Erin yawned. It had been another boring day at work. The monotony of her days was starting to get to her. She was only 25 years old but if this was gonna be what the rest of her life looked like, she was not looking forward to it. Every day, she woke up early with a cup of coffee, went to work, sat in her cubicle and stared at her computer screen until her boss called her. Then in the evening, she was usually too tired to do anything for herself. Tonight was just such a night. She had just gotten home, fed her cat, turned on the TV, and plopped on her couch while sorting through her mail.
She didn’t actually watch television, but it gave her some background noise. Her mail didn’t really seem all that exciting. A tax invoice, yet another advertisement for the same magazine about cars that she really didn’t want, a letter from her landlord. All very mundane - that is, until she got to the last of her mail. It was yet another advertisement and she would have just thrown it away but the pricing caught her attention.
A three course meal to unwind for just ten dollars? Erin pondered. That seemed way too cheap to be true. Looking over its contents she only saw a few pictures of the restaurant itself, some of the dishes they served and a small map that showed its location. She tilted her head as she reached for her phone. She took a picture of the ad and sent the image to her best friend, Amanda, as well as a message.

Know anything about this?

Amanda had a bit more free time on her hands and was usually up to date with any new establishments in town. It didn’t take long before she replied.

Very little. Has good food but no idea why it’s so cheap. Wanna check it out?

Good food. A three-course meal. All for just ten dollars? It seemed too good to be true; there had to be a catch but if there was it wasn’t mentioned anywhere. Amanda didn’t seem to know much about the place so the only way to find out was, indeed, to go and check it out. Erin hesitated. It all sounded rather fishy, but what harm could there be in simply checking it out and seeing for herself? Eventually, she texted back.

Alright, meet you there.

She was just going to put a pizza in the oven but she had to admit that a buffet seemed much more inviting. She quickly changed from her work outfit into casual clothing: jeans, white socks and a pink sweater over a white tank top. She put on a pair of sneakers and her coat, and grabbed her bag before making her way out the door.


“Erin, over here!” Amanda shouted from the corner of the street. She had met her friend in kindergarten and they had been close friends ever since. Their friendship had endured some strains, such as when they had both fallen in love with the same guy in high school, but that was solved when the guy turned out to be a huge prick. Unlike Erin’s flowing, brown hair that reached to her shoulders, Amanda was a blonde, her straight hair reaching down to her mid-back. While Erin had an olive skin tone, Amanda’s skin was usually a lot lighter, except for during the summer. Both friends had light blue eyes though. She was wearing a light blue dress under a black vest. She wore a pair of black stockings and black boots. Erin joined her and gave her friend a hug.
   “Hiya,” she said with a smile.
   “The restaurant is just around the corner. If it turns out to be nothing, we can always just go elsewhere,” Amanda said..
   “Alright, sounds good!” Erin replied.
From the outside, the restaurant looked innocuous. There was a terrace outside, but since winter was approaching, nobody was using those seats. The name of the restaurant featured prominently on the window. ‘Chez Louise’. Inside, Erin could see a few people eating with apparent enjoyment.
   “Let’s go in, I guess,” Amanda proposed but Erin halted.
   “We’re really going in?” she asked.
   “Well, yeah,” Amanda laughed. “Come on! Don’t chicken out on me now. Let’s at least see what kind of food they offer.”
   “Oh alright, I’ll come,” Erin said, laughing nervously. As the two women stepped from the cold outside into the warm hall, Erin noticed a feeling of anticipation washing over her, but she couldn’t quite explain why. Perhaps it was the strong scent of perfume that hung in the air here.
The entry hall was decorated in a rather old-fashioned style as if this were the 1920s. Pictures of typical French sights, such as the Eiffel tower, hung on the wall. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling. Inside it was quite extravagant, considering that this was just the hallway. The pair noticed a woman, probably in her forties, sitting at a counter near the door on the far side. She wore glasses and was writing in a book when she looked up to see who had entered. She wore a formal, cream-coloured suit that fitted her body quite snugly. A smile crept on her face as she beckoned the two women to come forward.
   “Come, dears,” she said with a French accent. She looked at Amanda who rolled her eyes in amusement as though she were saying ‘well, here goes nothing.’
   “G-good evening,” Erin said, stumbling over her words.
   “We, uh, came here because we read about the buffet,” Amanda added.
The woman’s smile only seemed to grow wider at that. “Ah, yes, excellent,” she said. “I am Louise. Welcome to my establishment. What are your names?”
Erin and Amanda looked at each other.
“W-wait… is it really just ten dollars for a three-course meal?” Erin asked nervously.
   “Oui, Oui, it is just ten dollars. I would not have advertised it as such if it was a lie,” Louise said with a chuckle.
   “But there HAS to be some kind of catch, right?” Amanda remarked, narrowing her eyes. “It just seems so… cheap.”
Louise halted at that and eyed the two women curiously. “Did you not visit my website? I swear I put a link in the ad…” Louise said, half to herself.
Erin and Amanda looked at each other again. Erin then produced the advertisement and, sure enough, there was a website link at the bottom.
“I must have missed that…” she said, feeling quite embarrassed now.
Amanda just giggled and gave her friend a bop to the head.
“Nevertheless,” she continued, “we’d like to know more about that buffet, and sorry we didn’t check out the website.”
   “Very well,” Louisa chuckled. “In my restaurant, I offer my guests the opportunity to unwind and let off some steam. One does that best when one is from one’s confines.”
The two young women looked at each other, confused, for a third time.
“Our… confines?” Erin asked.
   “Why, your clothes, of course,” Louise said matter of factly.
The resulting gasp from Erin and Amanda were so loud they could have been heard on the street.
“What in the…” Amanda started but Louise just laughed it off.
   “I suspect most people have this initial reaction,” she said. “I assure you, though, that none have left unsatisfied.”
   “And... how many have actually gone for this offer?” Erin demanded.
   “More than you might think, dear,” Louise replied. She then retrieved a leaflet from behind the counter and handed it to the two guests. “I suspect you’re ready to leave, but please accept this.”
Reluctantly, Erin took it and briefly scanned its contents.
“Right. We are out of here,” Amanda said, sounding quite offended. She then grabbed Erin by the wrist and dragged her back outside. All the while, Erin could see that Louise was just smiling deviously. There was just something unsettling about it…

“Can you believe this?” Amanda asked, still fuming about their earlier encounter. The two women had decided to go to the nearest pizza place instead and have their dinner there. Only now did they get the chance to take a look at the leaflet Louise had given them. Unlike the general leaflet, this one was much more explicit and had several pictures of people, both men and women, dining in various stages of undress. The way it seemed to work was that customers going for this buffet had to hand in one article of clothing with every item they ordered. There were reviews from people describing it as a wonderful experience and how amazing it felt to let themselves go for a night but Amanda suspected that they were written by Louise herself.
   “It does sound very far-fetched,” Erin remarked.
   “It’s not just far-fetched,” Amanda started, taking a vicious bite out of her pizza slice, yet continuing to talk. “This is downright exploitative and probably illegal!”
   “Well, if it were illegal then surely someone would have called the cops on her already,” Erin reasoned.
   Amanda just angrily chewed on her food for a few moments, trying to come up with a comeback. Only when she had swallowed did she speak up again, holding the remains of her pizza slice in her hands while she made more angry gestures.
“I just can’t believe that people would actually go for this! How is this supposed to help people relax? If I wanna relax, I just go to a spa!” Her tirade went on for quite some time and she kept raising her voice every so often to the point where Erin had to ask her to quieten down.
   Erin herself wasn’t really angry - far from it. Ever since they had entered Chez Louise, she had felt a sense of anticipation that had only grown stronger as the night had gone on. It had felt like some kind of knot in her stomach. That was probably why she had only eaten two slices of her pizza so far. Why did she have this feeling? The roaring twenties style of the restaurant, Louise’s noticeably thick perfume, her devious smile at the end, the explicit leaflet - it had all left impressions on her. Whenever Amanda halted her rant to eat some more, Erin found herself wondering what the appeal to the offer was. Being naked in the middle of a busy restaurant where everybody else was clothed? Unable to fully cover herself? Only allowed to get dressed again after she had finished ordering? All of the eyes from all other people present scanning every inch of her body?
   “... Earth to Erin?” came Amanda’s voice.
   “Huh? What?” Erin replied, shaking herself out of her thoughts. Had she been daydreaming?
   “You kinda zoned out a little…”
   “Ah, sorry about that.”
   “No, I get it. I’m just repeating myself and you got bored of it,” Amanda chuckled. “Point is, this restaurant is stupid.”
Both women laughed at this.
But it wasn’t the same laugh.


The rest of the week was rather uneventful. Erin had gone to work as normal and she and Amanda didn’t talk about Chez Louise again. However, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t on her mind. On the contrary. Stripping naked in front of a bunch of strangers was so out there that she couldn’t help but be intrigued by the idea. She even caught herself fantasising about it. This really concerned her a great deal. Amanda had said that nobody in their right mind could enjoy such a thing. And yet… here she was, imagining herself being naked in front of clothed strangers. What did that say about her? Was she mad? If Louise was correct and there were a fair amount of people who indulged in this, did that make them mad too? Or were they really all faked, as Amanda had suggested?
   That Thursday evening, after work, Erin was relaxing on the couch with her cat, Coco, on her lap, zapping between the channels. There wasn’t much of interest on right now though, just some boring reality shows, a few soaps that didn’t interest her and the news. Eventually, she just settled for a random movie, which looked to be a comedy. The jokes were mostly very lame, but it got the occasional chuckle out of her. That is until one scene where the main character’s dress got stuck in a car door, which then drove off, leaving her standing in her underwear in the middle of the street. The eyes of those around her were all over her exposed body... including those of Erin.
   Okay, that’s it! she thought to herself. She couldn’t resist this any longer. She wanted to know more. And what better way to know more than to go and experience it for herself?


The following evening, Erin was standing in front of Chez Louise again. Through the window, she could see a fair amount of guests already dining. All of them were fully clothed as normal. Would she really be able to strip in front of all of these people? Would they laugh? Would they call her a slut? Or would it be normal?
   Amanda had told her that she had a date with her boyfriend that evening so Erin didn’t have to worry too much about her friend. After all, how could she possibly explain this to Amanda? No, this was her night. Hers and hers alone.
For the night, she had decided to wear some extra clothing. A pair of ankle boots, socks, tights, skirt, top, shirt, vest and underwear. She had a coat as well of course, but she assumed that she would be taking that off regardless. That left nine pieces of clothing. Eleven if the socks and shoes were counted separately. It would take about nine or eleven orders to be stripped fully. At a normal restaurant, she would usually only order two drinks at the most, the main dish and maybe a dessert. Four out of eleven didn’t seem too bad but four out of nine? That would be quite risque already! Would she strip fully though? She could just order a drink and one dish. She would only have to take off two articles of clothing and though that already sounded like it would be quite embarrassing, at least she wouldn’t have to show too much skin. But then again, the prospect of showing off everything… no! She would just try it out. It was only ten bucks after all.
Erin hesitated. She could still turn back. There was no obligation to do this. But she had come here because she chose to do so. She wanted to experience this. Finally, she convinced herself to open the door and go in.
   When she entered the main hall, the by now familiar scent of Louise’s perfume hit her hard. Up ahead, Louise was talking with a man and a woman, whom Erin presumed to be other guests. Would they strip? Or would only one of them strip? And if so, which of them would do that? Were they just here to watch a good show, given to them by Erin herself? Or were they just here to eat? The amount of questions that were buzzing around in her head constantly were making her very anxious.
   It didn’t take long before the guests entered the main restaurant and Louise instantly noticed her, that same devious smile plastered all over her face.
   “Welcome, mademoiselle,” she said, eyeing Erin from top to toe through those spectacles of hers. “I knew you would be back.”
   This remark really didn’t make things any better for Erin but she was a woman on a mission. “H-hi,” she stammered.
   “I see you are alone this time,” Louise said. “Were you not able to convince her to come?”
   “She… she doesn’t even know,” Erin blurted out. She felt her face heating up, becoming beetroot red.. She didn’t like keeping secrets from her best friend, but the way she had ranted about this place made telling her seem out of the question.
   “Ah, I see, I see,” Louise chuckled. “I did not expect her to come anyway. Not like you, and here you are now! At least, I assume you have come here for the buffet?”
   This was Erin’s last chance. She could tell Louise that she just wanted to eat normally. That she was just here to try out the food that she had heard such good things about. “I-I am, yes,” she found herself saying as she reached for the ten dollar bill that she had ready in her pocket. This was definitely not her rational side speaking, but she had said it out loud now anyway. This was it.
   “Excellent!” Louise said as she wrote something down in the book on her desk. “What is your name, mademoiselle?”
   “Erin. Erin Gonzales.” The brunette tried to peek at what Louise was writing down. Though the text was upside down for her, she could make out several other names, both male and female. Were they the ones that have gone before her? She even noticed a few names appearing multiple times. She didn’t really get to look for long though as Louise stood up again.
   “And noted,” she said as she opened the door. “Follow me, please.”
On the other side, the scent of perfume made way for a whole assortment of pleasant scents. It was quite busy here. Almost every table was in use by people eating all sorts of food. It looked and smelled so delicious. The roaring twenties style continued here too. If anything, the restaurant was highly stylised. Something that Erin could really admire. None of the guests appeared to be naked though. Would she be the only one tonight?
“This way,” Louise said, catching Erin’s attention again. The hostess had moved over to a door off to the left. It had appeared to be a staff entrance to Erin at first, but it actually led to a completely different part of the restaurant. “Guests such as yourself will be seated here.”
“So… not among all of those people?” Erin asked. A sense of relief came over her when she heard this. This sense was abruptly shattered again when she actually entered this new room. It looked a lot like the general restaurant, only smaller. However, the most notable feature of this room was the fact that the right wall was a gigantic window. It gave a good view of the general restaurant. Or rather, it gave the restaurant a good view of this room.
Of her soon to be exposed body.
“Pick a chair, mon cherie,” Louise said. “A waitress will be with you shortly. For now, allow me to take your coat.” Erin just complied with the request, giving her coat to the hostess who then left through the door again, closing it behind her.
The room was empty, save for Erin. Looking to the right though, she certainly wasn’t alone. There were so many people sitting just a few feet away from her, and yet… none of them seemed to be looking her way. They were all just focusing on their food, or on talking to their friends and family. Perhaps they did not know what this part of the restaurant would entail? Or perhaps they were simply waiting for her clothes to actually start coming off? When she turned around to look at the left wall, it was actually a large mirror. It seemed rather peculiar, but Erin figured it was probably just so that guests could look at their own nude bodies if they wanted that. Eventually, the brunette settled on a chair somewhere near the mirror side of the room. The chairs and tables seemed like they would at least partially block the restaurant’s view of her body.
Before long, a young, red-haired woman, dressed in what looked like a French maid outfit, entered the room. She went over to Erin’s table and handed her the menu.
“Good evening,” she said. This woman looked to be about Erin’s age. Unlike Louise, she did not have any sort of accent, meaning she was probably from this town, as Erin was. She had freckles dotting her face, wore glasses and had a small pair of earrings in the shape of flowers. Her upper teeth almost seemed to go over her lower lips naturally and she had her curly hair quite short. Her name tag appeared to read ‘Lola’.
The thought occurred to Erin then that she could encounter any of the people that would be seeing her tonight elsewhere, and at any time. How awkward would that be? What if a friend of her saw her like this? It was too late to think about it now.
“Good evening,” she stammered.
“Can I take your order for a drink?” Lola asked, holding out a notepad.
“I’d… like some white wine, please,” Erin asked. If she was gonna do this, she might as well use some alcohol to get through it all.
“Of course,” the waitress nodded, writing it down. “Please, remove one article of clothing as payment.”
“A-ah, yes… of course,” Erin replied nervously. She thought about it for a moment. There was no reason to panic yet. It was just one article of clothing. She removed the vest that she was wearing and handed it to Lola, who took it and left the room with it. The fact that her clothing was taken away entirely made this all the more nerve wracking. She would not be able to chicken out and put on her clothes again. Heck, she wouldn’t even know where her clothes would be! Erin noticed that she had goosebumps on her skin. Was this due to the cold or because of the excitement? Whatever the case, she decided to try and calm herself down a little bit by opening up the menu.
The various dishes were written down in both English and French, with small pictures to show what it would look like. There were three different courses to choose from and goodness it all looked so delicious! There were various dishes using fish, tons of potato-based offerings and much more. Looking it over, there was deliciousness to be found in all three courses that caught her eyes. So much so that she almost forgot about the fact that each of these dishes would require her to take something off, and she was already down one piece just for the drink. Then again… the onion soup did look quite nice. Plus, what harm could one extra piece of clothing do, right? She had so many layers of clothing on right now anyway.
After a few minutes, Lola re-entered the room with Erin’s glass of wine.
“Here you are, ma’am,” she said, taking out her notepad again. “Have you made a decision?”
“Y-yes. I’ll take the, uh… the onion soup,” Erin replied.
“Of course,” Lola said, writing it down. She seemed to smile a great deal at Erin’s insecurities. As if she were ready to start laughing uncontrollably. Or perhaps she just found it endearing? After all, if Louise was to be believed, she wasn’t the first guest who came here to get naked. “Would you like some bread with that?”
“That sounds nice, yes,” Erin said, a smile forming on her face now.
“Alright,” Lola said. “Please, remove two articles of clothing then.”
“W-wait… two?” Erin gasped.
“Well, you ordered onion soup and bread. That’s two,” Lola chuckled.
“Can… uh… never mind the bread then…”
“I already wrote it down.”
   “But… oh, alright,” Erin huffed. She had been set up by this waitress! It was a trick and she had fallen for it! She felt so stupid, yet there was little she could do about it now. Reaching down, she begrudgingly took off both of her boots and handed them over to the waitress.
   “I’ll accept those as two,” Lola said, grinning. She was obviously enjoying this way too much. When she had left the room again, Erin swore she could hear her laughing, or did that just come from the restaurant?
   Shehad only lost her vest and her shoes, so there was nothing to write home about just yet. She had taken off her vest at restaurants often and though she hadn’t done so with her shoes, it didn’t seem too out of place. Looking to her right, she saw that the guests were still not really looking her way. It eased her mind somewhat, but not by a lot. They were still there. They could still see her if they wanted to.

After a few minutes, Erin noticed that she had started rubbing her legs together and she had barely touched her wine. There was this knot in her stomach that had only been growing since leaving her home. Waiting for her food seemed to take a lot longer than usual. Was it just a busy night or was time just going that much slower? And still, she had only taken off her two shoes and her vest. It’s not like she was showing off much skin besides her arms. Just then, the door opened again, suddenly, causing Erin to gasp but she relaxed when she saw that it was the waitress, bringing her her food. When she remembered how that waitress had tricked her though, that relaxation faded again.
   “Here you are, madam,” Lola said, placing the soup and bread on Erin’s table.
“Th-thank you,” Erin replied. The food smelled delicious and she was sure it’d taste delicious too. She just hoped that the knot in her stomach would pass away soon so that she could actually eat. When she looked at Lola again, she was surprised to find that the look she gave Erin just seemed… almost motherly.
“Hey, I’m sorry about before,” she said, chuckling. “We at Chez Louise want people to unwind and let themselves go. I figured you just needed some encouragement.”
“I… I guess,” Erin stammered. It was true. On her own, she would never have decided to strip in a busy restaurant. Heck, she was only going to take off a few articles of clothing! Now, she had already lost three of those things. She forced a smile at the waitress.
“Thank you.”
“No problem, madam,” Lola said, getting out her notepad again. “So, have you been able to choose a main dish? Perhaps some side dishes”
“I’ll uh… I’ll take the salmon special,” Erin said, pointing it out on the menu. She trembled a little, knowing that she was going to have to take something off again for this, but it honestly did look very good.
“Alright,” the waitress said, noting it down. “And do you want fries, potato wedges or a salad with that?”
“That’s… that’s a side dish, isn’t it?”
“Heh, you’re learning!” Lola winked. “I do encourage you to consider one though. The kitchen here is really good and as I said, you just seem to need a little bit more encouragement.”
“But… but I don’t want to…” Erin stammered.
“Then why did you come here for this three course meal in the first place?” Lola asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“I,” Erin started but she stopped. Lola was right. She did come here specifically because this offer intrigued her a lot. She found that the idea might actually appeal to her. She… wanted this.
“So, what’ll it be?” Lola asked again.
“I’ll… I’ll take the wedges,” Erin blurted out blushing madly. She was giving in. She knew then that by the end of this night, she’d be fully naked in the middle of this busy restaurant… and she wanted that.
“Aaaand noted,” the waitress said with a giggle, enjoying this all too much. “Two pieces of clothing, please.”
“Right… right…” Erin hesitated as she wondered what to take off. The least revealing would be her socks, but they were underneath her tights. Then again, taking off her tights wouldn’t be too bad either. Thus, she stood up, staying closer to the mirror side than the window side. She could almost feel all of the eyes on her, but whenever she looked through the window, they still weren’t looking her way. Perhaps it was just the eyes of Lola that were inspecting her from top to toe. Eventually, she had taken off her tights and one of her socks, handing them over to the waitress.
“Thank you kindly,” Lola grinned. “Enjoy your soup, ma’am.” And with that, Lola left, her sock and tights disappearing with her.
Erin could feel the floor with her bare right foot. It wasn’t cold in the room but she could still feel a chill running down her spine as goosebumps appeared on her leg. It was so unbelievable. She was really doing this. She was really going to go naked here. She was really going to be the only naked individual in a restaurant full of clothed people.
She tried to calm down. She took a piece of bread, dipped it into her soup and took a small bite. Well, if anything, the rumours were right. She loved it, even though it was just one small bite out of the appetizer. Taking her spoon, she had a bit of soup and sure enough, it was simply divine. This was the kind of food that she could only ever dream of affording with her meagre salary, and here she was, eating it for only ten dollars and the prospect of being naked later tonight. What a crazy situation this all was!