Elizabeth 05: Christmas Troubles

The snowflakes were drifting beautifully to the street below as the workday wound down. I was grateful for the electric lights Mr. Thompson had had installed shortly before I had come to work in his office, for their warm glow was marvellous against the slate-grey afternoon sky outside. It was just one of a hundred delights I found in being a working woman in those days when that was still quite unusual. The grey would of course have faded to black by the time I took my leave in an hour or so; but then the wonderful flashy Christmas lights would have taken over and Main Street would be a wonderland out of my childhood dreams of the city. That thought pushed me over the edge into one of my still-frequent reveries about how remarkable it was that those dreams had come true. All except marrying my Edward, of course, but that had proven just as well.

Admiring the view just beyond the window, I wondered about Edward. I wondered what the weather was like in Paris, and if he was in the arms of some other man at just that moment, or hard at work on his painting as I should have been on my legal briefs. Was he painting another nude, I wondered? If so, a woman or a man this time?

I heard Mr. Thompson's office door open just in time to rein my mind back in to my work. Finding some excuse to visit the filing cabinet, I stood up and strode purposefully across the carpet. Jonathan came bounding just behind him. "Snowing again!" he said. "Lovely, isn't it?"

"Too lovely," I agreed. "What I wouldn't give to be out there playing in it!"

"You kids," Mr. Thompson said, his stern tone belying a certain amusement. "Just as well I'm too old to join you, I suppose." He poured some tea from the service by the door. "How is the brief coming, Agnes?"

"I am working on the final draft now," I assured him, rifling through the files in the drawer for nothing in particular. "I'm only checking my sources now."

"Remarkable," he said, checking his watch. "You are nothing if not efficient, Agnes." Turning back to his office, he went on. "I suppose you already know how I had reservations about hiring a lady lawyer. But you have proven me wrong, I must confess. Ever so quick and thorough with every task, and I must say having a female form around here adds some spice to the day."

As usual, he never looked back as he made his patronizing comments while retreating to his office. And so he did not see me flip up my skirt and flash him just before he shut the door behind him.

Jonathan, of course, did see it. He struggled to stifle his laughter until the door was safely shut. "Heavens, Agnes, you're wonderful!" he exclaimed in a loud husky whisper. "You put up with his sexism so well, and now that too!"

"Thank you," I said, not at all uncomfortable with having given him a glimpse at my panties. Jonathan and I, despite his being engaged to my dearest friend, knew one another in the conjugal sense by then, after all. "I do hope I did not make you uncomfortable."

"Not in the least!" he replied. "You know I regret nothing of our weekend in the country, after all."

"Nor I," I agreed. "I learned so very much from both you and Elizabeth, after all."

"Speaking of whom, will you be joining her at the baths this evening?"

"Yes, and I can't wait! Her and Irene."

"Ah, poor Irene," Jonathan said. Her relationship with Benjamin had been the one casualty of our late summer orgy. "I hope she is holding up well?"

"Getting better all the time," I assured him. "But I must admit I am thinking Christmas on her own could be rough."

"Well, she won't really be on her own, will she?" Jonathan asked. "We're all here for one another."

"Of course, but it's hardly the same as what you and Elizabeth have, is it?" I passed over in silence the fact that I did not have any such intimacy with anyone either.

"This is true," Jonathan admitted. "I'm sorry."

I hardly blamed Jonathan for his oversight. I knew all too well – even then, when I was still a bit naïve – how easy it is for those in love to take that wonderful gift for granted. I was, of course, a great deal less naïve by then thanks in large part to Jonathan, Elizabeth and Irene. Our late summer adventure at the seaside had opened a number of doors for me, and four months later I was more comfortable than ever in my single working woman's life back in Westfordshire City. The oppressive support of my family back on the farm, though a pleasant memory, was a lifetime gone from me by now, and with the help of my friends I had put my lingering regrets about my lost fiancé Edward to bed. Quite literally, at that.

For all the fun I had enjoyed in the ensuing months, though, true love had continued to elude me. That was perhaps just as well, for I had been able to empathise with Irene when she needed it the most that fall. After all she and Elizabeth had done to help me through the dark days of the previous spring, I was very relieved, in a sense, to be able to return the favour.

None of us were terribly surprised that Irene and Benjamin's relationship had failed to survive. It had clearly been in trouble prior to our weekend at the seashore, and the shock of all that had transpired had simply been a bridge too far. "He and I both admitted to one another that we wanted something a bit different," Irene had explained to us, dry-eyed but in a rather halting tone, over lunch at Miles several days later. "Neither of us is quite sure what that something is, but we know now we will not find it with one another. We shall always be the best of friends, of course."

Elizabeth and I had both voiced our agreement with that sentiment; but privately I had suspected we would be seeing little of Benjamin from then on. Elizabeth had confirmed her agreement with me later on that evening when we were on our own at home; and sure enough, a month or so later we heard through friends that Benjamin had accepted an overseas transfer from his company. Eerily similar to my loss of Edward, that turn of events had inspired Irene to observe that our exes always seemed to feel compelled to leave the country. "I guess we are truly irresistible, aren't we?" she had asked with the first genuine laugh I had heard from her in some time.

That light hearted poke notwithstanding, the encroachment of autumn and now winter had taken its toll on my mood and, I suspected, Irene's as well. With the impending marriage of Jonathan and Elizabeth in the spring, our circle of friends was due for radical changes already; and the loss of Benjamin had served as both a harbinger and a shock in its own right. While I was now more than capable of standing on my own two feet in the big city, I was not yet persuaded that I cared to do so. The gloomy weather was the perfect analogy for that uncertainty; and it also exacerbated it in the worst way.

Jonathan evidently had been able to see through my giddy defiance of Mr. Thompson that afternoon, for he came to my desk and touched my hand affectionately. "Agnes," he said gently. "I truly am sorry. I know this time of year is a difficult one to be on one's own – I've been there! So has Elizabeth; she can tell you all about that."

I sat back and forced a smile. "I know, Jonathan. That's just the thing, though: soon you and Elizabeth will be wed, and the loss of Benjamin as well...Just when I felt my life had come together in the most wonderful way, now everything is about to change again, just like it did last spring. I do not look forward to going through that again!"

"It can hardly be as bad as last spring, Agnes," Jonathan said; and I had to admit tacitly that he was right. "Besides, what if last spring had never happened? If you had married Edward and never come to know Elizabeth and Irene?"

"And you," I reminded him. "Do not sell yourself short, Jonathan; you're one of us just as much as I am."

"Thank you."

"And you're right." I stood up, wanting to stretch my legs and clear my head. "Change was for the best then; it surely is now. I guess I just get so very tired of all the joy and cheer in the air when I'm not feeling it deep down."

"I'm with you there," Jonathan said. "Wish I could offer you a solution, but I haven't found one for myself. Not except for lots and lots of wine in any case!"

"That does sound delightful," I admitted. "Thank you, Jonathan." I wanted to kiss his cheek, but Mr. Thompson could have emerged from his office at any moment.

My mood had improved somewhat when I stepped out into the frigid air, in the way only the end of the work day can lighten one's mood. The cutting chill in the air only raised my spirits, for it meant the warm water in the baths would be all the more delightful. As always, I was tickled by the thought of how demure and innocent I looked all bundled up in my winter coat over my work clothes, when soon I would bare all for a dozen or more of my friends in the baths. I only hoped they would not be overly crowded on this chilly evening; but that seemed all too likely.

Though I was well accustomed by then to the intense intimacy of the baths, I never failed to feel an intense forbidden thrill deep in my body at the moment when I turned the corner into the alley where the entrance was located. If nothing else, my direction made it clear to anyone who happened to take notice of me that I was on my way to that controversial feminine sanctum. Once again I wondered what my family and friends back on the farm would think of shy, demure Agnes taking part in such a racy pastime. Then again, "shy, demure Agnes" was largely a thing of the past even then! On this occasion the alley was decorated in festive red and green electric lights guiding my way to the lobby; the innocence and chaste joy they implied only further whetted my appetite for the intimacy that awaited within!

"Agnes, welcome!" said the young woman at the counter, whose name I had forgotten; she was one of a few quite young staffers who joined us occasionally when not on duty. "I thought we might be seeing you this evening."

"I take it Elizabeth has arrived, then?" I asked. That, of course was always an unforgettable event; beautiful Elizabeth carried herself like no one else in the baths.

"You only just missed her," she said, handing me a locker key. "I am ever so envious of you; she is such fun to share the baths with!"

"Indeed," I said with a smile that was only slightly forced, before taking my leave. She was quite right, of course; but those of you who have read my other tales of Elizabeth shall recall that her majestic presence in the baths was a bit frustrating to Irene on occasion. Of late, I had come to share in that frustration. Irene and I could be great fun as well, after all, even if we did not stand out as uniquely as Elizabeth and her immense, remarkable ladygarden did. All too frequently we did find ourselves feeling a bit overshadowed in her presence, majestic as that presence was.

Of course, Irene and I did both understand that it was not Elizabeth's appearance alone that set her apart. It was also her attitude about that appearance, forged in a nightmare of locker-room teasing and tormenting when she was younger, and her determination to overcome those demons, and most of all the hard-won knowledge that she had succeeded in doing so. It was not simply that she had a very hairy pussy; rather, it was her shameless embrace of her unusual adornment, her tacit proclamation that she was a hairy lady and utterly unabashed to be so, that commanded the respect and admiration of us all. Knowing all that our friend had been through to achieve her breath-taking poise, Irene and I did resent it very much.

But we did envy it on occasion.

Fighting hard to obtain and retain my Christmas spirit, I put that envy from my mind as I strode into the locker room, where I was greeted with the wonderful sight of a dozen women or more coming and going. Many, it appeared, were going, having finished their baths earlier in the afternoon. I was as grateful for that as I was titillated by the sight of so many beautiful bodies in nearly every state of dress and undress. My nervous inhibition of outdoors now wonderfully dissipated, I opened an empty locker and set about undressing as well.

Maggie, a frequent visitor to the baths like myself, appeared just to my left as I was hanging up my winter coat. "Hello, Agnes," she said. "Terribly sorry we just missed each other." She had clearly just emerged from the baths, and was swathed in a modesty cloak, a courtesy I had followed Elizabeth and Irene's lead in never using. "The water is perfectly delightful today," she added, peeling off the cloak.

"I had thought it must be," I agreed, welcoming the glimpse at her bare body as she retrieved her brassiere from the locker. "I've been longing for it all day, I must confess."

"No Elizabeth today?" The disappointment in Maggie's voice was palpable; she was one of many of our friends who never missed an opportunity to admire Elizabeth's body.

"Oh, she's here," I said. "I had assumed she was already in the water. But if not..." I looked over my shoulder at the water closet door; there was little doubt my tea-loving friend had been drinking it by the gallon on a cold day like today. As if on cue, the door open and Elizabeth emerged, wearing her ultra-confident smile and absolutely nothing else. As always, she weathered the fascinated and curious looks at her robust triangle with her practiced indifference, which of course belay a secret delight at being so admired for such a previously troublesome quirk of nature.

"Oh, of course," Maggie said, her face breaking into a grin. "Heavens, I wish I had her confidence. And that bush..."

I thought of telling Maggie gently that she most certainly did not wish she had gone through all that Elizabeth had to gain that confidence; but I quickly concluded that it was all none of her concern in any event. Even had I wished to share, Elizabeth arrived presently with a welcoming embrace that would have silenced any conversation. "Hello, Agnes darling!" she said. "So glad you made it through the cold!" To Maggie she also said a polite hello. She did not offer Maggie a hug, but Maggie showed no sign of objecting given the opportunity to admire her nude body. "I take it Irene has not arrived yet?" she asked me.

"I haven't seen her," I said. "Good for you for getting that" – I pointed at the water closet – "out of the way before she could tease you about it."

Elizabeth laughed. "Thank you, yes. I just remember Iron Bladder Irene has her own problems to cope with at the moment, after all. I do hope she's coming, though; the poor girl still seemed so gloomy at lunch the other day."

"What's become of Irene?" Maggie piped up; she was now nearly dressed but in no hurry to take her leave while Elizabeth was there to gaze upon.

"True love gone wrong, Maggie," Elizabeth said. "I am sure you have heard all the scuttlebutt there is, right here in the baths." She topped off her response with a slightly curt look that indicated the subject was to be dropped.

"Oh, I am quite sure she will be joining us," I said. I had hurried off most of my clothes and was now down to my underwear; and I turned around to face them both as I slid my panties off and reached back to unhook my brassiere; the unspoken thrill of sharing everything with friends was all the greater when one participated actively in it! Nude at last, I shut my locker. "Shall we, Elizabeth?"

"Certainly. We'll be seeing you, Maggie."

We made our way through the throng of other women. Once again it occurred to me that there was at least one good thing about my relative invisibility in Elizabeth's presence: no one took special notice of my own nudity. This had enabled me to grow remarkably comfortable with a state I had never once imagined myself in prior to arriving in Westfordshire City all those months before. Indeed, I had come to thirst for the vulnerability and camaraderie the baths offered.

The bath chamber was one of the few places I had seen of late that were devoid of Christmas decorations, presumably because the steam would wilt them. But the Christmas spirit was just as palpable inside as anywhere. The evidently-large crowds of earlier in the afternoon had dissipated somewhat with dinner hour approaching, and fewer than a dozen of our fellow ladies of the baths turned to see Elizabeth enter with her usual flair and me as usual a step behind her.

"Elizabeth! Agnes! Welcome," called Colleen, a floor-manager at Miles Department Store who had only recently overcome the same shyness I had defeated in joining this insular community. "So glad to see you both on a night like this!"

"I'm surprised to see you here, Colleen," I said as Elizabeth said a quiet hello of her own. "Aren't you buried in shoppers from now to the twenty-fourth?"

"I was lucky enough to get the early shift today," Colleen said as we slid into the blissful warm water beside her. "I mentioned to Mr. Miles that I hoped to get away to the baths this evening, and I think the idea of me lounging about naked in company appealed to him!" She laughed, and was joined by most of her listeners, including myself and Elizabeth. "You're so right, though, horribly busy every day. That's why I needed this!"

"Don't we all, though," Elizabeth said. "Such horrid weather out there, and the usual drama to cope with at home as well."

"Oh, that's right," I said. To the others I explained, "My cousin will be home from school tomorrow for the first time. Alexandria. She was an absolute terror just before she left, and..."

"And we've got every reason to assume she will be the worse for wear tomorrow," Elizabeth said.

"Well, that doesn't seem fair," Colleen suggested. "Perhaps she has matured – didn't you, Elizabeth, when you went away to school? Besides, it is Christmas after all."

"Oh, dear, Colleen..." I began; and in that moment I could not look at Elizabeth at all.

"That will do, Agnes," Elizabeth said with a polite but firm squeeze of my arm. "I think we all forget sometimes that the secrets of the baths were new to all of us at one time or another. In any event, Colleen, my own first term at school was an absolute nightmare of teasing and bullying. I suppose Agnes and I are both concerned that Alex may well have fallen victim to such treatment or, perhaps worse, subjected some other poor girl to it. Either way, we are faced with the prospect of a most unpleasant reunion with a girl we both used to love when she was younger and sweeter. I will of course be delighted if we are proven wrong, but there is little cause for hope of that."

"I am terribly sorry to hear that, then," Colleen said. "I hope you are both pleasantly surprised, in that case."

"Thank you," we said in unison.

"Forgive my curiosity, Elizabeth," Coleen continued, "But you have always struck me as so poised and confident and mature; what on earth did the girls find to bully you over?"

Elizabeth, to her credit and to my astonishment, laughed rather than expressing any irritation. "Colleen," she said in a gentle tone, "When I enter the bath chamber, what is the first thing your eyes are always drawn to?"

"Good heavens, the girls found fault with that?" Colleen looked genuinely shocked. "How absolutely bizarre."

"Bullies will find fault with anyone who is different in any way," I pointed out.

"And you don't need me to tell you I am different in that regard," Elizabeth said.

"Indeed," Colleen admitted. "It is only that I have only ever regarded you as beautiful in that regard, Elizabeth."

"Thank you; but the other girls did not, and that is putting it mildly."

"Or perhaps they did," I suggested. "I mean, Elizabeth, I have heard your stories so many times, it occurred to me early on that perhaps they were simply jealous of how grown-up and sensuous you looked."