Normal as She Desires Ch. 03

Chapter 3: point of no return

Of course, it was Kevin who had to ruin everything.

Not intentionally of course, he's not an asshole or anything like that. It's just the nature of rambling that casual conversations tend to meander around during breaks in the workday.

It had been a month since Sara's first naked grocery shopping trip, and no social fallout had occurred. After the first few days her mental state went back to normal, and a few days after that her mind began to wander further than the normality before.

Rather quickly she ditched wearing clothing at home, and for running short errands during nighttime. Reactions from those who saw her varied, though never with any negative consequences. Most of the [admittedly few] delivery guys were merely bemused, and the employees at the various stores and other places reacted in various shades of 'not giving a damn'. Normal enough behaviors, as if she's just another average person of little note.

After the first few times the intensity of the sexual arousal from public nudity quickly subsided as the novelty wore off, along with the now knowledge that there aren't going to be any real social or legal consequences. In its place was a feeling of... being cut loose. A sort of regression towards simpler times. The much smaller need to do laundry was just a side bonus.

And then that conversation had to happen.

She doesn't even remember how the conversation began, her recollections started with them discussing the bystander effect, and moving on to the adventures of Florida man and woman.

It was then that Kevin dropped the bombshell.

"Most people are really just the type to go with the flow, not rock the boat." He pointed out. "It's someone else's problem, and maybe nobody's if or when it just goes away."

"What do you mean by that?" Sara asked for clarification. Kevin shrugged.

"It takes effort to interfere with the weird, and people are lazy. Not to mention overly concerned with their own little worlds." He explained. Sara began to get concerned, as she began to see the events of her past escapades in a different light.

"Just curious, if you were to witness, say, someone streaking out and about, what would you do?" She asked, grasping for something, anything, to shore up her now rather wobbling view of reality.

"How would I react?" Kevin was caught slightly off guard by the directness of the question. "I don't know, probably nothing." He shrugged. "Look a bit and go about my way."

It was not the answer Sara had hoped for nor expected.

"Would there be anything that would get you to react? She prodded on, wanting to get at least something to anchor on to gauge things. Kevin shrugged again, though his eyes betrayed the fact that he was actually putting some thought into the question.

"Probably something that would actually affect my life for more than five seconds. Otherwise I'll just wait it out, like with everything else. I mean, that's not saying I'm just gonna roll over and-" he shook his head, "this conversation is getting weird."

"Yep. Agreed." Sara nodded, who had secretly hoped for the conversation to end a bit before. As Kevin headed off back to his cubicle she briefly wondered if her own thoughts might have influenced his decision before shoving it back aside.

All these half hearted measures aren't getting anywhere. She has to find something she could trust. Her past and future depends on it.

------

Should I do such a thing? Could I? Sara thought to herself as she lay naked in her bed, with a hand idly massaging her clit and a sheen of sweat from the mugginess of the room. It was around two in the morning on Saturday. The weekend having finally arrived, all of her fatigue, worries, and other problems that she could not afford to happen at work crashed upon her, and though she headed off to bed at an unusually early time for a Friday, yet sleep eluded her.

It's all so maddening, this back and forth of doubt. Every time that she felt she had a good grasp of the situation something came in and yanked that away, all the while leaving behind a trail of potentially regrettable acts. Worse is that she couldn't just discuss this with her friends or acquaintances. Talking about mind control, on social media or otherwise, just wasn't something that anyone else would take seriously.

With no resolution in sight, and sleep being ever farther away, she got out of bed and shuffled her way towards the door with the intention of taking a stroll outside, hoping the fresh air and free range of the outdoors would bring more clarity.

As her hand grasped on the doorknob she hesitated, the thought of putting something on floated to the front of her mind for the first time outside of work in a while. The moment passed in a flash and she decided against it, merely putting on a pair of flip flops as the now usual.

As it happens the outside wasn't much better, the stifling heat and the mugginess remained. The streets were quiet though, with only the sounds of AC and other machinery that is the pulse of human habitation. It's still the outside though, which means places to wander around.

And wander around Sara did, walking aimlessly through the mostly empty sidewalks, not even flinching whenever a vehicle drove by. Similarly, the few pedestrians who were out and about managed to catch quite an eyeful of the pretty young naked lady casually strolling through the night, an almost ghostly figure seemed lost in her own world.

And she was lost in her own world as the conflicting thoughts continued circling endlessly inside her mind, dragging even more tangents along for the chase. It was no longer merely a debate as to the existence of some ill defined supernatural force, but a questioning on what she wanted in life.

It was true, her life had up to this point been very smooth sailing, as far as anything concerning interaction with other people. Yet it wasn't all just she getting her way, Sara had always tried her best to adhere to the established social norms. It was one of the reasons she never had seriously questioned her endless streak of convenient good luck. It was natural, logical even: Do the required things, act the expected ways, and receive the expected results.

But there was something missing. Actually quite a lot missing. It was confining, limiting, worrying. Always the nagging, unspecific fear of accidental yet unforgivable transgressions, of life defining faux pas. And for what? For something that, when all goes well, meant nothing. All that effort and sacrifice just for the privilege of a lack of consequences. Consequences that seem to have little relevance in the grand scheme of things. If the conversation is to be believed.

If. If. But Kevin certainly didn't see much of a big deal in the antics of Florida man and woman, and that perception, the perception of others. That is the basis of that nothing.

"Hey girl, you alright there?" A female voice called out through the night, shaking Sara out of her haze of internal debate. She looked around, realizing that she had wandered into a suburban neighborhood. Not exactly that impressive a feat as the town's so small that a suburban or even rural area is never farther than two streets away. Then she saw her: a middle aged woman walking her dog, looking at her with a bemused expression more than anything else.

"Oh, um. Yeah. I'm fine." Sara replied, in a rather unconvincing voice, her hands twitched slightly before falling to the side, the last remnants of what was her nominal instincts of modesty. "Was trying to clear my mind with a little stroll."

"Is that so?" The woman asked, not exactly believing her completely, though what part she doesn't believe Sara could not tell: mind controlling powers or not, at no point could she ever actually read anyone's mind.

"Yeah, yeah." Sara said, sticking to her story. It's all true, there's no lie, and there's certainly nothing out of place with her nudity.

"Well in that case you should be careful." The woman replied, going along with the assurance at face value. "Someone said some racoons pilfered through the trashcan last week."

"Oh. Um, thanks. Got it." Sara stammered, caught off guard by the out of nowhere wild animal warning, but grateful for the seemingly change of focus. The doubts first put in place by that conversation at work those days ago made it impossible to figure out.

"Well, I got to get going." The woman smiled as she turned away, tugging at her dog, who was surprisingly docile during the entire bizarre exchange. Sara watched them for a bit as they slowly disappeared from view. At what seemed at the time clarity finally floated to the surface of her mind, and in her sleepy and somewhat tired state, it seemed good enough a conclusion.

With a crooked smile she turned towards the general direction of her apartment, and began making the trek back with a new found confidence.

------

That sense of confidence and clarity lasted no longer than the reminder of that night's sleep, much less the rest of the weekend, and by Monday morning she was staring at her work clothes, laid out neatly on her bed.

It was so easy to fantasize a plan of action in theory while strolling around the town buck naked on a Saturday early morning, putting it in practice was a whole other matter. It would be the point of no return. For it was one thing to go out and strut around to strangers in the darkness of the night, where all would fade away when the sun came up again. It was another to commit to it in the day, and to people that she has to face everyday for that matter. If it was all a delusion, then it's very likely that she'll be out of a job, among other consequences...

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Consequences. Of course there are consequences, just as there are consequences of staying put, of not rocking the boat. Consequences that she had been paying subconsciously for years.

When framed that way, a decision was far easier to be made. With a last look at those clothes, that last representation of her old sense of normality, Sara turned around, picked up her handbag, slipped on a pair of loafers, and walked out the door of her apartment...

... and it was as if it was just another Monday morning. She bumped into a few people on the way down the stairs and in the parking lot, but besides a few mumbles of greetings there were no other noticeable reactions. Of course most of the residents of the apartment complex weren't that outgoing even before, but the sight of a naked woman should have been something shocking.

Or maybe it's just the Monday blues putting a damper on everything. Sure, whatever. She still has to make it to her workplace in time. Almost looking forward to it, and simultaneously dreading it. It doesn't make sense, but rarely does anything make sense in the matters of the heart.

The drive over was more normal, as in there's a few honks from other cars whose drivers noticed something slightly different from the driver of the car they just passed. Normal, but also irrelevant. The attendant at the drive through where she ordered her coffee also didn't really act that out of the ordinary, though she did raise an eyebrow at her. Besides that she got her coffee without incident.

Getting out of the car was a similar experience as getting in, she noticed an increased amount of stares from others towards her, but again no one made any fuss of it in the sense of calling the cops or anything.

It's all encouraging, as token as those signs are. But the real test was still in front of her.

The front doors of the office building to be specific. Those ordinary doors, of which she passed though without a thought countless times, now seemed so massive and foreboding. Her hands paused on the keypad on the side.

There. The last boundary. The last chance to back out. To go back. To pretend it was all a dream. To never know... She punched in the passcode, grabbed the handle and opened the door, then, mustering all the confidence she had, walked into the building.

What happened immediately after was oddly easy, almost unexpectedly so. She has always been one of the early arrivals, and this Monday was no different. As she walked through the hallway into the cubicle farm it was mostly empty, and the only other guy at work that early, an asian named mr. Long, merely nodded in acknowledgment as he always does.

Sara breathed a sigh of relief as she settled into the chair of her cubicle. So far so good, though mr. Long's reaction was far from conclusive. The best description for him is that of nonchalant: simply nodding along whenever handed seemingly impossible tasks and deadlines without so much as a word of complaint. Rumors are rife about his past, from the mundane to the outlandish.

Sighing, she booted up her work computer and began working, shoving the unnecessary and negative thoughts away while repeating to herself that all is normal. Yeah, totally normal that she decides to just show up to work in the nude.

As the minutes went by and the office came to life as the others entered, the day seemed to have gone on as just any other Monday. A few of the regulars came over and said hi, none overtly commented on her state of undress even though she could see from their eyes that they wanted to note something, but it appeared that the cat got their tongue, so to speak. Kevin, of course, came the closest, even mentioned something along the lines of something at the tip of his tongue, but in the end still did not recall that something supposedly importantly trivial that he wanted to tell her.

It was real, and it was actually working. Sara wanted to jump up. To climb onto her cubicle desk and announce to the rest of the office of her powers. To masterbate right then and there. To flaunt to the world of her body with an impunity that only badly written fanfic characters possess. Instead, the last two seemingly working braincells in her head shoved those thoughts aside, and she pushed herself to get back to concentrating on work, which seems even more pointless and trivial.

The next couple of hours went by in a blur. Not a fast blur, for time itself seemed to have slowed down to tease her. Yet she had no recollection of what she did. Not the most surprising thing given how mundane and repetitive the work tends to be, but for that one time it bothered her. Almost like missing details in dreams and simulations...

"Ms. Fuller, could you come here for a moment?" The voice of Ryan Walker, one of the co-owners of the company, came out of his office. As Sara looked outward, she saw his head popping out of his office, his expression not really readable, which is a bit of an oddity, as normally he's the type of guy who's relatively easygoing.

"Of course, in a moment." Sara quickly replied as she got up from her seat and began to make her way over there. With each step she took, doubt and worry began to creep up on her. It's not the simple worry of not having anything supernatural or being stuck in a lucid dream, the former being increasingly obvious not the case and the latter irrelevant. The question is, is there a chance that certain individuals remain unaffected? What then? The questions continued to hound her as she walked into his office.

"Have a seat." Ryan said, waving Sara to a seat right in front of his desk, which she took with some trepidation. "I trust you have the approval of HR for your new dress code?" He asked, the tone of his voice makes it hard to tell if the rhetorical joke question was asked in disapproval or merely as an ice breaker.

"Yes, of course." Sara replied with a slightly worried chuckle, trying to play off the answer in a joking manner as the question. It would be something they would have done under normal circumstances... as this should be, will be. "This company firmly believes in accommodating its employees' lifestyle choices within reasonable limits, hence the lax and reactive dress code." She explained.

Ryan nodded, seemingly taking in Sara's answer at face value.

"If you say so." He said, tacitly acknowledging her as HR, before dropping his voice. "I'm gonna be real with you right now, while I'm all for supporting, um, your- naturist attire, there's the potential for unwanted consequences." He gestured with a hand towards outside the office. "Everyone else in this company besides you is a man, and most of them are normal young adults. That means they're pretty horny and easily excited. I'm not making excuses if any of them cross a line, but you should be aware of the risks involved."

Sara breathed a sigh of relief. It's working, even on the boss. She's in the clear. With his first expected reaction seemingly bypassed, Ryan's concerns seem to fall back to the more mundane ones about the workplace environment. Since the company being a relatively small and young one at that, the concerns tend to veer on the more personal level.

Yet even as she passed another hurdle Sara's mind began to agitate pushing the boundaries more, as if emboldened with each broken taboo. Or maybe it's her horniness talking, as she began to feel a wetness between her legs, itching for the last barriers to fall.

The only thing stopping her is herself, though the tiny voice meekly whispering that was all but drowned out by the rising tide of lust building up.

"But what if... I can assure you, that nothing of that sort will happen, ever?" Sara replied, as one of her hands started touching her nether regions. Ryan tilted his head as his eyes glazed for a bit as his mind focused on Sara's bold claim rather than her obviously masturbating in front of him.

"Alright. I believe you. At least enough to chance it." He said after what felt like a moment of contemplation. "But productivity better not crater." He suddenly clapped his hands once, as if an idea had popped up in his mind. "Actually, why don't you make an announcement about this?"

"Right now?" Sara asked, suddenly brought back to the topic at hand just as things were getting good down there.

"Of course." Ryan said as he stood up from his chair, as if it's a normal course of action... Then again, it is if everything is working as it should. "After all, it's HR's duty to keep everyone here on such changes in the working environment." He explained without a shred of sarcasm or underlying intention as he grabbed her hand, the same hand that's just been stroking her slit and still damp from her juices. He didn't seem to have even noticed it, or if he did, made no note of it.

As the two walked out of the office Ryan spoke to get everyone else's attention. "Hey guys, could I have a moment? HR got something to tell everyone." He said, using the same casual tone that has always been the vibe of the place since the beginning. Not so quickly everyone began to move out of their cubicles and into the middle area, a garden variety of expressions on their faces.

And there, suddenly, she was the center of attention, as all eyes were drawn upon her. As she scanned the faces before her, she saw boredom, curiosity, even bits of horni here and there. The person with the most unreadable expression was of course Mr. Long, but that's to be expected. There wasn't anything in the way of anger, disgust, shock, outrage, or the expected reactions to public indecency that would be the case normally.

There, that word. Normal. Her ego was already crowing on the whole thing as the crowning achievement of her newly discovered and still rather undefined powers, yet another, more cautious part of mind realized another point: nobody in the company is all that normal in the sense of confining to social norms. In fact, it's probably the main reason that the workplace atmosphere is so relaxed.

But she still has that announcement to make.

"Um. Uh- thank you everyone for your attention for a moment." She began, with the awkwardness of the unprepared. "As you can see, the company supports a wide variety of lifestyle choices, including nudity in the workplace." She took a breath. "However, if anyone is offended or uncomfortable with this an accommodation can be reached-"