Public Art Installation

Chapter One.

Sally was always the arty kid. She was never really into sports or group activities, not that she was a loner or anything like that. When she was being creative, though, she entered a kind of zen-like mindset and a peaceful state swept over her. I understood the feeling as it was how I was with music but for her, it was almost always something visual. She had tried many different media, drawing, charcoal, painting, sculptures even photography and video. It's like it's a part of her DNA, she has to be creating something to feel alive.

All through high school, she did alright academically, not top of the grade but certainly not at the bottom either, she never had any other goal in life other than to be doing something arts-oriented. When she finished high school it was straight on to uni where she found her "tribe". She went from being a part-time artist and a student to living life completely as an artist. It worried me as her mother to think that there probably wasn't much financial security for her future but any time I brought this up she told me that she would find a way. They say we all need to have faith and I guess Sally just had faith in her art. It wasn't easy to let go and let her work it out on her own but she was never unhappy with her choices and she always seemed to make ends meet.

Sally was always a precocious kid in the sense that she didn't seem to have the same social boundaries as her peers. If she wanted to know something or understand it better she would just ask. She never really cared that some subjects were considered taboo or that there was a time and place for certain conversations even. If she wanted to know something she just asked. If someone got offended or uncomfortable about it she considered that to be a problem with their thinking. It was refreshing in some ways but it could be embarrassing too.

When she was twelve years old we attended a wedding. We aren't a religious family at all so when we were invited to a friend's wedding at a catholic church Sally had a ton of questions. At first, it was all about the reasons for the use of the Latin language, then she had a lot of questions about the artistry of the church, especially the symbols and icons. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the answers and I could see her storing all the unanswered questions in her mind for whoever she decided would be more knowledgeable about the subject. Fortunately, this turned out to be my sister-in-law, who understood Sally very well and did her best to explain a lot of the church's history and background. She then went on to ask questions about the priest and his role. Again my Sister-in-law did her best to answer her questions. When she asked about the priest's wife she explained about the vow of celibacy. It was this that seemed to catch her attention more than anything else. She was fascinated but also flabbergasted by the idea of it. I could see she wasn't going to let it go so I tried to divert her attention and when that didn't work I tried to explain to her that it wasn't polite to discuss somebody's private and personal decisions in such a public place.

She thought about it for a while and I thought she had taken the hint and would ask no more questions. Oh, how wrong I was. The ceremony was over and people were standing around congratulating the new couple and just chit-chatting generally when I realised that Sally had disappeared. I looked around for her, wondering who she had decided to harass with a million questions now when I spotted the priest, sitting in a pew up the front of the church and talking animatedly with Sally. Oh no. This couldn't be good. I began walking towards them and I noticed he was pointing out different aspects of the building and some of the paintings, icons and imagery. I breathed a sigh of relief as I realised that she had gone to her favourite topic of art straight away and he seemed delighted to be telling her about them. I stepped forward and introduced myself.

"Hi, I'm Sue. Sally's mum."

"Oh hello, Sue. I'm Peter. Young Sally here couldn't contain her enthusiasm for the art in the church and I was just giving her some history of the art here. I have to say I'm stunned at her knowledge and understanding of it. You must be very proud."

He seemed to be genuinely delighted to have someone to talk to about it.

"I am, thank you, Father, I hope she hasn't had too many questions for you. She can be a bit full-on sometimes."

Sally looked at me as though I was being rude and it struck me as funny that she would find that rude.

"Please, just call me Peter. These ceremonies are formal enough without throwing titles around as well. I don't stand much on formality outside of them. As for questions, ask away Sally, People don't ask enough questions anymore in my opinion. A thirst for knowledge and understanding is something that should always be encouraged."

He turned to Sally with a look of expectation and I almost groaned out loud. I knew what was coming now that the green light had been given. She looked him dead in the eye without the slightest sign of embarrassment or shame then she asked what had been bothering her the most.

"My mum and my Aunt both said priests don't get married and aren't allowed to have sex, why not?"

I swear my face must have been glowing. I was so embarrassed.

"Sally! Didn't I tell you not to ask such personal questions?"

"Yes, but Peter said I should ask questions."

"I am so sorry, Peter."

To my surprise, he just laughed.

"That's quite alright. It is an unusual situation and it's perfectly normal to be curious about things like that. Well, Sally, part of becoming a priest is sacrifice. We decide as part of the process to dedicate ourselves to our parishioners and God. To show our faith and dedication we sacrifice the things that the majority of people search for in their life. It shows that we are prepared to live our life for God and others, not for ourselves."

Sally mulled this over for a while and I could see her struggling to understand it.

"Who tells you to do this?"

"Well, it is the tradition of the church or doctrine if you understand what that means. So, in some ways, it is the church itself that tells us this and in some ways, it is God telling us but I like to think of it as more of a personal choice and not so much that I am being told to do it."

"But isn't it nice, well, you know, to have sex? I mean mum said that's a big part of why people do it. Wouldn't god want you to have pleasure too?"

Okay, so if you are there God, if you do exist, now would be a great time to produce a small earthquake and just swallow me up, please. 

I was mortified to the point where I couldn't say anything. Peter, though, just took it all in his stride as though she was asking for his opinion on the weather.

"In the church, we have an opinion that people should wait for marriage before engaging in that. But that doesn't mean we aren't aware of other opinions and ideas. I am sure it probably is fun, but I am equally sure that it shouldn't be taken too lightly either. Having said that, it's probably not the most important thing in life either and as much as it can be difficult to reject your basic desires it can be quite rewarding too."

I was stunned at his grace in answering her questions so freely and honestly and again Sally seemed to mull it over. I could see a thousand more questions beginning to form in her mind and I suspected that we would be here for the remainder of the day, then one of the other wedding guests turned up and wanted to speak to the Priest. He nodded in their direction then turned to Sally.

"Sally, thank you very much for your honest and very intelligent conversation. Please feel free anytime you are around to have another conversation with me. I genuinely enjoy your company, but alas, for now, I have other people that I need to talk to as well, okay?"

Sally nodded and smiled as he reached out and shook her hand, and then he turned to me. He had a huge grin on his face and beamed when I thanked him.

"The pleasure was all mine. Lovely to meet you both."

He wandered off in the direction of the woman who had greeted him and I shook my head in a mixture of relief and frustration. That certainly could have gone a lot worse than it did.

"Sally, you will be the death of me one of these days."

My brother and sister-in-law were in hysterics later on as I told them about the conversation. I was quite glad that we were only visiting and didn't live in this town or I know that Sally would have probably harassed Peter endlessly with weird random questions.

I had never forgotten this experience so I was reminded of it when Sally told me she had started to take on more art projects that made people question art. She wanted people to question what they saw and what they liked. It was this philosophy that would lead to her final thesis.

It was her final thesis that leads to the story I am about to share with you. It didn't just make me question art, it made me question everything I thought I knew about myself.

Chapter Two.

I had been single for most of my adult life. My husband, Sally's father had passed away when Sally was barely one year old and although I had dated several men since then nothing had stuck. I don't know why but none of them seemed to fit really. I don't know if I was closed off to them or just not adventurous enough in the sex department or what it was but none seemed to last very long.

I had never really been all that adventurous when it came to sex. I enjoyed it but I never really wanted to push any boundaries or take any risks. I guess you could say I was quite vanilla. It's not that things didn't intrigue me and I certainly have my share of fantasies but the majority of them would remain just that, fantasies. I was nervous about anything new and the thought of being caught outdoors or anything like that both turned me on and horrified me in equal measures. In my fantasies that sort of thing was hot but in reality, I could never do anything like that. I hadn't even committed that staple of teenage rights of passage, sex in the back of a car. I came close a few times but I inevitably made them take me home where it was safe and comfortable. It wasn't the actual sex I was scared of, just the being seen.

In her final year at uni, Sally had to produce a final piece that would show in some ways how far she had come and developed as an artist. She came home during one of her last semester breaks to discuss her plans for her final piece and thesis. I felt quite honoured that this strong, independent woman that she had become still valued my opinions and insights. We were seated around the dining table with our steaming cups of coffee and the morning sunlight coming in through the window and warming us. It was a beautiful morning made all the more beautiful by her company. I had missed having her around.

Spread out before us on the table were plans that Sally had drawn up for her piece. It was a large glass cube approximately eight feet, or two and a half metres square. Inside that cube was another, slightly smaller one with a chair in the middle.

"So, you see mum, the idea is all about the art of observing. It covers things like the way people view public art installations but also how people behave when they don't think they are being observed."

"Okay. So the chair I can understand that is where you will sit and observe those that are looking at it, but if you can see them, how is it that they can't see you, is it mirrored glass?"

"Exactly. Both cubes are mirrored glass so even if they put their face right up to the glass to see through, the most they will see is a reflection of themselves. On top of that, the outer glass case is warped, so their reflections are all warped. I did that mostly to produce a point of interest so that people would come and look at it."

"Interesting idea. How long do you plan on sitting in there and watching?"

"Well, that's where it gets tricky. What I really want to do is have several people sitting in it. Not all at once of course. I want to see what other people think of the process and have their thoughts and observations. I also don't want anyone to see people getting in and out of it. I will make it so that it is movable and every two hours or so we will swap out the observers. That way people can take a break, have meals, use the toilet etc."

"Hmm, good idea. Who have you got to do observations for you?"

"I'm still working on that but I'm pretty sure I can get some of the other students to help out. I was hoping you might want to participate though. I would love to have your input in my final piece."

I was surprised, to say the least. Quite thrilled that she wanted me to be a part of it and curious to see what she had envisioned. I agreed on the spot and couldn't stop myself from grinning.

This all took place months before the event and by the time it came around I was very excited for her. We met at the agreed location which was a warehouse behind a large outdoor shopping strip mall in the centre of town. It was a large town by local standards but by world standards, it isn't very big at all. When I entered the warehouse I saw Sally and a couple of other people standing around. To my surprise, one of the people was Luke. Luke was one of Sally's high school friends who I was sure that Sally had a bit of a crush on back then but nothing ever came of it. I have to admit, I could completely understand why she had a crush on him. Not only was he a very nice person and very polite to me, but he was also quite good-looking. I would never have said anything to anyone about it but there were a few times that my masturbation sessions had featured Luke in a fantasy that involved him coming over to visit Sally, who wasn't home and discovering me naked. It invariably ended up with me gagging on his cock as he ate my pussy to a wonderful and very wet orgasm.

I blushed as Luke said hello to me with a big smile. I knew he couldn't read my mind but my mouth was salivating at the thought of tasting his cock.

God, Sue, get your shit together girl. Is right now an appropriate time to be getting damp knickers?

That immediately made me think about my wet pussy as well as his hard, young cock and that just made matters worse. I noticed that both Luke and Sally were looking at me as though waiting for a reply and I realised that someone had asked me a question but I had no idea who or what.

"Hmm? Sorry, what was that?"

Sally smirked as though she knew where my mind had gone, even though I had never mentioned anything about my desires for him.

"I said, Luke has a class he needs to get to later, do you mind if he goes first?"

"Oh, no, not at all. Go for it, Luke."

I was still blushing madly while Sally opened the concealed hatch for Luke. She showed him the chair and the clipboard for taking notes. She handed him a bottle of water.

"Now, make yourself as comfortable as you can Luke. As soon as we shut the door we will be wheeling you out into the mall. Are you sure you don't need the toilet or anything else before you go?"

"No, I'm all good."

"And you have left your phone out here?"

"Sure have."

"Good, now, if you have an emergency or panic, or just really need to get out, there is a radio over here in the corner. Pick it up, hold the button and talk. I will hear you and I will come and get you okay?"

"I'll be fine Sally."

He smiled at her and began to get into the box. Once the door was firmly latched, two other students came forward to move the box out into the mall under Sally's guidance. They were gone for about five minutes and I sat waiting for Sally to return.

I had a bit of a chuckle at myself as I thought about the way my body had reacted to Luke's presence. I couldn't believe that I had had such a strong reaction. Sure he was a good-looking young man and it had been a while since I had had any attention of the physical kind but I hadn't become this wet, this quickly in quite some time. I thought about the last time I had had a man and although it was nice, he wasn't what you would call a great lover; in fact, it was over, all just a bit too soon. The popular consensus seemed to be that men around my age tended to have quite a bit less endurance than younger men and I understood that they couldn't necessarily help that but it would have been nice if he had paid a bit more attention to getting me there as well instead of just jumping on, cumming and leaving. It had left me feeling very put off. The sex itself was nice while it lasted but I had wanted a bit more than that.

Maybe that's why so many women my age become "cougars". They want a young man with a hard cock and stamina. Someone like Luke. Someone with a firm tight ass that I could grab hold of as he pounds my pussy mercilessly with his hard cock. His cock would stay hard, even after flooding my pussy with his cum so he could give me second helpings. Allow me to suck our combined juices off his firm manhood as I fondle his balls and ass, then bend me over and fuck me some more after eating me out.

God damn Sue, GET A GRIP!

I could feel my panties sticking to my crotch I was so wet. I was beginning to think that I might have to hit the town tonight and find some random guy to fuck some sense into me. Even if it was just to purge the thoughts of having my daughter's friend, a man half my age, no less, sliding his diamond-hard, oozing cock into my very slippery cunt.

I never used that word. It was one that I never really liked, I found it somewhat derogatory but that was exactly what it was right now. Nothing so feminine as a pussy, or delicate as a vagina. I had a dripping, cock-hungry cunt right now.

Sally came back into the room and walked towards me.

"And now we wait."

I smiled wanly at her and she looked back at me concerned.

"Are you okay Mum?"

"Of course, honey, just need to go to the loo."

"You look flushed, are you sure you are alright?"

"I'm fine, Sally. I'll be back in a bit."

Before she could interrogate me further I made a beeline for the toilets. As I walked I could feel the swollen lips of my pussy sliding against each other and my engorged clit. I wasn't even sure I would make it to the toilets without having a full-blown orgasm. Thankfully I did make it because I doubted I could have hidden what was happening if I didn't.

I pushed open the door, walked into the first cubicle and undid the button on my jeans. As I pulled the fly down the friction went through to my oversensitive clit like a small vibration and I felt the first tremors of an orgasm begin. I shoved my pants down and collapsed onto the seat. The fingers of my right hand seemed to have a will of their own as they dived between my thighs and slid over the top of my slit and onto my clit. That was all it took to send me twitching and shaking into the strongest orgasm I had had in a very long time. My legs were in a spasm and were drumming my heels against the floor as my toes tried to curl up inside my shoes. I was holding my breath and trying not to moan too loudly as I spasmed through this mighty orgasm.

Several moments later I was panting like I had just run a mile and I was slumped half on and half off the toilet seat. My fingers were covered in my cum and I could feel it halfway down my thighs. I couldn't believe what had come over me. I was in the process of gathering some toilet paper to try and clean myself up when I heard a noise that made me stop in fear. It was the sound of someone pulling their pants up, doing up a zipper, and then flushing the toilet.

Holy shit! There was someone else in one of the other stalls. I couldn't believe I hadn't checked that first. I was in such a rush to get in here that it completely slipped my mind. How much had they heard? I already knew that they would have heard everything. Had they figured out what the noises were? They would have to be deaf and stupid not to have figured out what was happening. This was horrifying. I couldn't believe I had just done something like that. Now somebody out there knew I had been in here masturbating. In a public toilet, no less. What was I going to do? I knew I couldn't stay here because Sally would come looking for me. I would have to face it sooner or later.