by Ken Burke
Valerie was very upset. This was the third time in the last month that one of her roommates had neglected her chores and left their mid-town apartment a mess. She had been forced to take in two roommates when her previous flat mate had gotten married and left Valerie with a lease that she could not afford alone. It was difficult finding a single woman who could afford half of the very high rent that her apartment cost, so she had gotten creative - she replaced the queen-sized bed in the second bedroom with twin beds and advertised for two roommates. That had brought a flood of applications. While few could afford half of the exorbitant rent, many more could come up with one quarter of it.
She had finally chosen two roommates from among the applicants and was pleased with her decision. They were as unlike each other as they were unlike Valerie herself. At 35, Valerie was a high-powered executive assistant to one of the most successful corporate chiefs in the city. She earned a good salary and controlled who had access to whom in the firm. She definitely enjoyed her position and had no desire to share her living space with another powerful woman. So she chose other women who would pose no threat to her so she could relax at home.
One of her new roommates was Sarah, a 25-year old saleswoman who was working in the jewelry section of an exclusive department store. Sarah was new to the city and considered herself fortunate to have found such an elegant apartment at a rather reasonable price. She knew she could only afford it because she had agreed to share her room with another roommate. She had almost given up looking for an apartment before she saw the ad for this one. All the others were only looking for a single roommate and wanted someone who could pay half the rent. One quarter was as much as she could afford.
The third member of the trio was a 19-year-old college student, Linda, whose parents were paying her rent while she worked as an intern in a law firm while attending college classes in the city.
Despite the differences in their ages, the three women hit it off at once. They became friends as well as roommates and all went well... at first. But Valerie was soon discovering the downside of acquiring roommates who were so much younger and less mature than she was. The three women had developed a scheme for dividing up the housework so that the apartment would always remain presentable, if not spotless. This was the one thing that Valerie had insisted upon when interviewing roommates, and both Sarah and Linda had readily agreed.
But Sarah was often busy and forgetful, while Linda was a typical college student who was always running late and oversleeping. As a consequence, their part of the housekeeping rarely got done on time, if at all.
When Valerie came home one evening from a hard day's work and found the breakfast dishes in the sink and clothes laying on the living room sofa, she felt this was the last straw. She had warned her roommates about neglecting their share of the work before. Now she saw no alternative to asking them to leave, and she must then start to look for someone else to share her expensive apartment.
Sarah and Linda did not argue with Valerie when she confronted them about what they had done (or, in this case not done!). But both were panicked about having to move out, especially on short notice. How would either of them be able to find another place to live if they had to move out within a month?
"What if we promised to never, ever, forget our chores again?" asked Sarah. "I really need this apartment and love living with you guys."
"You promised that last month," replied Valerie. "And look around."
Things seemed to be at an impasse until Linda spoke up.
"I have an idea," she began. "It's a little unusual, but hear me out until I finish; it may provide a way out so we can stay together."
"I'm willing to listen," said Valerie. "I like you guys too, but this had better be good. Promises just won't cut it."
Linda began her explanation. "I was reading in a women's magazine about a group of girls who were living together and were having a lot of the same problems we are. Even worse, sometimes they borrowed each other's clothes without asking or even flirted with each other's boyfriends. Then they came up with a system that made sure all that bad behavior stopped. And it worked!"
Now she had her roommates' attention. "Don't keep us in suspense," Sarah said. "What was this system?"
"It's going to sound a little weird," Linda warned. She held her breath for a minute and then said, "They spanked anyone who violated the rules!"
"They what?" Valerie and Sarah shouted simultaneously.
Linda went on with her explanation. "Yep, they spanked any girl who didn't do what she was supposed to do or did what she shouldn't. And soon everything was hunky-dory. So what do you think? I'd be willing to make this our system. In fact, I doubt it would ever even have to be put into practice. I sure wouldn't want to be spanked at my age. Valerie, you were looking for something better than a promise. This is almost a guarantee we will live up to that promise."
"I don't know," said Valerie. "What do you think, Sarah?"
"Well, at first I thought it was just absurd," Sarah said. "Whoever heard of spanking women our age? But when I think about it, I don't have a better idea and I certainly don't want to have to find another place to live."
There was a moment of silence and then Sarah spoke again. This time she was blushing slightly as she spoke.
"Actually, this spanking thing may not be as weird as you thought. You know I went to a small college in Oklahoma, right?"
Her roommates nodded in unison.
"Well, when I was in college, I joined this sorority," Sarah said.
"Don't tell me they paddled the pledges," Linda said.
"Oh, yes they did," Sarah said. "And more. My big sister would take me over her knee and spank me whenever she felt like It." Now Sarah was blushing bright red but she went on. "I guarantee that I would never get out of line if we had a system like that. I hated being spanked and I really hated being paddled."
Now Linda spoke again.
"I wasn't going to tell you this but I too have had some experience with spanking."
"Really?" Valerie asked.
Linda blushed a pretty pink as she recounted her experiences.
"The truth is my parents spanked me until I was in my late teens," she told her roommates. "It was really embarrassing, not to mention painful. Even the threat of being spanked would make sure I never got out of line. So I think we should try this system."
"I really want to make our situation work. If this is what it takes to let you give us another chance I'm willing to take my chances. That makes two out of three. What about it Val?" Sarah said.
Valerie really didn't want to accept the idea of spanking but she couldn't think of any alternative. She was outvoted two to one anyway. Besides, she was sure that she would never be the one getting spanked. It was her two roommates who had been neglecting their household duties and if they were willing to risk their behinds, that was their problem. And to tell the truth, she actually might enjoy spanking her roommates for neglecting their assignments. It certainly would give her an outlet for the anger she had been feeling.
So she took a deep breath and said. "Okay, I'll go along with the idea. We'll give it a trial for two months. If things don't improve then you two will have to find other living arrangements."
"Thanks for giving us another chance. You won't regret it. I promise you," Linda said.
But then Sarah pointed out, "We need to set up the ground rules. Who does the spanking? How is it done? In our sorority we all knew what to expect. What should we do here?"
Linda said, "I can tell you how the girls in the article went about it. We can start there."
Sarah and Valerie encouraged her to go on, and so she did.
"There were three girls living together just like us," she began. "And they had assigned tasks just like we do. But they had the other problems I told you about so that got them into more trouble right away. We don't take each other's clothes or flirt with each other's boyfriends so this should be easier for us."
"But who did the spanking and how?" Sarah asked.
Linda thought a minute trying to recall the details.
"It depended on what was done wrong," she explained. "If a girl flirted with another girl's boyfriend, then that girl got to do the spanking. The same with borrowing clothes."
"But that doesn't apply here," Valerie pointed out. "It's just housework and that is a problem for everyone."
"Then everyone should participate in the spanking," Sarah said. "Both of the other roommates are entitled to punish the one who did not do what she was supposed to do. But that still leaves out the dirty details. How are the spankings supposed to be given?"
"What do you mean?" Linda asked.
Again, Sarah began to blush. "Well, I told you I was paddled and spanked in college. The paddlings occurred once a week during pledge meetings. If anyone failed in their assigned tasks, our pledge mistress would order the pledge to bend over and take four to six swats." Sarah hesitated again then said softly. "And she made us drop our pants and get them on our panties."
"Oooh," said Linda. "That doesn't sound good."
But Sarah wasn't finished. "And the spankings from my big sister were worse. She always bared my bottom before she spanked me. I hated that. It was so humiliating." Then she took a deep breath and said, "One more thing. We were paired with a fraternity and there was one night when they invited the frat brothers over before our initiation and had them paddle us. We were only allowed to wear our nighties so we got paddled on our panties."
"Well, that's not going to happen," said Valerie. "No one is going to be involved except the three of us."
"Good," said Sarah. "I can take a spanking from you guys if I have to but I don't want anyone else involved, especially men. But we still need to spell out the ground rules. You've heard how I was spanked. What were yours like, Linda?"
"Mine were pretty straightforward," Linda said. "Mom or Dad took me over their knee and spanked me with their hand or a ping pong paddle. It was pretty intense and I was glad when they stopped."
"Was it bare?" Sarah asked.
Linda blushed as she answered. "Always. They said it wasn't a real spanking unless it was done bare bottom."
"I guess that decides it," Sarah said. "Bare bottom it is. But how do we have two people do the spanking?"
Linda said, "Let me tell you about the girls in the magazine article. They divided each punishment session into two parts. First came a hand-spanking. Then they sent the girl being punished to stand in a corner to reflect on what she had done wrong. Then the other roommate would give her a spanking with a paddle or a belt."
Valerie said, "That sounds awfully juvenile. What do you think, Sarah?"
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