Saturday Night School Ch. 08

Behind Nick, Charlie could see a black chair sitting in front of a messy desk, and just in front of the desk, a wall of monitors. Charlie counted twelve, in three rows of four, each displaying the feed from a different camera. "Yeah," he said to Nick. "Thanks for letting us look around this place at night. We're about to head out, just wanted to let you know."

"The garden is so beautiful," Michelle said earnestly.

"Hey, no problem." Nick grinned. "Did you have any trouble? You didn't accidentally crush any plants, right?"

"No," Charlie said. "We stayed on the paths."

"You didn't leave any signs you were there?"

"No," Michelle said softly. "We cleaned up after ourselves." Her eyes met Charlie's and he could see a mischievous twinkle in them.

"Great," Nick said. "I don't love this job but I don't want to be fired from it, either."

"No one will even be able to tell we were here," Charlie assured him.

"Great, great." Nick looked at his watch. "You guys need to leave right away? I'm due for a break. Want to hang out in the snack bar for a bit? We can grab some drinks from the coolers, they don't care."

Charlie and Michelle looked at each other, and Charlie shrugged to let her know he was fine either way. Michelle turned back to Nick and smiled. "No rush," she said. "We can hang out."

"Let's go." Nick walked over to the desk and grabbed a set of keys. Charlie took the opportunity to scan the monitors, trying to make a quick inventory of which sections of the gardens had cameras on them. He noticed that one of the monitors had a dark screen, as if it was broken or had been turned off. He only had that quick glimpse before Nick turned around and blocked his view, but Charlie was pretty sure he knew which monitor had been turned off.

Nick closed the door to the monitor room and locked it. He did so without thinking; probably he had to lock the door every time he left that room. As they started towards the snack bar, Nick looked at Michelle. "So, have you been nude this whole time?"

"Yes."

"Wow." Nick grinned. "I mean, Ronni told me that she was working on a student film with a nude scene. I pictured you wearing a robe or something, and just taking it off for the nude scene. I sure didn't expect this. Are you a nudist or something?

"Not at all," Michelle answered in a cheerful voice. "I just thought, if I'm going to have to be nude for the film... I should get used to it, don't you think? And what better way to get used to it, than just to jump right in and do it?" She spoke so calmly that Charlie wondered if she had been expecting someone to ask such a question and had an answer prepared.

"That make sense, I guess," Nick said. "So, this is your first time experimenting with being a nudist?

"Yeah..."

"Are you used to it now?"

"Not quite yet." She gave him a tiny smile. "I probably just need some more time."

They reached the snack bar and Nick unlocked it. He pulled the door open. "After you," he said, and held the door while Michelle and Charlie entered. "Go on back, grab what you want from the cooler. Just none of the alcohol, please." Nick sat down and picked up the remote for the TV. He turned it on and started flipping through the channels.

"You want anything?" Charlie asked Michelle.

"I need to see what they have," she said. "I'll come back with you."

"Nick?"

"Just a coke," Nick said.

Charlie walked with Michelle past the cash register and through the door into the kitchen. He opened the tall refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Sprite for himself, plus a Coke for Nick. "Anything look good?" he asked Michelle.

"Brrr." She stood in front of the open cooler, letting the cold air stream over her bare skin. "That's cold!"

"You don't have to stand right in front of it."

"Here. Feel." She took his hand and brought it to her hard nipple.

"Definitely cold," he said, squeezing the tip of her nipple between his fingers. "Hey, did you notice that one of Nick's monitors was off?"

Michelle reached into the cooler and pulled out a raspberry iced tea Snapple. "No, I didn't notice. Why was it off?"

"I think he turned it off. It was the monitor showing that stone table. I don't think he watched us after all."

"No?"

"No. Maybe he turned it off when he saw what we were doing. He didn't want to watch us."

Michelle considered this as she tried to open her Snapple. "I'm actually really happy, if that's true. You saw how I was out there. I was getting really carried away." She held out the Snapple. "Can you open this for me?"

Charlie released her nipple to take the bottle from her. He gripped it with his hand and tried to turn it, and thought for a moment that the cap would defeat him as well. Then it made an audible popping noise and he twisted it loose. He gave the drink back to her. "It does give us a little less to be embarrassed about," he said.

"Maybe."

They returned to the dining area of the snack bar and took seats at the table with Nick. Charlie took the seat at the opposite side of the table from Nick, leaving the chair between them for Michelle. Nick had found a late-night talk show where the host was engaged in an awkward interview with Aubrey Plaza, and they watched for a few minutes while they sipped their drinks.

"If one of the bosses walked in right now, I'd be fired for sure," Nick said, eyeing Michelle's body. "It'd be hard to explain this one." Michelle didn't seem at all self-conscious when he looked at her, and that was gradually making him bolder about looking.

"Is that a possibility?" Charlie wanted to know. "Has anyone ever dropped in on you this late, unexpectedly?"

"Oh, it's definitely a possibility," Nick said ominously, but then he grinned. "It hasn't happened yet, though. They don't need to check on me in person. They have other ways to make sure I'm really working. Like I have to keep moving the mouse on the computer in the monitor room, or it shows me as 'Idle' at the main security office. And when I do a patrol around the gardens, they have me test my card access on each of the gates. It saves the time I put in my card, so they know when I did the patrol."

"Are you serious?" Michelle said. "What happens if you don't do a patrol on time?"

"If I'm really overdue, they'll call. If I don't answer the phone, they'd probably send someone. You know, like maybe I need help or something." Nick shrugged. "This job kind of sucks. It's not very exciting. I look forward to the patrols, because at least I get to walk around the gardens."

"I can imagine," Michelle said. "I think I'd be so bored if I had this job."

Nick held up his Coke. "Well, here's a toast to you, Michelle. Tonight definitely hasn't been boring."

Michelle smiled and touched her Snapple to the side of his Coke.

They continued to chat, the conversation turning to Pine Hills High School. It turned out that Nick was three years older, and had been a senior during their ninth-grade year. They had all shared the same high school campus for that one year, but he didn't remember either of them. He did remember Michelle's older sister Mirella, who was a junior that year and also a cheerleader. "Yeah, when I picture her in my head, I can see the resemblance," Nick said. "She was really pretty, too. What's she doing these days?"

"She works at Macy's," Michelle said. "She still lives at home."

"She has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Figures." Nick grinned.

Nick changed the channel. He seemed to know all the late night programs, and Charlie wondered how many hours a night he spent watching TV in the snack bar. They settled on an old episode of "The Twilight Zone", which Charlie had seen before, and for a while Charlie exchanged favorite Twilight Zone episode plots with Nick. Michelle had never seen the Twilight Zone, and didn't have much to say, although she seemed to want to laugh at a lot of what they were saying.

"I just have to say something to you guys," Nick said all of a sudden, "and I hope this doesn't make you uncomfortable, Michelle..." He glanced at her, but she just waited patiently for him to continue. "I just gotta say this... there's something so fucking hot about having a beautiful, naked woman sitting right next to me, and, like, just casually talking about TV and stuff. We're just sitting around, watching TV, and you're there, drinking your drink, kicking back like you're not even worried, and we're talking about all this stuff, and every time I look at you, I'm like, damn, she's naked! I'm having a conversation with a naked woman and she's got the best body I've ever seen and it's right there in front of me! Sorry, am I making you feel self-conscious?"

"No," Michelle said. "I mean, not any more self-conscious than I already felt." She laughed.

"You don't seem self-conscious at all," Nick said. "What's your movie about, anyway?"

"It's about two people, Max and Ingrid, who are falling in love," Charlie said. "But they're hiding their feelings from each other. Whenever they talk, another woman Gwen is with them, but she's actually a representation of their hidden attraction."

"I'm going to play Gwen," Michelle said.

"What's it called?" Nick asked.

"It's called: 'Anything You Want' ", Charlie said. "At least, that's what I'm calling it right now. I might pick a different title later."

" 'Anything You Want'?" Nick looked thoughtful. "Can I read the script?"

"Sure," Charlie said. "Ronni has a copy she can show you." He hesitated. "You know what? Actually, you can take mine." He had his copy of the screenplay folded up in his back pocket. He passed it to Nick. "Maybe you can read it if you get bored later tonight."

"Cool," Nick said. "Thanks."

They only made it halfway through the Twilight Zone episode when Nick abruptly stood. "Sorry, I need to do my circuit of the gardens. I'm overdue, actually, and it's like I told you, I have to swipe my card or the company starts to wonder what's going on."

"That's cool, we should probably get going anyway," Charlie said. "What is it, almost two in the morning?"

"Almost," Nick said. He watched Michelle as she stood. "You have clothes to put on?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said. "In the car." She took three steps closer to Nick, stopping just within his reach. Her palms pressed flat against her upper legs and she looked up at him intently. "Nick... I want to tell you something before we go. It's something you've probably already figured out, but I just want to say it out loud. I'm not this way because I'm trying to get ready for that nude scene in Charlie's movie. That's not the real reason..." Her hands had started to move on her legs in her usual nervous gesture. "The real reason..." She struggled to find the right words.

The left side of Nick's mouth twitched up in a half grin. "It's all right. You don't have to say it. I think I get it." He paused. "This isn't the first time, is it?"

"No," she admitted. "We did this at the school. On the weekend, when no one was there."

"You were with Charlie?"

"Yeah. We walked all around. Even outside."

"Nice," he said. "Well, no one's ever here either, not at night. Come back any time. Sunday thru Thursday. I don't work the weekends. Just tell Ronni you're coming, she'll give me the message."

"Thank you, Nick." Michelle moved closer to him. "Well... good night!" She brought her hands up, reaching for him, and this time Nick knew what to expect. He opened his arms and let her slip in close to him. Pressing her body close to him, Michelle stretched up to kiss him softly on the mouth. Nick let his hands rest on her hips as she kissed him.

She broke the kiss, and Charlie heard her whisper, "Thank you for not telling." Nick nodded and Michelle pulled away, stepping back to stand beside Charlie.

"Good night, Nick. Appreciate you letting us in here," Charlie said, offering his hand.

Nick reached out and shook Charlie's hand distractedly. "No problem," he said. "Good night."

Charlie held Michelle's hand as they walked out the way they came. They stepped out into the parking lot, still empty except for Charlie's car and Nick's pick-up truck. "I'll get your clothes out of the trunk," Charlie said.

"Oh, that's all right," Michelle said, walking straight to his car. "Hardly anyone's going to be up this late."

Charlie slowed. "You're going to keep going? How long? Until I drop you off at your car?"

"Why not? I'm small, I'll mostly be hidden inside your car, and anyways, it's dark. No one's going to notice me." She stopped in front of Charlie's car and gazed for a moment at all of the empty parking spaces, and beyond them, the silent road that led past the garden. Her eyes dropped to look down at her body. In a quiet voice, she said, "It's hard for me to stop sometimes."

"It is?"

"I really like this feeling of not caring. Maybe I get too used to it. It's hard to have to get dressed again." She looked out at the empty parking lot. "I get this feeling like I want to wait until the very last minute. The very last second. Like I'm about to walk into a crowded room and I'll pull a dress over my head just as I'm opening the door." She paused. "No, more like I want to wait until I'm a second too late. After the door is already open. I want that rush of being a second too late."

"All right," Charlie said. "Hop in. You're right, no one will see you in my car in the dark..."

"You decide, Charlie," Michelle said.

"What?"

"I want to give the decision to you. Should I get dressed now, or do you want me to stay like this while you drive me to my car? I want you to tell me what to do." She stood and watched him, waiting for his answer. He could tell that she was serious.

"I'll get your clothes," he said. He walked to the trunk and popped it open. The stack of her clothes sat where he had left it. He picked up the stack and brought it to her.

Michelle didn't argue and she didn't ask why. She obediently took her clothes and sat them down by her feet, then put them on one by one. The sky-blue pair of panties and the sky-blue bra. The clingy white sweater. The tight black skirt. Everything but her stockings, which Charlie still had, one in each of his front pockets. After she was dressed, Charlie walked over to his car and opened the passenger door for her. Michelle held out her hand for him to hold as she carefully lowered herself onto the passenger seat. She moved one foot into the car, then the other. Once she was safely inside, Charlie shut the door.

He circled around the back of the car to the driver's seat, and as he walked, he remembered the heart she had drawn him, after the Saturday he called the Second Michelle. He had left her in his car for no more than five minutes, and when he returned, she was gone, leaving behind just a simple heart drawn on a piece of paper.

Now he imagined it would happen again. Circling around the car, he would open the driver's side door and she would be gone. In her place, another heart drawn on a piece of paper.

He opened the door and she was still there, sitting in his car in her white sweater and black skirt. She was there, of course she was. But it still seemed like a miracle to see her.

That was the Second Michelle, when she had left the heart in his car. What Michelle was he on now? Sixth? Seventh? When had he stopped counting?

He closed his door and started the car. "1:51," Michelle read the digital clock on his dashboard. "Did you think we would be out so late?"

"Yeah, I thought it would be something like this."

"Will your mom say anything when you get home?" Michelle asked.

"I doubt my mom will even wake up," Charlie said. "What about you? You're not in trouble, are you?"

"No. My parents think I'm at Vanessa's house."

"They do?" Charlie frowned. "So you're driving to Vanessa's house after I drop you off at your car?"

"No. Vanessa doesn't know I'm doing this, either. I'll just go home, and if anyone asks, I'll tell them I didn't feel like sleeping at Vanessa's after all. I'll say I have a stomachache or something." She shrugged. "The benefit of never getting into trouble. When I do need to lie, my mom and dad usually believe me."

"What if they called Vanessa asking for you? And she doesn't even know you're supposed to be at her house?"

"She'd cover for me anyway. I know she would. But she'd be mad, and she'd definitely want to know what the hell I was up to." Michelle sighed. "I'll need to come up with a better excuse, if we're going to keep doing these late nights at Greenholt Gardens."

Charlie thought of his own mother. He hadn't considered for a moment telling her anything but the truth; he even brought Michelle inside to meet her. I'm a secret, Charlie thought. From Michelle's friends, from her family. Charlie wondered if Michelle would ever introduce him to her parents. He decided he wasn't in any great hurry for that to happen.

They reached Michelle's car, parked in the same dark spot where she'd parked before. Charlie pulled up to the curb behind her car and turned off his headlights. He turned off the engine and the abrupt cessation of noise made the darkness seem very quiet.

"I'm just going to throw an idea out there..." Charlie spoke in a low voice, but he was clearly audible in the silent car.

"Uh huh?"

"Your parents think you're at Vanessa's house. All night."

"Uh huh."

"Do you maybe want to spend the night at my house?" He watched her, trying to gauge her reaction to the suggestion. "I mean, you don't have to sleep in my room. Unless you want to. But we also have an extra bedroom. With a bed. You could sleep there."

"I don't think so, Charlie." She spoke softly. "Not tonight. Okay?"

He shrugged, as if it didn't matter to him. "Sure. It was just a thought."

"I just met your mom a few hours ago. I don't think I'm ready to be sitting across the breakfast table from her."

"I know."

"It's a nice thought, though."

The silence returned. Charlie turned his head and studied Michelle's profile for a moment against the glass window. "Okay," he said. "Well... good night." He reached for her to kiss her goodbye, and she leaned into him, returning his kiss without hesitation. A final taste of the passion they had shared that night.

"Good night," she whispered breathlessly, untangling herself from his arms. "We're going to be so tired tomorrow."

"Completely worth it," he said, and she laughed.

He watched her as she walked to her car, and it occurred to him that if he had decided the other way and told her to keep her clothes in the trunk, she would be walking to her car naked right then. In fact, she was ready and willing to do exactly that before they left Greenholt Gardens. She would have sat in his passenger seat naked for the whole drive and then she would have hopped out of his car and walked to her own without a thought.

I'm not the secret, Charlie thought. This is the secret. Michelle stripping in a parking lot. Michelle walking naked through the gardens. Michelle sitting naked between two fully-dressed men, watching TV.

He reminded himself to keep his perspective. They were playing a risky game, and he had to let Michelle handle her side of it her way. Even if it meant her parents thought she was with Vanessa all night instead of with him.

Michelle's lights turned on. A moment later, her car pulled away and drove down the street, becoming just a pair of red taillights dwindling in the distance.

"Now four people know our secret," Charlie murmured. "Five, actually. I forgot Daryl." How many people did it take to learn a secret before it wasn't a secret any longer? Charlie realized he would soon be adding two more: the two actors who would play the parts of Max and Ingrid. He would need to recruit them carefully. He would need to make sure they would be discrete.

Charlie started his car and pulled the steering wheel to the right to make a sharp U-turn. He turned left at the corner and slowly drove the short distance to his house. He thought about Michelle and the way she had looked just moments before, walking to her car dressed in her clingy white sweater and black skirt. "At least she didn't leave any of her clothes behind this time," Charlie mused as he pulled into the driveway.