Red Notice Ch. 02

"So? What did you say?"

I was with Alexa, my flatmate, sat on our joke of a sofa with legs crossed, empty mugs and Domino's boxes crowding the coffee table, and Taskmaster on the TV. We were both ignoring it -- Alexa only had eyes for me. News of the money had blown her mind -- I hadn't told her about the spanking. Not yet. Evening had fallen on Colliers Wood by the time I got back and Alexa contrasted my interview attire significantly -- pink pyjama bottoms and a loose and baggy Metallica t-shirt on her slim body. Her dyed turquoise hair was short and cropped and almost irretrievably messy, her face pale and dotted with brown moles, and her nose ring glinted when the light from the TV hit it at the right angle.

"I said I'd have to think about it." Alexa gawped at me. "Nadine said I've got 'til tomorrow morning to make a decision. You think I should take it?"

"Obviously, idiot!" she almost shouted. "Sixty eight thou'?! Are you kidding?"

"It's hard to believe."

"Yeah -- you're fuckin' telling me," she sighed. "Sixty eight... mental. That's walkin' around money. And here I am working for Morton Council like some sorta chump." I sniggered.

"It's still a huge choice. Big money or not. Relocating to live on the grounds. You wouldn't see much of me."

"Well, I'd be a dog shit friend if I stopped you," Alexa replied, pulling her knees up and holding her legs, and I realised now was as good a time as any to tell her.

"Then there's the other thing."

"What thing's that?" I looked at her. "What?"

"So... turns out, Crownbird has this policy..."

"What policy?" Alexa watched me suspiciously. Just say it, Kelly. As if you could resist it.

"Basically, they do corporal punishment there." Alexa's mouth fell open. "And it'll be my job to, like, implement it." Her mouth fell open even more.

"What the fuck?" she asked, half-laughing.

"I know," I replied, shaking my head.

"That's... is that legal?"

"I looked it up," I said, for I had, "and, yeah, it is, cause the students are adults and they consent to it to get admitted and all that." Alexa just looked away from me, her face contorting as she fought back laughter.

"I am in awe," she said, finally, grinning at me.

"I'm in shock," I sighed. "I don't know how I'll cope. Having to spank random girls."

"Wait." Alexa grabbed my arm and I flinched, hard. "Spank? Spanking? You never said spanking."

"That's how they do it. It's literally the rule."

"Holy shit," Alexa mumbled, looking past me and to the wall. "They got any more jobs going?"

"I don't think so," I replied, laughing nervously.

"Dang." She shook her head. "So, to recap, you're getting paid nearly seventy grand to spank girls... and you're having doubts."

"Well, when you put it that way..." I laughed. "Guess I can quit if I can't stand it."

"Exactly -- course you can quit. Don't see why you would -- but you can." She scratched her scalp, ruffling her hair even more so.

"I don't even know how to spank," I said meekly. Alexa laughed.

"How hard do you think it is?"

"Well, I'm presumably not meant to make a fist, am I?"

"No, that's a very different procedure," she sniggered. "But it can be tricky, I guess, if you don't know what you're doing. There's a certain, I guess, code of conduct."

"Like what?"

"Well..." She considered for a moment. "This is getting surreal very fast."

"It is," I said, nodding. "But go on."

"Well, open palm, obviously," Alexa said, demonstrating with her hand. "Keep your rings off."

"I don't wear rings."

"Even better. And you've gotta figure out how to position them. And just go at your own pace. I suppose it's different when it's discipline and not kinky. I can't imagine you dishing out discipline, like, at all."

"Neither can I," I sighed. "I'll just choke on my first try. I know it."

"Well, maybe your first try shouldn't be when it matters. You need to get some practice in."

"How?" I saw a glint in her eye.

"Spank me," Alexa said bluntly.

"Is that a joke?" I asked.

"No -- go on." Casual as you like. "Let's see what you can do."

"Uh..." My mouth felt dry. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"I'm only asking you to spank me -- I'm not asking you to marry me," she sniggered.

"I know, but, still-"

"What -- scared you might like it?"

"No, course not, it'd just feel weird."

"How do you know?"

"I..." I hesitated long enough for her to jump in.

"I'll walk you through it. It's fine, just trust me." She took my hand and squeezed it, smirking. "You gotta get practice in somehow, right?"

"Okay, well, how do we start?" I mumbled. Alexa regarded me.

"Well, first of all, don't have your legs crossed," she instructed.

Meekly, I obeyed, my feet now hanging over the sofa, staring at her and waiting for her next move. "Okay, and then..." She stretched out and, suddenly, was lying over my lap, heavy over my legs, her pyjama-clad butt right in front of me, the hem of her shirt riding up so a stripe of bare, pale skin separated it from her waistband. Through the pink fabric, I could see the dark silhouette of a thong. My heart hammered -- I can't say I'd dreamed of this exact situation but it was close enough. Alexa was pretty. She'd always been pretty.

"Just like that, then?" I said, trying to laugh it off, my hands dangling over her, unsure where to put them. Alexa looked over her shoulder at me and grinned.

"Enjoying the view?"

"I just don't know what to do with my hands."

"Hold my hip with your left," she said, and I did. Her hip was bony and I enjoyed the feeling of her weight shifting as I pulled her against me. "Gotta keep me fastened against you so I can't get away. They'll try and get away -- trust me."

"I see," I said, quietly.

"You might also have to fight their hands -- they might be trying to stop you."

"Right. And my other hand?"

"Just put that on my leg. Or arse. Whichever you prefer." She winked at me -- I chose her leg. It rested on her soft thigh, cupping it slightly, warm against my skin.

"So, yeah," she said, still looking back at me, "that's all there is to it, really,"

"Seems simple, I guess," I said. "But they're not all gonna be as cooperative as you."

"Oh, definitely not, God no," Alexa replied. A moment of silence passed -- she watched me, shifting a little on my lap.

"What?" I asked.

"You gonna stare at it or you gonna spank it?" she replied, smirking.

"I'm not staring."

"Well, it's waiting for you." Alexa wiggled her bottom.

"Is that really necessary?"

"Such a sweet summer child," she sighed. "If you wanna get your practice in and not embarrass yourself, then, yeah, it is. Go on. I promise I won't cry."

Tentatively, I lifted my hand from her thigh, seeing her bottom tense up a little, then brought it down on the further cheek, my palm open. The slap filled the room and Alexa flinched, her eyes slammed shut for a moment, and I quickly lifted my hand again.

"Sorry!" I cried. "Was that too much?"

"Don't apologise," Alexa giggled, "that kinda defeats the purpose of a punishment." She turned her head away, crossing her arms and resting her chin on them, raising her hips so her bottom lifted invitingly nearer. "Continue."

"Okay, just say when I should stop, I guess," I said quietly, before bringing another smack, this time on the nearer cheek. Alexa grunted in response, then laughed at herself. Another smack -- this time, I dared to grip the cheek, enjoying its plumpness, the shape easy to determine through her pyjama's thin fabric. More smacks, each filling the room, each causing her bottom to wobble prettily, each bringing a strained breath from Alexa.

"You're quite good at this," she suddenly said.

"Am I?" I asked.

"Yeah; bit of a natural."

Another smack -- this time, Alexa's back arched, her head raised, eyes tightened shut, and I thought I heard a whimper escape. I sped up, landing smack after smack, alternating cheek, and the whimper turned into a continuous groan, almost of protect, her face now back against her arms. Her bare feet started to kick involuntarily at each strike as her t-shirt rode further up her back. Finally, I stopped, my hand stinging, and I watched as Alexa lay there, shivering and mumbling into the duvet.

"Are you okay?" I asked, and she just nodded. "Did I go too far?" She shook her head and, in reply, I landed a final smack against her nearest cheek -- it wobbled pleasantly and she squealed in surprise, and I was more than a little shocked to realise how widely I was smiling. Alexa's hands tentatively left from under her face and went to her bottom, which she rubbed gently, flinching at the first touch.

"Ow..." she mumbled -- I thought I heard a soft sob in her voice. "You hit like a pro."

"Are you crying?" I asked suddenly, alarmed.

"No," she said, far too quickly to be truthful. "It's not my fault. It just hurts a lot."

"I'm sorry," I said, despite her prior advice.

"It's okay. I like it." Her hands stopped rubbing and I heard her stutter. "I don't mean I like it, I just mean..."

"I know what you mean," I teased, my own hand going to her bottom and rubbing it, joining her hands, and she paused to let me, sighing at the sensation, as I gently stroked her soft, pretty butt.

Finally, Alexa turned back to me, her face flushed.

"I think you've got this figured out," she admitted. "How does it look?"

"You tell me," I said and, thought it wasn't what I meant, Alexa turned her head away from me and her fingers went beneath the waistband of her pyjamas. Before I could stop her, she had tugged them down to just below her bottom, exposing herself and her navy blue thong, its white label jutting out from the waistband. Her pale, plump cheeks were stained pink.

"Do I look good?" Alexa asked.

"A vision in pink," I told her, and she strained to look over her shoulder, the two of us staring at her bottom.

"Cute," she sighed, before shifting from my lap and rising to stand on her knees. Her uneven pyjamas fell from her hips altogether and to her knees, her groin covered as her shirt fell back over her, before she tugged them back up. An awkward moment of silence followed as we both stared at each other.

"Well," I said at last, as Alexa reached round to rub her bottom, "I feel a bit wiser, I guess."

"That was fun," she replied. "I feel sorry for the girls you'll have over your lap soon. And a little jealous."

"It's not gonna be like that, though, I don't think," I admitted. "I mean... that was fun. It won't be fun. It's discipline. Like, yeah, I enjoyed that but I don't think I'll enjoy the real thing. Once context gets involved."

"That's very fair."

"You definitely okay?" She was still rubbing herself.

"Just stings," she said, her hands going under her pyjamas.

"I feel bad," I sighed.

Then, a thought came to me.

"You wanna... you know, get revenge. I guess I ought to know how it feels, if I'm gonna be doing it to people." Alexa's eyes widened.

"Oh, I would love to get revenge," she said, smiling. Slowly, knees buckling a little, I stood up and she took my place, before patting her thighs. "Come on then, naughty girl."

"Naughty girl?"

"It's discipline, innit?" she said, and I draped myself over her lap, feeling awkward and precarious, until her hands held me by my shoulder and hip, steadying me.

"Is this okay?" I asked, shifting nervously.

"Yeah, you're fine," Alexa assured me. "Hand on, I'll just budge backwards." She did, so now I wasn't dangling but rather laying over the sofa, which was altogether much more comfortable. I felt Alexa's hand move to between my shoulder blades, a finger stroking up and down, and I shivered.

"This is kinda nice," I mumbled, as I reached for the nearest sofa cushion and planted my face into it, not wanting the neighbours to hear any sounds I may or may not make.

"So I guess it's not representative at all, ey?" asked Alexa, and I shook my head. Looking up from the cushion, I saw through the shuttered blinds the orange lights of a car come, grow, then fade again.

"You can pull up my skirt, if you want," I mumbled.

"You sure?" I heard excitement on her tongue.

"It's only fair," I sighed.

Not a word of protest came from Alexa -- I felt my formal skirt tugged up my thighs, despite its resistance, and my butt exposed, bit by bit, as she pulled it to my waist. I tried to remember what underwear I was wearing and drew a blank, but I knew I was better covered than Alexa had been. Knowing me, I probably fretted endlessly about what was most appropriate for an interview, as if I'd be showing them off.

"Mmm," Alexa purred.

"What?" I asked, feeling my face reddening by the second, acutely aware of my exposure.

"Such a cute butt," she sighed. I felt her fingers trail along my waistband -- shivers burst all along my spine.

"I don't think I can say that to a student," I mumbled back, and Alexa sniggered.

"I guess not," she agreed.

"I've never... you know..."

"Done this before?"

"Yeah."

"Well, here's to your first time. Ready?"

"Ready."

Alexa was gentle with me, her spanks barely taps at first, gradually picking up as she alternated from cheek to cheek just like I had, the pain becoming sharper. I buried my face into the cushion, mewling, trying not to kick or cry out, my legs squeezing together. Pain built across the surface of my rear, before Alexa surprised me by shifting to my thighs, slapping them with loud cracks, and I let out an involuntary yelp.

"You good?" she asked, and I showed a limp thumbs-up. Alexa giggled and continued, no longer hitting any harder, just keeping up a rhythm, and I found a strange satisfaction in the sound of each slap through the room. I tried to imagine being a student, being made to go through this with the Student Officer, and how that Student Officer could be me, and how they might feel outraged, embarrassed, or even enjoying it, all at my hand, and I realised then that I was taking this job.

After a time, with my butt on fire, Alexa slowed, then stopped, rubbing my rear with her palm, gently as she could.

"All done," she cooed. "I'm happy with my revenge." I stayed lying there for a moment, catching my breath, before I slowly pushed myself up and got to my feet, standing with skirt still around my waist and twisted round to examine myself, feeling a wave of euphoria wash over me. I wondered if students would go through the same thing. My butt still faced Alexa, who reached out with a hand to stroke my thigh -- I saw now that I'd worn plainest black underwear, thank God, and my cheeks and thighs were stained pink by Alexa's hand.

"I'll need some cream," I said meekly, and Alexa laughed through her nose.

"You're about to move away and we probably could've been doing this all this time," she sighed.

"Well, probably not," I replied, quickly reaching for my skirt as the euphoria began to pass and negotiating it back down my thighs. Covered up again, I took a deep breath, the stinging going nowhere fast, as Alexa stood up and took my hands. I stared at her. "What?"

"I hope you have a really great time there," she said. Her eyes looked like fire and ice all at once.

"Me too," I replied, and she leaned in and kissed my cheek before pulling me into a tight hug. She was slim enough that my arms could have gone round her three times and I held her close, face buried in her shoulder, feeling the shakes starting to fade.

"So," she said into my ear, "wine?"

A few hours later, quite tipsy and sat on the foot of my bed, I was staring at my phone and hammering away at an email.

"Dear Professor Ellsworth," it read, "Thank you very much for your offer of employment. After due consideration, I would be delighted to accept."

...

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