Stop!
Chapter 3 — Stop Fantasising
“Carry on!” Jen said the words as quietly as she could, in the hope Carlos might not notice. She really wished he could have invented a time machine that didn’t need you to speak as you started or stopped it, but he’d said it was necessary for some reason. She wanted to see how quiet she could be and still make it work, but in thinking about that she’d managed to miss a careless mistake. She’d posed her friend like a doll, changing his clothes while time was stopped for everyone except her to see if he’d notice. And she’d left his arms stretched upwards without thinking.
It was too late to do anything now, but the moment seemed to last forever as he stretched and lowered his arms to his sides, turning the pose into some kind of over-exaggerated yawn. He looked her up and down, and a quirky little grin said he liked what he saw.
“I see what you did there,” he said at last, breaking the silence before it could get uncomfortable, “And I think you should dress up like that more often. You look like you’re feeling pretty good about yourself, I mean, and I like to see that. I was half expecting to see you back in that borrowed shirt this time.”
“What, this one?” she stared straight at him as she unfurled the T-shirt he’d just been wearing. The one she’d forgotten borrowing a few months before was on his chest now. She had to remind herself that hadn’t just been an excuse to peel off his shirt; that she was curious how things like that worked, and this was a genuine scientific experiment. His eyes darted down for just an instant, quickly enough that she couldn’t be sure it was any more than her imagination. She just needed to know how he’d react, and prayed that he wouldn’t be offended by her little joke.
“Yeah,” he shrugged, “You can keep it if you want. Wolves suit you, you look good in it. But… not quite as good as you do right now, so can you not change again for a few seconds?”
Jen nodded, amazed. Not only had he failed to notice the switch, but he seemed convinced that the shirt she was holding hadn’t been the one he was wearing this morning. Carlos was always careful to choose just the right clothes for any occasion, so she couldn’t believe he’d miss something like that. The first time she’d tried it, he’d noticed that she swapped her own T-shirt, but not that she changed his coffee for hot chocolate. The second time, he’d seen that she had a figure-hugging velvet skirt to match her new top, but he hadn’t spotted the change in his own clothes.
Maybe it was something like subliminal advertising, she thought. She’d heard that a single frame in a TV broadcast could go unnoticed but leave an idea stuck in your mind all day. But when she’d swapped his shirt, it had been visible for no time at all. Perhaps his brain had somehow swapped over his memories of the two garments as well and he ended up believing that he must have been wearing that all day. It was a subliminal message taken to the next level.
“Something else I want to try. Stop!” and he froze right where he was. Every time she used the device, it seemed just a little more natural. Jen thought she could get used to this kind of power.
She walked over to where Carlos stood, statue-like. Maybe she stood a little closer than she would normally have done, but there was nothing immoral in that. She wasn’t entirely sure if what she was going to try was ethically sound, but she couldn’t let her curiosity go unsatisfied. Because she’d been thinking about how his reactions could possibly be explained, and the subliminal messages hypothesis was just too interesting to ignore. She ran her hands over his chest again, enjoying the feel of the muscles beneath the surface. There was a lot more to this man than met the eye, but today was a day for experiments and not just for her amusement, so she forced herself to get back to the task at hand.
There was only one way she could think of to test this theory. Well, she could maybe hold out pictures of his favourite chili dogs in front of him for a few minutes, then resume time and ask if he’s hungry. But that would be a lot more effort, and she wanted to have some fun as well as experimenting with the new toy Carlos had given her. She could show him something he’d certainly react to, and if it didn’t work then he wouldn’t even know the difference. There was nothing wrong with that, it wasn’t like she was taking advantage of him or anything.
First, she got a bottle of wine from the kitchen, and poured two glasses. That would explain the pause, if he saw nothing wanted to know why she’d stopped him again. Then she went back into the lounge to complete the outfit he seemed so impressed by. She untied her hair, though that made little difference to her overall appearance. She added a simple necklace, and a few more little trinkets, as if she was dressing up for a big night out. Then as she returned to the lounge and took the time machine out of her pocket, she muttered “oh!”, pantomimed frustration as if she just realised she’d forgotten something.
In her hand she was holding an ironic christmas gift from one of the girls at the office, that she’d never bothered opening. Fancy lingerie just wasn’t her thing, but right now it was an interesting tool to test a theory. It was the same almost-black shade as the velvet top and skirt, too, so she could justify this by simply saying she was completing the change of clothes. Her heart was racing as she reached back to unzip the top and peeled it off slowly over her head. She glanced momentarily at Carlos as she did so, wondering if the human statue could really see anything.
There were two possibilities in her mind right now, about equally likely, and she had no idea which she was hoping to be true. There was a chance he wouldn’t know anything, that while no time was passing for him he couldn’t see a thing. That would be the least embarrassing option, and he’d just think she put more jewellery on. Or he could know she’d changed her underwear, even if he didn’t know why. She was sure that in that case, she could get him to say it. He was a scientist, and this was an experiment.
She unhooked her bra, a pale cream one that almost matched her skin tone. Her heart was racing, her nipples hard as she undressed. She could tell herself that Carlos wasn’t watching, but her body didn’t understand that, and she couldn’t deny how much this was turning her on. He was right there, but she could do anything she wanted and he wouldn’t be able to object.
The thin ribbons of her new underwear were decorated with lace, but not to excess. Just enough to hint at the idea of clothing without coming anywhere close to respectable. She might have chosen something like this for herself, if she’d had a partner worth showing off for. It was exactly the kind of thing she wanted to wear, that would make her feel so powerful in her own sexuality, but that she’d never had the confidence to try. With no time passing, nobody could see, and she could do whatever she wanted.
She didn’t take the skirt off, just lifted the soft fabric up, parting it at the slit at the side to swap her sensible cotton briefs for the matching thong from that set. She couldn’t believe how daring she was being, but it seemed so natural to continue. She couldn’t believe how wet she was, either. The briefs were already soaked. Her fingers strayed for just a moment, absent-mindedly stroking herself as she eased the thong into place, but she forced herself to stop when she caught Carlos’s frozen gaze. She wanted so much to continue, but she knew there had to be a limit somewhere. She smoothed down the skirt, and pulled the top back on, then checked herself in the mirror again.
“I wonder how much you’ll know,” she grinned at Carlos as she adjusted the jewellery and re-applied lipstick. “I hope you like the effort I’m putting into looking good for you, Carl.” Of course, she was enjoying the change in her appearance as much as he was. But it was more exciting to think that he might have been just a little excited by the clothes she’d chosen, that he might have secretly dreamed about her body and found the sight of her dressed to impress enough to take his mind off his gadget entirely.
“Who am I kidding,” she shrugged, and tried to remember roughly where she’d been standing, “You love me really. You’ll be kneeling at my feet, begging for it soon enough.”
“And here I am talking to myself,” Jen muttered under her breath, finally satisfied with her appearance. She picked up a pair of wine glasses, turned to smile invitingly at her friend, and then pressed the button.
“Carry on!”
“Wow,” Carlos sounded genuinely impressed, and Jen almost immediately noticed the bulge in his pants that hadn’t been there a moment before. She wasn’t paying quite as much attention to his words, though, as he explained: “I don’t think I‘ve ever seen you so formal before. But…” Jen waited for his next comment, only half paying attention. When he trailed off, she just stared in disbelief. After a few seconds, maybe he took her expression as disapproval, he forced himself to finish the sentence.
“But, well, maybe this thing has effects on human physiology that I hadn’t even considered. I mean…” he murmured hesitantly, “the last two times you pressed the stop button, I started getting, well, aroused. For no real reason, I mean, that getup really suits you, you look amazing, but I don’t think it’s normal to suddenly get…” he glanced down to his lap, too embarrassed to continue. Maybe he was hoping she’d notice his boner, and he wouldn’t have to say more. Perhaps he was hoping it would go away and he could act like it never happened. He seemed so humble suddenly, and Jen found herself a little more excited about finally being in a position to take control of the conversation.
She knew why he had a hard-on, even if she wasn’t quite sure how to share that information. But there was one more question in her mind, and she couldn’t go without asking it any longer: “I guess it’s something we’ll have to experiment with a bit more. But… why are you on your knees?”