This short story is an entry in the 2003 Soc.Sexuality.Spanking Summer Short Story Contest and is copyright by the author and commercial use is prohibited without permission.  Personal/private copies are permitted only if complete including the copyright notice.  The author would appreciate your comments

Category:  Adult
 

Research Resumes

By

Cate Bronte <ouchigirl@hotmail.com>

Archie Raibert's archives consisted of over 3500 articles, ephemera, books, and correspondence related to domestic discipline in the United States from 1915 through 1975.  He was fiercely protective of the collection and interviewed over two dozen potential research assistants, all ABDs, before selecting Samantha Harrison.  Her resume differed little from the others, all academically excellent.  What stood out was the frank admission in her cover letter that she had experience in a domestic discipline relationship.

Archie often wondered how many social scientists had gone into their fields in order to have a respectable reason to delve into what excited them personally.  He was a good scientist, successful teacher, writer, and lecturer.  He liked to tell himself it was due to his scrupulous attention to detail and objective presentation of data and analysis.  Deep down, Archie knew it was because his enthusiasm was unbridled when it came to reading, writing, and talking about how people organized their lives to include punishment.

Though he had smacked a mischievous girlfriend's bottom now and then, his fear of compromising his professional stature kept him from living in the style to which he wished he could be accustomed.

Samantha arrived for the interview with an outline of her dissertation on the correlation between specific forms of corporal punishment and deviance.  By deviance, she meant crime.  Archie knew that, of course, but he still found the turn of phrase compelling.

"May I call you Samantha?"

"Sam, if I may call you Archie."

Not quite cheeky, but almost.  He liked her. 

"What brings you back to the States after almost three years at LSE?  Would you rather write in the California sun than in London fog?"

"My boyfriend dumped me last fall.  Seeing him was a distraction, so I came home."

Her voice tightened just enough to let Archie know this was still a painful subject.

"My committee is fine with it.  Some of your research is relevant to mine, and frankly, I need the stipend."

"Most grad students do.  We'll start tomorrow, reviewing materials and archiving methods.  Nine o'clock sharp."

She smiled.  "I'll be here!"

She was punctual, attentive to detail, a quick study.  Inside a week, she could find his materials faster than he could.

Friday morning, he heard sniffling.  She was holding a copy of The Spencer Spanking Plan.

"Sam, are you all right?"

"I miss this part of my life."

Blood pounded in his temples and somehow the words poured out.

"Samantha, I won't have you compromising my study or yours.  If I find you moping around here instead of working, I'll put you over my knee and make sure you don't want to sit down for a good long time...starting now."

The rest was a blur: his hand on her wrist, her belly on his lap, skirt up, panties down, his hand painting her bottom a fiery red, his arms around her as she sobbed and quieted. Their eyes met for an eternal second.

There was a lot more research to do.

The End

© Copyright Cate Bronte, 02 August 2003

Reviews

Lori    <peachesicu(at)aol(dot)com>
I found no spelling errors.  I found no grammatical errors.  This story fit adult category.  What bugged me?

The «ABDs» and «LSE», why not spell it out?

«"My committee is fine with it...."»  What committee?

It was a fine story.  What I didn't feel was a tingle, giggle, or emotional response at all, sorry.  It just felt cookie-cutter.

Sassy Jo    <sassy_jolene(at)hotmai(dot)com>
The story overall is a smooth flowing story.  And I can tell that much thought went into its line.  The originality is a bit on the low side, office help is office help.  I will admit that having the help more knowledgeable rather than the boss is a different twist than what I have read in the past.

Redhawk    <redhawk(at)screaminet(dot)com>
Interesting story.  Well written.  Fits the category well.