Rachel, please see me in the studio. H.
Rachel felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold inside the radio station garage. She didn’t have to the check the number to see that the message had come from Mr. Hardecker, the station manager. But why would be texting her when she was supposed to be leaving with the street team?
She waved to Stephen, the husky Baltic kid trying to start up the broadcasting van.
“Sorry, the boss called. I’m going to have to tap out.”
Stephen nodded in acknowledgment and tried again to jam the key into the ignition. Rachel’s absence wouldn’t mean much if he couldn’t get to the recording location where Leon and Amy should already be waiting.
It was almost ten PM, awfully late for Mr. Hardecker to still be at the station. While the street team – the Promotional Officers, as Rachel reminded herself – kept odd hours, Mr. Hardecker was reliably gone by six each night unless something had gone wrong.
The last time she’d seen him at work that late was the night she’d stupidly told him to get off her case about using the station’s resources for her personal ambitions. She’d come close to losing her job over that one, and instead she’d ended up over Mr. Hardecker’s knee, kicking and crying with her jeans around her ankles.
He’d taken her to the studio for that as well, she remembered.
She found Mr. Hardecker pacing between the soundproofed walls, his head titled. This close, she could feel the weight of the large man’s footsteps even if the noise was muted. He saw Rachel and beckoned her inside.
“You wanted to see me, sir?”
Mr. Hardecker nodded and ran his fingers through his buzz cut. “The cleaner said there was a buzzing sound coming from this room. Can you hear it?”
She was surprised at why she’d been called down for this, but knew better than to ask questions. She did hear something, a high-pitched crackle that was probably outside of the middle-aged station manager’s ability to hear. She traced the room, finally pointing to the DJ’s desk in the opposite corner.
“Over there. I think somebody left their headphones on.”
Mr. Hardecker peered over the desk to find… an unattended set of headphones, the green indicator light still on.
“Good girl,” he muttered.
“Sir, if that’s all you needed me for, I’m needed back on the van.” The memory of her last visit to this room tugged at her, urging her away.
“That’s not actually why I asked you here,” said Mr. Hardecker, taking a seat on the edge of the desk. It creaked from his weight. “It’s been three months since your reassignment to Promotions. I thought we might review your progress up to this point.”
Rachel noticed then that he’d been holding a clipboard in his off hand.
She gulped. “Yes, sir.”
“We’re just waiting for – ah, here she is.”
Rachel jumped as the studio door opened. It was hard not to see Amy coming – the tall and athletic blonde had a presence that put her at the centre of any room she was in. At twenty-six, she was the binding force of the Promotions team, having worked there since before Rachel had started at the station.
And in the brief time they’d worked together, she’d locked Rachel in a cage, blackmailed her and spanked her in front of their co-workers as a ‘joke’. Her presence in the studio was decidedly unwelcome.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in Niagara with Leon?” asked Rachel.
“I’ll meet up with him tomorrow,” Amy said, not even bothering to make eye contact. “Mr. Hardecker, I already gave you my evaluation.”
Mr. Hardecker held up his clipboard. “I’m aware. But I thought it might be useful to have you present for this, seeing as you’ve been Rachel’s supervisor since she started in Promotions.”
Rachel could sense Amy’s annoyance, but the younger girl kept it tamped down.
“Certainly, Mr. Hardecker. What would you like clarified?”
“You’ve given Rachel high marks in attendance and punctuality. Technical ability, too. Would you say she’s met the benchmark for her current position?”
Rachel’s face burned. She felt like she’d been taken to the principal’s office to discuss her report card. She was thirty-nine years old, for fuck’s sake!
“I would, sir.”
“Have you had any issues with discipline or compliance with instructions?”
Amy’s gaze turned to Rachel for just a moment. She winked and said, “Just once, at the beginning. I think she knows who’s the boss now.”
“Any loss of, or damage to studio property?”
“No, sir. Do you mind telling me why you’re asking?”
Mr. Hardecker set down the clipboard and fixed his sights on Amy. “The reason I ask is that I’m trying to figure out why you recommend against Rachel returning to her previous post at the station.”
Amy turned to look uncertainly at Rachel. “Can I be frank, sir?”
Mr. Hardecker nodded.
“I feel that Rachel finds this job to be beneath her. It’s like she’s here under duress, and her negativity is bad for morale. But with a little more one-on-one time, I think we can whip this one into shape.”
She punctuated her remark with a surreptitious smack to Rachel’s haunches, ignoring the murderous glare she got in return. Rachel balled her fists, she knew she couldn’t take Amy in a fight but was ready to go down swinging.
“I’m sorry?” said Mr. Hardecker.
Amy grinned nervously. “Well, you know how she is, and how we deal with that.” She mimed spanking Rachel again, but withered under Mr. Hardecker’s gaze.
“And how do we deal with that, Amy?”
“Spankings, of course,” said Amy, but she sounded anything but sure of her answer. “I mean, I’m just acting on the example you set with her. We all know…”
Mr. Hardecker said nothing.
Rachel said nothing. She could see sweat beading on Amy’s forehead, in spite of the coolness of the room.
“Amy, you’re fired.”
Amy was dumbstruck at first. “You can’t do that!” she finally sputtered, “I love this place, and you know I need the experience for my portfolio!”
“I don’t think you understand the severity of your situation. You’ve just admitted to sexually harassing an employee under your supervision. You’ve opened the station you love so much to massive liability, there may well be criminal charges. I have to contact our legal department.”
He reached across the desk for the telephone receiver at the host’s station.
“Wait!”
In the three months or so that she’d known her, Rachel had only ever seen Amy as forceful and outgoing. But against the consequences of her own actions, she was powerless. Her voice cracked, and her broad shoulders slumped.
“Please don’t call them,” she whimpered, “I’ll do anything.”
“I think you’re appealing to the wrong person,” said Mr. Hardecker darkly.
It was like she’d forgotten that Rachel was still in the room with them. She turned to face the woman she’d tormented for weeks, her face blanched from fear.
“Rachel, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about what I was doing to you. I was wrong, I know that, and I’ve hurt you more than I can know. Will you please forgive me?”
Having held her tongue ever since Amy had arrived, Rachel found her words. “Will I not press charges, you mean?”
“Yes, please. I will do anything, take anything…”
“Even a spanking?”
Droplets started to creep down Amy’s face. “Yes, that’s fair,” she said quietly.
“Right here, right now?”
Amy nodded miserably.
“Right on your bare ass?”
“Fuck, you want me naked? I’ll do it naked.”
Rachel didn’t bother to stop her. Amy tore off her jacket, then her shoes and shirt. At one point, Rachel would have salivated at the thought of catching the buff girl in the nude. Seeing her now, it just felt pathetic.
Amy sniffled. She bowed low before Rachel, bringing them to the same eye level. Her muscles tensed, and Rachel was reminded of the power behind them.
Power that Amy had now submitted to her.
“Should I…” Amy cleared her throat. “Should I get over your knee?”
She’d break her hand on Amy’s rock-solid ass, Rachel thought. “No.”
Relief poured out from the younger woman.
“Thank you—“
“Save it,” Rachel snapped. “You’re done here. I never want to see you again.”
She left Amy to stew and turned to Mr. Hardecker.
“Is the spot in the Programming department still open?”
He seemed surprised by her question. “Yes…”
“Then unless you’ve still got doubts about my maturity, I’d like to start on Monday.” She reconsidered her tone and added, “Sir.”
“No, I believe I’m satisfied. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” said Rachel, and oddly enough, she meant it.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amy reaching down to collect her discarded clothing. She turned back to her former coworker.
“I said I wasn’t giving you a spanking. I didn’t say you weren’t getting one.”
Amy’s relief gave way to terror. Her shirt slipped out of her shaking hands.
“This is what you want?” asked Mr. Hardecker.
Rachel nodded, and he leaned over and took Amy’s arm in his meaty grip. As he hauled her over to the desk, she grabbed at Rachel’s coat.
“Rachel, come on,” she pleaded, “I… I’ve never been spanked before,”
Rachel plucked the younger woman’s hand from her shoulder.
“Then you can use the experience.”
Rachel almost expected there to be a struggle, Amy’s irresistible force against Mr. Hardecker’s immovable object. But in the end, stripped of her position, her clothing and her dignity, Amy had no power left. She lay meekly over Mr. Hardecker’s lap, lip trembling, awaiting the inevitable.
Rachel opened the door.
“You’re not staying?” Mr. Hardecker grunted.
She sighed. Watching Amy get her comeuppance sounded like it would be satisfying, but the truth was, she’d been in Amy’s place too many times lately for her to turn off her empathy entirely. Knowing that the girl was getting her just desserts for everything she’d put Rachel through would have to be enough.
Or as Rachel liked to put it, fuck this bitch.
The door swung closed. The sobbing started moments later.
***
Rachel had just gotten on the bus when her phone chimed with a new message. Suspecting that she would want to view it in some privacy, Rachel took a seat at the empty back of the vehicle.
It was Mr. Hardecker again. And he’d attached an image.
Amy stood facing the corner of the studio, arms folded behind her back. She’d turned her face from the camera, but the big girl looked suitably humbled and her ass was so red that it glowed in the light of the small room. Mr. Hardecker had done some of his best work.
Rachel almost felt bad about “accidentally” tripping the silent alarm on her way out of the building. Security wouldn’t get there in time to catch him in the act, but she didn’t think that Mr. Hardecker would be so smug once he had to explain why there was a naked girl crying in his studio.
She might have needed the lesson he’d given her, and maybe she’d even deserved it. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.
Rachel closed the image. She’d study it later in more detail, whenever she was feeling suitably petty. But there were more important things to address now, as she finished dialing the familiar number.
“Bertie? I’m coming home, and I’ve got something that I think you’re going to like to hear…”
