Cindy Ch. 01

The rest of the week went much the same way, as each day he explained more about what he did, and the care and handling of old books and manuscripts. At lunchtime, he took her to a small discrete restaurant in the lane, where he ordered her a light salad, orange juice, and fresh baked bread. Cindy thought this a bit unusual, but didn't mind. She knew she should be eating better than she did, and this helped solve the problem. She soon discovered that he lived in the apartment over the shop, but he never invited her up. Cindy wasn't sure if she felt upset or relieved that he hadn't. There was also a basement, but that was kept locked, and he never mentioned it, or explained what was down there, probably old storage, she thought.

Two week went by, and gradually Cindy settled in. A surprising amount of foot traffic came in and out, and a corresponding amount of telephone calls. Many were requests for a catalog, or someone looking for a particular book. After a while it was easy for Cindy to look it up in the database and give the information. Cindy did felt frustrated at times, especially when he was near, but she couldn't, or wouldn't put into words why. All went well until the day she spilled coffee over a particularly rare book. The look of annoyance on his face was clear, and Cindy held her breath, wondering what he was going to do. At first he said nothing, but immediately took the book to his lab and carefully washing the pages with a clear solution of something. Cindy watched from the doorway, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to do that." Cindy stammered, feeling a sense of foreboding about what he was going to do.

"I should hope not, but I will see you in my office at lunch time." His voice sounding calm and controlled. He was defiantly angry with her.

Cindy's stomach did a flip-flop, fearing the worse. He was going to fire her she knew it. That was the second book she'd damaged, and this one obviously a lot more expensive than the first one. Going back to her desk near the front door, she looked it up on the computer, gulping when she saw the asking price. She closed her eyes, seeing the unemployment line looming before her. At noon, instead of going to lunch as usual, she walked hesitantly to his office and knocked on the closed door.

"Come." His deep baritone voice called. Cindy walked in, and sat carefully on the hard wooden chair, her back tiff and straight, her hands in her lap.

"What am I going to do with you, Cindy?" He sighed, opening the conversation.

"I don't know, sir. I... I..." He held his hand up to cut off her protestations.

"This is the second book you've damaged, and you have only just paid off the cost of repair to that one." She had to admit. He'd only taken a little out of her paycheck each week to cover the cost. "Now this."

"Yes, sir." She couldn't think of anything else to say. She looked down at the floor, picking at the nail polish on her thumb.

"I could fire you, Cindy; you know that, don't you." Cindy nodded, feeling miserable.

"However, you did sign the arbitration agreement when you started here."

"Yes, sir, I remember."

"Do you understand what that meant, Cindy?"

"Um... well, arbitration means to negotiate, I think."

"True, partly. In this case, it means that I can suggest an alternative form, or method of redress that negates the necessity of firing you, understand?"

"Yes, sir, I think I do. But, um... what do you mean by alternative form or method of redress?"

"It means in layman's terms that I can offer another method of punishment for damaging that book," Cindy looked up, startled at the word punishment, "it's much as I suggested when you damaged the other book, do you remember?"

She did, he'd quoted from the book, saying that for any given offence, an equal, and effective punishment should be administered to the culprit. He'd gone on to say that such a punishment was not within his power to administer at that time. With her signing the consent form, now it was. The question was, could she, or should she agree to whatever punishment he suggested. He waited patiently for her to answer. He wasn't exerting any undue influence on her exactly, as he'd pointed out. He had every right to fire her at this moment for damaging a book worth several thousand dollars, one hundred and fifty seven thousand to be exact.

She would have no recourse to Employee Relations if he did, and faced the prospect of unemployment, and no money. On the other hand, he was offering a way to mitigate, or even erase her blunder. Did she really have, no, she corrected did she really want a choice. Taking a deep breath she decided she didn't.

"What..." she swallowed hard, finding her throat suddenly dry, "what do you suggests, sir?" She managed to get out at last, her eyes flicking up to look at his face. He smiled slightly, and in answer, opened a desk draw and lifted out a thin wooden paddle, placing it on the desk in front of her. He didn't have to say a word.

"Oh my..." Her eyes flicked between the paddle and his face, seeing a questioning look. "I... I... is there..." She stop, knowing the only other choice was dismissal.

It was 'clear her desk' or 'bend over it'. She gulped, and carefully licked her dry lips, desperately trying to avoid looking at him. "Where?" She said at last, feeling a shiver run up her body.

In answer he stood and walked around the desk, picking up the paddle as he did. He gently took her by the upper arm and lifted her to her feet, walking her behind the chair. He then turned her so she faced the back and placed his hand on her shoulder. The slight pressure was sufficient to bend her reluctantly over, until she placed her hands on the seat. Now she understood why the top rail of the chair back was so low, and the reason for the thick padding. The rail came to just above her hips, and a slight pressure from his hand pushed her down until she had to place her elbows on the hard wooden seat.

"Carelessness with rare books is unacceptable, don't you agree, Cindy?"

"Yes, sir." She muttered, a small sob escaping her lips. She bit down on her lower lip to stop another escaping.

She felt his hand grip the hem of her skirt and slowly lift it, exposing her pantyhose and panty covered bottom. He carefully tucked the hem into the waistband to hold it out of the way before hooking two thumbs into the waistband of her pantyhose. For a moment she thought to protest, but then she would be reneging on her agreement.

She'd hoped, a forlorn one that he might not give her a bare bottom spanking, but the feel of her pantyhose being pulled down sent that hope to where so many others had gone. All that was left were her panties, and she wished she'd worn a different pair, instead of these plain white ones. What difference that would have made she had no idea, just that she would have liked for him to have seen a more flattering pair of panties. His thumbs returned, and she felt them work their way under the waistband.

He did it slowly, obviously giving her the chance to change her mind, or more because he was enjoying it, she thought. The waistband slid over her smooth round bottom and down to mid-thigh, and she sucked in her breath, moaning softly. This was the first time a man, other than her father had ever seen her this way, and it frightened her. She began to pant, making small inarticulate sounds in her throat. On the verge of panic, she clenched her fists, feeling slightly ashamed of herself for letting him do this to her. But he wasn't, she was doing this to herself a small voice reminded her.

"Spread your legs as far as you can, Cindy." His voice soft and coaxing.

"Oh god no... pleases."

"Open your legs, Cindy." Slightly stronger this time.

She did, opening her legs as far as her panties would allow, another small sob escaping. She felt his hand slide smoothly over her exposed bottom and shivered, knowing what he was looking at, her pussy, and blushing bright red. At last he moved to the side, placing one hand in the small of her back. Cindy gritted her teeth in anticipation, glancing sideways to see him raise the paddle.

WHACK! It landed with a resounding, stinging smack across both cheeks of her bottom, making her jump.

"Oh god! That hurts!" She moaned, pushing herself up slightly. The firm hand held her down as the paddle landed again.

WHACK! WHACK!

"Oh god... no more... please!" She begged.

"Do you believe that three whacks is sufficient punishment for the damage you did, Cindy?" For a moment she couldn't say a word as the pain dissipated, and then she shook her head. She knew the answer, it wasn't.

"No, sir, it isn't." Why she said it she didn't know, only that it was the correct response.

"Good, then we shall continue until it is."

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Cindy stifled a scream, sobbing in pain.

"Please." She begged.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

She let out a wail of pain, tears running down her face. She desperately wanted to grab her bottom, the fiery pain radiating down her legs and into her stomach, her pussy feeling as if it were on fire. Five more times the paddle landed, and now she screamed, the bright stinking pain sending spikes of lighting shooting through her body.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Cindy stifled another scream. Her Dad had never spanked her this hard, but then again she'd never damaged a thousand dollar book before.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! She was passed screaming now, and simply lay over the back of the chair and accepted her punishment.

"Stand up, Cindy, and put your hands on top of your head."

"What? No..."

WHACK! The paddle landed on her upper thigh this time.

"Ohhhhh."

"Put your hands on the top of your head, Cindy." With that painful reminder, she did, standing there, sobbing, while tears ran down her face, hopping from foot to foot and she lifted her leg to try and relieve the throbbing pain in her bottom.

"Good, now go stand in the corner."

Saying that, he gently pushed her to an empty corner of his office, and she stood there with her forehead against the cool wall, and cried. With her Mom or Dad, she'd been spanked hard, but quick, with or without panties, and left to cry in her room by herself. She'd often got the 'Solacane' and sprayed to on her bottom to help kill the pain. Now she had to stand there with no relief whatsoever. She heard the slight squeak as he sat in his chair, knowing he was looked at her bare bottom.

Humiliation swept over her, and she cried even more. It never occurred to her to just disobey and pull up her panties and leave. She felt like she was ten years old again, spanked for some misdemeanor or other by her parents. She could no more disobey Richard Masters, than she could them. Gradually the sobbing stopped, and the tears dried up, except for an occasional hic-up of one as the burning sting gradually subsided.

"Come and sit down, Cindy... No, don't pull your panties up." He'd anticipated what she'd do, before she'd even started to do it. Obediently she came over and carefully sat, wincing as her hot bottom touched the cold hard seat. "Now then, I'm sure your mother told you, or maybe not, but pantyhose are defiantly out, for many reason. Mainly I hate them. So as of tomorrow you will start wearing stocking and a garter belt." Cindy just sniffed, taking the handkerchief he offered and blowing her nose.

"You can get what you need at the store next door."

"Yes, sir. She murmured softly.

"I'll arrange it with the owner, who is a personal friend of mind." He paused a moment. "I would also suggest that you purchase some different panties, as those you are wearing are fit only for grandmothers, or dead people." That made Cindy blush bright red, and she nodded in agreement. "You may want to go to the rest room to tidy up, before we go to lunch."

"Yes, sir." Standing, she blushingly pulled up her panties and pantyhose, and then dropped the hem of her skirt before turning and going to the rest room.

She couldn't help pulling one side of her panties down and looking at her bright red bottom. He'd really spanked her hard, but then again, she deserved it. She'd been careless where the book was concerned, and any other place, they would have fired her on the spot. It occurred to her then, that if she screwed up in future, she could expect this, or worse. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing surprise written all over her face. What if she really screwed up, how would he punish her then? She gulped, realizing she'd opened the door to something by accepting this punishment. She giggled softly, despite the pain in her bottom, images from the book flashing through her mind.

"Oh my!" She muttered. Next time she'd find out what the punishment was, before she accepted... or maybe not. She shivered, feeling herself get wet. Was there any limit to what he could ask?

"Ready, Cindy?" Richard asked from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Coming, sir." That was an understatement.

END of PART ONE