He nodded seriously. “Yes, way. I know! The Kmart is a good half hour further away. Who would have thought that we would be so lucky to have a Walmart so close? I’ll tell you everyone was pretty excited when they announced plans to build here. Gave a lot of people jobs, too.”
She slapped his arm. “I didn’t mean ‘no way’ in a good way!” And then she saw the twinkle in his eyes and huffed, “Okay, you got me! Where do people go to buy nice things?”
“First, I need to make something clear. Hitting is not respectful. No hitting.”
“Seriously? I was just being playful.”
“I told you I was old fashioned. Hitting isn’t being playful, it’s rude.”
She shoved against his shoulder and rocked him, “Come on! Oh wait, I get it! You’re teasing me again!”
He shook his head. “At the risk of further battery, no, I am not teasing or joking. Aggressive contact is rude and I will not allow it.”
“Won’t allow it! What are you, the politeness police?”
“It appears that I may have to add that role to my other mentoring duties. I expect all members of this History Department to conduct themselves with respectable and respectful manners at all times. And if I have to teach you good manners I will.”
“Oh, yeah?” She jutted out her jaw and gave him a menacing look.
He sighed, “That expression is most unbecoming, my dear, try to avoid it, please.”
She smirked, “Which expression? My words or my face?”
“I actually meant your face, but your words are equally offensive, or to be clear, the manner in which you uttered them is offensive.”
“Well, good. That’s what that whole package, words and face, is meant to convey.”
“So, that would be an excellent example of brattiness, wouldn’t it?” She nodded, pleased with herself. “Do you recall what I said brats deserve?” Her eyes took on a look of uncertainty and she hesitated before shaking her head. “Oh Audrey, I do believe you are lying to me. But I will let it pass, this time only, because I am about to spell everything out to you and make certain that we have a crystal clear understanding here. Brats deserve to be spanked until they learn their manners. Lying is very offensive and will be met with an even sterner response.” He nodded at her outraged gasp. “Yes. I am telling you that I intend to spank you when you are bratty or rude or disrespectful. That spanking will be on your bare bottom, just to be absolutely clear. I will take my belt to you for lying. And yes, that will be bare bottomed as well. In fact, I expect that all your punishments will be bare bottomed, even if it’s just standing in the corner.”
She paled, and had difficulty swallowing, finally achieving a big gulp. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I am.”
“This is not happening!”
“Yes, Alice, it is. Your world just turned into Wonderland, a place where strange things you aren’t expecting may occur at any time.”
“But… But, Rich… But I… You…” She shook her head. “This can’t be real. Please tell me that this is a practical joke you pull on all the new faculty members!”
“I’m sorry, Audrey. This is not a joke. I have certain standards, my History Department has certain standards, Wheatleigh has certain standards and it is my responsibility to see that you meet them. I lose my job if you don’t. So I will depend on the old fashioned tried and true methods of making sure that my lessons for you are learned completely.”
“But, Rich, we were getting along pretty well, I thought. I thought you even liked me. You teased me about the Walmart and everything!”
He smiled gently. “Yes, we were getting along pretty well. Yes, I do like you. But you need to listen to my warnings when I tell you to watch your behavior, because I will only warn once and then I will spank.”
She seemed to shrink in on herself, crossing her arms over her chest until each hand was griping the opposite arm, giving herself a hug. He waited patiently, curious to see how she would respond to the new order of things in her world. “So. I slapped your arm. You said no hitting and I shoved you. Does that mean I’m out of warnings and you are about to spank me?” she asked quietly.
“No blustering? No threats to tell President Boxford or call the police? No storming into your room and pulling out a suitcase and starting to pack?”
“I can’t go home. My family made it very clear that I have to stick out this job. Boxford probably knows how you are planning to keep me in line. Maybe he suggested it. The local police aren’t going to believe the charges of an overtired newcomer against the well-respected local college and its staff.”
“No one ever questioned your intelligence,” he answered quietly and stood up. “Thank you for sparing me from a big scene. If you continue like this, we will get along very well indeed.”
He hadn’t planned to spank this time for the rough contact, after all she hadn’t really known how things were setting up to be. But since she was displaying such submission to her future, it would be a step backwards to let the matter go when she clearly expected some kind of punishment. “I’ll tell you what, you go stand in that corner while I go downstairs and fetch the materials you need to look at tonight and I will call this lesson learned, a little opening gesture of goodwill.”
She nodded and also stood. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome, my dear. Do remember that all your punishments are bare bottomed.”
She blushed and nodded.
“A ‘Yes sir’ is always wise when you are on such thin ice.”
She nodded again, “Yes sir. Thank you for that advice.”
“See? You are capable of quite charming manners. Along to the corner you go, skirt up and panties down, nose touching the wall and bare bottom prominently displayed.”
She shuddered and went to follow his orders.
Making a point of his dominance, he stood watching her for a bit, long enough to make her fidget. “When you are in corner time, Audrey, you will hold still. Is your nose in physical contact with the wall?”
“Yes sir.”
“Then your position is perfect. Stay that way until I return and give you permission to leave the corner.”
“Yes sir.”
When he returned, Rich stood watching Audrey a few more moments. He knew that she was aware of him by how she tensed her muscles. “Continue to stand there while I explain things a bit more thoroughly, please. I am not a monster. I will not abuse you. I am old fashioned and dislike how rude some of the interactions of every day life have become. I am not so extreme that I believe spanking is the answer to all wrongs and I hope that the spankings I need to give you are few and far between. May I never have to apply a strap or my belt to your lovely behind. Don’t ever lie to me and that wish should come true. Watch your manners and the only likely danger zone for you will be the grading issue. Do you have any questions for me?”
“I have several floating around in my head, but I feel unready to ask them at this point. Sir,” she added quickly.
“When you are ready, do not hesitate to approach me about them. The one looming over our heads that I am surprised you did not voice is the issue of your personal scheduling. I sincerely hope to avoid having your bedtime or morning routine become spanking issues. General cooperation and limited whining should keep that from happening.”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. You may replace your skirt and panties and leave the corner. Your materials are on the coffee table. I would prefer that we both remain