Cold War Sex

The sun rose low over Berlin on a freezing winters morning. Frost lay thick on the grass as Sabine walked her usual route through the Tiergarten from her apartment overlooking the wall in Koch Strasse, to her job as a lab assistant in the Technische Universität. It was a long walk and at this time of the year, a bitterly cold experience, but she was young and fit, so enjoyed the brisk walk to start her day.

It was 1986 and the cold war was still very much in evidence in this part of the world. Sabine's apartment window overlooked the wall and she could see the barbed wire of no mans land on the communist side of that hated wall, a constant oppressive reminder of the divide.

She could also see the observation posts, with their bored young East German soldiers looking dolefully at the tourists gesturing at them across the divide, posing menacingly for tourist photos, occasionally teasing them by casually pointing guns in their direction.

Sabine was lonely when she first arrived in Berlin and had no boyfriend to rid herself of pent up desires. She therefore became an expert masturbator, but gradually ran low on fantasies to titillate her, so turned to exhibitionism for her enjoyment.

She would open her top floor window and stand looking across the wall. Invariably a guard would see movement and turn her way. Sabine would then undo a button of her blouse, revealing her impressive cleavage, pretending to idly look over the barren landscape and barbed wire. This would prompt the guard to pick up his binoculars, which was the trigger for her to lean out of the window, her breasts spilling out of the blouse, nipples as stiff as pine cones in the perishing cold. She would then reach down and slip a finger into her pussy, out of sight of the guard, who would inevitably now be glued to the sight of her, enjoying the sight of her breasts and presumably guessing where her hand was. Occasionally, she would see a guards hand fall to his groin but, without binoculars herself, she could only guess what he was doing and this upped her excitement.

There was one regular guard that would wave to her and she eventually got to know his roster, making sure that she was at the window when he was on duty. They would go through the same routine, but she knew that this guard would be masturbating along with her. He once held up signs drawn on large sheets of cardboard with his name, then a kiss and a heart sign, then a drawing of her breasts. She laughed, being reminded of the Bob Dylan video, as he pulled out one card after another, slowly introducing himself and making requests through his drawings,. He had artistic ability and the sketches became more elaborate, drawn using charcoal on scraps of white card. she imagined him sketching to pass the time, maybe even drawing her, fantasising about her.

Eventually, they knew each others names and were almost having a long distance relationship, with Sabine putting on her show for him alone. He was the nearest she had to a boyfriend and they effectively had sex with each other across the divide, but one day another guard took his roster and she never saw him again.

Sabine wondered what happened to him, was he disciplined for his behaviour, or did he just move to another role? She would never know.

Sabine had moved to Berlin when she turned twenty one, desperate to move away from her home town in northern Germany, to enjoy the cosmopolitan delights of West Berlin. Her intention had been to attend university there as a student, but her qualifications had fallen well short of the requirements, so she applied for several jobs, eventually managing to obtain a post in the university as a trainee. The interview had gone well, although her poor English was commented on and she was offered the job only on the understanding that she would improve to be fluent, as there were a number of foreign students in the university.

Climbing the stairs of the laboratory block and with a smell of coffee coming from her lab, she knew that her colleague had arrived earlier in the day and was probably sitting smoking, reading the paper.

One of the advantages of this post was that she did not need to start work until ten thirty, giving her some extra hours sleep in the morning. This was useful, as she had just got herself a part time job in a bar to supplement her meagre trainee wages, so would often be working well past midnight.

Sure enough, Gerald was sat at his desk, cigarette in hand, with an ashtray full of dog ends betraying the time he had been sitting there.

"About time you arrived, I've been here for three hours already" Gerald said.

Sabine looked around to see that nothing was set up for the days events, but she was used to this.

Gerald was a lazy swine and a lecherous one. Sabine would routinely catch him watching her as she bent over, peering down her top or up her skirt. She even once walked in on him masturbating over a porn mag. Rather than showing embarrassment, he calmly pointed out that the girl in the centre spread reminded him of Sabine, showing her the photos of the petite large breasted girl with shoulder length blonde hair, her legs spread, showing her hairy gash in all it's glory.

She had calmly answered him by looking at the photos and saying, "but she has hair. I always shave. It is cleaner, I think." This left Gerald staring at her, open mouthed and speechless before she thumped him in the groin saying, "zip yourself up Gerald you pervert, and make sure you wash your hands. The students are about to arrive."

Gerald behaved himself from that day on.

Sabine was looking forward to todays session, as the tutor was a favourite of hers. She began busying herself, organising the demonstration that was planned for Steffen, the tutor, not wanting anything to go wrong.

Steffen was a few years older than her and she was absolutely fascinated by him.

He taught mechanical science but, away from university he was a musician, playing guitar and singing with a local band. She had worked with him regularly at the university, initially thinking of him as just another tutor. He was not a good looking guy and seemed fairly anonymous at work, being thick set with large facial features, the only stand out feature being that he was incredibly hairy, with a head of thick black curly hair and permanent facial stubble. Soon after starting working in the bar, she saw him setting up his gear with the rest of his band, preparing for a gig. As she was new in the job, she was glad of a friendly face, so went over to say hello, finding him easy to talk to and friendly. When she later watched him perform on stage, Sabine was mesmerised and became totally infatuated, but one of the other girls in the bar later told her that he was married, so their friendship was curtailed before it begun. Despite her reluctance to get involved with a married man, her view of him changed forever that night and she would find herself looking longingly at him whenever their paths crossed. She knew that, were temptation to ever come her way, she would easily give in to it.

The class went well and Steffen congratulated Sabine on her hard work, staying to chat for a while, while Gerald noisily cleared away the equipment, looking at Sabine, shaking his head, furious that he had work to do, whilst Sabine sat idly by, talking.

Steffen was getting very flirtatious, making little jokes and suggestive comments and, when Gerald disappeared into a storeroom, he reached across, placed his hand on her thigh and tried to kiss her.

Sabine was tempted to submit to him, but the fear of discovery and the thought of Steffen's marital state discouraged her, turning her cheek before telling him, "No Steffen this is wrong I think."

He reluctantly backed off and left, apologising whilst looking a little hurt and deflated, leaving Sabine to help Gerald set up for the afternoon session. She was so aroused by Steffen's attention that she could not concentrate for the rest of the day, feeling relieved when the room emptied for the final time and she could brave the cold again, trudging across the Tiergarten toward her apartment, still thinking of Steffen.

Back at home, she needed to eat quickly and change for her evening shift at the bar.

A small pile of mail awaited her and she ripped it open whilst waiting for the pasta to cook. One of the letters made her feel sick as she read it. Her bank had frozen her account due to unpaid charges, following the account going overdrawn by DM15,000, a large sum, which had mounted due to the cost of setting up a home in this expensive city. She therefore no longer had access to her university wages and would need to exist on her bar work until the debt was repaid.

The figures did not add up, she instantly knew that. Her apartment rent would be paid from her account, but that was it. All her bills, to keep the lights on and the heating working, plus food and other essentials, would need to come out of her cash wages from the bar and she knew that those meagre wages would not cover half of the sum required.

She left for the bar with a sick feeling in her stomach.

Needing to get half way across town in 20 minutes, she headed for the S-bahn station, wondering how she would afford the season ticket next week. Without that, her second job was in jeopardy and without the job, her life would rapidly disintegrate. She would need to leave Berlin and return to live with her parents once more, losing her independence.

Two hours into her shift Sabine took a break, joining the girls in the back for a coffee and a chat. Sabine poured out her worries to one of the Russian girls, Yulia, who worked the bar as a stripper.

"Get job like me Sabine. Take off clothes, show tits, a little pussy. Money is good." she said. "You have nice tits, men would like you. If you want more money, work bar. Pick out tourist and talk to him, sit on his lap. If his cock gets hard, you know he wants you. No need to fuck with him, just give hand job, maybe blow job for hundred marks. Easy money."

Sabine considered her suggestion. She had a nice body, she knew that, but comparing herself to Yulia she felt plain and uninteresting. Yulia was exceptionally good looking, tall and slim with long blonde hair and was very popular with the British squaddies, who would tip her heavily for half an hours company.

By contrast, Sabine was short, but well packed. She had large breasts with a slim frame and a nice butt, but felt that she could not hope to attract the same level of income as the Russian, who had elegant long legs, which she used to good effect when on stage, the men's eyes attracted to them. By contrast, Sabine had short legs and she hated them, always wishing her legs were long and elegant when performing as a gymnast at school.

Sabine had never danced in public before, let alone stripped naked in front of drunk leering men and she was not sure she could do it. The thought of giving a stranger a blow job in a sordid upstairs room repelled her. She could not do that, but wondered if she could strip.

Her mind went back to her exhibitionism with the guards. Showing her tits to east german guards was no different to showing them to strangers in a bar, she thought. But the guards were the other side of a wall and coils of barbed wire, they would never meet her or talk to her and could never touch her.

She doubted that she could do it, but if not, how would she survive?

Back behind the bar, she eased into her routine as they steadily became busier. A loud American pair shouted above the din, requesting drinks. The bar was so busy that the tables were full and bar service was the only option for newcomers.

The two men were clearly recent arrivals, not knowing the rules of this city and were being ignored by the other girls. Sabine took pity on them and served them whilst preparing a large order for the back room.

"Thanks beautiful, you just saved a life. I've been trying to get a drink for a half hour and got nowhere."

"You need to be more polite, don't shout and maybe smile more, it always helps." said Sabine, smiling at him and putting two drinks on the bar.

"I'll remember that, thanks again. Say, when do you finish?"

Sabine laughed and shook her head, returning to her work. Guys would try it on every night and she had learned how to fend off unwelcome approaches without causing offence. It was easy for men to assume that all the girls in this bar were available she thought, especially as girls were taking their clothes off in the back room and occasionally taking men upstairs for money. Up to now, she had given no thought to taking money for her services, she was not that kind of girl, but she knew that the only way out of her predicament was to become a stripper.

She now knew, making eye contact with that American, that she could earn quick cash by stripping and if she needed to, she thought she could even have sex with men if needed. The American pair wanted her, she could sense that. They were young and good looking, so it would not be so bad, she would probably enjoy it, but could she do such a thing for money?

She thought of nothing else all night and gradually came to some kind of decision. She could not imagine selling herself for sex, becoming a prostitute, but she would now ask about doing some shifts as a stripper. She was comfortable with that, albeit a little nervous at the thought.

Her mind finally made up, she approached the bar owner before going home that night, asking if he needed another girl to strip.

Ahmed was Turkish and owned a series of strip bars in Berlin, this being the biggest and most profitable. He looked her up and down, picking at his tobacco stained teeth with a toothpick, gold fillings glinting in the bars spotlights.

"You are too short. You need to be tall to work the stage, especially the pole. Maybe you could earn money upstairs, taking customers from the strippers.

Sabine realised that he meant her to be a whore, working the rooms upstairs and taking on men that the good looking dancers tempted into parting with money, only to find that the stripper disappeared, leaving them in a room with a less attractive, but more willing girl. Most men were so horny and drunk that they did not argue and those that did got thrown out for being disruptive. If the police were called, the girls cried rape and the guy backed down.

Sabine was offended that he would think of her as a whore and told him so.

"I'll dance, but no more" she said, "give me a chance, maybe early on a quiet night. Let me prove myself. I know I can attract men in to the bar." She blushed at her over confidence, knowing that the wily old Turk knew his business better than she.

Ahmed relaxed and smiled, showing his yellow teeth, leering at her.

"A pity, I would like to break you in, take you before the customers spoil you".

He looked her up and down before nodding to her chest, saying, "You have nice tits Sabine and wide hips. I like you. Think about my offer, you would find me a good lover, a well endowed lover."

One hand grabbed his groin whilst the other moved to cup her breast. Sabine intercepted it expertly, giving him a steely look. He smiled at her before continuing with a sarcastic laugh, "OK, I understand, you are a good girl. You can dance, early shift on Sunday, but no money, you dance for free first time. If I like what you do, you can take the early sessions and see if you can earn money."

Sabine left, feeling cheap and degraded. She had begged for the chance to show her body for money and now realised how easy it would be to slip into prostitution in this city. There were plenty of good looking girls working the Ku'Dam, walking the streets in tight jeans and boots, stopping men and taking twenty five marks for a blow job in a shop doorway.

She wondered how many of those girls had started from where she now found herself.

Back at the university, life continued as normal. She was becoming bored with this job, but was now handcuffed by her debt, so had no choice but to continue, hoping a better paid option came along.

Gerald was becoming more likeable though and they were becoming workmates at last.

Sabine thought that the turning point was standing up to him after she found him masturbating. He had slowly changed from that day, giving her more respect and she had found no more porn mags lurking in drawers and cupboards.

They would now routinely break between teaching sessions, setting up the second session early rather than laze around and set it up late, as Gerald had been doing. Sabine was organising their day, changing Gerald's previously chaotic routine and he seemed to appreciate that. Now, they had time to relax, drink coffee and talk occasionally.

Sabine desperately wanted to share her doubts and worries about taking a job as a stripper, but still did not trust him enough to share that information, so she talked around it, testing what he thought.

"One of the girls in the bar is thinking of starting to strip. She thinks it would help her finances, but I'm not sure it is a good idea."

Gerald drew on his cigarette and pulled his usual face when asked, what he deemed to be a pointless question.

"If the money is good, she should do it. What's the problem with taking your clothes off for money? You could see more tits in Tiergarten in the summer, and they show them for free." His eyes glazed over as he thought of some of the women he had seen sunbathing there. She imagined that he would take lunch there most days in the summer, looking and storing the images of women's bodies, young and old, so that he could pleasure himself with the memories later.

She shuddered at that thought before going on, "Not everybody thinks that way, my mother would be horrified."

Gerald took a slow drag on his cigarette and looked at her, quietly realising the truth of this conversation, but deciding to keep it to himself.

"Why should she care? Her mother will never know and she is earning money. Is she good looking?"

Sabine was in her own thoughts now and answered carelessly, "OK, I guess, she's concerned about being too short. All the other girls are tall, with nice legs"

That convinced him that she was talking about herself, and he probed further, "Men like all women's bodies, tall, short, fat, thin, small tits. All men like big tits, like yours for instance. Men would like to look at you naked, I'm sure." Gerald felt an erection starting as he stared at her well filled top, "You should do it, I think. Your friend I mean, she should do it and ignore her mother."

Sabine blushed, noticing Steffen standing in the doorway. How long had he been there she thought and did he hear their conversation?

Sunday came round and Sabine showered, getting prepared for her stripper trial.

She stood looking at her reflection in the mirror as she towelled herself dry.

Her breasts were nice, she thought, full and firm, her best asset. Turning, she admired her butt, deciding that she should show this off too, but how to hide her legs?

She chose some clothes from her skimpy wardrobe, but could find nothing suitable, eventually taking a short leather skirt and an oversize man's shirt that she had bought as a cheap night shirt. She would tie it up under her breasts she thought, giving her some buttons to undo as a tease before letting her breasts drop as she undid the knot of the shirt.

She had stockings, but only a red garter belt, which she thought did not go with the black leather skirt. Looking at her watch, she realised she would be late, so rushed out for the S-bahn, dressed in her casual clothes, with her stripping outfit, such as it was, stuffed into her bag.

The club was empty, with only one girl behind the bar, stocking the mirrored shelves.

"Hi Selina. Only you here?"

Hi Sabine, yes, me and that scheisse Ahmed, he's upstairs somewhere. I hear you're doing a session on stage?"