Beth answers the door

The bellboy knocked on the door again, frowning as he heard squeaks and sounds of panic coming from within the room. A few seconds later, the door cracked open and the face of Elizabeth Harmon, as red as her hair, appeared in the gap.

"H-hello?"

"Miss Harmon? Your car will be here in 15 minutes to pick you up."

"Fifteen minutes?!" Beth squeaked. The ginger girl looked like she **** for him to see as little of her as possible, although he was able to catch sight of one pale shoulder.

"Is that a problem?"

"N-n-no! T-t-thank you for telling m-me."

The American looked like she was plucking up the courage to say something else. Her mouth moved, and the bellboy realised that she was whispering quietly.

"I'm sorry, Miss Harmon, I didn't catch that?"

"...clothes..." was the only word he could make out. He took a step closer so that she could mumble into his ear, but Beth's eyes grew wide and she slammed the door in his face.

xxx

The moment the door was securely locked, Beth sank to the floor, buried her face in her hands and curled her knees close to her chest.

Fifteen minutes before she would have to face the world...and the only things she could use to cover herself was her own limbs.

Beth knew that the Soviets were behind this and were preying on her fear of nudity that Europeans didn't seem to have.

Well, she hadn't come all this way to hide in her hotel room. Wiping her nose with the back of her hand and blinking away tears, Beth **** herself to her feet.

If they wanted her to play chess without a single stitch of clothing on her body, that is exactly what she would do.

Padding back to the bathroom, Beth dropped into the cold toilet and relieved herself, cursing under her breath upon seeing that the neat stack of toilet paper was missing.

With no way of knowing what the time was, Beth knew that dreaded knock on the door could sound at any moment.

She cleaned herself up as best as she could using water from the sink, but tried to use as little water as possible; she was still soaking wet and had no way to dry herself.

The prodigy allowed a brief moment to smile to herself. Her dampness and lack of time meant that she wouldn't have to spend hours perfecting her makeup. Her neatly trimmed nails would have to remain unpainted, her face and cheekbones would have to rely on their natural beauty. As it was, she doubted her face would be attracting much attention.

Beth stamped a bare foot in frustration as she fought with her hair, trying to make it look more presentable, but the wet locks were not playing ball. Rubbing her hair only resulted in giving herself a tousled look that proved difficult to flatten down.

Giving up, Beth dropped into one of the stripped arm chairs, the rough wood digging painfully into her buttocks and thighs. It was impossible. Her pale skin refused to dry, meaning that no matter what she did, Beth would have the look of someone fresh from a long bath...which, of course, she was.

It's not like anyone would be looking at her hair anyway.

With one heel tapping impatiently on the floor, Beth looked down at herself.

In just a few minutes, half of Moscow would be looking at this. Cameras would be flashing, immortalising her nude figure in photograph form. There was no point hiding away from that fact. There was no escaping it; Beth would soon be undergoing the most humiliating experience of her life...

Cold! That's right, it would be cold, Beth reminded herself. Snow would likely be falling. Ice would make the sidewalks slippy for her bare feet...she would have to be careful to not fall.

The naked girl jumped and squeaked at a loud knock on the door.

It was time.

Beth **** her legs to take her weight and stood up, before commanding her feet to move her across the room to the door.

Her very soul was pleading with her to reconsider, but Beth knew that if she hesitated, even for a second, she would break.

And Beth couldn't allow herself to break.

As her wet fingers fumbled with the lock, Beth was deciding how to approach the next few hours.

Did she bare it all, and act as though nudity didn't phase her? Or did she try and cover up as much as possible?