After Hours Pt. 01

"Be sure to lock up tonight, Alexis. Don't leave it open like last time," said Ben in a more passive-aggressive tone than usual as he stepped out the store, satchel in hand.

"I will, Ben. See ya Monday!" replied Alexis rather impertinently herself, as she turned her head up mechanically in the barest of acknowledgements, not even bothering to return eye contact to her boss. She hadn't planned on being particularly nice to anyone, what with this job being a favor a family friend helped her land after graduating in fine arts half a year back.

Of course, Ben had his own reasons for being a little more than slightly peeved at Alexis, and her lack of work ethic in closing the other day after discovering the shutter had been left open till morning. Luckily for Alexis, nothing was stolen - not that anyone would (a) be able to get into the mall after the main gates were locked or (b) would they want to steal anything from that lousy, scentsy candle shop she worked at.

Alexis played it off as an honest mistake. What she didn't mention, however, was the real reason that shutter was open in the first place, and this time she planned on doing it right without any mistakes.

By now, she'd memorized the patterns of the night security guy who was especially zealous in ensuring the mall was locked up properly. After months of observation, Alexis deduced the only feasible way she could have the mall by herself was by staying in the store before closing and having the mall to herself when all was clear, while carefully avoiding the guard's watch - especially important, considering she would be skulking about the place in less than acceptable dressing.

Her previous attempt got botched after the store shutter zipped up on its own, leaving Alexis in a panic trying to retrieve her clothes while trying not to get spotted by the guard who heard the clattering around the corner and came rushing back to investigate - giving her just enough time to clear off with her stuff.

The 26-year-old curvaceous brunette was at this point an expert at maintaining her 'Plain Jane' mask, though, so no one - not even close friends and certainly not no one in her conservative family - really expected a girl like her to have such an unconventional addiction of stripping in public. So when she clocked in the next day no one really suspected her of anything other than being the lazy worker she was known for, which she thanked the stars for when Ben decided not to check the cameras.

And just like clockwork at 11 p.m., the mall lights switched off and as practiced in so many trial runs rehearsed prior, she made sure she was the last person in the mall before commencing her "mission". After one last look around outside the store, she decided it was time.

The first thing to do was to close that damned shutter before the guard came round on his beat. After that was for Alexis to get ready in the backroom so that said guard wouldn't notice any activity in the store itself, as well as having a safe spot for her to hide in case anything went wrong.

"Come on... Where are you?" she murmured to herself, looking out through the store windows for any sign of the guard, her hand gripped tightly on the backroom door handle ready to move out.

Soon enough, a beam from a flashlight soon broke the darkness of the store and almost shone directly on Alexis' face before she quickly ducked down, still looking out the window at the passing guard as he did his round.

By now, Alexis knew he had already locked the main entrances and was on his first perimeter check before he'd retire to the lounge up till the next hour or so, giving her more than enough time to have fun. With the time being ripe, she went into the backroom and began taking off all her clothes. Usually, it felt automatic given the amount of times she's stripped herself... but something about tonight gave her a certain apprehension.

"Fuck it. I've waited too long. Can't stop now..." she thought as she steeled herself for the task ahead and before finally pulling down her panties, now standing completely nude.

After waiting a while longer for the guard to walk ahead, Alexis stepped out into the store again, the canopy of darkness offering her some cover from the eyes in her mind; an audience she was not able to see but in her vulnerable state felt as though she was on a stage. Which was, at this time, not too unfamiliar a feeling but one novel enough that still gave her a high.

Her focus was almost broken by the realization of how naked she was in how public a place she was; her 34C breasts hanging as she crouched, knocking into each other like pendulums; her round bubble butt a friend once complimented as drool-worthy bouncing as she ran up to the shutter. Before long, she quickly summoned her attention back to the task at hand.

With one last lookabout outside through the window Alexis was convinced she was virtually alone now and pulled up that clunky shutter slowly and quietly as she could manage, crawling under the tiny opening.

As the sole of her foot touched the warmer marble of the mall floor she was quickly reminded how hot it could get after they switched off the mall's a/c each night and prepared herself mentally for what would be one hot sweaty night. When she eventually crawled all the way through the hot, stuffy air enveloped her clammy naked skin.

"Damn it's hot. At least I'm 'dressed' for the occasion," she thought to herself.

Barely a minute in and she had already noticed a potential problem with that confounded shutter, as it wouldn't stay down no matter how carefully she'd pull it and it kept wanting to roll up. She couldn't leave it open nor closed totally; the fact it was her only access in and out the store and by extension her clothes didn't help.

"All this planning and this is what screws up!" she grumbled under her breath. After a good few minutes of fumbling about with the shutter, Alexis realized she had no choice but to head back inside the store and latched it down first while thinking up a contingency.

"I could lock down the shutter, finally hold the damned thing closed... but I'd need to bring the key along, which will be a pain in the ass,'' she mused.

Alexis spent almost too long deciding whether to actually lock her only way to her clothes when suddenly, the same beam of light from earlier pierced the dark again, prompting her to run into the backroom and hide.

"Fuck... It's the guard again... Did he see me?" she thought anxiously as she closed the door of the backroom behind her as quietly yet quickly as she could.

Outside, the guard scanned the area with his flashlight being almost certain he spotted some movement in the area. He'd also noticed the air surrounding the storefront was colder than in the general vicinity, from it being opened and the remaining cold air from the store flowed out. Cautiously, he tapped the shutter with the tip of his boot to see if it was indeed locked.

"This thing is seriously shitty... Oughta fix it, damned cheapskates," he thought to himself as he walked off back to the control room, ready to catch a nap in the lounge.

Alexis, meanwhile, had been sweating profusely waiting for the guard to clear off. Having given it a good wait, she decided it was now or never and stepped out again as she grabbed her phone.

She quickly realized as well how much of a liability it was and figured it best to take the risk to lock it, even though it meant potentially locking away her only way back to her gear for the time being. Given how scarily close her mission came just now to getting busted wide open, however, she figured she didn't have many smart choices.

And so with great trepidation Alexis slowly turned the key, locking down the noisy and unreliable shutter as quietly as she could. She pondered a while on how she could carry the key with her before deciding to clip the key onto her left nipple piercing - an odd but practical choice.

With that, Alexis commenced on her adventure, going through the list of tasks in her head she had planned earlier, each of which involved risks greater than the previous one.

Her first stop was the escalator near the main entrance of the mall, which of course was the place where she would come in through to work every day of her otherwise banal life.

"Jesus Christ... I'm sweating bullets here" thought Alexis as she traipsed along the corner just after the concierge booth, making her way skulking past the hunting goods store.

Soon enough, the escalator was in sight - looking ever so surreal and otherworldly during those after hours, like a liminal space from another dimension lit only by the faint moonlight leaking through the windows.

"Alright... Task one... Here goes," she murmured to herself. While she indeed had no reason to enunciate her thoughts, it served as a sort of assurance to herself to steel her nerves for the night ahead.

Alexis equipped her phone as she approached the escalator and activated the lock screen camera, making sure not to unlock her phone should it get lost halfway - a lesson she'd learned the hard way on a previous challenge.

Scanning the area making sure no one was about, she climbed atop the handrails and spread her legs wide apart, snapping a quick few selfies before disembarking the handrails as fast as she could, scuttling up the cold steel steps of the frozen escalator.

"Done!" cheered Alexis as she smiled, checking the quality of her photography as she prepared for the next task, making her way up to the second floor and before long was greeted by the sight of the clothing boutique.