Public Art Installation

All I could do was hope that whoever was in there would be more discreet than I had just been. I could hear the person washing their hands and then drying them but the bathroom door didn't open straight away. I wasn't even game to move until I heard them leave. Whoever it was moved a couple of steps back towards the stall I was sitting in, there was a protracted silence that felt like it dragged on forever but was probably no more than thirty seconds, and then she strode purposefully towards the door and straight out. I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard her shoes clip-clopping away from the bathroom door and I began to get myself as cleaned up as I could.

I flushed the toilet and opened the door, glancing around nervously, even though I was sure that there was no one else in the bathroom now. I stepped out of the stall and towards the sink where I once again froze in fear. There, stuck to the mirror was a bright pink sticky note with writing on it.

"Sometimes it just can't wait, can it. I hope the rest of your day is just as good. It has certainly inspired me. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

I could have curled up and died right there. It was one thing to suspect someone heard you and a complete other to have it confirmed. All I could do at this point was hope that they were true to their word. I pulled the note down and shoved it into my pocket after washing my hands. I took a deep breath and steeled my nerves as I pulled the door open and walked back out to Sally.

I opened the door and as I stepped out I couldn't stop myself from scanning the warehouse to see if anyone was looking at me or, even worse, pointing or laughing. I know I was behaving in a paranoid way but the reality is I was feeling somewhat paranoid. The further back to Sally I got without anything happening the more at ease I was beginning to feel.

Chapter three.

When I got back to Sally she was still looking concerned.

"Are you sure you're okay, Mum?"

I laughed, partly in relief and partly at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"I'm fine, just really had to go."

I put a lot of emphasis on the "really" and Sally looked me over once more as though confirming to herself that I was indeed fine and not just making it up. Then, seeming to be okay with what she saw changed the subject.

"Do you want to come and see it?"

"Of course I do."

Sally picked up the walkie talkie and we walked out into the mall. I was surprised as I saw several people already standing around the cube. Sunlight was glinting off it and I had to laugh as I saw some kids pulling faces in it. Luke must be getting a funny view from in there.

"Over this way, Mum."

I turned and saw Sally heading to a nearby cafe`. She was waiting at the door for me and when I got there she pointed to some tables outside.

"Grab one of those for us, Mum, and I'll get us a coffee each."

I turned and found one of the tables where we would be able to see the cube and watch the goings-on while we drank our coffee. While I waited my mind drifted back to the note in my pocket.

"You have inspired me."

Did that mean what I thought it meant? Was the mystery woman turned on by my brazen masturbation in a public toilet? Was she as wet as I was from listening to me play with my pussy? Was she going to play with her pussy while thinking about me playing with mine? Why was I getting all wet again thinking about some random faceless woman playing with herself? What was happening to me?

Sally returned with two cappuccinos and sat them on the table in front of us. She turned the other seat in the direction of the cube and sat down. She was beaming a big smile as she watched some more people approach it and look at it. They wandered around it and stared at it from as many different angles as they could.

"If only they knew that the cube was watching them back."

"Sally, I just want you to know how proud I am of you. This really is quite impressive what you are doing."

Sally smiled and touched my arm.

"Thanks, Mum. I'll be happy once I have all the information I can get and can put it into a presentation. If I pass, then I'll be proud."

"You'll pass honey. I do not doubt it at all."

Sally smiled and I was reminded, suddenly, of her father. She may have had similar looks and build as me but when she smiled she was so much like her father it wasn't funny. We were both fairly tall, well, above average but not basketball player tall. Where I had naturally dark blonde hair, Sally's, was more strawberry blonde. I was fairly slim as a kid and it took a long time before I had any shape or boobs to speak of, in fact, it wasn't until I was pregnant with Sally that I had what you would call a particularly feminine figure. I, unlike so many women, really liked what pregnancy did to my body. I grew hips and breasts and developed a somewhat hourglass figure that has stayed with me. Age and gravity are doing their thing but I am still relatively perky.

Sally has a slightly fuller figure than I did. She has a very pert butt and larger breasts that were still quite firm and sit high on her chest even without the support of a bra. I hope she appreciated that that wouldn't last forever. We had very similar facial features, although her lips were a little fuller than mine she had my pronounced cheekbones. She is a stunningly beautiful girl but then I may be just a little biased.

I loved to see her smile but it was often bittersweet for me. I missed him still and I knew he would be so immensely proud of Sally. We didn't often talk of her father these days. Not that I never wanted to but it had been nearly twenty years since he passed away and, well, life moves on. I spent a lot of time when Sally was younger telling her stories about him and I never hesitated to tell her anything she asked about him. I just think it is unfathomably sad that I got to know him so well and she missed out on having him in her life.

She was watching me in that studying way that she had, seemingly able to see into my mind.

"I wish Dad was here to see this, Mum."

"Yeah, me too. I was just thinking about him."

"I know."

I hitched a smile onto my face and forced myself to look around the mall. More to bring me back into the present than anything. That, and meeting Sally's eyes right now would most likely make me cry. This should be a day of celebration, not sadness, although, every celebration since his death had been tinged with a little sadness.

I looked at the cube again and I was forced to smile. The strangest thing was happening. A young woman, around Sally's age, was dancing in front of it, quite seductively in her short, and I do mean very short summer dress. I noticed then that some other girls around the same age were sitting on a bench nearby and were cheering and laughing. Sally heard the laughter and looked up in the direction of the cube as well. A laugh bubbled out of her as she saw what was going on.

"Oh wow. Lucky Luke hey?"

I laughed too as I imagined Luke sitting in the cube, getting quite a show. The girl spun around with a flourish, causing the bottom of her dress to rise, flashing her underwear briefly then struck a pose. Her friends were laughing and clapping while one of them recorded her with her phone. She skipped back to her friends and another one jumped up and took her place. I could faintly hear some music playing and I wasn't sure if it was coming from speakers in the mall or perhaps the girls had it playing. The next girl was a bit shorter than the first and had a slightly fuller figure. She was wearing a similar dress to the first girl but she had a significantly bigger butt. She immediately began to shake it like she was in a nightclub somewhere. She was very into what she was doing and was pushing herself to outperform the first girl. The others were cheering and egging her on. She kept running her hands all over her buxom body as she shimmered and shook and I was quite surprised to see anyone doing this in daylight in such a public place. I have to admit, I was a little jealous of her confidence and freedom. Strangely, I was a little jealous of Luke too.

I looked at Sally, who had a strange faraway look on her face. She was watching the girl dancing very closely. I wondered briefly, not for the first time in my life, if Sally was into girls. I knew she liked boys, several had been brought home over the years. They tended to be quite different to Luke, certainly, some were more feminine than him, but none ever lasted all that long. I knew that women had a lot more freedom to explore their sexuality these days. Again, I envied this generation's freedom there. It was a far more dangerous and complicated matter when I was a teenager. It was something I have been curious about for as long as I can remember but it had remained one of those "fantasy only" things. A situation had never arisen where I felt I could safely explore that side of myself.

"Whoa!"

It seemed to come from both my own and Sally's mouths at the same time. The girl dancing had bent over, right in front of the cube and was twerking to the point where her skirt was bouncing up and over her butt. At first, I thought, due to the angle we were watching from, that she had no underwear on but as the dress went a little higher I could see the strip of her G-string coming around. Sally laughed again.

"Luke is having a bloody great day."

I couldn't help but laugh as I imagined Luke sitting in the cube with an extreme close-up of this girl's butt in his face. Then the reality of that vision sunk in. Seeing her bouncing up and down, glimpsing her panties pulled tight over her pussy, just out of reach but right in front of me. Being able to watch but not touch. Desperately wanting to reach out to touch, to taste. My nipples were tingling with excitement and then the thought of Luke slipping his cock out of his pants and slowly beginning to stroke it. Right in front of this girl who has no idea what is going on behind her. The thought of him stroking his cock in there burned into my mind and I was suddenly quite wet again and struggling to sit still.

I could feel my face blushing and glanced out of the corner of my eye at Sally. I was worried that perhaps she had been watching me and had concluded where my mind had gone but I needn't have worried. Her eyes were focused intently on the girl and her cheeks were as pink as mine felt. She was subconsciously licking and biting her lips and I knew she was having similar thoughts to me. Like mother like daughter apparently.

The dancing girl walked back to her friends and they were all giggling. She pointed at one of them and said something that we couldn't hear but her friend was shaking her head no. The others were all calling for her to do the same until she said something that made them all laugh. The girl who had just been dancing gave her a look that said she didn't believe her. The girl, still sitting, looked around a little nervously to see if anyone nearby was watching then lifted the hem of her skirt in the direction of her friend and coincidentally in the direction of the cube. Her friend pointed and laughed then said, in a voice loud enough to carry to us over the general noise of the mall.

"Oh my god, it's true."

They all cracked up laughing, in a good-natured way. The girl still standing even high-fived her.

"I wonder what she just said."

I didn't realise I had spoken out loud until Sally responded.

"I'm betting she said she isn't wearing any panties. She proved it by flashing her pussy at her friend. If only she knew she was flashing Luke as well."

It was a strange realisation to have but I was pretty sure that was the first time Sally had ever said the word pussy in a sexual manner to me. All kinds of thoughts were running through my head and I had to instantly dismiss them as being wrong and nasty. Why the hell was it turning me on so much then?

I turned and focused on my coffee. Desperately trying to get my thoughts, and indeed my pussy, back into control.

"Come on Sally, drink your coffee before it goes cold."

She turned and looked at it as though surprised to see it.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot I had it."

She gave a small chuckle as she shook her head.

"You know, mum. This is quite a bit more exciting than I thought it would be. I was worried it would be dead boring."

"Well, it certainly hasn't been so far."

"It sure hasn't. I just hope it's not boring for everyone else. I think Luke has been lucky. Really, very lucky."

She got a faraway wistful look on her face as she said this last and I could see her imagination was flaring up again. I wished I could see what she was thinking but then I wondered what she would think if she could see mine. I blushed again, thinking about her seeing the thoughts that had been floating through my head.

The sun had come out and the light cloud covering that had been present at the start of the day had burned off. The breeze had slowed right down and the day was warming up. I had a moment of realisation that I was probably not dressed entirely right for this. I knew it would be hotter in the box. The more I thought about it the more I realised I was right.

"Sally, is there much ventilation in there? I reckon I'm going to cook."

I pointed to my clothing to emphasize the point and Sally gave me the once-over.

"Hmm, you may be right. Have you got anything cooler you can put on?"

"Not on me but if I hurry I can probably get something from in there before it's my turn."

I pointed to one of the department stores in the mall. Sally glanced at her watch and nodded.

"Yeah, we've got about an hour still before we have to get Luke out of there. I'll let you go on your own though, I'll just slow you down."

I gave Sally a quick kiss on the cheek as I stood up.

"I'll see you soon."

I walked into the store and looked back over my shoulder to make sure that Sally hadn't followed. I know I shouldn't be so paranoid but I didn't want her to see that I needed to buy new underwear as well. I couldn't believe the way my body was behaving today. I just kept getting so turned on and I was now just as wet as I had been when I rushed off to the toilets earlier.

I wasted no time in locating the underwear section and picked up a pack of underwear that I knew was my size and comfortable as they were the same old boring department store knickers that I almost always bought. They were right next to some thong-style ones. This was something I had never really tried before as the thought of them between my cheeks seemed uncomfortable. I had a moment where I thought, why not give them a go? I did what I always did when I had that thought though and sort of laughed inwardly and walked away.

I moved over to the dresses and immediately saw the same style that the girls that were dancing in front of the cube were wearing. They looked so cute in them that I wondered if I could pull off the same look. I know I'm older and I'm not going to try and look like a teenager but they were really cute. I picked one off the shelf that was my size and held it up to my body. My first thought was, no way I could wear a dress this short. I put it back on the rack and moved on but I felt a pang of sadness come over me. Why couldn't I wear that? It's not as though I am in bad shape or anything.

"Don't be silly. Sally would be embarrassed to be seen with you in that."

I moved on until I found a dress that was "more suitable" and walked towards the dressing rooms. I don't know exactly what came over me but it was like my body had a mind of its own and was telling my brain off for being a prude. I walked past the spot where the first dresses were hanging and grabbed one off the rack. It was in my hands and I had taken about a dozen steps before I even realised I was doing it. I spent the rest of the walk convincing myself by saying "it can't hurt to just try it on".

I half expected a smirk from the girl attending the dressing rooms but she just smiled and pointed me in the direction of the empty changing rooms.

"They are all empty so take your pick."

I went to the furthest one and closed the door. I removed each layer, folding them neatly onto the bench until I stood there in just my bra and damp underwear. I then did what I rarely do. I stood there and looked over my body. As though looking at a stranger's body. Trying to see it as somebody else would. Not focusing on the blemishes or the imperfections that I almost always go straight to for analyses.

If this was my best friend presenting herself to me for judgement, what would I say? How would I react? The truth of the matter is that I would probably be quite aroused if my best friend presented herself to me almost naked for inspection. Just thinking about it was making my pussy all slippery and my clit began to tingle again. I gave it a gentle pat over my panties and a tremor ran through my body. My knees felt a little weak and my nipples were trying to push through the material of my bra. My fingers pushed a little harder against my clit through my panties and I had to stifle a moan as it rose through me. I was much further along towards an orgasm than I had realised and I doubt I could have stopped myself if I wanted to.

My fingers were almost a blur as they expertly whirled in a circle over my clit through my panties. I was watching myself in the mirror as I stood there, legs slightly parted and trembling. My breath was coming in gasps that were almost sobs. My face and chest were very flushed. In my mind, I was still watching my best friend masturbating in front of me. I came hard enough to force me to sit down or fall over. Meanwhile, I stuffed the knuckles of my spare hand into my mouth and bit down to stop myself from crying out.

My thighs were trembling and there was a newer, darker wet patch on the crotch of my panties that grew larger as I sat there staring at it with my legs spread.

What the hell had come over me that I was now brazenly masturbating in public toilets and change rooms? Jesus, Sue, learn to control yourself. I was feeling such mixed emotions. I was embarrassed by my behaviour but at the same time, I felt sexy in a way I never had before. Brazen, slutty, naughty. As these words flashed through my overheated mind they did nothing to cool down my libido at all. The thought of being slutty, previously something I would have been horrified by, made my face flush with excitement and the image of Luke popped into my mind.

For god's sake, Sue, you're old enough to be his mother.

I stood again on slightly trembling legs and tried on the more conservative dress. It was nice but nothing more than that. It was comfortable in the same way that a pair of plain cotton panties were comfortable. Perfectly serviceable but it wouldn't set the world on fire. I took it off and hung it back on its hanger then eyeing the other dress sceptically I thought, no harm in trying it on.

I slipped it over my head and then tugged it down into place. I felt almost too afraid to look at myself in the mirror so I spent longer than what was necessary tugging the hem down and making sure the buttons were all done up properly. When I could find no more reason to put it off I looked up, then gasped.

At first, I thought it must have been sized wrong but it fits perfectly across my bust, belly and hips. If anything it accentuated my cleavage while making my waste magically look smaller. What made me gasp was just how much of my thigh was on display. I tugged it down at the hem again but there was no way it came more than about a quarter of the way down my thighs. I would have thought halfway to my knees would have been risque but this was almost obscene. Yet, the longer I looked at my bare thighs on display, the more I liked it.

As I walked out of the changing rooms the girl was blushing but smiled at me. Oh my god, did she hear me? I walked away from there as fast as I could and placed the more conservative dress back on the shelf, then started towards the checkout before I could chicken out. Running on the same whirlwind of bravery that I was feeling I also picked up a packet of the thong underwear as I went past them. There's no time like the present for trying new things I guess.