Yes, by trying to open the basement door

Alex's mind was still reeling. He was sitting right beside the woman he'd been crushing on for years, and she was completely naked! Or, at least, he was pretty sure she was naked. In the pitch darkness of the powerless home, he'd only been able to see her in the fraction of a second that the lightning had illuminated the room. But, in that moment, he had seen all of her.

"O-of course I'll help you," he said, his own heart pounding in his bare chest. But the question remained: what kind of help was Mackenzie asking for, exactly?

Alex knew his redheaded friend well. And he knew that she was a practical woman above all. Given the story she'd just told him, he had little doubt that her top priority was opening her basement's door to retrieve some much needed clothes. And yet... his mind couldn't help but drift in a certain direction. They were alone in the dark together. They were both a little buzzed (Mackenzie possibly even more so). They were both at least partially undressed. Was Mackenzie's elaborate tale about having nothing left to wear... maybe just an excuse? Was she, in fact, making the boldest move of all time on him?!

"How..." Alex stopped, clearing his throat and licking his dry lips before continuing, "How do you want me to help, Mackenzie?"

"I, um, I..." Mackenzie nervously stuttered before she wearily sighed. "I just want to get some proper clothes on again. Do you think you can help me get my basement door unstuck?"

Alex let out an internal sigh of both relief and slight disappointment. Of course she wasn't making some crazy move on him. This was Mackenzie he was talking about! She wasn't the type to make up elaborate schemes and excuses. That meant she was telling the truth about her bizarre lack of clothing. And that only made him even more sympathetic to her plight.

"Of course I can help," Alex said in a comforting tone over the din of the storm still raging outside.

At this, Mackenzie let out her own big sigh of relief. She knew she could rely on Alex, but still it felt nice to hear him confirm it out loud for her.

"Thank you," she said, her voice full of gratitude. She'd been so much that day already, tackling problem after problem. A little genuine help finally coming her way felt like a breath of fresh air.

"I'll give that door my best pull," Alex said, standing up after taking a few more swigs of his beer, "but just in case we need to take it off its hinges, I assume you've got some tools around here?"

"As if you had to ask!" Mackenzie couldn't help but laugh a little at that. In her house alone, she probably had enough various tools scattered about to fill at least a couple toolboxes. And she had far more in her shop. She finished off her third beer, then stood up as well. "You know me, I'm prepared for anything! I'm..."

But the redhead trailed off as she began to register something she was feeling. Or rather, wasn't feeling.

"I'm... I'm... I'm..." she began nervously muttering, her mouth mostly shifting to autopilot while her mind was fully occupied by the new task of assessing her current level of decency. She knew it hadn't been much to begin with, but as her hands flew across various parts of her body, Mackenzie realized that it had gotten much lower. No fabric around her chest, no fabric around her hips, and in fact, no fabric anywhere.

"I'm not wearing any clothes..." she muttered.

She meant to just say it to herself, but the disbelieving words came out of her mouth loud enough for Alex to clearly hear as well.

"Oh god no!!!" she cried out in abject humiliation, suddenly very aware that Alex was standing just a couple feet in front of her. Pitch darkness or not, she couldn't just stand there! Instead, the naked beauty sprung into action. She turned and darted around the corner of her couch, crouching down and hiding behind the arm of the sofa.

"Mackenzie!" Alex called. There was just enough light in the room for him to have seen that she was suddenly moving away from him. "Are you alright?!"

"Don't look over here!" she shouted. A few moments later she regained enough of her senses to realize that, between the darkness of the room and the couch in front of her, Alex wouldn't be able to see anything but her face. If even that!

"I mean, I'm alright. I'm fine," she said. Then, she softly added, "I just... I don't know how exactly, but... my clothes are gone. ...I'm naked."

With no small amount of embarrassment, the semi-drunk redhead added, "...Again."

"Um... O-okay," Alex replied, trying to process what had just happened. Had she not even known that she was naked while she'd been sitting on the couch? The broad shouldered and shirtless man pushed that line of thought from his mind and instead asked, "How can I help? I know you said you didn't have any others clothes available. But maybe I could find you, like, a blanket? Or even a sheet to wear? Y'know, just until we open up that basement door."

Mackenzie thought about his suggestions, but came up empty. Thanks to it being the middle of summer, her extra blankets were all tucked away in storage (also in the basement). And even her current bedsheets and pillowcases had been bundled together with the rest of her laundry that very morning. She'd thought herself so smart for stripping her bed before leaving for work, since it would guarantee that she'd **** herself to get plenty of laundry done after returning home that evening. What a complete and ultimate backfire that had been.

"No," she quietly said, still hiding behind the end of the couch. "There's really nothing left..."

But then, a thought occured to her.

"Um! Except maybe for the upstairs closet!" she said, a tiny bit of hope creeping into her voice. "A small closet between my bedroom and the bathroom, mostly towels and washcloths and stuff. I took all of those out earlier to wash, but I used to sometimes store stuff underneath the bottom shelf! Like old miscellaneous clothes I would never wear, but didn't want to throw out, y'know? So, maybe, just maybe..."

"Say no more," Alex said, already turning around to head upstairs. "Sit tight, Mackenzie, I'll be right back with whatever I can find!"

Mackenzie felt a minor amount of relief creep into her demeanor. Maybe this nightmarish day would turn out alright after all. She watched Alex's darkened form retreat from her view, and she silently hoped he'd find something she could wear.