Personal Shopper (7 page)

"Am I giving you
an ultimatum?" Max Greenway finished her thought as he leaned up against the
door facing and crossed his arm. "Am I using the punishment as a condition of
our trying out a relationship?"

He rubbed his
chin. "I had a relationship once with a high-maintenance woman who agreed to
this very arrangement. Only I didn't strict with her and realized that you can
always lighten up but it's virtually impossible to assert authority if you
start out too permissive."

"Do I remind you
of her?" asked Laura.

"No," Max said
honestly. "No you don't. And no, I'm not going to spank you if you don't want
to submit to it. And yes, I'd still like to have a relationship with you."

Laura walked to
him and let him take her in his arms. They stood like that for a while, and
everything felt OK.
But not entirely.

Laura couldn't
shake the fact that Max Greenway was a really good man, and that his wanting to
punish her wasn't about some power trip but about establishing a level of trust
while allowing her to purge herself of the guilt she still felt.

Max's arms felt
good around here. It was crazy, but she knew, standing there, that she wanted
to wake up in those arms every day.

"Max," she said.
"I think you're right."

"Right about
what?" he asked.

Laura took a
ragged breath. She suddenly felt shaky and nervous.
"About
the... punishment.
I think you should
..
I think
you should do it."

Max didn't say
anything at first, but just looked at her with a gentleness that calmed and
comforted her.

"Why?" he asked.

Laura turned
away. It was hard to say the words with him standing there.
"Because
I feel terrible for what I did, just terrible.
Because
I want to atone.
Because I trust you when you say this is the best way
to do it." She turned back to him. "Because my heart tells me that even if you
hurt me, you won't ever really hurt me."

"You're right,"
he said, and led her towards the couch. Laura tried not to look at the paddle,
still in its box, the words "The Enforcer" still visible on its side.

Max sat down and
guided Laura over his lap, sitting back so her upper body and legs would have
support. Later she would learn to submit to his spankings while bent over a
table, a bed or over his lap while he sat on a straight-backed chair. But since
this was her first time, he wanted to be able to hold her tightly.

Laura suddenly
felt very self-conscious. She didn't know what to do, where to put her hands,
whether to cross her feet. She could feel Max's hands on either side of her
hips, adjusting her. Then his hand was on her bottom, its weight filling her
both with apprehension but also with a tingle that made her blush.

"Laura, what are
you afraid of?" he asked.

"Now?" she
asked.

"No, in
general," he said.

She thought a
minute. "Conflict," she said.
"Turmoil."

"And what does
that fear make you do?" he asked. His hand every so lightly squeezed Laura's
bottom and she startled a bit.

"Run," she said.
"Hide."

"Laura, you
can't hide from your problems," he said. "You can't run. I you do all it does
is leave you exhausted and disoriented. And that leads to stupid mistakes."

His hand roamed
her bottom now and he tightened his grip. Laura whimpered.

"Laura, can you
name one mistake your fear caused?" he asked.

"I spent your
money without making sure I could cover it," she said.

"Yes, you did,"
he replied and then the first spank fell. Laura thought she was prepared, but
she wasn't. Even over her skirt and panties, it hurt and she cried out a little
"
ow
" and bucked slightly. She felt suddenly
embarrassed and blushed at her predicament. But she had little time to reflect
before his hand fell again, catching her lower bottom. Laura let out a cry that
ended in a whimper.

"Why couldn't
you cover it?" Max
asked,
his voice stern.

Laura spoke
rapidly now, hers the voice of one trying to assuage an angry authority figure.
"Because-my-ex-maxed-out-our-card-and-I-didn't-have-any-money-because-Ms.
Tighlman
-didn't-pay-me!" she said in one breath.

Max targeted her
bottom three more times with his spanks, left cheek, right cheek and right
across the middle. Laura began to cry. Not fake Prissy Able tears, but genuine
tears. Max didn't know if it was because she was ashamed of what she'd done or
if it was because the spanking hurt. Laura wasn't in any position to tell him
the truth -
that
it was both.

She was relieved
when he began to lecture her rather than having her answer questions.

"Laura, you have
to stop letting people take advantage of you," he said. "You have to stop
letting them walk all over you because you're afraid of how they'll react to
your being assertive. And that is wrong."

"So what are you
going to do tomorrow?" he asked.

"What do you
mean?" she asked.

"What are you
going to do to correct the problem?" he asked, punctuating the word "problem"
with a smack that led to renewed tears.

"I don't know?"
she wailed.

Max picked up
the paddle. Laura began to squirm and say the word "no" over and over. Max
gripped her tightly and brought The Enforcer down hard on her bottom. Laura
cried and put her hands back.

"No, no," Max
said. "Put your hands back in front of you, Laura."

"I don't want
to!" she cried. "It hurts."

"Laura." the
word was a warning. Max grabbed her hands and pulled them in front of her. At
the same time, she felt her skirt being raised to her waist.

"Oh don't, Max,
please don't," Laura cried.

"Are you going
to keep your hands in front of you or do I have to take your panties down?"

Laura gasped.
"No!" she cried. Max released her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Laura," he
said. "I'm going to spank you with the paddle now. There will only be five, but
I want you to be a good girl and hold still. You can kick and cry all you want
but you aren't allowed to fight or cover your bottom."

Laura buried her
face in the upholstery of the couch and held her breath, anticipating the blow.

"Relax, Laura," Max
said sternly. "Tightening up like this is a form of defiance."

"OK," Laura said
through her tears, and Max began the last part of the spanking. He didn't spank
her particularly hard; this portion of the punishment was more symbolic, than
anything, a way to show Laura that he could - and would - use the paddle at his
discretion whether she wanted him to or not.

But it still
hurt plenty to someone like Laura, and it took all the restraint she could
muster not to shield herself with her hands as Max spanked her. He gave her a
moment between spanks to collect herself, gauging whether he was pushing her
too far. When he was satisfied that he hadn't, he delivered the last two in
rapid succession, renewing Laura's tears.

"It's over,
baby," he said, turning her over and drawing her against him. Laura buried her
face in his strong chest.

She lay like
that for
awhile
, her hiccoughing and the pain in her
bottom diminishing. When she looked up at Max, they exchanged their second
kiss.

"So you're going
to start asserting yourself more," he said.

"With other
people," she smiled.

"No, you can
assert yourself with me," he replied. "Just do it respectfully."

Laura dipped her
head back on his chest and was close to dozing when she heard her cell phone
buzzing from her purse.

"I'd better get
that," she said, climbing from Max's lap. She walked over to her purse and
retrieved her phone, seeing her home number on the screen. It was Tammy, who
was caring for Evan again.

She answered,
and Max watched with concern as Laura's face grew white with fear.

"No," she said.
"Whatever you do, don't let him take Evan! I'll be there as fast as I can!"

Laura snapped
phone shut and ran to the bathroom to retrieve her clothes and shoes. "What's
wrong?" Max called behind her.

She hurriedly
changed and ran back out. "Clay -my ex-husband - the other night, after the
credit card thing, I told him I was going after child support. Now he wants to
come get Evan!"

"You can't let
that happen," said Max.

"I know," she
said, and ran out the door.

"Wait!" Max
grabbed his coat and followed. When he got outside, Laura was in her Cherokee,
finally trying to start it.

"It's flooded,"
Max said to her as he opened her door.

"It can't be!"
she cried. "I have to get there!"

"And you will,"
he said. "You have me now."

***

The snow was
falling even heavier as Max's SUV sped away from Suburbia and towards the city
lights. Beside him, Laura was a ball of nerves, but thankful he'd given her a
ride. Some vehicles had already pulled over from the storm. She couldn't
imagine how helpless she would have felt if she'd been stranded by the roadside
all alone. But she wasn't alone. She had Max.

The traffic gods
were kind once they reached the city; each light the came too was green. And
soon they were in front of Laura's brownstone. A strange car was out front and
a blonde woman got out of the passenger side, flicking her cigarette into the
snow. A man got out of the driver's side. Clay.

Max guided his
SUV into the space behind them and Laura jumped out. She'd already called Tammy
to tell her to not let Clay in. She walked up fast behind the couple as they
were mounting the steps.

"Clay!"

He turned at the
sound of her voice, a look of anger and surprise on his face.

"What are you
doing here?" she asked. "Have you come to drop off Evan's tuition money?"

"Hell no," the
woman said. "He's come to get his son for a few days!"

Laura looked at
the blonde, or, more accurately, the fake blonde. She was a hard-looking girl,
and gaunt, with the air of a hooker. Clay had left her for this?

"So
what?
You can't speak for yourself anymore?" Laura asked.

"
Steph
, let me handle this," Clay said to the girl, who affected
a bored look and lit another cigarette.

"I'm here to get
Evan," he said.

"Well, you're
not taking him," she said. "A week or so ago, maybe I would have, but after the
stunts you've pulled any time you have with Evan will be by court order. I'm
filing papers for divorce tomorrow.
And for full custody of
our son."

She said the
words as convincingly as she could, knowing that lawyers were expensive. But
she'd find a way. She felt confident she would. She glanced back at Max, who
gave her a reassuring wink.

"I'll get a
better lawyer," Clay shot back. "I don't care how much it costs. I'll end up
with Evan and you'll end up with child support."

Laura looked at
Clay and for the first time and realized how scruffy he looked. His clothes
looked like they hadn't even been washed in a week and his blonde hair was
sticking up all over. His girlfriend's Taurus, still running on the sidewalk,
didn't look like it was good for many more miles. And despite his bluster, he
looked genuinely worried. Clay wasn't doing well, not at all. She knew it, and
he knew she knew it. He was nothing but a paper tiger.
A
paper tiger who couldn't even afford a lawyer.

"Oh, fine," she
said, calling his bluff. "I'll have my lawyer get us on the docket as early as
possible," she said.

Now his
expression changed. "Let me tell you something, Laura," he said, getting inches
from her face. Laura drew back in revulsion. He smelled of whiskey and
cigarettes. "If you even think of making things hard on me I will so fuck you
up!"

A large hand
descended on Clay's shoulder and pulled him back. "Communicating threats?
That's not smart in front of witnesses."

Clay turned,
looking Max up and down.

"Who the hell
are you?" he asked incredulously, looking up at the large man who loomed over
him.

"I'm Laura's
friend," Max said.
"Laura's very special, overprotective
friend."

Clay just looked
stupidly from Max to Laura and then back to Max. "Hey, wait a minute," he said.
"You're that guy!
That security guy from the TV!"

"That's right,"
Max Greenway said and then nodded in Laura's direction. "And her security is my
business. Now I suggest you just back off before I'm forced to defend her. Her
lawyer will contact you tomorrow."