Messy desk (M/F story)

Nathan sighed, trying his absolute best to remain calm. A few months ago, his wife had lost her job, and they'd decided that he should employ her as a secretary at his small company. Over time, two things had become clear to him. The first was that a woman who is fired for disorganization and forgetting important tasks, doesn't magically become more competent just because her employer is also her husband. Secondly, when your employee is also your wife, firing her isn't really an option.

"What you're telling me," he said slowly and deliberately, making sure they were on the same page, "is that you have no idea where the Bowman report is."

"It's somewhere around here," Susan replied, waving her hand at the mountain of papers on the desk. "I just don't know exactly were."

Spanked by a friend (F/M story)

It was an early Thursday evening, and Jake was sitting on the couch in his new apartment, having a few beers with his closest friends. They didn't usually drink in the middle of the week, but Jake had broken up with his girlfriend a few days before, and they felt he needed a bit of sympathy. He was telling them all about how she'd called him an immature man-child, and how she wished she'd never met him.

Harry was telling him how lucky he was that he got rid of her, and how he'd take him out to the local bars, chasing skirt for a few nights. Kirsten was telling him that he was a decent man, and that he would bounce back soon enough.

Fred was talking about the drinking habits of giraffes, and Jake wasn't entirely sure whether he was trying to use it as an inspirational allegory, or if he'd just outright forgotten what they were discussing, but he was quite entertaining to listen to, at least. Sarah wasn't saying much, just giving him encouraging smiles to show she supported him. It was rare of her to be this quiet; she was never afraid to speak her mind.

As the night grew long, they started to leave. Almost everyone had work in the morning, leaving Jake and Sarah alone with the rest of the beer. He looked at her. "You've said very little all evening," he pointed out. She nodded. "What's your take on it, then?"

"I think she was right about one thing," she said calmly. "I think you are immature."

Riding lessons (M/F story)

Catherine smiled to herself as she arrived home. David had told her that since money was tight, she'd have to give up her riding lessons, and she'd promised that she would. But what her husband didn't know, wouldn't hurt him, would it? She had more than enough time to get home and get changed again before his workday was done, and he'd never known where she'd been. Luckily, he never checked the credit card statement – she was the one who did that.

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice his car parked outside, so her first hint that something was wrong was when she entered the house and found him sitting on the sofa with a displeased expression.

Her Birthday (M/F story)

When Rick spotted a tall, attractive redhead entering his favourite bar, he had wasted no time in offering to buy her a drink. The woman, whose name was Joanne, accepted his offer, and they were now chatting pleasantly. He'd flirted a bit with her, but while she wasn't unreceptive to his advances, he had a feeling that he would probably go home alone today – maybe with her phone number, but maybe not. This was a slight disappointment, but in his view, a pleasant conversation with a beautiful woman is never a bad thing, even if it doesn't lead to anything more.

She'd just asked for another margarita, and he offered to pay for this one as well. She seemed about to refuse, but then accepted. "After all," she told him as the bartender handed her the drink. "It's my birthday today."

"Oh? Congratulations," he said. He leaned forward, wanting to test her reaction to a more sexual suggestion than those he had already attempted. "So have you had your birthday spanking today?"