He smiled grimly. He was sitting gingerly and I knew his arse would still be bruised and painful after Maria's skilled flogging. "Yes?" he asked.

"I'm not one to judge, and I have no problem with what you did last night. If you want to be tied up and spanked and stuff that's fine." He made to interject, but thought better of it. I could tell that even still he was perplexed about how this had happened: when I had walked into his office and caught them in flagrante, it was Maria who was tied up, and yet by the next day the story had been twisted to such an extent it was Fred who was being portayed as the submissive partner. He couldn't figure it out: poor Freddie, ignorant of the ways of women.

"No," I continued. "No problem at all. But really, you must be careful. Anyone could have walked in on you. It could have been Jack Roberts himself." Jack Roberts was the Managing Director, a walking turd, and the ultimate prize in my quest for control of the office. The mere mention of his name caused alarm and despondency among the workforce. "And then what? Sacked. A few months before retirement. Your pension fucked, everything lost." I paused dramatically, letting the words sink in. I could tell that Fred had been entertaining similar thoughts in the intervening twenty-four hours, but the starkness of hearing it from someone else brought the message home dramatically.

He nodded. "I know, it was stupid. I got carried away."

"Can't say I blame you. She's a lovely looking girl. I'm surprised though. Didn't think you had it in you." His expression told me he hadn't thought so either.

"It was kind of cool to watch, by the way. What did it feel like?"

"Well," he blustered. Being forced to discuss this with me was causing him to suffer endless humiliation. Until the cataclysmic events of the night before he had seen himself as my avuncular mentor and delighted in sharing his wisdom and experience with his protégé. Now he was reduced to a dirty old man, being quizzed on his penchant for receiving corporal punishment of the kinky kind. He shifted in his seat.

"Looked like it hurt a lot. Your arse was bruised to buggery by the end. Did it?"

"Yes."

"But it turns you on, yeah?"

"Yes," he whispered. The fact that it didn't, that he was trapped in his own lies and forced to admit to things he hadn't done, was excruciating for the poor little dear. Despite his sixty years, his demeanour was one of a small child caught stealing apples.

"You didn't come, though?"

A pained expression shot across his face. Only a few days before, we had been innocent friends. To be suddenly confronted by my explicit questions about sex, in the abnormal setting of his office, was almost as humiliating for poor Fred as the spanking had been the night before. This was clearly a conversation he didn't want to hold, but he couldn't escape. "No," he said quietly.

"Bet you do when Maria has you in her mouth, eh?"

He inspected his crotch morosely. "Yes." Lies, lies upon lies, implicating himself deeper and deeper in an intrigue entirely of his own making. Well, perhaps not entirely, but you know what I mean.

"Hmmm," I continued. "I'll bet, you dirty old goat, you." I paused again, my humour pricking the intensity of the moment. "But seriously, though, "you've got to make sure you don't get caught."

"Don't worry, there's no chance of that. It's over."

"Over?"

"Too right. I can't take the risk. It's over."

"Yeah right." My caustic dismissal clearly surprised him. I suppose he genuinely believed it was over but, as always with men, if you plant the seed of doubt in their brains, the vast expanse of nothingness therein allows plenty room for it to grow. I nodded. "Over, huh? So if she came in now and dropped her knickers and planted her little mouth over your cock you would throw her out, would you?" Without giving him time to reply, I continued. "Right, 'course you would. I'm not blaming you, mind. I'm impressed, I really am." That was the killer line: play on their egoes, suggest that what they're doing is virility personified, and they're all yours. "Yeah, really impressed. She's a gorgeous girl. And I'm impressed that you are free enough with your own sexuality to admit to your feelings. To allow her to do things like that." I raised my voice emphatically. "To spank you. Not many guys would own up to wanting to do that, especially with a young girl more than half his age."

Again, Fred was caught between a desire to deny it and the realisation that he was trapped by his own words and exploits. With every passing moment he was getting deeper and deeper entrenched in the morass of lies building around him. "Well," he said, "it all happened quite fast."

"I'll bet. I'll be honest with you, Fred: it kind of turned me on, watching you last night."

"It did?"

"Yeah. I've never done anything like that, you see." Miss Pinnochia, watch out or your nose will grow 3; "But it looked really good. And you seemed to enjoy it so much. Didn't you?"

"Well 3; yes."

I paused and our eyes locked against one another. "I was wondering."

Fred remained silent. I think he knew what was coming. It was make or break time. I sat upright and thrust my bosom - for what it's worth - towards him. Giving him my most sultry look and lowering the pitch of my voice, I continued: "Wondering. I don't know how to say this. Fred, would you let me do that to you?"

"What?"

"Would you let me do that? Spank you? Now?" I pulled my skirt up over my thighs until Fred could see my white panties. Unbuttoning my blouse, I slid my hand inside and stroked my breast. I could feel my nipple harden, my excitement rise. "I'd love to do that for you. I'm all wet at the thought of it. Stand up," I cooed, "please."

Fred Thirlwell looked light-headed enough to faint. He tried to say no, but no words emerged. I rose to my feet.

"Take your trousers off, Fred. Just for me."