The copy room

Alicia kept trying to resist covering herself as she and her new boss walked down the hall to the place where her next job would be. Every time she tried to cover her groin, her boss would immediately turn around and slap her hands, saying, "No touching yourself on company time."

"But I wasn't trying to touch myself," Alicia would say.

But her boss would only ignore her.

Of course, the same thing would occur whenever Alicia tried to cover her breasts. Or her buttocks. Or had her hands anywhere save swinging casually at her side.

Hey, look at me, she thought sarcastically. All happy and free with the casual nudity. I might as well have gone ahead and applied at a gentlemen's club so that I could become a stripper; the experience I would have had there could not possibly be more embarrassing than this. Plus, nowadays, I hear that some strippers actually get to keep their clothes on.

"So where are we going?" Alicia asked as they entered a crowded elevator.

Needless to say, everyone else in the elevator was clothed save for her -- and it was fairly obvious from the way everyone else smirked at her that naked people weren't exactly regarded with a whole lot of respect.

"The copy room," said her boss.

"You mean this company still has copy machines in this day and age?" asked Alicia.

"Why not? said her boss. "A company that generates as much paperwork as this company does is always going to need copy machines."

"Oh, good," said Alicia. "For a moment there I thought I was going to end up with one of those jobs that would **** me to go all over the building."

"Oh, don't feel too relieved," said her boss. "You're still going to have to work naked. And it will probably be a long while before you're permitted to wear anything save a watch, your shoes, and an I.D. badge."

"But if I'm confined to just one room, it shouldn't be so bad, right?" asked Alicia.

At that moment, the elevator stopped and Alicia's boss got off, forcing Alicia to follow her.

As the two of them walked down the hall, Alicia found herself feeling a bit uncomfortable with her own self. Here she was adjusting to the new normal -- or rather, the nude normal -- so quickly even though it was asking her to throw away almost every bit of modesty that she had acquired over the years. Was there a part of her way deep down that wanted to be naked? More importantly, was there a part of her that wanted to be naked in front of other people? Or naked in front of strangers? If so, why did she spend so many years bothering to wear clothes?

Alice had always thought that her clothing had had a purpose but now that she no longer wore clothing, she was beginning to wonder what that purpose was.

Didn't you always like it back in high school whenever you'd walk down the hall and see all the boys -- and more than a few girls -- staring at you? Alicia asked herself.

Not really, she remembered. And anyway, I had clothes on back then.

And yet when they stared at you, they were not necessarily looking at you because you were smart or witty, Alicia told herself. And you knew full well that most of those boys could have cared less whether or not you were wearing clothes. They were looking at you because you had a pretty face and an attractive body and now both of those items are now on permanent display and the boys -- or rather, the men -- are still going to be staring at you. And it's going to be like high school all over again.

Really? she thought.

Then she thought, oh, no.

Yeah, right, thought Alicia to her other self. We both know which of those two reactions represent your true feelings on the matter.

"Okay, we're here," said her boss as the two of them reached the entrance to the copy room. "This is where you're going to start work."