The third part of “Like a New Woman” is out! Like the others, find it in Exclusive Stories. You can read the first part here.
And if you don’t have the password, you can get one by filling out the form on the story’s page.
Like A New Woman – Part 3
“You were so keen to meet,” Cassie said, “That you must have something interesting to tell.”
“Well,” I said, leaning over the coffee table. Cassie did the same. “We went to see this film.”
“Wait… back up… what was Ellie wearing?”
I shrugged. “Nothing special. Trousers and a blouse.”
“And underwear?” I nodded.
“I think so anyway.”
“This isn’t living up to the previous stories,” Cassie said.
“Shush, or I won’t tell you.” Cassie mimed zipping her mouth again, and again I knew it was only a temporary silence. “So it was some arty Hungarian film called ‘Free Fall’.”
“I’ve not heard of it.”
“Neither have I. But Ellie had read about it. It was something about someone jumping from a roof of a block of flats and then there are a bunch of stories based around all the floors they pass as they fall.”
“It sounds grim.”
“Well, it was a little, but you sort of forgot about the falling bit because it was the stories that mattered.
“I see. Well, not really, but carry on.”
“Anyway, Ellie was sat beside me with our hands intertwined.”
“How romantic.”
“Shush. And we were just watching the stories. Or rather watching and reading, since it was all subtitles. And one of the stories was this thing about a woman who’s at a party, but she’s the only one naked, and standing in the corner with nothing but shoes on and a purse over her shoulder, and everyone’s just ignoring her. Or at least ignoring that she’s naked, but mainly they’re ignoring her too.”
“Was it hot?”
“Yeah. And she was pretty hot. And Ellie must have thought so too as her fingers were gripping mine tightly throughout.”
“And that was it?”
“Wait. On the way back home we talked about the stories, and soon enough we got to that story. And Ellie said ‘I can’t believe how brave that actress was, to stand around in the nude with all those people in suits and dresses.'”
Cassie looked at me intently, and I think she was still judging whether this story was worthy of her attention or not.
“And I said I thought actresses were probably used to it. And Ellie said it must be pretty amazing to be able to experience that without anyone thinking they were weird.” Cassie’s eyebrows nearly shot off the top of her head. “She said she wondered if it felt like it did when she had dreams like that.”
“And what did you say?” Cassie asked.
“I didn’t know what to say.”
“That figures.”
“Anyway, Ellie was doing enough talking. She said it was a shame you couldn’t just do it, to see what it was like, because everyone would probably run a mile thinking you were completely mad.”
“Oh god I would not run a mile if someone did that. Especially if Ellie did that.”
“Me neither.”
“And I said it helped that she was a very pretty actress and Ellie said, ‘Oh, right, forget I was there, did you?’. And I said ‘Not at all. But it was kind of attention grabbing.’ And she didn’t seem so happy about that and said. ‘Sometimes I wonder if you’d even notice if I walked around naked all the time.’ And again I didn’t know what to say.”
“If that ever happens, can you give me a call so I can come round?” I smiled, both imagining the scene, and I was also glad that Cassie was suddenly more interested in this story.
Kara Bryn 