Chapter XVII

I paced in my office, playing with my fingers. I was wearing short-alls and a pale pink button-up. I thought maybe if Mr. Gladstone couldn't get my pants down easily, he wouldn't try to take them off. Either way, I was wearing my thick Strawberry Shortcake training pants just in case.

"Natalie, it's time for your morning briefing." Mr. Gladstone announced to the office. Everyone heard, but those words meant something different to Natalie.

I was almost in tears as I stepped in Mr. Gladstone's office, but I was met with an unexpected surprise. A woman. Maybe my age, or a little older? She had long auburn hair and a very elegant pantsuit. I looked up at Mr. Gladstone nervously. He... he couldn't spank me with someone else here, could he? "Natalie, this is Mabel. She's going to be assisting you in some of your duties for a while." My stomach did a flip. "I, um... sir, I don't need help."

"I'm certain that's true, and I'm hoping that you can help teach some of your responsibilities to Mabel here. You’ve been very responsible lately.” The little bit of flattery did nothing to put Natalie at ease, though. "Please show Mabel to your desk, and come back in for your briefing." By which he meant spanking. Mabel, meanwhile, couldn't seem to take her eyes off of Natalie; she way she was dressed, the meek way she carried herself...

"Y-yes sir..." I walked out of the office with Mabel following behind me. A few girls stared over the tops of their cubicles, but when I came out they all sat back down. I led the way into my office, which was appropriately sized and finely appointed. "Um. So that's my desk, and... I don't know where Mr. Gladstone wants you to sit, so..."

"I didn't realize the dress code here was so... relaxed." Mabel sat down immediately in Natalie's chair while she talked. She was certainly not lacking in confidence.

"Huh? Oh..." I looked down at my outfit and felt a little blush on my cheeks. "I just... I find that people respond to me better when I'm a little less... formal, you know?" "Is that look something Mr. Gladstone likes?" she asked, looking me dead in the eye. "...excuse me?"

"Are you trying to appeal to your boss's tastes? I mean, that's a pretty epic way to get noticed, I guess. I bet he keeps his eyes all over you, huh?" And then before Nat could respond, she added. "Isn't he waiting for you right now?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't think of anything. She... she thought we were sleeping together? Mr. Gladstone and me? Of course, with that email he sent out last week... but she was new here! She shouldn't have read that! "You're going to be late," she told me. She was right. I shook my head and walked out of my own office, with embarrassment and frustration all over my face. I closed Mr. Gladstone's office door behind me. "I don't like her!"

"Is that so?" Mr. Gladstone asked, while rotating his chair with the full expectation that Natalie was going to present her ass and lay over his lap the way she had become accustomed to doing.

"I don't need help with anything! I'm handling it fine! And you know she thinks we're fucking, right? She's going to tell everyone, and Cora's going to get mad at us, even though we aren't doing anything, and... and I don't like her!" My hands were balled at my sides in anger and I had started to raise my voice.

"Is that the language you think appropriate to talk to your superior with, Natalie?" Although, to be fair, this was tantamount to a temper tantrum and should definitely be encouraged. "Tell me more about how you feel, but no more cursing please.” She'd already added five more spankings this morning as a reminder not to, even if she didn't know it yet.

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down at my shoes - cute white ones that Cora picked out for me last week. "She's unnecessary... I don't need help." "Didn't you make a mistake last week? Because you were overwhelmed?" I winced at the reminder. "That's different... I already told you it wouldn't happen again."

"And if you're certain that it won't happen again, you won't have any troubles with someone sitting in with you to learn the ropes, will you?" She was so worked up, and so strikingly cute - Cora hadn't exaggerated that fact at all.

"But! I don't want her there! I don't want her around! And I don't need help, and I don't wanna show anyone the ropes, and why does she need to learn the ropes; this is MY job!" She was replacing me. I knew she was replacing me, and he didn't want to say it. I'd screwed up and he was going to fire me the second she knew how to do my job. Tears started to fill my eyes.

The moment the tantrum led to tears, Mr. Gladstone stood up, approached Natalie, and picked her up. Just like that. In his arms, cradled her on his hip, and cuddled her tight and close.

Mr. Gladstone picked me up. Swooped me up, just like a toy or a teddy bear or something. Like I weighed nothing at all. Then he set me down on his desk, on my padded bottom, and rubbed the tears off my cheeks with his thumbs. "It's okay, Natalie. You aren't going anywhere." I sniffled and looked up at him with uncertainty.

"The only danger to your job is you. Your willfulness and stubbornness get in your own way sometimes, but as long as you're a good girl, you have nothing to worry about." It echoed the philosophies that Cora had put in place, and those seeds would begin to sprout.

...maybe he was right. I was doing it all over again. I was literally crying on my boss's office about some new girl I met five minutes ago! Talk about over-reacting... "You're right... I'm sorry..." I looked down at my feet and rubbed the water from my eyes.

"I know I am, sweetheart. Mabel is new, she's inexperienced, I assigned her to you because I think you'll be a positive role model for her. Can you do that for me? Show her how to act, how to dress to have everybody like her more? Maybe tomorrow you could wear the new ensemble that Cora bought for you yesterday? I would love to see it."

"Ensemble?" He gave me a knowing look and my cheeks burned brightly. Cora told him about that?! "I... I can't wear that to work... I really can't..." It wasn't "childishly cute". It was infantile in every sense of the word. It wouldn't make me more approachable - it would make me a laughing stock!

"From what I understand, it's bold and cheerful, and not at all inappropriate for work. The ladies have been responding well to your fashion choices thus far, haven't they? If Cora picked it out, I'm most certain the response will be positive."

"It really, really, really won't," I said quietly, crossing my arms over my chest. "But I'll think about it." I wouldn't think about it. I'd made up my mind already. But I wanted to get out of this conversation before I screwed something up again. "Do we still have to... you know? I mean, I already cried..."

"I think it's important to maintain our routine, Natalie. And I do need to administer an additional five due to your cursing earlier." She looked crestfallen, but that was expected; she'd messed up and punishment for that was important. "Let's get you dressed down to your undies."

"It's really hard to get in and out of this outfit..." But my attempt fell short. He gave me a stern look and I resigned to the inevitable. I unhooked the straps of my short-alls and dropped them down to the floor, leaving me in nothing but my pink button-up and Strawberry Shortcake training pants. No matter how many times this happened, it was never less humiliating...

These training pants were thicker than the other pair, and it was like a foundational shift in a house; noticeable in every movement she made. "Over my lap, sweetheart." This would probably barely feel like anything, on account of the thickness of the padding.

I crawled up onto Mr. Gladstone's lap as I had five times before, looking down at the carpet with my ass high in the air. Just like the first time, this position made me feel small. Helpless. Fragile. But I had protection.

Just like before, the impact wasn't all that firm, but it was still very humiliating. He made her count, and he stopped after seven to comment how well she was handling it, and how she must have been getting used to this being normal for her. Then he continued.

When he stood me back on my feet, I was lightheaded and dizzy. The embarrassment of the whole process felt like a bad drug, fogging over my mind. I fumbled for my short-alls, but I couldn't quite get them on all the way without help. Mr. Gladstone reached around me and snapped the straps into place. "Thank you, sir," I muttered shyly. At least it didn't hurt this time...

"You're a good girl and I'm very proud of you, Nattie." Notably, the first time he'd used that diminutive. "Now go and make my company some money, sweetheart. And be good."