasts completely exposed. Likewise, the bottom of the corset stopped just above where Erica's thin strip of pubic hair began. It was clothing, but not in any traditional sense of the word.

The smell of pussy was unmistakable, but not overpowering. Jamie was, after all, crouching just a few short inches from Erica's most intimate of areas, and she guessed that Erica was perhaps cleaner than Jamie herself. Memories of the blonde in the supermarket lingered in her mind, as well as in the slight dampness of her panties. In fact, Jamie couldn't help but notice that she was beginning to get wet again, turned on by either the images of her fantasy or by the presence of naked woman here in front of her.

Jamie did her best to act as clinical as possible, but perhaps her fingers lingered on Erica's bare back just a second too long. Perhaps her hand trembled as she reached up to fasten the second latch. Perhaps images of Erica had been interwoven with the supermarket woman.

She looked straight ahead, concentrating on the latch at hand, making sure that the wiring all connected and that the emitters were fully functioning. But out of the corner of her eye, Jamie caught the café-au-lait on Erica's backside, and suddenly the blonde in the grocery store had one, too.

In one moment, Jamie was with Erica, close to her naked body, snapping the black corset into place.

In the next, Jamie was with the blonde, reaching for the bottom of her shirt to expose her sheer pink bra.

In one moment, Jamie was with Erica, watching a red LED blink three times after snapping the latch into place, signifying that the connection was functioning properly.

In the next, Jamie was seated on the cold metal table, her bra pushed below her own breasts, waiting for the mystery blonde to strip her of her black panties.

In one moment, Jamie was standing in front of Erica, trying to concentrate on the simple diagnostic being performed on the corset, just below the girl's naked left breast.

In the next, Jamie was staring down at the blonde, on her knees, on the table, and between Jamie's legs.

In one moment, Jamie was with the supermarket blonde, finishing the long process of dressing her in a piece of high-tech lingerie.

In the next, Jamie was reaching her climax in the dairy refrigerator, Erica hard at work with her tongue in the deep folds of Jamie's pussy.

Jamie blinked quickly, and stepped back from what she had been doing. Her reality and her fantasy had become blurred. Sweating slightly, and feeling uncomfortable about the wetness in her crotch, Jamie shook her head, and then met Erica's eyes.

Jamie would recall that moment as a turning point in her relationship with Erica. Still frazzled a bit by her daydream, she couldn't help but feel as if Erica was looking deep inside her, as if she could see through her. Despite the fact that the scientist was naked from the nipples up and from the bellybutton down, and that Jamie was still wearing her jeans and t-shirt, it was Jamie who suddenly felt naked.

Did Erica know what she had been thinking? Did Erica realize the dirty thoughts she had brought out in Jamie? Did Erica long to touch Jamie in the way that Jamie suddenly felt compelled to touch Erica?

Jamie had been around other naked women before – locker rooms, dressing rooms, sun bathing – but never had she felt as aroused and discombobulated as she did at that moment. She blamed herself, having come into a clinical situation with sex on the brain. Just hours after fantasizing about being with another woman, Jamie was presented with another woman, nude and undeniably attractive.

Erica had argued that breast augmentation, whether through surgery or deuterotone, was about confidence. A woman felt better about herself, more attractive to the opposite sex, more sure about her body and who she was. Jamie had laughed at the suggestion when she'd first heard about it – a girl with low self-confidence wasn't going to get that confidence just from bigger tits alone. And yet, here was Erica, walking out into the center of the Observation Room, more self-assured than Jamie had ever seen her. By comparison, Jamie felt nervous and insecure.

"It's been more than three weeks since I've gotten laid," Erica blurted out.

Jamie just blinked. She was unsure of how to respond.

"With Tom," Erica continued, as if she needed to specify. "With a man."

"Uh...okay." Jamie had gone through more than three week stretches without sex before, even while a willing partner slept beside her. That was married life.

Erica sauntered slowly towards the weight bench to her left, leaving Jamie little choice but to follow.

"You've only got two more weeks to go," Jamie counseled.

"And then no Tom," the dark haired girl countered. "Two weeks and then it's home to my empty condo, with Tom and Sarah Sumpter in Tom's bed, right next door."

"Erica, Tom was an asshole to cheat on you. You just have to -"

"It's not Tom that I miss," Erica interrupted. "Well, not Tom, exactly."

Jamie gave the girl a puzzled look.

"The sex. The sex. The sex." Erica continued to stare right through Jamie, looking deep inside of her, gauging her companion for a sign as to whether to continue. Jamie wasn't sure what response that Erica read in her, but the scientist forged ahead.

She plopped onto the weight bench, Jamie noting her bare ass on the plastic cushion. Jamie dropped down alongside her.

"I've only slept with three men. David Wojciechowski. Dac Kien Nguyen. Tom Russo. In twenty-nine years, I've only slept with three men."

"In fourteen years," Jamie said, "I've had exactly one partner. So count yourself lucky."

Erica nodded, but her reaction was unreadable. "I went four years without sex. In between David and Dac Kien. Four years. The entire time I lived in Maryland."

"Well," Jamie responded, casting about for something to say, "I don't think that another four year run of celibacy is very likely, given your newly-grown assets."

Erica again nodded. Her expression gave nothing away, and Jamie was left confused, unsure of whether Erica was going to cry, laugh, or lean in and kiss her. At that moment, each seemed as likely as the next.

The naked girl swung one leg over the bench, turning in order to talk to Jamie face-to-face. Her legs were open, her pubic area exposed, her pussy naked on the bench beneath them. Jamie wondered if Erica had moved beyond any sense of real shame by that point, having been naked for twenty-two days; if it had been Jamie, she would have done all she could do to keep her legs together and her privates private.

But she, unlike her companion, was wearing jeans. She, too, swung her leg up and over the bench, allowing herself to look directly at Erica, and not off in the distance.

"Does this have something to do with your favor?" Jamie asked. Was Erica going to ask her to set her up on a blind date when the experiment was over? Or was Erica looking for more of quick fling, a one-night stand, a utilitarian tryst with some male friend that Jamie had hidden in her back pocket? Colin's friend Will, perhaps? Jamie's cousin Danny?

Erica didn't answer the question, instead turning to look at the Bullpen. She began, "It's funny. Three weeks ago, I would have been mortified having this conversation with you. Three weeks ago, I would have been mortified sitting here in front of you, dressed as I am now. Three weeks ago, I might have been more emotional about the loss of my relationship with Tom.

"And it's not that the fear isn't there anymore. I'm still aware about how open and blunt I've been over the past hour. I'm still aware of my lack of clothing, how my body parts are just out there, waiting for a catcall or a wolf whistle. I'm still torn up, to a certain degree, about the end of my relationship with Tom. But three weeks can change a lot of things. Especially THESE three weeks."

She brushed her hair out of her eyes, and then met Jamie's once again. "I spent most of my life worrying about what other people thought of me. Am I wearing the right clothes? Am I saying the right thing? Am I fitting in with everyone around me? I was uncomfortable being around other people, because I felt like I was constantly being judged, constantly being watched.

"You, Jamie, you've probably never felt that. Or, probably not to the same degree that I have. You're bold. You're funny. You're full of life. You were probably the most popular girl in school, with the most popular boyfriend, with a life of parties and jokes and friends."

Now it was Jamie's turn to blush. She, certainly, had felt all the things that Erica had listed earlier, but she couldn't help but feel that Erica was partially right – she had always just sort of "fit in." Erica, in all of Jamie's encounters with her, had looked uncomfortable and out of place.

Erica continued. "I went into science. I spent my twenties in dark basements like this one, running tests and experiments on mice and monkeys, hoping to avoid direct eye contact, hoping not to be seen.

"And now here I am, naked in front of just about everyone who ever meant anything to me in my professional life. And I like it."

The girl inched just a bit closer to Jamie, and began talking in a hushed, throaty tone – sharing a secret with a friend.

"I know what that sounds like. I know what that makes me seem like. But, honestly, Jamie – I don't really care. I feel good. I feel confident. I feel sexy.

"Every day, at least a dozen people see me naked. For some, it's through a Bullpen recording or a live feed. For others, it's through the looking glass. And for a select few, it's live and in person, nothing between them and my naked body parts. When I first stripped down and got into the Bullpen, that thought scared me shitless. But I think I'm getting off on it, Jamie. It's not just psychological confidence-meets-power bullshit, either – it's a deep, deep sexual nerve that's been pricked until now.

"At first I thought it was the drugs. I guess I still do, a little. But beyond that, there's just this incredible high I get, knowing that someone else is out there, knowing that someone else is getting turned on or getting off on me, on my body."