Harmon hides

The bedroom door opened slowly, and a pale leg came into view, a bare foot touching down on the carpet.

After a brief pause, the rest of Beth Harmon followed. Beth Harmon, and nothing else.

For she had not a single strand of cloth on her body.

One arm was pressed across her chest and her other hand was thrust between her legs, which were twitching and fidgeting awkwardly.

"M-miss Harmon?" the bellboy stammered when he finally succeeded in picking his jaw up off the floor.

"Can we please just go?" Beth mumbled in a high pitched squeak, her eyes fixed on her bare toes.

Hearing the young boy move away down the corridor, Beth shuffled after him. Her face was so hot she didn't know how she hadn't yet burst into flames.

She gasped as they entered the elevator, the metal floor cold against her bare soles. Shivering violently, Beth pressed her back against the wall, hiding her butt and making sure that her arms were still strategically placed across her front.

She continued to stare at her bare feet, her vision blurring as tears began to splash down her cheeks. The shivering girl knew that the bellboy was staring at her, but she determinedly ignored him.

xxx

Beth took a series of deep breaths as the elevator doors slid open, her chest pushing up against her arm. She **** her legs forward, out of the cold metal box and into the cool hotel lobby.

Avoiding eye contact, Beth shuffled towards the front doors as quickly as possible, wincing whenever a camera flashed.

Her toes caught an uneven floor tile, and Beth stumbled. She instinctively threw out her arms to stop herself from falling, her hands latching onto a nearby table until she had regained her footing.

The cameras burst into life and it took a breathless Beth a moment to realise her fatal mistake.

"No!" she squealed, throwing her arms back across her torso. She tried to turn away from the excited crowd, but she was surrounded.

Losing her head, Beth ran for it.

Across the lobby, past the wide eyed receptionist, and out into the cold winter night.

The crowd outside was even larger.

Beth could see the waiting limousine, but to the naked girl, the entire population of Moscow was separating them.

Left with little choice, Beth shouldered her way through the throng, keeping her arms tight to her body.

"Ow! Fuck! No! Get off!"

A string of obscenities rolled out of her mouth as her senses were overwhelmed. Wandering hands squeezed, poked and prodded whatever piece of skin they could find. Bright camera flashes blinded her eyes. Her bare feet were sliding around on the frozen footpath, trying desperately to avoid both the bitter cold and the countless boots that were threatening to squash them.

Eventually, she was free.

Beth fell into the car, slammed the door closed and collapsed into the footwell as the vehicle silently pulled away.

xxx

Beth Harmon curled into a tiny ball, enveloped in her own arms, wailing and shaking.

Every inch of her skin was crawling, violated by the masses she had just waded through. Her feet were so cold she didn't even feel the pain in them, although she knew the throbbing agony would come later.

She didn't know it was possible to feel this cold...she felt like a giant ice cube!

All Beth wanted to do was soak in a warm bubble bath, or wear a dozen pairs of pajamas at once and bury herself in a toasty, comfy bed. She absolutely did NOT want to play chess in a busy auditorium wearing only her birthday suit.

But that was the path she had set herself on when she stepped out of that hotel room.

Beth didn't understand how Europeans didn't think nudity was a big deal; she'd rather die than sunbathe topless! The Soviets clearly knew about her phobias, and wanted to use them to **** her to pull out.

But Beth had decided she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. She didn't care if they saw how mortified she was, or if they thought her childish reaction was amusing. She just hoped no one had captured her brief full frontal exposure on film back at the hotel.

She would play chess. She would win chess, even if she was naked. But that did NOT mean anyone had to see her most private of areas.

Before long, the car was pulling up outside the venue.

Rising unsteadily to her feet, Beth awkwardly opened the door and stepped out once more into the snow...