A Bigger Stage

[Blase]

"Not very consistent, am I?" Cindy asked rhetorically.

"It's okay, kitten. Just tell me you want me to stop and I will." She flashed a smirk that could have provoked a saint to slap her.

"Seriously, though, if you want anything from the buffet, just tell me. I'm not trying to take food out of your mouth."

"And I'm sure Sarah will see these at some point, but she doesn't need to see them yet. They're just a couple sketches of a sort of concept I've been working on. Not actually connected to the show, but I thought you might like to see them."

The sketchbook she handed Rosi was not the same one she'd been using earlier.

A quick glance showed Rosi why. There were only a couple sketches, but they were both noticeably more detailed and artistic than the others Cindy had shown so far.

Both featured Rosi.

In one, she wore jeans and a tank top with the strap slipped off her right shoulder, baring a breast. She faced the viewer with a look that showed complete vulnerability and availability.

In the other, she wore a leather collar attached to a fine chain that trailed off out of sight, held by an unseen hand.

The collar and chain comprised the whole of her wardrobe ensemble.

 

[AndreaSubbie]

Rosi looked at the sketches, especially the second one, for what seemed like ages.

"They're beautiful!" she whispered. Not a whisper because she was being discreet. A whisper because she was in awe. "Stunning!"

Her finger traced the line of the chain from her neck to the where it disappeared, then traced it again.

"Oh my!" she paused, "Oh Cindy! How did you know? I didn't even know, myself?"

She glanced up at Cindy and back to the sketches. It was obvious which was her favourite. But she turned back to the more conventionally dressed one.

"You prefer me without a bra?" again glancing at Cindy, the nipple still puckered where her cotton shirt had brushed it so sensuously. "Ha ha, I think I'm showing half a pokie, at least!"

Sighing out a held breath, she asked, "Um, Cindy, would you please pass me one of those cream cakes from the back?" indicating where she'd been looking so longingly before being handed the sketchpad.

She wondered if she would be allowed to put her bra back on before rehearsals resumed shortly.

 

[Blase]

"I think we both sort of... sensed something in you, kitten," Cindy answered. "Granted that your response when we undressed you was a strong clue. But we would never have done that in the first place if it had felt like you would be offended by it, or if we'd thought it would make you afraid. Really afraid, that is; not like the way you felt with all those men watching you, yet knowing you were safe."

"You see, Sarah and I are both exhibitionists, to a degree, and maybe it takes one to know one."

"But we're also what's known as candaulists: People who enjoy showing off our partners. And we... share well, too."

"If you stay around us, kitten, I can pretty well guarantee you'll be getting a lot more than you bargained for."

 

[AndreaSubbie]

"ha ha, where do I sign up!" Rosi grinned, liking what she heard more and more.

"But seriously, I don't understand most of this, don't pretend to understand. But yes, I do feel safe with you and Sarah. And you're right, when I was scared being naked in front of all those men, especially men I kind of know, like Bob, it was a nice kind of afraid. I liked it.

"I did guess that you and Sarah are together, and I don't want to get in the way, but I do want to carry on playing The Game with you both, for as long as you want to. I don't mind being your little pet?"

Rosi again looked at the cakes, not sure if she should risk stretching over. But Cindy hadn't passed her one. Oh well, here's hoping! she said to herself.

Leaning against the laden buffet table Rosi reached as far as she could and snared herself what she'd been after, regaining her more upright posture with the prize now on her plate. She took a big bite, the cream squishing out and decorating her upper lip.

With her eye on Cindy, Rosi tried to wipe the cream away but instead just smeared it worse. "Oops!" but her face held a very self-satisfied smile.

 

[Blase]

"Hmm, probably not the last time someone will make a mess on your face, kitten," Cindy said. She was tempted to help Rosi clean her face off but didn't trust herself not to do something obviously flirty, just then.

"Maybe you should go put your bra back on before things start up again."

"And yes, to answer your question, I do like you without a bra."

"Do you like yourself in pubic without a bra on?"

 

[AndreaSubbie]

Rosi finished her cake, a cake too many as she was now discovering. It had been too creamy. Oh well, live and learn.

Taking a paper tissue she wiped her mouth clean, but would need to repair her makeup. That she could do when she put her bra back on.

"Actually, yes, it's quite nice not wearing a bra!"

Cindy had said, maybe, put the bra back on. Did that mean she ought to but needn't, or that it would be nice not to but she must?

Sighing in another mini-bout of confusion, Rosi turned to go make the necessary alterations, still a little surprised that Cindy hadn't commented on her shorts, either for or against.

But one thought wouldn't go away, her face being creamed on.

 

[Blase]

OOC: It's almost as though Cindy can read minds!

---------------------------------------------------------------


"Love the shorts, by the way," Cindy commented.

"If you weren't wearing them for the show, I'd say it might be fun to wear panties that were high cut but still broad enough across the hip to show a little bit. After all, a lot of girls do like to show a little bra strap these days."

"Just be careful where and when, obviously."

 

[AndreaSubbie]

Rosi giggled and headed back to the rehearsal studio, detouring once more via the Ladies to repair her face and dress appropriately again.

She knew she must have wiggled her hips or something to prompt Cindy's comment, since she'd been desperate for feedback on her inexpert attempt at seamstressing. Or was it seam-distressing?

Whatever it was, she was a happy girl. The singing was going well, the choreography was fun and manageable, Cindy was feeding her imagination with delicious thoughts, and she should have Sarah with her again to perfect the dance routine.

All was well in Rosi World.

 

[Blase]

Late afternoon

"So," Cindy said as the three of them once again huddled around her sketchbook, "at that last chorus, Dane rips the bra off you, and then you're naked!"

"Well, not naked," she amended quickly. "I mean not naked naked. But it would look that way, especially to the TV audience because the cameras would pull back."

Her costume idea for Rosi's upcoming duet with Dane was in fact a bit edgier than the one for her solo. The sketch that all three were looking at again showed a two-part bikini top, but instead of a frilled section, the outer part looked like a fairly normal, if somewhat brief bikini bra, while the under-layer was... mostly transparent, with an opaque circle at the peak of each cup to preserve something of Rosi's modesty.

"Anyway, if I understood Sara's idea, when Dane stands up and opens his arms, you burst up from between them and sing the last chorus while the audience tries to figure out is she or isn't she?, then you scamper off the stage before they really can."

"Oh, but we'll leave the bottom sort of conservative. Brief, but not actually a thong."

 

[AndreaSubbie]

Rosi was silent for a while, thinking, looking at the sketch, thinking some more, wondering.

There was a nagging thought going through her mind.

"not naked naked. But it would look that way, especially to the TV audience"

A phrase wouldn't go away.

"But it would look that way."

"Um," she finally spoke, "I don't know the rules well enough but, um, if we're allowed for it to look like I'm topless ..." she hesitated, not sure if she should go on. "I mean, we're saying we mustn't show nipples but imply that they're on show .."

She may as well just say it,

"What if at the end my back is to the camera and studio audience and, um, Dane actually does rip my top off? All my top?"

Rosi waited for the two ladies to shoot down her idea as crazy and likely to get them all fired.

 

[Blase]

The choreographer and the seamstress looked at each other.

"Hmm, I just had a wicked thought," Sarah mused.

"I'm listening," Cindy said.

"Well... How do you two feel about playing a trick on Dane?"

 

[AndreaSubbie]

"Well I'm ok with it, but um, I'd rather it was a nice trick than not; I don't want to see him angry. He's scary enough without we make him mad!"

But Rosi was intrigued enough to want to hear more, especially if it was going to be wicked. More so, if Sarah reckoned it to be wicked.

 

[Blase]

"I don't think he'll actually mind this one," Sarah said confidently.

"Look, we really can't do nudity on the show. In fact, I'm still waiting to hear a final word on whether or not we can do what I've just outlined, though I'm pretty sure Bob can get it by the producers if he talks about camera angles, lighting, and all the rest."

"But assuming we get the go-ahead, rehearsal... isn't the show. It isn't being broadcast live. And that part needs to get rehearsed like anything else."

She gave Rosi a direct look. "How would you feel about a little unscheduled toplessness?"

 

[AndreaSubbie]

"Go on, I'm all ears!" Rosi wanted to encourage Sarah to keep going, hoping Cindy might chip in with ideas, too, but not get over excited herself.

In fact, Rosi's brain was flooded with all kinds of possibilities, from wardrobe malfunctions to dancers screening her to stick on nipple pads to g-string under bikini bottoms and more.

Breathing slowly and deliberately, Rosi waited to hear more.

 

[Blase]

"Of course!" Cindy spoke up. "It's obvious!"

"We just do what we were going to do all along: Sarah gives Dane the choreography, and at the end of the number, he pulls the outer half of your top off, Rosi!"

"Only that's all there is!"

 

[AndreaSubbie]

"Ha ha, so simple!"

Rosi smiled at them both, and tried so hard to hold back what she wanted to say, but the struggle was too much.

"So um," and her plan B was to at least make it sound like a casual passing thought, "if we're given the green light for the 'over bra, under bra', why not 'over bottoms, under bottoms', a g-string under the bikini? "

She at least managed to avoid stating the obvious enhancement to the 'trick' that would offer.

But again, maybe The Choice rules were stricter about bare ass cheeks than about nipple covered bare boob?

 

[Blase]

"Depending on the woman, it can actually be harder to hide a bare butt, Rosi," Cindy explained. "You fall into that category just because you're well proportioned."

"But could you jury-rig something for rehearsal night?" Sarah interrupted.

"I know, it's more work, unlike the trick with the top. But it might be worth it to see everyone's faces..."

Cindy looked squarely at Rosi. "You're sure you're up for this? Remember: Full crew. Ratio of males to females approximately three to one."

"It's your call."

 

[AndreaSubbie]

Rosi felt again the heady thrill of fear and excitement entwined in her gut.

"My call, huh?" She looked each of them in the face, Sarah then Cindy, and back to Sarah.

"Well, if it's my call, here's what I'd like to try. Just a few minor adjustments?

"I think it would be even more consistent with the spirit of the song if at the end, Dane rips off my bottoms, maybe Daisy Dukes, leaving the smallest under bottoms Bob will let us get away with; as well as my top like you want.

"I also think that for the rehearsal, " and here she took a breath, "we should make the most of it not being live.

"Ideally we'd have Bob in on the Trick; just us three and him. No one else to know. Full crew so no one is suspicious. Two cameras like in the Shower Scene, one from a partially obstructed angle. And he records the rehearsal in full.

"The rest is exactly as you suggest; no underbra, no under bottoms. Not on the rehearsal. Only on the Live Broadcast.

"It's not that I'm desperate to strip off, though that Shower Scene has certainly started something, but actually this is a more honest interpretation of the song, and you have to admit, Artistically it makes perfect sense? And realistically, I probably won't ever get the chance again to sing a song like this with a Legend like Dane.

"If you don't think Bob will go for it, then yes, we just get away with what we can in the Rehearsal."

Now that it was out, Rosi felt a bit relieved, like her part was done. As she'd said before to Cindy, she could leave it to the professionals.

"I've said my bit. I'll cooperate with whatever you guys think is best, no regrets either way."

 

[Blase]

Sarah and Cindy shared another look.

"I'm just impressed that she knows what Daisy Dukes are," Sarah said dryly.

"But seriously, Rosi... Let us see what we can come up with. You have to remember that whatever we do has to be done so that no one will just yell "Cut!"

"That will take some planning."

"For the moment, though," Cindy said as Sarah fell silent, "why don't you go back to the Ladies Room and take your underwear off?"

"I think the earlier braless experiment was pretty much a success that warrants further investigation."

 

[AndreaSubbie]

Rosi felt like a burden had been lifted.

Sarah and Cindy hadn't dismissed her ideas out of hand, but had at least listened. In a way, she didn't mind what the two of them cooked up, because she trusted them and knew that she was safe with them. But the weight in her mind that had been troubling her was now lifted. She had confronted the spectre that had been lurking in the darkness since she'd first read Dane's lyrics.

She had confronted the idea of taking off all her clothes, on stage, and she had dealt with it.

Raising her eyes from the sketchpad with it's drafts of fun ideas, she locked away all concerns about the Show. It now felt like Play Time, with Cindy's naughty suggestion.

It didn't take long. After the briefest interval she was back, still dressed in her pumps, front tied blue shirt and sliced denim shorts, but with something in her hands.

She gave a little present to each of them. Her scrumpled bra to Cindy. Her damp panties to Sarah.

 

[Blase]

Both girls received their gifts gratefully.

"My last kitten used to bring mice," Sarah smiled. "This is a definite improvement."

As they tucked Rosi's underthings into their respective bags, Sarah looked at Cindy. "So what's this about an ongoing experiment?"

"Oh, Rosi spent a little time braless, earlier today," Cindy replied. "I thought it was a good look on her."

"Don't you agree?"

 

[AndreaSubbie]

Rosi hadn't expected them to keep her underwear. She wasn't sure quite what she had expected, but not for them to accept her little offerings and tuck them away.

It was like something had changed, again. And the way they both talked about her for the moment as if she wasn't right there, listening, for some reason made her think again of that sketch of Cindy's, the one with the the collar and chain.

She automatically assumed the position, feet together with hands behind her back, face lowered a little.

 

[Blase]

"Well, it's not terribly obvious in this particular outfit." Sarah mused.

"Hmm... Lean forward a little for me, kitten?"

 

[AndreaSubbie]

Being called kitten just did something to her.

Bending forward a little so that her hands now rested on her knees as she stood, Rosi smiled to herself, loving the attention and wondering just what mischief the two were cooking up.

 

[Blase]

"Oh, okay," Sarah said in the manner of one who had had a point cleared up for her. Or maybe two.

"Yes, I agree. From this angle it is a pretty good look on her."

Cindy spoke to Rosi. "I assume you know that little cafe just down the street from your hotel? Cafe Java?"

"Wait," Sarah interjected before Rosi could respond. "You don't mean Eternally Awkward Owen?"

"I take it you've met him?"

"If one can be said to have met someone who has never actually looked them in the eye. He's sort of sweet in an 'I'm scared of women' kind of way."

"Well, haven't you ever wished you could do something nice for him?"

"I do. I give him a tip."

"How appropriate. Perhaps I should follow suit."

Cindy looked back to Rosi. "Sorry to leave you hanging," she said. "Anyway, do you know the place?"