The Performance Ch. 03

This is the third chapter in a series. I expect the series to conclude with the next chapter. While I hope that this story can stand on its own, it will make a lot more sense if you have read my previous stories "The Performance" and "The Performance CH 02." This story draws on some real experiences but is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real person or entity is coincidental and unintended. Thank you for reading my story.

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Megan and I didn't have the opportunity to start working on the show immediately. Summer term, with its reduced class schedule, was when most academics traveled to do their research. Megan had a trip to Paris and several other towns in France scheduled. I had research to do in archives in Berlin and in libraries in Tubingen and Heidelberg. It cost some money that I didn't really have, but I changed my schedule so that Megan and I could fly over and back together. I'd take the train from Paris to Berlin.

We were both in Europe for two weeks. However, apart from the flights, we could only be together the last weekend of our trips. At my suggestion, Megan agreed to spend that weekend in Baden-Baden. I spent some more money I didn't really have on a very nice hotel room in the center of town.

Eleven days was the longest time Megan and I had spent apart since we first met. I had really missed her. We played our own little "separated lovers reunite" movie scene in the Baden-Baden station that Friday morning. I surprised myself by how happy I was to see Megan again.

After I got Megan settled in the hotel and fed, we walked around the town. "Baden-Baden is famous for its baths," I said. "Do you want to try the Roman-Irish bath first?"

"What is that?" Megan asked.

I explained that it was a rather structured progression through a wash, steam, and rub down, ending at a rather nice pool. I also explained that it was coed, and that nudity was mandatory for the patrons. Megan liked that part, so we walked to the rather intimidating building on the hillside that housed the Roman-Irish bath.

I had not been there in many years. It was more structured than I had recalled. The building was rather dark. The clothed staff chided you in German if you didn't follow the prescribed procedures exactly or if you took too long. There were also more old men than I had recalled.

I think it was the old men. Before we had made our way to the final pool, which I thought made the rest of it worthwhile, Megan got a look on her face and asked if we could leave. With some additional chiding from the clothed staff, we went back to the changing room, dressed, and went outside. My spirits lifted a bit being back in the sunshine.

"Can we do better than that?" Megan asked.

"I think so," I replied. It was only a short distance to the more modern, well-lit, and airy Carracolla Therme. "The pools on the main floor are clothed," I warned, "but I think you'll enjoy their 'saunaland.'"

"If I need a swimsuit," Megan said, "I didn't bring one."

"I didn't either," I replied. "If I remember correctly, we can get suits good enough to get through the main floor at the spa."

My recollection was correct, although the suits were not what either of us would normally buy. Mine was a very, small bikini-styled brief. Megan got a tight-fitting blue one-piece. Neither suit had any lining. We'd be "decently" dressed, but the suits very clearly outlined all the features of both of our bodies. Megan looked incredibly sexy.

Megan looked at herself in a mirror in the changing room. She turned to me, smiled, and said, "Well, we won't see anyone we know here."

We left the changing room and went into the main part of the spa. It was humid, but comfortable, and full of people of all ages. The feature of this large, glass enclosed room was a huge pool that was partially indoors and partially outdoors, built around a fountain. The pool was full of people with many more walking around or sitting in chairs, either around the pool or near the bar/restaurant in one corner of the large room.

I led Megan through the main pool area to a spiral staircase. We climbed up and came to a landing facing a solid door. On the door was a sign that said "Nudity Mandatory" in four languages. I opened the door and let Megan walk in. Just in front of us were plastic shelves against a wall. A middle-aged couple were standing in front of the shelves putting their suits back on. The "saunaland" was also busy. The difference from downstairs was that everyone except the staff was nude.

Megan and I peeled our thin swimsuits off. I led her into the shower. We showered next to a boy and girl who appeared to be in their very early twenties. They also looked like they might be brother and sister. That impression was reinforced when a middle-aged woman put her head into the shower and told them that they had to hurry because they need to meet Aunt Katy in an hour.

I took Megan through a succession of sauna at different temperatures. We weren't alone in any of them, but the crowd was a mix of men and women rather than the virtually all-male clientele we'd encountered at the other spa.

After we'd had enough heat for a while, we showered again. In the center of the room was a Jacuzzi and several footbaths with chairs around them. There was also a small bar. That had been closed during my previous visits but was staffed that day. I'd had the presence of mind to carry a small vinyl pouch with about twenty Euro in it. I bought us both beers. We picked two chairs, spread out our towels, and enjoyed a footbath as we sipped out beers.

A few minutes later, a couple who seemed a few years younger than us came up. Both the man and woman had robes on. They asked in German if the chairs next to us were taken. I said no. They took off their robes and sat down. After a few minutes, the woman reached into her robe, pulled out some money, and asked the man to get her a beer. He walked nude up to the bar and brought back two beers.

After a couple of sips of beer, the woman said to us, in German, "It is nice to get the clothes off, have beer, and relax, yes?" Megan didn't speak German, so I had to translate. The four of us started talking. The woman and man were both lawyers from Frankfurt. They had come to Baden-Baden for the weekend.

Where we were sitting, we could see the entrance to the saunaland. People were going in and out, dressing and undressing, steadily. I wasn't paying much attention until I heard a female voice with a distinct New York accent say, rather too loudly, "Nudity mandatory huh?" I looked towards the door and saw two very attractive young women, a blonde and a brunette, in pretty conservative bikinis. I'm guessing they were both in their mid-twenties. Without undressing, they moved past the shelves and began walking around.

The two girls were soon accosted by an older woman in the white pants and smock worn by the spa staff. She said something in German to the girls. The brunette New Yorker responded, "Sorry. We don't speak German." That produced a bit sterner admonition in German to the effect that nudity was mandatory in the saunaland as the sign on the door said.

The blonde was just standing there as if uncertain what to do. The brunette started to walk past the staff woman. The woman reached out a muscular arm and stopped the brunette. In heavily accented English, the staffer said, "Clothes must be off. Naked only!"

The brunette looked very offended and somewhat angry. She wisely decided, however, that she didn't want to extend the confrontation with the stout woman staffer. The brunette turned to her friend and said, "No way I'm getting naked!" The brunette strode to the main door and forcefully pushed it open, almost hitting a couple coming in. She elbowed her way past them and started down the steps.

The woman sitting with us said, with a chuckle, "Americans are such prudes."

The blonde was still standing there. The staff woman started staring at her. The blonde looked around. She hesitantly walked over to the shelves. She stopped and looked around again. She took a deep breath. She turned to face the shelves and slowly took her bikini top off. She put her top on a shelf and stopped. She turned around again to look over the saunaland, revealing two very nice bare breasts with very prominent tan lines. She turned back to face the shelves and slowly pushed her bottoms down. Her ass, which was also nice, also had very pronounced tan lines. She pulled her bottoms off her feet and put them on the shelf. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her waist. She looked around again as if trying to decide what to do now that she had her clothes off.

I was surprised when Megan waved her arm and called out in English, "Here, you can sit with us."

The blonde came over to us and said, "Americans? Thank God!"

Megan said, "Put your towel on the chair and sit down. Put your feet in the little pool in front of you."

The blonde hesitated but unwrapped her towel. She stood nude for a moment before sitting down. She was no Megan, but she had a nice body and a wholesome, girl-next-door face. Once she sat down, she said, "Hi. I'm Tracey."

Megan responded, "I'm Megan, this is Harry, and," she nodded to the two Frankfurt lawyers, "I'm sorry but I don't know your names."

The woman smiled and said, in English, "I'm Ute and this is Peter." To Megan and me, she continued, "I hope that I didn't offend you. You are both naked, so I assumed that you weren't American."

Tracey interjected, "Yeah. We're not big on taking our clothes off in the US, are we? Jen, that's my friend, is going to be angry with me. But, you know, I saw all these people walking around naked and I just had to try it. I can't do this on Long Island."

Ute said, "You Americans are much too, uh, conservative about going naked. There is nothing wrong with going naked, and it isn't about sex." She paused, turned to smile at Peter. Ute added "unless you want it to be."

Megan said, "Well, I'm a nude model and Harry started going nude in college."

Tracey said, "A model. You mean like magazines?"

Megan laughed. "No. I pose for painters."

Just then, Ute said, "I see some people coming in from the solarium so there will be chairs open. Would you all like to go out there?" The solarium was a lawn outside the saunaland that was positioned so that it was only visible from the woods further up the hill. There were lounge chairs on the lawn for nude sunbathing. Most of them occupied.

"Sure," Megan said and stood up. "Tracey, come with us." Tracey hesitated, but stood up and gathered her towel. She didn't wrap it around herself.

Ute said in German, "Peter, please get us another beer."

I asked Megan, "Dear, would you like another beer?" Megan nodded affirmatively. I asked Tracey if she wanted a beer.

Tracey smiled, the first time since she'd undressed that she hadn't looked scared. "Yes, thank you very much," she said.

Peter and I both watched as Megan, Tracey, and Ute walked away. In German, Peter said, "Three lovely women." I agreed.

The five of us sat nude in the afternoon sunshine, sipping our beers and talking. Buying her a beer had broken the ice and Tracey became very engaged in the conversation. We found out that she was 25, was a graduate of the City College of New York, and had an entry level job working for a county administrator. "I'm interested in public administration," she said. "I'd love to get a masters at the Kennedy School."

Ute and Peter were interested that I was researching for a paper or book about the reunification of Germany. I found their description of practicing law in Germany fascinating. I was thoroughly enjoying the company and I guess we were out there quite a while. We were interrupted when Jen, the brunette with Tracey stormed back up the staircase, saw Tracey with us, and marched out onto the lawn. "Isn't it about time to get dressed, slut?" Jen yelled at Tracey. Everyone on the lawn was staring at Jen, most of them unkindly.

I had thought from the episode when they first came in that Jen was the dominant one of the two women. However, in an even voice, Tracey said, "No. I'm enjoying myself. I paid a lot of money to come over here and, if I want to spend some of my time here naked, that is my right. I've met some very nice people. Why don't you get undressed and join us?"

"No way!" Jen yelled. "Whenever you get done fucking and sucking your perverted friends, I might be back at the hotel! Don't get a disease!" Jen stormed off. Angry is never pretty, but Jen had a nice body.

We all looked at Tracey, worried that she was ruining her trip. It isn't easy to travel with someone with whom you are having a serious fight. Megan said something to that effect.

"No," Tracey said, "Jen is just like that. She gets nervous when she encounters things which she is not used to. She'll calm down."

We all had another beer. Finally, Ute said to Peter in German, "We should go. We have to meet Iens and Marie." To us, Ute said, "We're having dinner with two friends in two hours. You are all welcome to join us." She told us which restaurant. It was just a few doors from our hotel.

After Ute and Peter left, Megan said to Tracey, "You haven't been in the saunas yet. You need to try those."

"Thanks, that'd be nice, "Tracey responded. We gave up our seats on the lawn and spent another 45 minutes in a couple of saunas.

As the three of us were getting dressed in front of the shelves, Tracey asked, "Are you going to dinner with Ute and Peter?"

Megan looked at me. I said, "Yes, why not? They seem like nice people."

"Uh, Tracey said, "May I go with you? I'd like to give Jen a lot of time to cool down before I go back to the hotel. I've got normal clothes down in the changing room."

"Of course," Megan said as she wriggled into the one-piece, we'd bought hours ago. "You can clean up in our hotel room if you like, Harry says the restaurant is close to our hotel."

"Thank you," Tracey said. She looked at Megan and me, now wearing the skin-tight unlined swimsuits. "Those are some suits," she said.

"We just bought them here to have something to wear downstairs," Megan said.

"Well, they are definitely sexy if you don't mind showing off," Tracey replied. She paused, then grinned. "Maybe I should buy one before I leave. What do you think Harry? You've seen me naked."

Landmine, I thought. "Um, well," I stalled to Megan's evident amusement. "That bikini looks very nice on you but, well, yes you'd look great in a suit like Megan's."

"Is he always such a gentleman?" Tracey asked Megan.

"Yup," Megan laughed. "My knight in bare skin."

In order to save time, Megan and I showered together at the hotel. Tracey was grinning when we came into the main room both wrapped in towels. Fully dressed, Tracey got up and went into the bathroom. She shut the door. A few moments later, she opened it and came out, nude, carrying her clothes. "I don't want my clothes to get steamy," she said, "and I realized that there's no point in modesty now." She went back into the bathroom, leaving the door open, and we heard the shower start.

Tracey cleaned up very nicely, and I was a bit chuffed walking along the street between one extremely beautiful woman and one very attractive young woman. As we approached what I thought was the restaurant, I saw Peter stand up from an outside table and wave at us. We went over and were introduced to Marie and Iens.

The seven of us spent, roughly, three hours eating a little, drinking a bit, and talking a lot. Marie and Iens seemed like good people, and Tracey held her own in the conversation. Around 11:00 p.m., Marie stood and said, "We have to be going. We have a bit of a drive."

"You're not staying over?" Ute asked, disappointed.

"No, we can't," Marie said. "We just came over to see you two. I can't leave Sasha with my mother all night."

After Marie and Iens left, we called for the rather significant bill. "Will we see you in saunaland tomorrow?" Peter asked.

Ute laughed and added, "That's all we come here for is the sauna and getting our clothes off."

Megan replied, "I can't think of anything better to do."

As we left the restaurant, Tracey said, "Shit. It's late. Jen is going to be livid."

We walked Tracey back to her hotel. Before she went inside, we exchanged the numbers for our European cell phones. Megan took Tracey's hand. "Good luck," Megan said. Somewhat downcast, Tracey went into her hotel.

I figured that was the last we'd see or hear of Tracey. Megan and I were both surprised when, about 8:00 the next morning, Megan got a text from Tracey asking us to meet her in an hour at her hotel. When we walked up to the hotel, Tracey was standing with Jen. Jen's expression didn't tell me much. Tracey said, "Jen said some very hurtful things yesterday. I wanted her to meet a couple of the people she insulted." I sensed that this was a continuation of a discussion the two girls had begun in private. I also realized that I had completely mis-read the dynamic between Tracey and Jen.

Megan said, "Let's get coffee." We walked a block to a restaurant that was setting up its outdoor tables. The waitress told me that they were not serving food yet, but she would be pleased to get us coffee, tea, or beer. We ordered four coffees.

As we sipped the slightly burned tasting coffee so common in Germany, Tracey had Megan and me go through condensed versions of our resumes. When we finished, Jen said, "Ok. I get it. You're successful people, professors. But, why run around naked?"

"Why not?" Megan replied. "Not having clothes on is definitely more comfortable," Megan elaborated, "especially in a place like a spa. I like feeling the sun and breeze on my bare skin. Harry thinks that I look good naked and I think he looks great naked. If someone else wants to look at my body, well, I take that as a compliment."

Tracey broke in. "Yesterday, after you had your hissy fit, I didn't know what to do. I looked around the sauna area and I saw a lot of people. They were walking, talking, laughing, drinking beer, doing normal stuff except they were naked, and they seemed to enjoy it. I thought that I had to try it, but I was really scared. It was all I could do to take my bikini off. As soon as I got my bottoms off, I wrapped a towel around my waist so no one would see my pussy. Only your lover is supposed to see that, right. Megan waved me over to sit with them and I had to take my towel off to cover he chair. I was scared again, but I did it and I stood there completely naked. Anyone could see me, and I felt like everyone was looking at me. You know what? No one attacked me. No bolt of lightning struck me. The world did not end. Suddenly, I felt so free and relaxed. I started talking to Megan, Harry, Ute, and Peter. They all seemed so nice and so comfortable being naked and it dawned on me that it is totally ok. I was glad to be naked. I'd have felt bad if I'd had any clothes on."

"Ok," Jen said, "I was a bitch yesterday and I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?"

Tracey smiled. "You know," she said.

Jen paused for a moment before saying, "ok."

"Completely naked," Tracey added.

Jen paused again before saying, more softly, "ok."

"We need to get to the spa," Megan said. "Ute and Peter were going to hold chairs for us on the lawn. I'm not sure how long they can hold onto them." Megan and I had our bags with us holding the suits we'd bought the day before, sunscreen, and some money.

"We need to go back to the hotel to get our stuff," Tracey said. "We'll be quick."

I'm always skeptical when a woman, especially a young woman, says she'll be quick, but Tracey and Jen were in and out of the hotel with their bags in no time. The four of us walked through town towards the spa. Having committed to go naked seemed to work a change in Jen's attitude. Instead of hesitation, I sensed that Jen was eager to get to the spa. Maybe that was my imagination.