A Very Shameful Punishment Ch. 32

[This story will make more sense if you take the time to read the earlier instalments. In this chapter, there is some background of the story so far, but it's not a substitute for reading all the way through. There's severe discipline and some focus on bodily functions, so if inclusion of those bothers you, please read no further. All characters are over 18.]

Eleanor settled into her new position in the capital office of Goose Cookers. She liked being able to continue to focus on her creative responsibilities to imagine new products while also assuming newer duties as Director of the office. She knew she had shouldered a greater burden but she was very appreciate to Janet, her sponsor and the company's real power as Executive Vice President, for making it possible for her to come to the capital of the Women's Republic.

This enabled Eleanor to now live with Annette, now the chief of staff of the Correctional Service and a general to boot, who had recently become married to Eleanor. Women could take a second wife now, if the wife were a woman, and this was the case with Eleanor, who remained married as well to Jackson, who remained in her apartment in the second city of the Republic. Jackson had come to Eleanor's aid when she had emerged from her humiliating sentence after being found guilty of adultery with another woman's husband.

Eleanor was eventually cleared of this crime but not before she had served the year's sentence of being infibulated. That meant that her vulval opening was sewed closed except for a small aperture for the release of menses and urine. She was now some years past this awful time and was living not merely a normal, but a highly successful life which included her having designed several successful products for the well-regarded, women-oriented Goose Cookers firm.

When Eleanor came to the capital, her roommates Denise and Linda, who were sergeants in the Correctional Service, were assigned to the Retraining Center in the service at the capital, mainly through the influence of Annette. They remained close friends of Eleanor, to whom they thus owed their present advancement, as they had been promoted to the grade of Sergeant First Class (SSG).

Now Eleanor faced the prospect that after a relatively brief time in charge of her new office, she would need to evaluate the performance of the other employees she now supervised: Nancy, a legislative specialist; Deirdre, the office manager; Sandy, an IT specialist; and Beverly, a creative copywriter.

Eleanor had become friendly with Nancy and Sandy, who took her to lunch the first day. She also had been invited by Beverly to her home for dinner, where Eleanor met Annie, Beverly's live-in submissive. Eleanor had first encountered Beverly in the ladies' room at the restaurant where the group had lunched. Bev was disciplining Annie in the ladies' room, which was now a standard practice in the Republic. Eleanor did not disapprove of this, although she preferred to deal with these kinds of things privately. She also had been present as the dinner guest when Annie mistakenly served her a gin and tonic which was all gin. Beverly proceeded to discipline Annie severely in front of Eleanor.

Janet had instituted a rigorous performance evaluation system. She had previously evaluated the women in the capital office and frequently given them low grades because they did not meet her high expectations. Getting a low grade here did not immediately endanger their employment but it did indicate how she regarded them and thus might well affect their promotional chances or time of promotion.

She had gradually increased Nancy's grade from an initial failing 67 to a very good level now of 85, as she assessed Nancy's development of useful contacts in the Republic's bureaucracy in the capital. Sandy received a 90 now, up from 80, because Janet felt her IT skills were being well utilized for the benefit of the office and the company as a whole. Deirdre, the office manager, did serve until now as Janet's direct line of information and communication so Janet had grade her more highly than she might have been entitled. Last time Janet had been disappointed in some of the operating reports Deirdre had submitted and she gave her a 71, which was one point above passing.

Beverly, whose dominant personality was known to all of the office, but was a shrewd copywriter and creative staffer, had been given an 80 by Janet, which was regarded as more than acceptable in the organization. Janet had a reputation as a tough grader so anything above the 70s was regarded as good in the company. Despite her severity in this area, Janet was very much liked by everyone. They knew how she was responsible for much of the company's success, despite the presence of the chair and president, Deborah, and Toni.

After the first month, when she needed to call in each employee for evaluation, Eleanor thought through her findings for evaluations. She was friendly to each staffer and told them that she hoped they understood that Janet likely knew as much about them as she did, so that it was incumbent on Eleanor to grade as tightly as Janet had. She added that she was perfectly happy if anyone wished to take their grade to Janet for review, since, she said, Janet knew them and their work, although they no longer reported directly to her.

Eleanor knew that Nancy did deal with Janet a great deal and that Deirdre passed on information to her. Janet did not rely on Deirdre as much, so she told Eleanor to make it clear to Deirdre that she needed to perform well independent of any contact with Janet. Eleanor was able to discern that Sandy's performance continued to be at a high level. Beverly was very capable but her personal life did tend to intrude.

Eleanor called in Nancy and told her she felt Nancy had been doing well but needed to emphasize maintaining close contact with leaders as well as bureaucrats. Eleanor told her she would continue her rating at 85 but that she expected improvement and that this need had been noted previously by Janet. Nancy was slightly upset by the implied criticism but thanked Eleanor and acknowledged that she needed to work harder.

Sandy thanked her after Eleanor told her she would continue to receive a 90. Eleanor did think her work was excellent, but the grade reflected the need to keep IT staff motivated because they were in high demand. Goose Cookers was regarded as a top workplace but that alone would not keep a talented pro like Sandy on board.

Deirdre and Beverly presented issues. Janet had not been entirely satisfied with Deirdre. She appreciated her as an information source but wanted her to attend to managing the office more usefully. Eleanor called her in and said that she wanted to encourage Deirdre, but she had not noticed improvement sufficient to satisfy Janet. Thus, she had to give Deirdre a 69, which was a failure by a single point. She said she hoped this would stimulate the office manager to approach her job more determinedly.

Deirdre was surprised but not entirely because she knew that Janet had conveyed her reservations about her to Eleanor. She said she would take it on herself to dig in and make more of a contribution. Eleanor said to her that she did not like to give anyone a failing grade, but that Deirdre had been sufficiently below standard to attract Janet's attention. She added that Deirdre needed to improve because Eleanor was not going to support her if she did not work hard. Deirdre saw that Eleanor was not trying to assert authority especially when Eleanor told her she did not want to be doing Deirdre's job, so she fought off tears and managed to stammer that she would do better by next time.

Lastly, Eleanor had to deal with Beverly. She told her that she liked her creative contributions but that it had become a problem that Beverly was becoming known for her public shaming of her partner. Eleanor said this was only relevant because it had gotten wide circulation in terms of how often contacts mentioned it to her. Beverly seemed a bit nonplussed by this criticism and seemed about to cry.

"I'm going to give you a 72, Bev," Eleanor said. "You know you can talk to Janet at any time, but I don't expect she will be very sympathetic. We do as well as we do because of our own capability, and you are definitely part of that, but also our reputation. Your public behavior has not helped there. You've pulled up your evaluation previously and I'm confident you can do that now. I'm not threatening you, really, but you've attracted enough negative comment that you might have been graded in the 60s."

Eleanor was quietly pleased that this seemed to have the desired effect. Beverly was close to tears, but she told Eleanor now that she admired her and wanted to help her in all ways. "I will restrain my public behavior and be a positive person, with no more ladies room punishment," she said quite plainly.

"That sounds quite good to me, Bev," Eleanor replied with a smile, "and let's get this on track so that you can get back to the level you were at and even climb higher. You have the stuff." Beverly managed a smile and as they stood, she gave Eleanor a hug.

Soon after Eleanor finished the evaluations and was stepping out for a late lunch with Annette, she arrived at the general's office suite in a large government complex just in time to pick up the daily edition of the Women's Republic Transcript, the capital's daily newspaper. On page 3 was a feature, complete with flattering picture, which Eleanor knew was due to come out about her assumption of the position she now held.

ELEANOR CONTINUES HER RISE AT GOOSE COOKERS;

CREATIVE SPARK NOW HEADS CAPITAL OFFICE

By Anne Marie Criswell

Eleanor, the well-known creative sparkplug at the highly successful women's products company, Goose Cookers, has been promoted to serve as Director of the concern's capital office.

She clearly continues to hold the confidence of Executive Vice President Janet, who remains in the second city headquarters but is a familiar figure in the capital. The move accompanied Eleanor's recent marriage to General Annette, now the chief of staff of the Women's Republic Correctional Service.

It will be recalled that Eleanor brings an unusual background to her present successful climb. A few years ago, she was convicted of adultery and sentenced by the Supreme Court to a severe punishment of a year's infibulation for her offense. After she had served that draconian sentence, she was cleared, and the conviction quashed and expunged because the prosecutrix was shown not to have been married to the man with whom Eleanor had consorted. Both the prosecutrix and her counsel were punished corporally by the court for the fraud they perpetrated.

The non-husband—he no longer lives with his purported "wife" together—awaits sentencing after having been located following his spending time at a men's reorientation camp. Earlier proceedings have left him possibly subject to being castrated for his continued antisocial behavior.

Eleanor has gone on to great success conceiving new products for Goose Cookers. She has thought up clever kinds of underwear and other personal products mostly for women, all of which have gone on to high sales volume among the leading citizens of the Republic and many others.

Her recent marriage to General Annette was a major social event of the current season here. She does remain married as well to Jackson, who apparently resides in the second city where he continues to be employed.

It's expected that Eleanor, who is the first to be named Director of the firm's capital office, will continue to develop new products as well as share responsibility with the well-known and well-connected Janet for the firm's relationships here at the highest circles and levels of government and business. They are assisted by the veteran Nancy, long the company's liaison officer based here.

Insiders have reported that two other employees, Deirdre, the office manager, and Beverly, a copywriter and creative, have been told to shape up. It is well known that Janet is both well-liked by and very demanding of her staff; it appears from early reports that Eleanor will be following in her footsteps in both respects.

"Eleanor remains a valued member of our executive and creative staff," Janet declared in a telephone interview recently, "She has proven her worth to the company and is a stellar example to all of how one may succeed after enduring great challenges on both the professional and personal levels. I believe she is a superb model for our Republic's women in her recovering from what was a bad mistake and building her career thereafter."

Eleanor smiled as she finished reading the story. She had to expect this kind of coverage and there was little in it to take exception to, she figured. She did let Janet know it had appeared and Janet called her back after getting her message to tell her she was pleased at how Eleanor must have dealt with the reporter.

"When Anne Marie called," Eleanor said to Janet, "I suggested that she speak to you and I declined to say anything for attribution."

"Very wise," Janet responded.

"I did pass on some of the factual stuff to give her something to write about," Eleanor admitted. "I hope you felt I handled it acceptably. I'm afraid she will always be checking up on me since she has covered this story since the...well, you know."

"You did," Janet answered in a positive tone Eleanor readily perceived, "and I agree with your evaluations. Deirdre did contact me, and I told her she really needs to buckle down. I do feel a bit responsible for her continued sloth. Beverly is another story. She may not still understand that we just can't have the kind of publicity she attracts. I hope you will be willing to tell her that you gave her a break but that she will be downgraded far further if she doesn't clean up her act, in public at least."

"I'll do just that," Eleanor said. "As always, I do appreciate your support here. This could have been a very disagreeable moment, but I think I see our way clear to get things up to the level we both want."

"I have full confidence in you," Janet answered, "and you know that. Just keep up in the way you have been doing since you started with us and we will continue to be happy on all fronts.:

The next day, Beverly came in to see Eleanor and closed the office door behind her.

"Do you want me out?" she asked Eleanor bluntly. "I need to know because I can't stay if I'm going to be held out to dry indefinitely."

Eleanor looked her in the eye and responded, "Bev, I knew how pissed off Janet was at the way you have attracted undesirable attention. I'm not sure how she would've evaluated you, but I knew she might come down on me for passing you. I did give you a passing grade because I feel you have a fine future with us, but you've got to get control and stop carrying on in public. I will get you promoted but if you get any more bad notice, your next evaluation will be a low failure."

Beverly took a deep breath. "I'll change, Ellie," she said in a subdued tone now. "I hope it's ok if I call you that. I feel like I should be disciplined by you for being so caught up in my own delusions."

"Well," Eleanor said calmly, "you know what happens if you got a low failure. Consider that I've managed to get you off from that until at least your next evaluation."

"Yes," Beverly asserted, "I know that anyone who gets below 60 is subject to being disciplined by her supervisor. Can I ask what your punishment would be?"

"I'll tell you only because I never want to have to award it or implement it," Eleanor responded. "I would have the discretion to spank, tawse, or cane you. I really don't want to have to do any of those, Bev. I like your work. Just do what you already know you must do, and we'll be fine."

"Would you punish me anyway?" Beverly now asked plaintively. "I feel so awful that you and Janet have been pissed off and I want to get this behind me."

Eleanor knew that she would lose her authority if she didn't exercise it here.

"If you really mean that," she said, "you can come to my apartment after work. You know where I live. I'll leave word to expect you at the front desk at 6:00 P.M."

"I'll be there," Beverly replied with a huge smile. "I'm so pleased you will do this for me, Eleanor. You won't regret it."

"Good," Eleanor said with a placid expression. "I do look forward to seeing you later." With that, she rose, held the door open, and thanked Beverly for coming to see her.

Eleanor was pleased with how this predictable encounter had gone. She put her things together and quietly left the office to go to her apartment.

She really wasn't expecting Annette to be there already. They kissed and hugged. Then Eleanor explained that she was going to have a problem employee over and told Annette how she had rated Beverly, their meeting thereafter, and Beverly's request that she be disciplined.

"Some dominant women are like that, darling," Annette declared. "She needs to experience being whacked by you to develop a healthy respect for you as her boss. It sounds totally weird but believe me, I've had that happen."

Eleanor sounded relieved at how Annette was backing her up.

"I did worry that I was setting myself up," she replied, "but this would look worse for Beverly if it got out."

"Correct," Annette said. "I don't think it will be a problem if I'm present, would there be?"

"No," Eleanor answered. "I think your presence will lend some gravity to the occasion. And, afterward, well you know where I want us to go."

Annette grinned and gazed longingly at the door to their bedroom.

They relaxed on the couch and cuddled in the relative brief time they had until Beverly would arrive. When it neared 6:00 P.M., Eleanor separated herself from Annette's warm embrace and straightened her skirt. She had not changed so looked dressed for business. This was more of a need here in the capital, so Eleanor wore her good pin striped suits more often and nice blazers with matching contrasting skirts.

Annette was dressed in a less formal uniform that she had come back from her office wearing, since she always had one uniform or another on when at work, or on almost any other occasion other than recreational. Eleanor liked that this green uniform did have her general's stars on it, however.

A few minutes after six brought the call from the front desk that in accordance with Miss Eleanor's instructions, Beverly was being sent up. Soon the doorbell to their apartment sounded and Eleanor rose to answer it.

Beverly entered and was instantly overwhelmed by the functional high quality of the décor.

"You've quite a gorgeous place here, Eleanor," she said weakly, "and I haven't seen the half of it yet, have I?"

Eleanor smiled self-deprecatingly and introduced Annette to Beverly.

"Wow," Beverly said, in total awe as she saw the stars on Annette's shoulders, "a real general!"

"I was still real when I woke up this morning," Annette commented, a tad mordantly.

"Let's deal with the matter of hand," Eleanor stated rather bluntly, but then smiled and added, "Afterward, I hope you have time to stay for a bit of refreshment and talk."

Beverly was pleased that she was being invited to stay on with both of them. But then Eleanor stood and pointed to the large side table across the spacious living room.

"Face the table there," Eleanor said in a very firm voice, pointing the direction, "and lift your skirt well above your waist and hold it up there."

Beverly was only slightly surprised at Eleanor's take-charge manner. She walked to the table and pulled up her skirt, disclosing a pair of plain white panties, shiny and surprisingly tight on Beverly's rear especially.

Eleanor walked over to stand behind her, carrying her thin marital cane, the one she had been given way back when she married Jackson.