The Art of Discipline: Dani’s Discovery (The Mockingbird Chronicles) (8 page)

“Give it to me, Danielle. If I leave without it, I’ll come back with the hairbrush.”

“Oh, come on,” Dani protested, but she handed over the laptop anyway. “When can I have it back?” she asked in almost a whine.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Emma snapped. “Tell you what I have decided though. You have exactly one hour to get this mess cleaned up. I doubt you’re hungry after eating all this junk, but I am. I’m going to get something to eat and calm down. One hour, Danielle,” Emma repeated, before turning and storming out of the apartment and toward her own.

Dani gave herself a minute or two after Emma left to remind herself to breathe again. She hadn’t been this scared since Uncle Sean caught her smoking when she was fourteen. With a sigh, she looked around the room. It was a pigsty. Shaking her head at her own behavior, she bent to pick up the bag of chips from the floor.

It took her a good twenty minutes to get the study spic and span again. She’d had to vacuum to get all the potato chips up and found herself vacuuming the rest of the apartment as well. She did the few dishes in the sink, straightened up the cushions on the sofa, and even remade her bed, making it as neat as possible.

By the time her hour was up, she found herself sitting in the middle of the sofa, twitching nervously every time she heard a creak or a noise that could signal Emma’s arrival. Emma managed to drag out the torture though, making her wait nearly another fifteen minutes. By the time Dani heard the key rattle and saw the door knob turn, she was sure her heart would explode from pure stress.

Not sure if she should stand or say something or what, Dani decided to go for the safest option and study the ground. She sensed Emma move across the room and felt the sofa sag as Emma sat next to her. Only when she felt Emma’s gentle hand on her knee did she look up.

“You know, Danielle,” Emma began. “I was really worried about you today. I thought you were getting sick.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Emma squeezed her knee. “You lied to me, Danielle. You left your shift under false pretenses. That’s unfair to me and to our employees. This is the second day in a row that you’ve skipped out on work.”

Dani didn’t know what to say, so instead she let her eyes travel back to the floor.

“I don’t know if you are testing me or if you really just don’t want to be here. I thought we were getting somewhere, Danielle, but seriously, if you don’t want to be here, let me buy you out so you can get back to your life.”

Dani felt her eyes suddenly fill with tears. They were hot, angry tears of disappointment. “I don’t want to leave. Please don’t make me leave,” she managed to force out.

The two women sat in silence for a moment as Emma debated what to say and Dani fought the tears that so stubbornly insisted on coming.

Emma reached out and wiped a tear off Dani’s face with her thumb. “Oh, Dani,” Emma breathed, encouraging Dani to turn toward her as she wrapped her arms securely around her. “Shhh, now. It’s okay,” Emma continued to coo as she rocked Dani gently.

“I miss him so much,” Dani blubbered between sobs. “He would have been so disappointed in me.”

“No, sweetie, no. He loved you. Do you have any idea how often he spoke of you? I felt like I knew you before we ever met.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. He was so damn proud of you, Dani.”

“He wouldn’t have been proud of the way I acted today,” Dani whispered.

“No, probably not. He’d probably be paddling your butt right now, giving you a reason to cry,” Emma half joked.

That got half a smile out of Dani. “Probably,” she agreed, before frowning again. “Is that what you are going to do?”

Emma considered Dani’s question carefully. “I think there has been enough crying today, so this is what is going to happen. I’m going to keep the laptop until bedtime tomorrow night, which will be at 8:00 p.m., same as tonight.”

“But—” Dani started to protest.

Emma held up a finger, silencing her. “Since you were pretending to be sick, you can spend the rest of today and all day tomorrow in bed. No TV, no electronics. You may read or write or draw or sleep, your choice. Since you’ll be missing your shift tomorrow, you can make it up on Saturday.”

Dani frowned. Grounded—like she was fourteen.

“And, if you can manage to follow all that, I might consider not paddling your butt before bed tomorrow.”

Dani’s chin dropped. “Might?”

Emma smiled. “If you behave and follow the rules, I don’t think you have much to worry about. However, if you don’t, I promise you the spanking you got last night will feel like a warm up compared to tomorrow. Understand?”

Dani nodded her head.

“Good. Now go put on some pajamas for me.”

“What? Why?”

“So I can remind you to behave before I tuck you in.”

“But… you said you weren’t going to spank me.”

“No,” Emma corrected. “I said that if you behave, I wouldn’t paddle you tomorrow night. I wasn’t planning on paddling you tonight, well, unless I need too…”

“No, no, that’s okay. I get the message, I’ll go change,” Dani grumbled.

“Good girl,” Emma praised as Dani shuffled toward her bedroom.

Emma gave Dani five minutes before she followed her. She paused briefly by the study, just to make sure that Dani had indeed cleaned it before heading to the master bedroom. Knocking softly with her knuckles, Emma caught Dani just as she was buttoning up the front of her pajama top.

Not saying a word, Emma crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Turning herself slightly sideways, she motioned for Dani to come closer. Reaching out, she didn’t give Dani any warning as she gave the loose pajama bottoms a tug, encouraging them down to Dani’s knees. She then grabbed her wrist and guided her over one knee, letting Dani’s weight from her torso rest on the mattress.

“Danielle, tell me why we are here?”

Dani took in a breath. “Because I mislead you into thinking that I was sick so I could skip out on my shift at work.”

Emma smiled, pleased with the response. “And tell me, Danielle, was it worth it?”

Dani was quiet for a long moment, but when she did speak, her voice betrayed her as she squeaked out, “No.”

Emma reached down and slid Dani’s panties down over her hips. She then ran the palm of her hand along each cheek, as if memorizing the bruises from the paddling the night before. She heard Dani sniffle and for a moment regretted what she knew she had to do. But she wasn’t going to shy away from her task now.

Raising her hand, she let it fall quickly and rapidly, alternating cheeks with each strike. Dani moaned and wiggled under her attack, but like the night before, Emma held her securely around the waist. Emma tried her best to avoid the worst of the bruising but knew that Dani was in no way comfortable. Her hand fell no more than two dozen times, but it didn’t take much to rekindle the fire in Dani’s backside. When she stopped, it was almost as hot as it has been the previous night.

Dani seemed to agree, for when Emma let her up, Dani’s hands flew to her backside in an inane attempt to rub out the heat. Giving her a moment to calm down, Emma reached out and pulled her closer.

Dani winced as her still-burning bottom came in contact with Emma’s lap. “Did you really have to do that?” she whined, wishing that she was still rubbing her sore backside.

“What do you think?” Emma asked.

Dani frowned but eventually caved. “If I ever deserved a spanking, I guess it was for today’s stunt. But did you have to do it bare?”

“Yes, Danielle. I bared you for your own protection. I wanted to see the damage from yesterday to make sure I didn’t hurt you unnecessarily.”

“Well, if you didn’t want to hurt me, you could have just not spanked me,” Dani complained.

“That’s true, but really, I think you more than earned this spanking. Let’s just make sure you don’t earn another tomorrow, okay?” Emma encouraged. Dani continued her frown as Emma motioned for her to stand and then replaced her panties and pajama bottoms. “Now, off to bed with you.”

Dani reluctantly crawled under the sheets, careful to keep her position so that her bottom didn’t make contact with the mattress. She couldn’t help but glance at the clock, noticing that it was almost four.

“Do I really have to take a nap? I mean, I already have to go to bed early, and I won’t be able to sleep if I nap now.”

Emma studied Dani for a moment. “If you promise me that you’ll stay in bed, you don’t have to sleep. I think the early bedtime will satisfy the nap requirement this time,” Emma agreed.

“I’ll stay in bed if you’ll stay with me,” Dani bargained, hoping Emma would agree.

“I can’t right now. I need to finish up downstairs. After we close though, I’ll bring dinner up before I tuck you in for the night.”

Dani sighed, supposing that would have to do. “Emma, could you do one more thing for me before you leave?”

“Sure, Dani, what do you need?”

“Would you bring me Uncle Sean’s copy of
To Kill a Mockingbird
? I think I’d like to read it.”

Emma smiled. “Now that, I can do,” she said as she headed out of the bedroom to retrieve the book from its place in the study. Returning quickly, she handed Dani the book before kissing her on the forehead and leaving her to enjoy her punishment.

Exiting the apartment, she locked the door and looked up at the ceiling. “You taught me well, Uncle Sean. I don’t think that one will ever play hooky again. I know I didn’t.” She smiled at the memory, however unpleasant it was originally, before slowly walking down the stairs and returning to the store.

* * *

The next morning, Dani found herself sitting in bed, more bored than she’d been in her life. Even her ninth grade biology class was exciting compared to this. She’d already eaten breakfast with Emma at the kitchen table before being banished back to bed.

Throwing down her book, Dani moaned and looked at the clock. It was only 10:30 a.m., and she had no idea how she was going to survive the day. Emma had been clear on her directions though, and Dani knew if she stepped out of the bed, her life—not to mention her bottom—was in Emma’s hands. Sighing, she picked up her book and once again tried to read.

It was an hour later when Dani jerked her head up at the loud pounding coming from her front door. Hearing yelling, she got out of bed and opened the door to discover a rather distraught Will. Frowning, Dani asked, “What’s wrong?”

“You weren’t answering your phone, and I wasn’t sure if I should bother you, but I can’t reach Emma and wasn’t sure what else to do.”

“Slow down, Will, tell me what’s going on.”

Taking a deep breath, Will ran his fingers through his hair as he entered the apartment and sat down. “It’s Stevie. She sliced her hand up pretty badly opening a box of books. Anna had to take her to the hospital, and like I said, I can’t reach Emma. I’ll have to close up the store if you don’t come help me.”

“Take a deep breath, Will. Why will you have to close the store?”

“Sean’s main rule: you always have someone to watch your back when you work. We have to have at least two people in the store at all times, or we close. No questions asked.”

Dani began to move toward her bedroom. “Give me ten minutes.”

“Are you sure?” Will stood and considered Dani. “I mean, Emma told us you weren’t feeling well today…”

He trailed off as Dani gave him a small smile. “I’ll be fine, Will, thanks for your concern. Now you go back to the store. I’ll get changed and be down right away.”

The young man breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Dani.”

Dani merely nodded, continuing to her bedroom.

* * *

It was almost two hours later when Dani grumbled before putting her cell phone back in her pocket. She still hadn’t been able to reach Emma and was becoming worried. She and Will had been swamped for the last hour, and she was anything but bored now. Now though, the crowd had quieted and the store was again empty, when the familiar bell rang above the door. Turning, she was relieved to see Emma. “Thank goodness you’re okay.”

“What are you doing here, Danielle?” Emma asked coldly as she turned the store’s sign to closed.

“I came down to help Will out…”

“Great, now get back upstairs until I’m calm enough to speak with you.”

“Emma, just listen would you?” Dani protested as Will came from the back of the store.

“Later, Danielle,” Emma snapped, handing her a sack. “Here’s your lunch. I’ll be up shortly.”

“But, Emma…”

“Go, Danielle, now.” Emma’s voice was cold, and Dani turned to follow the order, trying to hold back the unexpected tears.

“You were kinda harsh on Dani, weren’t you?” Will asked, as Dani rushed through the store and up the stairs.

“She shouldn’t have been in the store today,” Emma answered.

“If you would have listened to her, she could have explained it to you.”

“There’s no reason to be down here today.”

“Damn it, Emma, she was covering for Anna and Stevie!” Will’s brown eyes blazed. “Stevie got hurt. They’re still at the ER. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What happened? Is she okay?” Emma dropped her eyes and threw her purse on the counter.

The redhead’s mood wasn’t lost on the teenager, but the indifference she was showing to Stevie’s injury was making him more upset by the moment. “She’ll be fine. Not that you seem to care. Just needs a few stiches. Cut herself opening a box.”

Emma frowned. “I’m sorry. I’ll call Anna later and make sure everything is okay.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Will returned, but then more quietly added, “but something tells me you’re not.”

Emma tensed for a moment. “Patrick showed up,” she managed in a whisper.

Will’s anger deflated immediately, and he drew Emma into a bear hug. “God, Emma. Anything I can do? I’ll go beat him up for you, if you want me to.”

“No, no, I told him to leave me alone, but I don’t know if he will,” Emma chuckled between sudden tears. “Damn it, right in the middle of my bank errand and running to the lawyer’s office. I turned around, and there he was.”