The Garden Centre of Eden

"Eve, are you ok? Are you ill?"

"I'm a bit better, thanks. It was just that, well, with everything, and I couldn't go out with Luke because of it, it all got on top of me."

"Well, Eve, you are not to worry, I've sorted out a plan, we'll get you out of this. I'll be round this evening to explain it all. It's going to work out Eve, no way we'll let you do this!"

I allowed myself just a smidgeon of hope.

Then a couple of hours later the phone rang again, and it was Abe.

"Looking forward to our little tryst?" he said smarmily.

"Just tell me where and what time, and spare me the small talk."

"Now then, don't get all uppity, you need to relax and enjoy it! I'll pick you up at seven o'clock Thursday evening."

"And where are we going?"

"I've booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express."

"No expense spared then, you really know how to make a girl feel good."

He laughed. "You'll feel good, I promise," he said. I hung up.

Around seven thirty, the doorbell rang, and when I opened the door to my surprise Marijka was there with Dan and Luke. And before I could manage more than a feeble hello, Luke stepped forward and swept me into his arms for a hug.

"Eve, why didn't you tell me what was going on? You shouldn't have to deal with this on your own! Dammit, I would make sure this ridiculous blackmail never took place!"

Marijka stepped forward and took over. "Eve, let's all go and sit down round a table, and we'll explain to you what we are going to do."

She explained that she had gone to Luke to pass on my message, and found him distraught with worry. She gave him the full background, and they discussed what to do, and they came up with the plan, which was where Dan came in. It seems Dan's company was a supplier to Mow & Grow, and he and Luke knew each other well.

"Now Dan sells security equipment -- CCTV and other monitoring gear. So what we are going to do is get one of Dan's miniature microphones and transmitter hidden in your clothing. Dan will be stationed outside, and you need to have a conversation with creepy Abe that spills the beans. Make sure he reacts to it as we know he will, and make it completely clear you don't want to have sex with him, that he is coercing you because you can't prove your innocence. Don't worry about this for now, I'll rehearse it all with you. Dan will record it all, and once we have what we need, we'll come in. Do you know where he's meeting you?"

"The Holiday Inn Express, he's picking me up at seven."

Dan brightened up, "That's good, I know the manager there, Sandra Fielding, I'll explain the situation to her and I'm sure she'll help us interrupt his seduction attempt!"

"OK then," Marijka continued, "we'll come round here at say five thirty to set up the equipment in your clothing, and to rehearse what's going to happen. Is that OK with you two?" She looked at Luke and Dan. They both agreed immediately, and Luke added, "Whatever it takes to take this problem away!"

They got up to go and I saw them to the door. Luke paused at the door, and said quietly, "I'll put the dinner booking back to next week, when you are over all this. We'll celebrate liberating you from this nasty piece of work, and celebrate a successful Nude Day event as well! Now don't worry any more, we'll take care of this." And with that he cupped my face in his hands and gave me a gentle kiss. I broke it after a few seconds and hugged him again. The tears were flowing again. "Thanks Luke for believing in me and helping me." I watched him go with renewed hope.

- 7 -

On Thursday, I spent the day at work, but I'm not sure I contributed much to the business. I was as nervous as a kitten, kept going over what was coming and the briefing and rehearsal I'd had with Marijka. I kept forgetting things, dropping things and was generally a hindrance to everybody else.

Eventually, a little after four in the afternoon, Marijka came to find me.

"Come on, Luke says go home now and get ready. I'm running you home."

That was a relief, I wanted to get going with this, it was really hanging over me like the sword of Damocles.

She took me home and we had a discussion about what I should wear.

"I think you should be clean, tidy but not glamorous. Ordinary everyday clothes. You need to wear something loose on top, your wire will be attached to your bra."

We looked through my wardrobe (which, let's face it, doesn't take long) and settled on jeans with a button-up blouse. Although it was a warm day, I agreed to put a tee shirt under the blouse. It meant that there was no way the bug would show through, and if he tried to undress me there'd be plenty of time for the cavalry to arrive before he could expose the bug.

Then we had a bit of a wait for the men to arrive. Marijka insisted I made some tea and I got out some bought cakes -- I hadn't felt like baking in a while. I wasn't hungry, but Marijka tucked in. She was very chatty about all sorts of things, particularly gossip from work -- was Adam keen on one of the girls from the café? -- and I realised she was keeping me occupied so I didn't think about the ordeal to come.

Soon enough the men arrived in quick succession. Dan had some news: he'd called Sandra and explained the situation, and she offered to set aside a room to put the bug in, so I wouldn't need to wear one. He'd already been and set it all up. He got his phone out.

"Let me take a picture of you to send to her, Abe might not check in under his real name, and we want to ensure he's in the right room. You'll just need to make sure it's obvious you are with him when he's registering."

So I posed and he texted the image to Sandra.

"Now, this room is one of those with a door into the adjacent room. Luke and I, and I guess Sandra as well, will be in there, I'll have the receiver and the recording equipment, I'll be using headphones and we'll need to keep quiet so he doesn't suspect anything, but my guess is he'll be so focused on what he thinks is an easy lay that he won't be suspicious. We'll head off shortly to be in position."

"I'll stay in my car across the street to let them know when he's made the pickup," Marijka chimed in. "So, anyone got any questions? Everyone clear on what is happening?" Nods and assents all round.

"OK then," said Luke, "I guess Dan and I can set off now."

I saw them to the door, and Marijka said she'd stay a bit longer.

"Have you got anything to drink? It might help settle your nerves."

I realised I hadn't. I'd been so preoccupied that I hadn't done a proper weekly shop for a while. Then I remembered I had some Scotch in a cupboard kept for visitors -- I don't really like the stuff myself -- and Marijka found it and poured me a tot.

"I know you don't like it, but drink it. There's not enough there to impair your judgement, and you'll feel better."

I did as she said, shuddering as the pungent liquid burned its way down. She was right though, I felt a little steadier.

With about twenty minutes to go, Marijka left after giving me a hug and telling me it would all be OK. I really hoped so, but I was pretty much on edge despite the whisky. I saw her get into her car and reverse thirty or forty yards down the road, and settle down to wait. I went inside and sat by the front window. She hadn't left any too soon, Abe pulled up about five minutes later. Obviously he was keen.

I took my time answering the doorbell.

"You're early," I said curtly. He gave one of his oily smirks.

"Don't want to keep a lovely lady waiting when she's in for a treat," he said. I snorted derisively. He moved towards me as if to kiss me.

"Oh no," I said, "you want sex, that's all you'll get!"

"We'll see," he replied undaunted, "once I get you going it will all be different!"

"Come on then, let's get this over with."

He stepped back onto the porch and made a grand sweeping gesture. "This way!"

He took my elbow and steered me to his car, and started to drive away. As we passed Marijka's car, I saw she was on the phone, doubtless to the men.

It was almost fifteen minutes to the Holiday Inn Express, the traffic was quite busy. Abe parked up and we walked into reception. There was a lady standing in the background, and as we approached, she stepped forward and murmured something to the receptionist, who got up and went into the back room. She greeted us and said, "How can I help you?" I saw she was wearing a name badge, this was Sandra. She was well groomed with full make-up, shoulder length wavy straw blonde hair, and looked very professional. She certainly made me feel confident. I caught her eye and although there was nothing said and no gesture, it was clear she knew who I was.

"I have a reservation under the name of Wayne Evans," Abe said. It was all I could do not to laugh out loud.

"Yes, Mr. Evans," she said briskly, "One night, yes? Please fill in the registration. How will you be settling the account?"

"Cash," said Abe, pulling out his wallet.

The formalities completed, Sandra handed over the little folder with the keycard.

"Thank you sir, you are in room 213, it's on the second floor. The elevator is just in front of us here. Enjoy your stay."

We took the elevator in silence. Abe opened the door to 213 and ushered me in. I stood by the door and he went over and sat on the bed. He patted the bed beside him. I shook my head.

"I don't think I can do this."

"Come on honey, I don't want to have to tell my father I found four thousand dollars of the church's money in your home, do I? You know he has a zero tolerance when it comes to crimes against the church. He'll call the police and they will charge you for sure, the evidence is compelling."

"And I will tell them you planted the money to blackmail me."

"Really? Perhaps I did, perhaps I didn't. But you can't prove that, it will just look like an attempt to wriggle out of the charge."

"But you did plant it. I didn't bring it home, so it must have been you. Or your mate Gerry."

"But I didn't see Gerry put it there. I'm sure Gerry didn't see me put it there. We both saw me find it."

"OK, so what guarantee do I have that if I have sex with you, that's an end to it?"

"I'll be happy with one night with you. No doubt after that you'll want more, but I doubt I will!" He smirked unpleasantly.

"So just to make it clear: if I have sex with you, just this once, you won't tell your father you found the money you planted?"

"That's about the level of it. So are you going to or not?"

"You are blackmailing me into having sex by means of a false accusation. How can you live with that?"

"I'm just encouraging you to indulge in a little fun. And you can't prove it, and I can prove the money was found in your house. So it's your word against mine, and I have a witness." He got up and came towards me. I backed up to the door as he stopped in front of me.

"OK," I said, trying my best to sound compliant, "I can see I've got no choice. I'll do it, but for my own satisfaction, was it you or Gerry that planted the money?"

"Right decision! Well, since you told me the money was on my father's desk, it was easy to pick it up before I came out to take you home." He reached forward and started to undo the buttons on my blouse. "And then it was easy to get you to leave the room whilst I dropped it into the top of your purse. I told Gerry to look away so he could honestly say he didn't see anything." He reached the bottom of the buttons, and started to pull the blouse down off my arms.

Then all hell broke loose.

I heard the click in the door behind me and it burst open. Of course, I was stupidly positioned right behind it, so I was catapulted into Abe, and he fell backwards with me on top. Somehow in all of this my face hit his head or arm or something, and all I was conscious of for a minute was a blinding pain in my nose. There was a lot of noise and shouting, somebody pulled me off but I had both hands holding my nose and didn't see what was going on. There was scuffling and Dan shouted, "Luke! Leave him, that's enough!"

I realised it must be Marijka holding me, as she suddenly said, "Eve, are you alright? Where are you hurt?" and tried to pull my hands away from my face.

"Oh, my nose!" I moaned. Marijka called out, "Sandra, I need something for the bleeding!" I realised my nose was gushing blood. Sandra was there in a moment with a hand towel from the bathroom. "Use this," she said. "We get a lot worse than bloodstains in a hotel!"

Things quietened down. Sandra it turned out had first aid training as part of her job, and examined me gently. "I don't think it's broken," she said, "keep the towel there until the bleeding stops. Your nose will be sore for a day or two but I don't think there's anything worse."

I dragged my attention away from the throbbing in my nose to where Abe was still on the floor on his back with Luke sitting on his chest. I noted with satisfaction that Abe seemed to be sporting the beginnings of a shiner.

Marijka took charge. "Right Abe, it's like this. We have this room bugged, and a recording of you admitting to planting the money and blackmailing Eve to have sex with you. I don't know about the States, but in the Netherlands procuring sex by coercion is a criminal offence akin to rape. I guess the police here will form their own view on what laws have been broken."

"Hell, no, wait, I didn't mean to harm Eve, I wasn't going to rape her, just have some fun. Please don't involve the police! I'll do anything you want..."

"Well, Eve, what do you think we should do with him?"

I tried to think, although my nose was throbbing and I was I think a little bit in shock. I didn't want to land him with a jail term, he was an unpleasantly smarmy sort but he wouldn't physically hurt anyone. I think he was just a bit rebellious at his strict upbringing.

"Abe, do you solemnly promise, on the bible if necessary, never to attempt to force a girl into sex ever again?"

"Sure, anything, if you don't tell the police."

"Do you have any idea what misery you've caused me? Tears and sleepless nights? Well, we'll sit on this recording, but if you ever cross the line again, I'll make a formal complaint and make sure this gets to the police. I'll leave it to you to decide what if anything you tell your father, and I'll decide later if I tell him anything. Let him up, Luke!"

Luke reluctantly stood up and stepped away from Abe, who scrambled to his feet.

"Let's go home," I said. I turned to go out of the room. As I did so, Abe called out, "Eve?" I turned. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I thought you'd enjoy having sex, it's not as if you have a boyfriend after all."

"Oh, but I do," I said, and held out a hand to Luke, who jumped forward and took it. That might have been a lovely moment had I not still got the towel held to my nose with the other hand. The bleeding had all but stopped.

After profuse thanks all round -- I later arranged for flowers to be sent to Sandra, and gave Marijka a bottle of good Scotch to give to Dan -- I let Marijka take me home. Luke wanted to but I said no, I wanted to get over this evening, and anyway my nose was too sore for kissing. Luke told me firmly to take a couple of days off, so my first day back would be the big day...

- 8 -

National Nude Day dawned bright and sunny, it promised to be perfect weather -- plenty of blue sky, warm but not too hot, with a light breeze. To get myself in the mood, I decided not to dress at all for breakfast, and so brazenly went into the kitchen after showering and sat at the table for my muesli in my birthday suit. To my surprise I'd actually slept pretty well -- the nose was no longer sore, I felt I'd put the trauma behind me, I'd realised I had good friends to turn to in time of trouble, and I was confident there was no longer a sword of Damocles suspended over me and I could focus on the day ahead.

I got ready as usual, except without clothes, and at the last minute I slipped my Mow & Grow shirt, cap and shorts on with no underwear. It felt very illicit. Francine arrived to pick me up and with a cheery greeting I got into her car.

"So, Eve, ya lookin' forward to git nekkid?" she said with an exaggerated accent and a wink.

"Yes, to my surprise, I think I am. And you?"

"Hell, I ain't bothered one way or the other. I know I ain't no oil paintin', but you take me as you find me. Some men like 'em big you know!" and she gave one of her hearty laughs. Francine always seemed to be able to lift my mood.

We pulled into the staff car park at Mow & Grow, and went in the rear entrance and through to the front. The only person we saw was Debbie from the café, who waved and called out "Happy Nude Day!" -- she was apparently naked but had on her café apron. "Hey, that's cheatin'!" Francine called back with a grin.

We went into the ladies staff room and I gripped the bottom of my shirt. Here goes, I thought, but I'm ready for this. And with a deep breath, I pulled it over my head and undid and dropped my shorts. I popped them into my locker and turned to see Francine magnificently naked, big but firmer and less flabby than I'd expected. "Here goes!" she said and we high fived.

We went out through the door, and bumped into Luke. He was already nude.

"Hey, Luke," said Francine, "very nice! You should do this more often!" and she gave another hearty dirty laugh. Luke looked a bit discomfited. I looked him over, he was the first real live man I'd seen naked, and I liked what I saw. Fit, well muscled without looking as though he spent all his time in the gym, and a good looking cock, uncircumcised. I suddenly realised he was looking at me too, and with an expression I couldn't quite fathom. He suddenly said, "Great, you ladies look great, er, I'll see you later," and rushed off.

"I don't think he's used to seeing nekkid women!" laughed Francine. She went off to the cash desks and I went to the front entrance. Adam was already there, and I greeted him. We looked each other over, and he blushed -- I was proud of myself that I didn't. "All set?" I said, and he replied, "I guess so!"

I looked out the door: Marijka was in the car park, dressed in her normal Mow & Grow shirt and shorts, talking to a couple of customers who had already parked and were waiting for opening. I felt rather disappointed and, if I'm honest, a bit let down that she wasn't joining in the Nude Day event.

Soon opening time came. The first customers were a couple of men in their forties, and as they approached I felt my heart pounding. I took a deep breath.

"Hello, welcome to the Garden Centre of Eden! Here's how today works..." and I went through the rehearsed spiel. They looked shocked, and declined to strip. I got a trolley for them and they set off to go round the displays.

There were others behind them. There was quite an early rush in fact. The second ones through were a married couple, who agreed to strip for the extra discount. I directed the guy and led the lady into the changing area and handed her over to another of my colleagues, Gillian, who was a redhead, and who had agreed to work the changing rooms so as to avoid too much sun.

And so the day began. We were certainly a whole lot busier than usual, and I wasn't keeping count but I reckoned probably more were stripping than not. I noticed the men generally gawped at seeing me naked when they came through the door -- despite all the notices and the publicity, I think many of them believed it was in some way a hoax, that they'd find us in body suits or with fig leaves or something. I surprised myself yet again by finding the inspections thrilling, not creepy or sexist.

It was getting on towards midday, and I was starting to look forward to being relieved from my stint on the door to have a break and get some lunch, when Luke came over with a TV cameraman and a lady impeccably dressed, fully made up, whom I recognised as a reporter with local TV news.