Karen Shows off her Birthday Suit

Note to readers: This story is something of a sequel to "Karen Likes Being Nude at the Gym", as well as having a few references to events from other previous "Karen" and "Alexa" stories.

As always, thanks for reading!

Less than an hour into another long overnight shift at her convenience store job, Alexa was already bored. She'd forgotten to put the novel she had started reading earlier in the day in her tote bag, leaving her only a few day-old newspapers available to fend off boredom. Keeping herself from getting too bored was increasingly important now that some of the tenants in the adjacent shopping center had re-opened as pandemic restrictions were gradually being scaled back; she could only imagine what the various shopkeepers and their customers would say about some of the things she'd gotten up to out in their parking lot over the last year or so!

The sound of the door chime promised, if not excitement, at least another person to briefly break up the monotony. She looked up to see who was coming in; would it be college students looking to buy some beer before the 11PM closing time the state had temporarily imposed on bars during the pandemic, the occasional fellow night shift worker filling a thermos with coffee on their way to work, or a frazzled parent hunting for a few diapers at the only place in the neighborhood still open?

"None of the above," Alexa whispered to herself, studying the shapely woman entering the store. Alexa was sure the newcomer was easily the best dressed person to show up during her shift, and seemed likely to hold on to the title until her 6 AM quitting time. She was dressed for a big night out, not a typical look at this store; a white silk blouse just sheer enough to see a hint of a dark colored bra, a semi-short dark gray pencil skirt, stockings, and shiny pale gray heels.

The customer herself looked somewhat familiar, but with much of the stylish customer's face covered by a gray mask, Alexa couldn't quite place her. Judging by the look on her face, the newcomer was having the same problem, eyeing Alexa with a quizzical look as she approached the counter. As Karen came within a few feet of her, Alexa finally worked out where she knew the buxom brunette from. Alexa smiled and had just opened her mouth to offer a greeting when Karen beat her to the punch.

"Please, don't say you don't recognize me because I'm wearing clothes," Karen said.

"Wasn't going to, I was going to say your hair looks better than the last time you were here!" Alexa replied, "Though the clothes do make a big difference; nice outfit, by the way."

"Yeah, thanks. This is what my hair usually looks like when I'm not out in a downpour like I was that night."

"So, what brings you in tonight? Visiting the scene of the crime?"

"I was supposed to be meeting my boyfriend to celebrate my birthday at the little restaurant down at the end of the shopping center. The asshole not only didn't show up, he broke up with me in a text. On my freaking birthday! Technically he didn't break up with me, he just told me he couldn't go out tonight because of something he needed to do with his wife. His not-ex but current wife, whose existence was news to me until that moment."

"Ouch. What did you do?" asked Alexa.

"I had a second glass of wine and ordered dinner. When I finished I called him on his landline I had looked up when we started dating. Wifey answered, but I resisted the urge to bust him and asked for some other guy. I'm guessing she gets a lot of wrong number calls and hang-ups."

"Sounds like you made the best of it; what can I do for you?" Alexa asked as she headed to the refrigerated beer and wine case. She returned carrying a 4 pack of champagne splits and offered Karen one, telling her, "It's better than you'd expect to find in a place like this, and we should celebrate your birthday!"

Karen looked at the small bottle doubtfully, then shrugged, pulled down her mask, twisted off the cap, and held the bottle out towards Alexa, who opened her bottle, tapped it against Karen's, and wished the middle-aged brunette a happy birthday.

After taking a long swig of champagne, Karen asked, "Um, well, this may sound weird, but I've been curious about whether or not there's really a photo of me in the nude on display somewhere in this place?"

"Nope!" Alexa replied. Sure she was seeing surprise mixed with disappointment on Karen's face she continued, "There are actually two shots of you on the back of the counter, yours are right next to the one of me."

"Mine are next to yours? You didn't say either one of the two photos you showed me was of you! Which one are you in?"

"I don't know why I told you the picture of me was of Lexie, just a little embarrassed I guess."

"So, is Lexie even an actual person?" demanded Karen, "You told me a lot about her during my other visit."

"No. And yes, sort of. If you were to ask almost anyone who's known me for long about my personality, they'd tell you I'm pretty straight-laced, level-headed, responsible, not the sort of person who takes chances or breaks rules," Alexa replied, "definitely not someone you'd expect to not only have a picture of herself stark naked on display where she works but likes it being there! Lately, I've gotten in touch with another whole side of myself, and I've taken to calling that girl Lexie like she's a different person entirely."

"Wow. Lots to unpack there," said Karen, "Honestly, I was hoping you might introduce me to Lexie sometime to compare notes. I've been trying to make sense of some of what I did and felt that night, and based on what you told me she sounded like someone who might understand what I had going on."

"Well, consider yourself introduced," Alexa laughed, "what do you want to know?"

Karen asked Alexa, and maybe Lexie, a whole list of questions;

"How did you get started?"

Alexa told Karen about the New Year's Eve adventure.

"How many times have you been nude in public?"

Alexa had to think a bit before admitting to 7 times.

"Have you ever been seen by anyone?"

Karen was surprised to hear that she'd been seen naked every time but one.

"Was being seen accidental or intentional?"

"Strictly speaking, more accidental than intentional," Alexa answered, "but usually so likely to happen it might as well have been intentional. Or maybe was, it's hard to say."

Finally, Karen asked the question she most wanted an answer to; "How does being seen while nude make you feel?"

"Fucking AWESOME!," Alexa replied, "I mean, scared and embarrassed as hell at first and a little bit ashamed, but that fades and is followed by a sort of high, practically an out-of-body experience."

Almost as soon as she'd answered Karen's final question, Alexa shifted the conversation, asking, "how about you? Same questions..."

Karen hadn't expected to be put on the spot this way but knew it was only fair after Alexa had opened up to her, so she willingly answered.

"How did I get started? On vacation, drying off after a shower. I didn't know anyone could see me at first, but by the time I took the towel off I knew someone was watching."

"How many times have I been nude in public? I guess four or five times, but during several of those I was just topless, and in a clothing-optional part of the resort I was staying at, so I'm not sure they count. A couple of times were completely accidental, too, or at least began that way."

Was being seen accidental or intentional? "Accidental, except for one time at the resort when I thought I was stripping for one man, some distance away, as a kind of thank you for something kind he did for me. I found out a little late that I had a larger audience, a few dozen people.

"How does it make me feel? Like you, scared and embarrassed, too much so to feel any kind of high, but despite feeling incredibly vulnerable, I do get very excited. I've never deliberately stripped naked just for the hell of it, right in front of some stranger, the way you've done, so I can't say how that would feel, at least not yet."

"So it sounds like more people may have seen you naked than have seen me!" Alexa laughed.

Maybe so, but that night I came in here you acted like my being nude was no big deal, while I was shaking like a leaf in a windstorm."

"Well, I was completely dressed, even before adding this stylish uniform apron, while you were as naked as naked gets," Alexa replied, "I had it much easier than you that night!"

Both women laughed, then fell silent for a minute, quietly sipping their champagne.

Karen broke the silence, looking at her almost empty bottle as she said, "This is actually pretty tasty, but probably not a good idea."

"Why not? If you're worried about driving, just hang out here with me until you're okay to drive."

"Thanks, but that's not what I'm afraid of," Karen replied.

"What's got you worried? I mean, it's Friday night, your birthday, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Based on past experience, having a relationship go up in flames and responding by letting myself get a little buzz on is exactly the recipe for me to do something foolish," Karen admitted.

"Foolish, like flashing someone?" Alexa asked, "Cool! If you're afraid you're going to get out of control, just flash me something and get it out of your system!"

"Does it even count if the person being flashed knows what's coming? Seems contrary to the concept."

"You could always go outside and wing it, then I wouldn't be expecting anything in particular," Alexa replied as she dropped her bottle into a recycling bin, "and any random spectators would REALLY be surprised!"

"Spectators? Ohhh, this sounds like a bad idea already!" Karen said, trembling slightly.

"I didn't mean to freak you out; the restaurant is the only business besides this place in the entire center open past 9:00, and they're always gone by 10:30 or so. The last bus passes by around 10:45 and the handful of college students coming in to get beer before we have to stop selling it at 11:00 are in and out by 11:10. After that, traffic passing by is pretty light, so..." Alexa said as the door chime interrupted her.

Karen jumped slightly, imagining being surprised while improvising some sort of exposure out among the gas pumps or farther out in the parking lot. She had already begun thinking what she could do, and how far she might be able to go; now she shivered as she imagined all the options she'd come up with combined with the added variable of random spectators! As Alexa had predicted, every one of the steady stream of customers suddenly appearing right at 10:50 was carrying at least a twelve-pack of some sort of beer, hard lemonade, hard seltzer, or wine. By 11:05 the rush was over, ending as abruptly as it had begun.

Coming back out from behind the counter, Alexa said, "As I was about to say, after all the people making a last-minute beer run have left, I hardly see anyone until the early bird commuters start coming in, around 6:00. Customers between 11:30 and 5:30 are few and far between."

"Few?" Karen asked, "How few?"

"I can usually count them on one hand," Alexa replied, handing Karen another small bottle of champagne, "Here, I can't sell half of a four-pack."

"Usually, but not always?" Karen asked as she twisted off the new bottle's cap.

"Not always," admitted Alexa.

"How often would you say.." Karen said before Alexa cut her off.

"I don't know what to tell you, most nights you could hang out there for an hour or three and never see anyone go by. Once in a while, it gets a little busier. There's no way to predict it. Personally, I think the uncertainty is half the fun."

"Like I said before, almost all of my experiences with being caught naked have been accidental, actually thinking about risking it on purpose still scares me. A lot!"

Alexa smiled, saying, "You didn't look scared that other time you were here when you stripped out of your t-shirt and threw it away!"

"You saw that?" Karen said, blushing, "I thought the pump was blocking your view!"

"The canopy has a camera above each pump. I wasn't paying attention until you showed up inside, but after you left I replayed your whole visit. Sadly, the system records over the previous day's recording, so your performance is lost."

"You say sadly, I say fortunately, though I do kind of wish I could have seen it." Karen replied, taking a long sip of champagne, "to be fair, between being ridiculously tiny and all but transparent when wet, that shirt was worse than no shirt at all."

"If you'd like to give the security camera experience another try, the cameras are always ready!" Alexa laughed.

"Not sure about that, it looks pretty damn bright under the canopy, but I might possibly be able to do something out in the darker part of the parking lot," Karen replied. She walked over to the door and peered out, looking for any sign of life. After at least 5 minutes of monitoring the quiet road and parking lot while chatting with Alexa, she opened her purse and rummaged around, eventually finding her spare keyfob. She took out the single key and closed the purse, then asked Alexa, "Could you take care of this for a few minutes? And let me have a shopping bag?"

"Sure," Alexa said, handing her a plastic bag, "do you want me to take care of that, too?" she asked, pointing at Karen's half-filled bottle.

"Nope!" said Karen as she downed the remaining champagne and dropped the empty bottle in the recycling bin. She pushed the door open and stepped outside, saying, "Wish me luck!"

Karen strode quickly through the gas pumps, glancing up once or twice at the canopy; sure enough, there were a whole lot of cameras recording every inch of the area below. "Something to remember when I come back," she thought. Her destination now was her ratty pickup, the only vehicle in sight, right out in front of the restaurant where she'd parked a couple of hours earlier. Well clear of the bright and camera-covered canopy now, she was soon nearly one-quarter of the way to her truck. "Time to see what I can do," she thought, and stopped where she was, turned to face her only spectator back at the store, and unfastened about half of the buttons on her blouse. Her hands shook a little, but she didn't hesitate, telling herself, A little bra showing, no big deal."

Since the reason she opened her blouse was to make removing her bra a little easier, her calm began to fail her as she reached behind her back and unhooked the band, and she shivered in earnest when she had worked both shoulder straps down her sleeves and over her hands. She took a deep breath and gave a tug to the last part of the lacy maroon bra still in contact with her body; the cups slipped off her breasts and she pulled it out. She glanced down and saw a whole lot of cleavage, and quickly refastened two buttons, then had another look and decided she could stand to undo one after all. She dropped her bra into her shopping bag and began walking towards her truck again.

As she approached what seemed like the halfway point of her journey, Karen slowed her pace, wondering if she could really go through with what she had loosely planned for this spot, let alone the steadily more unsettling ideas she had in mind for the last few stops. When she reached the point she estimated to be halfway between her two available places of refuge, she paused and took a good look around. Finding herself thoroughly alone, she decided to stick to her plan.

Reaching behind her waist, she unhooked her skirt, and grasped the zipper's pull. Despite a persistent trembling in her hands she quickly pulled the zipper down as far as it could go, feeling the snug skirt loosen. She let the waistband go, then let go of the pull; with her skirt now held up only by what little friction existed between her skirt and blouse, she gave the skirt a slight tug. The skirt slid easily down her stocking-clad legs; she stepped out of the pool of fabric at her feet, smoothed out the newly freed tails of her blouse, retrieved the skirt from the dusty pavement, folded it, and put it in her bag.

Curious about what her somewhat diminished outfit must look like, Karen made a detour to the sidewalk of the shopping center, looking for a window to see a reflection of her current look. She found a doorway with a light shining down right in front of it, allowing her a good view of her current look. The blouse turned out to be nearly long enough to look like something an adventurous woman might wear to a club, but the stockings, with their exposed tops and straps hooked up to a garter belt made it clear that she was in fact only partially dressed. It occurred to her that she might actually look less scandalous without the stockings, and definitely less so without her garter belt and its dangling straps.

A bench in front of the closed grocery store gave Karen a comfortable spot to ditch the stockings. She bent down and unhooked the straps on her heels and stepped out of them. She unhooked each strap on the garter belt and pulled it down past her butt, allowing it to settle on the sidewalk next to her heels. She sat down and began sliding the stockings down her thighs. She peeled her stockings off the way she imagined a stripper would do; she enjoyed the fantasy, taking her time rolling them off, imagining herself performing on a stage in a crowded club instead of at a deserted shopping center.

After a minute or two to enjoy her unexpected stripper fantasy, she decided she should move on. She put her garter belt and stockings in her bag, amused and a little bit shaken to think that more of her outfit was now in the bag than was left on her body. She got her heels strapped on and headed for a spot she estimated was roughly three-quarters of the way along her route from the store to her truck.

Despite now wearing a lot less than she'd started out in, Karen was feeling more comfortable than when she began this slow-motion striptease. Although looking pretty outrageous, she wasn't actually showing much more than some cleavage and a bit of leg. "Okay, maybe a lot of cleavage and definitely a lot of leg," she whispered to herself, "but I'm not showing anything you can't see in a PG movie." Reaching her chosen location, she set her bag down on the pavement. She began to get nervous again as she slid her hands under the hem of her blouse and found the waistband of her panties.

Though the tails of her blouse were long enough to cover her ass and pussy, reducing her outfit to one slightly sheer blouse seemed a bit reckless; "and exciting," she said out loud. "So fucking exciting!" She paused, then pulled the lacy maroon panties slowly down, holding on to them until the tiny garment was well below the tails of her blouse, then letting go. Once the panties settled at her ankles, she kicked the skimpy piece of lace off her feet and placed it in her bag with practically everything else she'd worn to her dinner date a few hours ago.

More than a little amazed that she was now strolling about in public wearing only a mostly unbuttoned blouse, Karen headed for her truck, planning on driving it to the store, where she'd get dressed. When she reached her truck she was still debating whether or not to give the cameras at the gas pumps, and therefore Alexa, a quick boob flash on her way into the store. She tossed her bag full of discarded clothing onto the passenger seat, climbed in, and started it up. She pulled out of her parking space and turned around to head to the convenience store. She only went a few car lengths before stopping.

Despite being just one piece of clothing away from being completely naked in a decidedly inappropriate place, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had stopped too soon. Going any further would mean being naked in public, a scary proposition even if nobody else was there to see her. The problem was, her current look just didn't seem all that daring, more PG-13 than she was feeling. Looking herself over as well as she could while sitting in the driver's seat, it occurred to her that she hadn't been nearly as daring as she could have been; she thought nothing of showing more skin every time she went to a beach, even when wearing her coverup! "Hell, I've probably been more exposed than this at some office picnics," she grumbled. Despite all she'd already done, she felt like she wasn't exactly acting like she was committed.