The Reluctant Exhibitionist Ch. 05

"Nancy, I have another daughter."

VI

"Mom, are you out of your freaking mind?" I shrieked when we finally got into the car and began the drive back to my apartment. "You're going to allow that lunatic to get control of Meredith?"

"Once, and that's it. And I'm only doing that because I'm at my wit's end with her."

"What could she possibly be doing that you would even consider this?" Mom had been very vague with Nancy about her reasons for allowing her to control Meredith and her clothes on a one-time basis.

"Nancy," she had said to her back in the house, "I want you to put Meredith through the wringer. No incremental training with naked car rides and t-shirts, I want you to throw her right into the deep end and make sure she never, ever wants to be under your control again." Nancy, of course, had readily agreed to this.

"I'd love to, Jennifer, but how will I force her to do it?"

"Don't worry about that. I'll make sure she cooperates in every way."

Now, sitting in the car, I was absolutely incredulous that my Mom would even consider doing this. And now, as she started to explain, I was shocked with what I learned about an older sister that I'd looked up to and adored for so long. To me she was the smart, beautiful, accomplished person that I wanted to be while I had done nothing but screw up my life since getting to college.

"Wendy, your sister is a compulsive thief," Mom told me.

"What? You mean she's a kleptomaniac or something?"

"There are some similarities but she doesn't fit the classic definition of a kleptomaniac, according to her psychologist. She does it strictly for the danger and thrill of it."

"Psychologist?"

"Yeah, she's on her third one."

"Jesus, Mom, when did all of this happen? I didn't know anything about it."

"It's been going on for years, Wendy," she said. "She's been caught shoplifting three times but has gotten away with it many times. Apparently she's quite good at it."

I was stunned as I heard this. "How is it that this is the first I've heard of it?"

"Because your father used his money and influence to keep it quiet and keep Meredith out of jail. She's been in therapy and counseling off and on over the years and we thought she was past this now that she's older and working in the corporate world, but we recently found out that wasn't the case."

"Why? What happened?" I asked.

"She's been embezzling from the company she works for. Fake expense accounts and vouchers, that kind of thing. Very skillfully done, apparently. They were only discovered by accident during a forensic audit that was looking for other problems."

"Holy shit!" was all I could manage to say.

"The CEO of the company came to us last week and showed us the evidence. He's good friends with your father and promised not to take any action yet but made it clear that if she's caught again he will fire her and file charges. We haven't talked to her yet, and frankly we don't know what to do. All the money we've spent on shrinks apparently hasn't done squat."

"And you think that Nancy's brand of 'therapy' will scare her straight or something?"

"I don't know, but nothing else has worked so far. Maybe it's a Hail Mary play but I can't think of anything else. When you told me that this experience, as bad as it's been, has cured you of any thought of cheating I just thought maybe it might work with your sister."

"I guess as a form of shock therapy it might work," I said, "but I don't know much about that type of compulsion. I don't think I've ever stolen anything in my life."

"I know, hon, you don't have a dishonest bone in your body. That's why I was shocked by the plagiarized paper."

"I guess the way it was sold to me about how everyone does it and it's no big deal I just never really thought of it as cheating at the time. I know now that was dumb and naïve. I just didn't want to spend my spring break working on a term paper."

"You were looking for a shortcut," Mom said. "That does sound like you. In some ways you and your sister are polar opposites. Meredith has always been driven to succeed academically, athletically, and professionally yet she has this thrill-seeking mentality that compels her to try to get away with things like theft. You're someone who likes to play it safe and have always tended to skate by on your looks and intelligence without really pushing yourself. Maybe, in a crazy way, this experience with Nancy has been beneficial."

I rolled my eyes at that. "Yeah, how so?"

"Nancy has pushed you way beyond your normal comfort zone and I think you're stronger, more focused, and more driven than you used to be as a result. I can see it, I can see the change in you. A year ago you never would've wanted to fight through this type of adversity to get your degree."

"And a year ago I never could have dreamed I'd be capable of walking stark naked through the middle of the city during rush hour, but I just did that today. I guess that's progress, huh?"

Mom laughed. "Well that's not the way I would've chosen to help you find your hidden strengths, but I guess it's working, crazy as it may be."

"Yeah, I guess. And you think that will work with Meredith?"

"I don't know, but it's all I've got right now. And if it's going to work I need you to sell it to her."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm going to tell your sister that she has to do whatever Nancy tells her to do this one time and if she ever gets caught stealing again I'll turn her over to Nancy full time."

"You wouldn't actually do that to her would you, Mom?"

"Probably not, but she can't know that. She won't have time to build up to extreme public exhibitionism like you did so I'll need you to help her get through it and to convince her that she doesn't want to end up in your situation. Can you do that for me, hon?"

"I suppose so," I said. "But you don't think her reputation will be damaged by Nancy having her walk naked down Main Street or whatever the hell she has her do?"

"Probably, but I'd prefer that to her getting thrown in jail or being known as a thief. I guess that's why I'm going with the nuclear option here rather than sending her to yet another shrink."

We rode in silence for a minute or so before I spoke again. "Are you ashamed of me, Mom?"

"No, hon. Never. You made a mistake and you're paying a heavy price for it but you're going to get through it. You just need to be totally honest with me from now on about everything and I'll do what I can to help you. I wish you had come to me right away."

"I know. But it all happened so fast, Mom. Nancy hit me with that fake term paper and threatened to have me expelled and the next thing I knew I was riding naked in a car and I didn't want you or anyone else know about it."

"I understand. I have to give some grudging credit to her, she really planned this out. Oh, don't get me wrong, she's a sick, manipulative bitch but she came up with a plan and is sticking to it come hell or high water. She's more formidable than I expected."

This actually made me feel a little better about everything. I'd been feeling like a dumb, naïve girl for falling for her plan and it was good to know someone like my mom considered her a formidable adversary. "Do you think the Dean would have expelled me if we had gone to him right away?"

"Amundsen is a fanatic about academic integrity but if we had hit him with a perverted blackmail attempt by his own assistant I think he might have been willing to bury a single plagiarized term paper to avoid a scandal. But falsified grades for an entire quarter? No, I don't think he could let that go now. He would consider it part of the honor code for you to come forward about Nancy manipulating your grades."

"But I couldn't," I said. "Not without him learning about the term paper."

"Yeah, I'm sure Nancy realized that which is why she did it. To get you in deeper in academic fraud. She's not stupid, I'll say that."

We pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex and Mom shut off the car and turned to me. "We're in this together now, you and me. From now on you tell me everything that happens and if you feel like Nancy is putting you in situations where you feel physically threatened you let me know right away, do you understand?"

I nodded. "I will."

"And I need you to help me with Meredith. I'm counting on you."

"I promise."

She reached over and kissed me on the cheek. "I love you Wendy. Now let's get something to eat. I'm starved."

VII

About two weeks later I found myself making the familiar trip to Nancy's house, familiar with one big difference: my sister Meredith was in the passenger seat staring quietly out the window. She had shown up on my doorstep yesterday looking nervous and shaken and bore little resemblance to the cool, confident big sister I'd known for most of my life.

I guess I should tell you a little about Meredith. She is what you would call a super achiever - a person driven to excel at everything she does. My sister was always at the top of her class academically, was an All-State volleyball player, and is an exceptional musician who plays the piano beautifully. She's also an adrenaline junkie who got into rock climbing, mountain biking, and whitewater kayaking after graduating from college. In her business career she was considered a rising star at her company, or at least had been until now. Now it was in danger of all collapsing and Meredith had been distraught as she sat on my sofa yesterday.

"Wendy, Mom's going nuts and threatening me with jail and cutting me off from the trust fund if I didn't come here and meet with you and some woman you know. You have to tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Is it true, Meredith? About the shoplifting and the embezzling and all that?"

She nervously ran her fingers through her hair. "Yes, yes. I have an illness Wendy. A compulsion. I've been struggling with it for years. But I told Mom that this time I've learned my lesson. I'm done with it now, I swear. But Mom said I have to go through this thing with you here anyway, whatever it is."

"So what exactly has she told you about the woman you're supposed to meet anyway?"

"Nothing. She just said I have to do everything that the two of you tell me to do or else. Who is this woman anyway?"

"Her name is Nancy Johnson and she's the assistant to the Dean here."

"Assistant to the Dean? I graduated from this college years ago. Why the hell would she have anything to do with me? Is she a therapist or something?"

I couldn't help but blurt out a quick laugh at that. "Oh she's constructed a therapy program alright but it's for her own benefit, not yours or mine."

Meredith gave me a puzzled look. "So what then? Why am I here?"

"It's a very long story, Mere." And then I proceeded to tell it to her. All of it. By the time I was done her nervous twitches had turned into a look of shock.

And now Meredith sat quietly as we drove toward our meeting with Nancy. I didn't know yet what Nancy had planned for us but my sister is a beautiful woman and I had no doubt she would take every advantage of this opportunity to show her off.

"God, I'm so nervous Wendy," Meredith said from the passenger seat. "My stomach is doing somersaults. Is this the way it is for you whenever you have to do this?'

"Yeah," I replied, "although it's not as bad as it used to be. I still get nervous every time, though. I am right now."

To her credit, Meredith had never threatened to not go through with this even after I told her that Nancy would be putting her through some type of nude in public scenario. She seemed willing to do whatever it took to save her career and get back into Mom's good graces.

Although I love my sister I can't say that we've been particularly close. She's eight years older than me and we each had our own lives. She had doted on her little sister when I was young but as she reached her teenage years she spent less and less time with me and more with her friends. I was still only ten when she left for college and after that we got together maybe a couple of times a year. To me she'd always been the smart, beautiful, perfect sister that I wanted to emulate but always fell short. Now I realized that I barely knew her at all. I had no idea how she would hold up to whatever scenario Nancy had arranged for her today.

We arrived at Nancy's house at five p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. As instructed, we each carried an overnight bag containing toiletries, make-up, hair dryers and related items. This demand was a new twist for me and I didn't quite know what to make of it. Notably absent from our bags was any change of clothing.

Nancy greeted us at the door and introduced herself to Meredith with a bright smile. She then led us back to the living room where I was dismayed to see my old high school rival Taylor waiting with a smirk on her face. "Hi, Wendy," she said brightly, "I've just been reliving memories of our party a few weeks ago on Nancy's DVR here. Care to watch?" On Nancy's TV were video images of me in the nude at the already infamous college party. I stifled a surge of anger, but couldn't completely prevent a blush at the memory.

"No thanks. I think I can remember it well enough as it is." I glanced over at Meredith who was watching the video with a mixture of horror and fascination on her face. Perhaps it was just sinking in what it was she was going to have to do.

Nancy grabbed the remote and shut off the TV. "We don't have time to waste anyway," she said. "We have new memories to create tonight." She proceeded to introduce Taylor and Meredith as if it were a formal occasion. "With two of you to keep up with tonight, I thought I might need some help so Taylor will be along to assist me." She then turned her attention to Meredith. "You do understand what's expected of you tonight don't you?" Meredith nodded. "Good. Your mother and I have an agreement. If you carry through with everything I ask of you this will be a one-time deal. If not..."

"I understand," Meredith said. "I'll do whatever you say." I'd warned her not to argue with Nancy because it would only make things worse so I'm glad she was taking my advice to heart.

"Wonderful!" Nancy beamed. "So let's get started. If you two lovely ladies would please get undressed now."

I nodded to Meredith and started unbuttoning my blouse while she hesitantly began to follow my lead. I'd warned her that while it was impossible to predict what Nancy would force us to do it was a certainty that it would be done in the nude, so she knew this was coming. Still, it's a powerful feeling the first time you're ordered to remove your clothes against your will and I thought back to my own gradual initiation into a lifestyle of forced exhibitionism. Meredith wasn't going to have that advantage, but she never hesitated in removing her clothing. Soon the two of us were standing together totally nude in the middle of the living room.

Nancy stood in front of us and drank us in with her eyes. "You girls are sisters alright," she said as her eyes roamed over our bodies. "The two of you definitely won the genetic lottery." A flash went off as Taylor took a picture of us and I noticed Margaret's camera bag containing her video and camera equipment sitting on the floor. "Margaret couldn't be with us tonight," Nancy said as she followed my gaze, "so she's letting Taylor use her equipment to record the festivities. So, let's get the show started, shall we? To the car girls, and don't forget your bags."

As the four of us headed off to the garage, I saw Meredith casting a forlorn glance back at her clothes. We were both all too aware that our overnight bags contained no replacements for our garments.

Once in the garage we were directed to put our bags into the trunk where I noticed another suitcase had already been placed. Then Meredith and I climbed into the back seat of Nancy's four-door sedan while Nancy and Taylor got in up front, and soon the car was traveling down the street in the late afternoon sunshine.

I kept glancing over at Meredith to assess how she was holding up. I remembered all too well the emotional wreck I'd been on my first naked car ride, but she seemed to be handling the strain well. I'd done my best to prepare her by describing my own experiences so maybe that was helping.

My thoughts then shifted to wondering about what Nancy had cooked up for us tonight. Despite all my experience I was never free from anxiety at this stage of the game. The anticipation of not knowing was almost worse than when the public scenario, whatever it turned out to be, actually commenced. I started paying close attention to Nancy's route trying to guess if she was headed to a familiar park, mall, or other setting which would give me a clue as to what was going to happen. To my surprise, Nancy took the thoroughfare which led directly to the main interstate freeway leading out of town. Soon we were traveling north away from the city on the main highway heading up the coast.

"Hope you two don't mind," Nancy called back to us, "but I just felt like getting out of town tonight to check out some new scenery for a change." I didn't mind at all. It meant the chances were much lower that I'd have an unwanted naked encounter with someone I knew. I'd learned I could handle being naked in front of strangers I'd probably never see again so I began relaxing a little, at least until a few miles down the road when I saw the highway sign that jolted me into realizing which direction we were heading. It said PORTSVILLE 150 MILES.

Portsville! Our hometown! The town that Meredith and I grew up in and where our parents still lived! Oh, god, surely not. Surely Nancy wouldn't be so cruel to Meredith as to expose her in her hometown on her very first naked outing. But then I thought, who are you kidding Wendy? Of course Nancy could be that cruel!

A general feeling of unease quickly replaced the relaxed feeling I'd been enjoying. I glanced over at my sister again to see if she showed any sign of similar unrest but Meredith was just blankly staring out the window. I decided not to say anything for now - better to not upset her unnecessarily. The miles flew by as we got closer and closer to Portsville.

But just as I'd convinced myself of the worst, Nancy put on her turn signal and took an exit marked "Crystal Beach." We were still twenty or thirty miles from Portsville so I allowed myself a big sigh of relief. Curiously, however, the maneuver had the opposite effect on Meredith. She had remained calmly staring out the window, but when she saw where Nancy was headed she suddenly became extremely agitated. "What the hell are we getting off here for?" she blurted out.

Nancy seemed surprised by the outburst. "Well, dear, pretending for a moment that it's any of your business, there's a beach town down here I'd like to check out. Any objections?" Meredith seemed nearly apoplectic but I couldn't understand why.

"Really, Meredith, it doesn't matter where they make us do this," I told her. "I mean this is better than back in town or in Portsville, for god's sake."

"Oh god, you don't know..." Meredith began but then cut herself off. She remained silent, but she was clearly upset by this turn of events. I could see Nancy glancing at her through the rear view mirror with the tiniest flicker of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth and I wondered what in the world could be causing this reaction.

Nancy drove on toward the beach town. It was one of those small, trendy artist/tourist communities. I remembered coming here a few times as a child but didn't really remember much about it. As we reached the edge of town I began to wonder if we would be walking the beach naked, or perhaps the boardwalk, or even the sidewalk in front of the cafes and artist galleries. But Nancy just drove slowly around the small downtown grid, not saying anything, and not stopping. At length she said, "Well, I don't know if this little town is going to offer any interesting opportunities after all." The relief emanating from Meredith was almost palpable. But then Taylor spoke up.