Late one afternoon, Alyx was driving to her parents' home to take in the mail while they were on vacation with her younger sister. Their car was parked at the front of the driveway, so rather than try to inch past it or park out on the street, she decided to borrow their neighbour's driveway instead. She was only going to be there for a minute, so it would probably have been fine, if she'd paid attention to the car already parked there – which she didn't, until she heard a scraping sound that immediately told her something was wrong. She hurried out of the car and began to examine the damage. Her own beat-up Mazda seemed fine, but the other car it had an ugly scratch on it. Scratching the paint on her parents' car would have been annoying, but doing it to their neighbour's nice-looking BMW meant she had a rather uncomfortable and expensive conversation in her future.
Taking a deep breath, she decided that the best thing to do under the circumstances would be to deal with it immediately – knock on the door, apologize profusely, and offer to pay for the damages, though the latter would obviously sting on the young waitress' low salary. With a feeling of impending doom, she approached the lavish home of Mr Harrington and rang the doorbell.
The door was opened by a heavily built man of middle height with a bald head and a thick neck. To Alyx, Mr Harrington had always looked like a man destined to be a wrestler, so it had come as a surprise to learn that he was actually a lawyer. She did her best to look very sorry for what she'd done – which was quite easy, as she felt terrible. "Mr Harrington? I'm Alyx, the Quinn's daughter? I'm afraid I've scratched your car while borrowing your driveway."
The man frowned, managing to make himself look even scarier than he did before. "You did, did you? Your father mentioned that you had just gotten your licence last week. You need to be more careful, young lady."
Alyx realized that the man had mistaken her for her younger sister and was about to correct him, but she stopped herself. What would be more embarrassing – to leave him thinking that she was some irresponsible teenager still learning to drive, or to have him realize that she'd had a licence for almost a decade and still messed up?
Making a decision, she did her best to look like a sorry young girl, bowing her head mournfully and fluttering her eyelashes as if holding back tears. "Yes, sir. I'll be more careful in the future, sir. I promise!"
He sighed. "Let's look at the damage," he said as he put on a coat.
They walked down the driveway, where he spent a few minutes looking at the car and tutting, while occasionally glancing with an expression of disapproval at the young lady standing at his side. "This isn't going to be cheap, you know. I'll have to talk to your father once I get the bill. Though why you didn't park in THEIR driveway…."
"I can assure you that you'll have the money, sir," Alyx said meekly. Though she wasn't sure exactly how yet. Would her parents lend her the money if she didn't tell them what she needed it for? Did she have enough in her emergency fund? Or would she have to admit what she'd done?
"I expect they'll barely punish you for being careless and inconsiderate and costing them all that money, as well? Soft-touch parents of today… You'll be grounded for a week, I suppose?"
Despite her nervousness, the thought made Alyx chuckle. Grounded at her age? Would her parents expect her to go straight home to her flat after work? Would they come by to check that she wasn't spending time on her phone? "Hah! Not likely," she muttered. It was only when she saw the expression on his face that she remembered that she was supposed to act like a teenager. "Sorry, sir. Yes, I'll probably be grounded sir."
He narrowed his eyes. "You know, I don't think I like your frivolity. Sounds like you're not being punished enough." He folded his arms in front of his chest. "In my opinion, a girl that damages another man's property and then laughs about it should be taken over the lap and given a good, sound spanking. And I think I'll suggest that to your father the next time I see him."
Alyx bit her lip. Once Mr Harrington talked to her parents, matters would become much worse than they already were. Mr Harrington would find out she'd lied to him, and her parents would learn that she'd tried to place the blame on her younger sister. "Mr Harrington, do you have to talk to my father? I should not have borrowed your driveway, and I certainly shouldn't have giggled, and I apologize for that. But I'm very sorry for what I've done, and I have some money saved up, so I can pay for the paint job myself. Couldn't we solve this between us?"
Mr Harrington gave Alyx a stern gaze that made her squirm as he pondered her words. "How about this, then," he said at last. "I won't talk to your father, and I'll pay for the scratch – we both know that I can afford it far better than you can, young lady."
So far, the deal sounded very good to Alyx, but she held her breath. She had a strange feeling that she wouldn't like what came next.
"But before that, we're going to head back up to my house. We are going to go inside and head to the kitchen, where I will place you over my knee and give you the long, hard spanking you clearly need."
Taking a deep breath, she decided that the best thing to do under the circumstances would be to deal with it immediately – knock on the door, apologize profusely, and offer to pay for the damages, though the latter would obviously sting on the young waitress' low salary. With a feeling of impending doom, she approached the lavish home of Mr Harrington and rang the doorbell.
The door was opened by a heavily built man of middle height with a bald head and a thick neck. To Alyx, Mr Harrington had always looked like a man destined to be a wrestler, so it had come as a surprise to learn that he was actually a lawyer. She did her best to look very sorry for what she'd done – which was quite easy, as she felt terrible. "Mr Harrington? I'm Alyx, the Quinn's daughter? I'm afraid I've scratched your car while borrowing your driveway."
The man frowned, managing to make himself look even scarier than he did before. "You did, did you? Your father mentioned that you had just gotten your licence last week. You need to be more careful, young lady."
Alyx realized that the man had mistaken her for her younger sister and was about to correct him, but she stopped herself. What would be more embarrassing – to leave him thinking that she was some irresponsible teenager still learning to drive, or to have him realize that she'd had a licence for almost a decade and still messed up?
Making a decision, she did her best to look like a sorry young girl, bowing her head mournfully and fluttering her eyelashes as if holding back tears. "Yes, sir. I'll be more careful in the future, sir. I promise!"
He sighed. "Let's look at the damage," he said as he put on a coat.
They walked down the driveway, where he spent a few minutes looking at the car and tutting, while occasionally glancing with an expression of disapproval at the young lady standing at his side. "This isn't going to be cheap, you know. I'll have to talk to your father once I get the bill. Though why you didn't park in THEIR driveway…."
"I can assure you that you'll have the money, sir," Alyx said meekly. Though she wasn't sure exactly how yet. Would her parents lend her the money if she didn't tell them what she needed it for? Did she have enough in her emergency fund? Or would she have to admit what she'd done?
"I expect they'll barely punish you for being careless and inconsiderate and costing them all that money, as well? Soft-touch parents of today… You'll be grounded for a week, I suppose?"
Despite her nervousness, the thought made Alyx chuckle. Grounded at her age? Would her parents expect her to go straight home to her flat after work? Would they come by to check that she wasn't spending time on her phone? "Hah! Not likely," she muttered. It was only when she saw the expression on his face that she remembered that she was supposed to act like a teenager. "Sorry, sir. Yes, I'll probably be grounded sir."
He narrowed his eyes. "You know, I don't think I like your frivolity. Sounds like you're not being punished enough." He folded his arms in front of his chest. "In my opinion, a girl that damages another man's property and then laughs about it should be taken over the lap and given a good, sound spanking. And I think I'll suggest that to your father the next time I see him."
Alyx bit her lip. Once Mr Harrington talked to her parents, matters would become much worse than they already were. Mr Harrington would find out she'd lied to him, and her parents would learn that she'd tried to place the blame on her younger sister. "Mr Harrington, do you have to talk to my father? I should not have borrowed your driveway, and I certainly shouldn't have giggled, and I apologize for that. But I'm very sorry for what I've done, and I have some money saved up, so I can pay for the paint job myself. Couldn't we solve this between us?"
Mr Harrington gave Alyx a stern gaze that made her squirm as he pondered her words. "How about this, then," he said at last. "I won't talk to your father, and I'll pay for the scratch – we both know that I can afford it far better than you can, young lady."
So far, the deal sounded very good to Alyx, but she held her breath. She had a strange feeling that she wouldn't like what came next.
"But before that, we're going to head back up to my house. We are going to go inside and head to the kitchen, where I will place you over my knee and give you the long, hard spanking you clearly need."
