Locked Out 2

The knob turned slowly in Marie’s hand, creaking as if it were an old floorboard. With the hot water from her shower beginning to dwindle, she knew somewhere behind her clouded vision and fuzzy thoughts that it was time to step away from the comfort the warm rinse provided. Naked, she stepped out of the tile corner, and towards the rack next to the open curtain.

Marie took hold of her baby-blue towel, and began running it along her body, carefully pat-drying the more sensitive areas. She briefly considered putting on her robe, but considered it more trouble than it would be worth. She threw the towel across the bathroom into a basket, and made her way out the doorway.

Since her recent close-encounter with public nudity, Marie couldn’t help noticing she sometimes didn’t bother putting on pants, or even wrapping a towel after a shower. She first found it embarrassing to roam her house without a stitch on, but quickly realized that without any risk of being seen, she felt silly for worrying. But today, Marie had yet to have her morning coffee, nor had she gotten the chance to check the news for the day or start writing the next chapter in her book. With these tasks all set for her, putting clothes on wasn’t exactly the first priority of the day.

The hot shower normally didn’t assist Marie in waking up, rather instead soothing her and making her want to crawl back into bed. Even once she’d groggily entered the kitchen, Marie fumbled the pot multiple times in trying to collect water for the coffee. She reached her hand into the grounds bag, only to find just barely enough coffee grounds to cover the surface of a dollar coin.

“Great...”She mumbled to herself, rolling her halfway open eyes.

Marie’s brain function had yet to expand beyond primitive coordination, but even her morning dazed self knew what course to take in order to solve her caffeine dilemma. The café down the street served coffee every morning, and made for an excellent last-resort when the mornings were hard. Thus, Marie determined her best course of action was to make haste down the street.

The door clicked as Marie turned the lock to the left. Marie couldn’t help thinking she might be forgetting something, and laughed at herself softly. “Oh right. Might need my wallet” She reminded herself, scooping up the black bi-fold from her oversized purse.

The morning sun hit Marie’s body with a light warm embrace, causing her to take in a deep breath of the serene air. Not a single noise interrupted the beauty of the blooming flowers, save for the sounds of birds, cicadas, and the occasional passerby vehicle off in the distance. She smiled, making sure to shut the door behind her as she began to step forward. Only, as soon as the door clicked her heart suddenly leaped.

“...I...Did I...” Marie thought, having flashbacks to the day barely a week prior. All she’d wanted to do, was read the morning paper. But instead, her robe became trapped in the door, forcing her to streak outside her house nude in search of her spare house key. The whole experience had been humiliating (despite the fact that at the end of the day, Marie was certain nobody had seen her), and now Marie had found herself in an even worse situation.

She was locked out naked, only this time without even a robe to shield herself.