Red Notice Ch. 10

With the day's end, I could only assume it had been a success. I'd gone through three girls and, of course, none of them would have walked away happy -- but, for the strangest of reasons, least of all Lily. I didn't know what to think about her. It was obvious that she'd enjoyed her visit, that much was beyond question, but I felt a horrible conflict inside me. Ought I have given in to temptation and given her what I sensed she wanted? The kind of punishment which, before, only existed in the legends about Ellsworth? It was impossible to settle on a singular opinion -- but the fact was that my role was to dispense that word. Punishment. Not pleasure -- punishment. If students were enjoying themselves then I wasn't doing my job right. But if I was enjoying myself, too...

"Hey!" Kam's voice shook me from my thoughts -- I was halfway down the ornate staircase to the bottom floor when they appeared behind me, lanyard swinging from round their neck, elfish face all full of excitement.

"Oh, hi!" I said. "You scared me."

"Sorry!" they laughed. "So, how'd everything go with Lily? You go mental like we all pressured you to?"

"Nah," I admitted, "I kept it simple." I thought about telling Kam what had happened but I knew it'd only cause drama. I didn't need any of that -- enough of a storm was already blowing inside my head without other people adding their own big gusts.

"That's fair -- you do you. We still up for tonight?" asked Kam -- I'd forgotten all about their proposal for us to go out, truth be told, so dazed was I by the day's events.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess so!" I said, trying to sound all bright and chirpy.

"Sick -- well, if we meet at like six outside the south gates, and then I'll show you round. Sound alright?"

"Sounds alright!" I agreed, and they hurried ahead, taking the stairs two steps at a time.

"Sorry, gotta run!" they shouted over their shoulder, almost tripping, and I waved a little limply as they vanished out the door. Students passed me, going up and down, and none seemed to be staring at me but, even without eyes on me, I still felt them, just like in the lunch queue.

From the stairs, I drifted past reception, and there stood Professor Ellsworth, looking stern and scary as always, but she managed a crinkled smile for me.

"Ah, Kelly," she said warmly, "here you are."

"Good afternoon, professor," I said, trying to be as polite as possible now I'd heard the rumours. I didn't want to give her an excuse to unleash hell -- assuming Archie was wrong and it wasn't all a bunch of hogwash.

"Oh, please, Kelly, you know it's Nadine," she chuckled. "How was your first day? I saw your had three girls sent your way -- that's three more than I expected for a first day."

"Well, my hand hurts," I admitted, and she threw her head back to laugh in that very middle-class English woman sort of way.

"Was it what you expected?"

"Not at all."

"Do you want to keep working here?" The question stunned me, just a little, and I wondered if it might be a trap.

"Yes."

"Good -- I think you should keep working here," she said, like it had been up in the air. "Getting through three red notices on your first day without running out of the room crying is a bigger achievement than you realise. You must have a knack."

"I did practice a little, with my flatmate," I said. Why on Earth did I tell her that?

"Excellent!" she cried. "Spicing up the bedroom -- I love to hear it." There were students and staff walking by us as we spoke. None looked our way but I knew they must be listening. This was quickly developing into one of the strangest conversations I'd ever had. "None of the three gave you any trouble, did they?"

"No, they were cooperative," I said, suddenly remembering the advice from the others - don't let Ellsworth know you've got a light touch. Hopefully, that wouldn't even be true soon, but for now I'd go easy on the details. "It was definitely pretty scary nonetheless - but after doing it three times I think I get it, you know?"

"Get it?" Nadine asked.

"Just..." What did I mean? " I don't know what I mean."

"That's alright, Kelly," said Nadine, smiling in an uncomfortably knowing sort of way. "I think I know what you mean. Got any plans for tonight, then?"

"I'm going out with Kam," I said. "They're showing me around the village."

"Ah, well isn't that nice? Just please don't turn up hungover tomorrow. I simply can't countenance that."

"Oh, you don't have to worry," I said quickly, immediately fretting about how many drinks Kam might push into my hands, " I'd never drink on a work night."

"Good," said Nadine, looking down on me -- she'd been looking down on me from the start, being very tall, but for the first time I became aware of it. Her face had shifted somehow. Her smile had changed. Or had her eyes? " Because our rule about staff not getting red notices is only a rule for as long as I say it's a rule. Understood?"

"I..." Don't gulp. "Yes, I understand. You won't have any issues from me; honestly."

"Good girl." She gripped my wrist in what I hope was an affectionate sort of way. "Now then, go on, off you pop. Big rest of your life ahead of you."

"Yeah -- see you tomorrow, hopefully!" I went for the big door -- Nadine didn't answer, just watched me go, and I felt a strange shiver come over me.

I reached Lady McQueen House in a few short bounds, the air turning colder as evening approached, the distant sky shifting pink, resembling birthday cake frosting. Reaching my room, I almost threw my bag and then myself onto the bed, memories of the day whirring through my head, trying to make sense of them -- and myself. That need to do more, to go further, was less of a burn than an ache, and I wondered how many days would have to pass before I listened to it.

While I lay there, studying the ceiling and wondering if I could stretch to change the altogether weak bulb in the light above, there came a knock at the door.

"Come-" For a moment I was back, in the office, bidding entry to another student, before I remembered myself and my place in the universe. I kicked myself back up and went to the door. Opening it, there stood Cherry, dressed in jeans, black vest top, and unbuttoned striped blue shirt, the type you'd see hanging off hangers in a thousand different retro shops. She was holding a potted spider plant in both hands.

"Hey," she said.

"Oh, hi!" It was hard to keep my eyes on hers -- she was braless and her vest was not containing her tits at all. I wasn't sure anything could. Cherry looked down at the plant.

"I got you a present for your first day," she said.

"Oh, thank you!" I took it gratefully, examining it.

"It's a spider plant," she said. "There's a garden centre out near the motorway -- had to cross it to get there. Hope you're grateful."

"Of course I'm grateful -- this is really kind, thank you!" It was taking more effort than I expected not to tear up a little bit -- there was something about this which touched me in a strangely immeasurable way. "Wait, you crossed a motorway? Isn't that illegal?"

"It wasn't busy." She stuck out her pierced tongue -- had it been pierced when last I saw her? -- and I laughed in disbelief.

"Well, thank you, again," I said, hurrying to the nearest windowsill where I hoped the plant with its many narrow leaves would be happy. "I don't think anyone's ever gotten me a plant before."

"Honours me to be the first," she said, leaning against the door frame. "So, how was your first day?"

"My hand hurts." She laughed.

"Was it fun, though? It's most important that it was fun."

"You sound like all the rest," I sighed. "Nobody else seems to get how weird all of this is."

"You can always quit," she replied, shrugging.

"Take a look at my wage slip and then tell me to quit," I replied.

"Fair enough," she sniggered. "Well, we've all got unpleasant bits of our jobs. Take the bins out. Stay behind to lock up. Spank the misbehaving girl's bare ass. Welcome to the world of work, I guess."

"You..." I coughed on the words and Cherry raised her eyebrows. "You should come in and close the door. I don't want everyone to overhear." Cherry laughed and stepped inside, letting the door close on its own behind her.

"Your place is so much nicer than mine," she sighed. "This isn't fair."

"I'll probably start looking at flats and just commute in," I mumbled. "I can afford a rail pass now and I think it's only a forty minute journey here from London."

"They'd probably subsidise that for you, too," Cherry said, crossing her arms, pressing up her ridiculous breasts, which I was still trying not to steal glances at. "You get everything off this lot."

"I can see how it might feel that way. And, by the way, I didn't..." I stopped myself.

"What?" Cherry's eyes lit up.

"I didn't spank anyone bare. The three of them got to keep their underwear on." Cherry bit her bottom lip -- either to stop herself from laughing or some more deep rooted type of enjoyment, as if just throwing these kinds of words around was enough for her.

"Oh, so you're a merciful one," she sniggered. " Don't know if they'd get away so scot-free if it was me instead of you. Who'd you get?"

"I don't know if I'm meant to say."

"I won't tell anyone." That was about all the convincing I needed.

"Okay," I said, a note of excitement on my voice, the ability to be The Gossip having eluded me all my life and now suddenly becoming the fountain, "well I don't remember their surnames, but there was a Hannah and an Emma."

"I don't know an Emma -- but did Hannah have red hair?"

"Brown."

"Rats. If you put my best friend over your lap on your first day we'd definitely have a lot to discuss." She grinned with her perfect teeth.

" Well, Hannah was more resistant but she did as I said and went over my lap and, like, took down her jeans and stuff." Cherry was hanging on my every word, her mouth slightly open, like she was being let into a previously forbidden realm. I suppose she was. "And Emma's one of the Chinese students and she was really sweet -- she didn't even know what a red notice was."

"Oh my God, that poor little flower!" cried Cherry. " How did she not know?"

"She said her parents did the application for her." Cherry cackled with delight.

"That's an awkward phone call home tonight, then," and I laughed with her. "Tell me you went super easy."

"I did, don't worry," I replied quickly. "She asked me if she had to undress and I said no and just let her stay fully clothed. I didn't wanna make her day compete hell."

" What happens if she ends up coming back?"

"What, with another red notice."

"Yeah."

"Probably just the same thing, knowing me." Something in my brain urged me to push further, harder -- and, this time, I did. "Although I really wanted to do more at the time."

"Oh, yeah?" Cherry asked, eyeing me with what I guess you could call 'excited suspicion.'

" Well, I was kind of... disappointed. With myself. When I didn't pull up Emma's skirt. It felt like the right thing not to, and I know it was, but I still felt a bit deflated that I wasn't going further. Is that weird?"

"I don't think so," said Cherry reassuringly. "It's cute. You're a find, ain't ya?"

" A find?"

"Yeah -- you've got a kindness about you that makes you a good disciplinarian."

"I would've thought kindness just holds you back."

"Nah, not at all," said Cherry with certainty, " I guess it's important to have that kindness so they can form a bit of a bond with you. When your parent punishes you, I guess it works cause you've got that familial connection. So something deeper goes on. Maybe you can create the same thing, in a way, by being yourself. I don't know. I'm talking shit."

"No, no, you're not," I said, quickly. "You could be right. They got all talkative afterwards -- Hannah said it was like a feeling of euphoria. Maybe they did feel a connection or something. "

"You don't say? Now I'm convinced you'll get fairly popular with the student body, even the staff, with such strong capable hands." I laughed.

"I wouldn't call them strong and capable just yet." Cherry laughed along with me. " But hopefully I cling onto that kindness -- if that's what it is."

" It definitely is. So, what you got on for tonight? Chill one?"

"Actually," I said, "I'm going out with this girl... sorry, not girl, they're non-binary, uh..."

"Person?"

"That's the one -- yeah, they're called Kam."

" Wow, got a date already, ey?"

"No!" My face flushed red -- why could I talk about my spanking desires but I couldn't deny that a not-date was not a date?! That made no sense and I hated my brain for it. " No, definitely not, a hundred times not, they just said they'd show me round. We work together -- they run Student Support."

"Oh, I've probably emailed 'em at some point," Cherry remarked. "Excited?"

"I guess but I don't know what to expect. I'm not the type to, you know, go out. I never did at uni."

"Well, now you're back at uni," she laughed. "Perfect opportunity. Fresh off the boat and ready for adventures."

"I haven't even done a food shop, yet," I remarked. "Ought to eat something before we go out -- guess I'll head to the canteen. I don't know what Kam's expecting tonight but if I drink on an empty stomach I'm in a world of trouble."

"Do you end up in toilet cubicles with strange men?"

"Not recently." We laughed.

"That's more my vibe," Cherry muttered, trapping her tongue between her teeth. "Well, I need to get some bits, you wanna come with to Sainsbury's instead?" I wasn't sure if I'd have time to walk there, walk back, make food, and meet Kam, but, social pressure playing its usual games, I knew I'd agree. Maybe we could find a Nando's, I don't know.

"Alright, sure," I said, trying to play it off like no second thoughts, and I went to grab my jacket from the bedroom door's hook -- the clouds were darkening over the horizon. Cherry turned to open the door and, as she did, I glanced at her rear -- in tight jeans it was shapely and round and firm and I dared to let my mind wander, if only for a second, before snapping out of it.

"Who was the third girl?" she asked as we stepped out of the door.

"The who?"

"You said you dealt with three girls today -- who was the third?"

"Oh..." I thought of Lily. Of her face. Her expectation. Anticipation. Her expressions seeming to match my feelings. And I thought of the noises she made as I spanked her. "I don't remember her name. It was normal -- just over her jeans. Nothing special."

"Fair. Funny how there's already a 'normal,' ey? You're getting used to it quickly. " At that, we were out the door and heading to Sainsbury's like it was the most natural thing in the world. Which it was.