by Susan Thomas
An Interview at Christmas
Mel watched Amy disappear into the office, the door shutting firmly behind her; as if that would make any difference, it was far too thin to disguise the sound of the inevitable spanking. That Amy's father would spank her was beyond doubt. Amy had gone away to college at the start of the year but none of the grades on her interim report, handed out just before the Christmas vacation, had met the targets her father had set her. Amy had told Mel she had been stupid and shone in the social side of college whilst hiding her light under a bushel in the academic. Mel couldn't feel desperately sorry for her, but her stomach was churning because none of her grades met the targets either, but it wasn't her fault. She marshalled her thoughts and checked her evidence once again as the drone of voices in the office spoke of Amy's last ditch attempt to avoid the spanking.
Mel vowed she wasn't taking the spanking she was sure he would wish to give her. She'd already made up her mind on that. It was not possible to have-
Smack!
The spanking had started. Mel knew exactly how it was administered though she had never had one. Amy would be over his knee, her bottom bared and the back of the large wooden hairbrush would be smacking down hard on her bottom. That was how he spanked his girls: Amy eighteen, Annie fifteen, and Jessica Ann thirteen. Not Spencer of course. He didn't think it manly to put a sixteen-year-old boy over his knee, so Spencer got paddled or strapped on his bare butt while bent over the desk. Smack, smack, smack...
Mel blocked her ears to the sound of the hairbrush and the cries that had started already. There was no way she could have met those targets, and if he wanted to spank her she was leaving. She'd go to a motel. She had the money her grandmother had left for her education and she would have to use it. Her mother would be upset but there it was.
The sound of the spanking continued, with Amy now wailing as the sting and heat on her bottom became unbearable. Boy, he was really punishing her this time. Well, she had been so stupid... fancy going to college and then just partying. Mel had worked her socks off... education was important to her because she was ambitious.
It was true that when her mum had married the handsome, wealthy American, she had agreed to be subject to his authority and discipline... for discipline read spanking she thought. She'd done that for a reason. Although she was academically a top student she was regarded as trouble right throughout school. "Awkward." "Difficult." "Rude." All those descriptive words had been applied to her and many more. The school had given her no post of responsibility ever, not even in the sixth form, and she was not liked by the teachers. Hardly surprising as she was pretty well at war with them all. Her relationship with her mother was much the same... difficult. Not a good thing for an ambitious girl.
Her stepfather had analysed her and told her that if she submitted to his regime and accepted any spankings, he could change her attitude. She had accepted, much to everyone's surprise, and it had worked... she hadn't even been spanked. In the three months she had lived with him between A- Levels and college she had followed his rules, and a miracle happened... her relationship with her mum improved dramatically.
Mel breathed a sigh of relief as Amy's spanking had ended. The sound of sobbing could be heard through the door. Amy knew what was happening now as her stepsisters had given her chapter and verse on the spanking ritual. Amy would now be sitting on her father's lap being cuddled and comforted. Mel had no doubt Amy's spanking had been a severe one... he had made no bones when they went off to their colleges that if they failed their targets it would be a very hard spanking. Well no way that was happening. Spencer came and sat down beside her. He looked very worried. His interim school report had some bad grades on it and he was undoubtedly going to be feeling the paddle at his interview.
He looked at her and pulled a face. "Was Amy's bad?"
"Very... only just finished. Went on a long time. She was pleading at the end."
Spencer put his head down and said nothing. Pleading was something they rarely did as it was such a waste of time. Mel looked at him sympathetically but really it was his own fault. He was sport mad and had focussed more on his teams than his work. Still, his dad wouldn't be as hard on him as he was still only sixteen; Amy was eighteen and her college was costing him a fortune.
The door opened and Amy came out, her head down and her hands held to her bottom. She was walking very stiffly and awkwardly and climbed the stairs very slowly and carefully. Mel sighed and her stomach churned as she once again checked her evidence. The door opened and her stepfather put his head out looking grim. To his credit he hated spanking his children.
"Melanie, pleased to see you are on time. Come on in."
Spencer mouthed a "Good luck" to her as she went in and she mouthed one back. She entered the office with as confident an air as she could manage and sat down at the chair he indicated with a smile for him. She liked him and more importantly respected him... something almost unheard of for her. He'd been good for her mum and she liked living here in his home and with his family. He had asked she call him Dad, and since she had never had one she quite liked the idea. He had been very good to her, insisting on paying her college fees even though her grandma had left money for it.
"Well, Melanie, how was college?"
"Great, I have a lovely roommate... a really nice girl from Texas. I love her accent too. I like Professor James, he's British by the way, and I've applied your rules and strategies to my relationships with all the college staff and it has worked well. I don't think they like me as much as some but I'm not at war with them, which is new for me."
"Excellent, and your grades?"
He put out his hand for the interim report and she handed it over replying as she did so, "I didn't meet any of the targets but I can explain why."
He frowned. "Explanation or excuse?"
"Explanation if you'll hear it."
He frowned again. "Don't be sassy, Melanie. You know my rules."
She shook her head. "Sorry it wasn't meant to be, it came out wrong. What I meant was it is a bit of saga, not quick."
He studied his stepdaughter carefully; she looked genuine he decided and certainly not anywhere like the abrasive girl he had met when he started dating her mother. That time in England with his family had been rewarding from a business point of view but meeting Melanie's mother was the icing on a rich cake.
"Carry on then."
"First of all Professor James made it clear to all us freshmen that whatever course we were taking, his department graded work on the basis of degree standards. There was no chance at all of an A grade and most students could expect C for their work. Well, you set me all A grades on the basis of how well I had done at school, so I couldn't get an A for anything. Here is the letter that was sent to all of us freshmen."
Piece of evidence number one. If he didn't accept that then it was a motel for her because she was not taking a spanking for something she couldn't possibly achieve. He read the letter carefully and then looked at her report.
"So all these B grades are in fact excellent?"
"Yes that's right."
"But there are two D grades here for the two Math courses. That isn't even the C your professor mentioned. That is way off target."
Was his hand inching towards the hairbrush on his desk? Melanie kept as calm as she could.
"That's because the Maths was too hard for me. You see I only scraped a B at A-level because I worked hard and got some extra tuition. Really, my Maths is not that strong. I took that into account when I applied to my British universities and only chose courses where the Maths component wasn't too demanding. In the rush to move here and find a college place I made a mistake..."
He went to say something but Mel pretended she hadn't noticed and carried on. "I realised my mistake and went to see Professor James. He advised a change to another course and I have done that. There is still a Maths component but Professor James thinks it within my capabilities. He says it is better to do it so early on and it isn't unusual. My new course has many components that are identical, so those aren't wasted. There are some things I've missed but I have them all on my laptop and I plan to work on them over Christmas. Here is a list of what I am working on and here is the official letter detailing my change of course."
He studied all the paperwork she had given him very carefully, going back and forward from one piece to another. Mel tried hard to breathe normally but she was scared. She didn't want to be on her own. Didn't want to leave this family that she had actually come to like. Didn't want to leave her mother. But there was no way she was taking a severe spanking for this failure to meet his interim targets. Finally he looked up with a smile.
"It seems you have done well and behaved very sensibly. It was all a rush I remember and the course a bit of a compromise. That you struggled with the Math is a shame but not to your discredit, and the action you took was eminently sensible. Well done."
He handed the paperwork back and Mel looked at him surprised, she hadn't expected it to be that easy.
"You don't want to spank me?"
He smiled broadly. "What do you think I am, some kind of ogre? No of course not. I am not unreasonable, Melanie, but neither am I prepared to accept Amy's assurances that if I don't spank her the partying will cease. Nonsense, and I expect after the spanking she got her grades will be very different next time she is home.
"I like the way you presented your case and had evidence to back your assertions. Very good... the world of law has lost out with you. What were you going to do if I had said I was going to spank you?"
His eyes twinkled as he asked it and Mel had a suspicion that he had already guessed.
"Go to a motel and pay my own college fees and use Grandma's money to the full."
He laughed. "I thought so. Well now, is it fair to set B as the target grade throughout for your next report?"
Mel thought for a moment. "Yes OK... I can do it. I'll have to work very hard but I like that anyway."
"Excellent. So are you going to relax this Christmas?"
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