Fantasy Friday, Primping Doesn't Pay

School is OUT!! I survived and summer stretches out before me. The relief is hard to describe. And to celebrate - as promised - a brand new Fantasy Friday. It is so exciting for me to hear from new writers. I think this story is excellent and I'm happy to be able to post it for you. I'll tell you a little about the writer at the end. Please enjoy...

Primping Doesn't Pay

She uncapped her tube of coral lipstick and carefully painted her lips the brilliant milky orange. Her long, mascara coated eyelashes swept over her eyes as she smiled brilliantly at herself in the bathroom mirror. Hmmm...not quite right yet. Tonight was Jeff's important work dinner. It could mean a promotion, and she wanted to look her best. She reached for her compact of blush.

"Valerie!" she heard his booming voice echo from the bottom of the stairs. "It's six forty-five! We need to be there for seven-thirty! Come on!"

"Coming, honey," came her sugar sweet reply. "Just give me one minute." She swiped her brush through the rosy blush and swirled it onto the apples of her cheeks. That was better. As her eyes travelled upward, she noticed a stray curl out of place. It had taken her hours to make every curl perfect - how could this have happened? She plugged the ceramic curling iron back into the socket.

"Valerie!" Jeff's voice was more impatient now. "It's been more than a minute! We have to go!"

"I know, darling," Valerie called back. "I only just need one more minute - honest!" She heard his sigh of annoyance, but more importantly she heard his footsteps patter away and breathed a little sigh of relief. Her appearance needed to be flawless, and she couldn't achieve that if her husband was constantly harassing her. Besides, how would she show up Sharon if she didn't look her absolute best?

Sharon was Jeff's co-worker's wife. She was snooty and elegant, and always looked absolutely stunning. At every work event that Jeff brought Valerie to, Valerie always tried to ensure that she looked as perfect as possible. Perhaps it was a little immature; catty even, like critical high school girls. But whenever she saw Sharon's glossy nails, or her glowing tan, something inside of her flowed over into a boiling rage. She wanted to be better. She NEEDED to be better. So she would be. She wrapped the hot curling tongs around the offending curl.

"VALERIE!" Jeff was standing at the bathroom door now. "That is enough! You look fine!"

"Just fine!?" Valerie whipped around, her eyebrows in a concerned arc.

"No, no! I didn't mean that!" Jeff answered quickly. "I meant you look beautiful...radiant...gorgeous..."

"That's more like it," Valerie said with a smirk.

"Lose the attitude, young lady. It is now seven o' clock, and we need to go." He came over to her and ran his hands along her form fitting red dress. It was silky and the neckline dipped into a stylish V. "If you don't come with me right now, I will turn your bottom the same shade as this dress. Do you understand?"

Valerie's reply was a roll of her eyes as she switched off the curling iron. This was met with a sharp slap to her bottom. "Ouch!" she cried.

"I don't think you understood me the first time, so I will remind you again. Cut the attitude. It's a big night for me, and I won't have you spoiling it." He leaned in and kissed her tenderly.

"Jeff!" she shrieked, yanking the coral lipstick out of her purse again. "You smudged it!"

He sighed, defeated. His wife's vanity got to be quite tiring after awhile, but that was not the time to address it. "Let's go, Val. You can fix it in the car."

***

Despite Jeff's constant attempts to herd his wife out the door, they were late. The traffic was ridiculous; he had never seen such a jam at that time. They swerved into the banquet hall fifteen minutes late.

"See?" Jeff said angrily as he yanked the keys from the engine. "If we had left at six forty-five like I had wanted to, we would be here on time! How do you think this makes me look?!"

She stared at him blankly. "Fashionably late?" she offered.

"Don't even," he growled as he stormed across the parking lot, beckoning for her to follow him.

As they entered, the hostess immediately directed them to their table, where everybody else was already seated.

"Jeff!" said Mr. Bill Hayes, Jeff's white haired boss. "Glad you could make it."

"Wouldn't miss this for the world, Mr. Hayes," Jeff said in a cool voice, very unlike his menacing tone in the parking lot. "I apologize for being late; the traffic was horrendous. Never seen it like that around here." He took Valerie's hand and they sunk into their seats, which happened to be right next to Sharon and her husband Dan. After seething inside for a moment, Valerie immediately stole a glance at Sharon.

Sharon was wearing a lilac eye shadow, dabbed expertly across her eyelids. "Ugh!" Valerie thought to herself. "I knew I read that lilac was in in Glamour...but I never got around to buying it!" A pair of diamonds sparkled dazzlingly in her ears. Valerie touched her rubies self-consciously. As if to make matters worse, the newest Louis Vuitton bag was plopped on the ground beside Sharon. Valerie hadn't even brought a purse; Jeff had dragged her out the door too quickly. Valerie bit her lip angrily. Sharon caught her staring at her.

"Hello, Valerie," she greeted her in a crystal, icy voice.

"Hello, Sharon," Valerie managed to reply. She could feel Sharon's eyes absorbing everything about her; her hair, her makeup, her dress, her shoes. She clenched her toes in frustration.

"Where did you park?" Sharon asked, in an attempt to make small talk.

"Over in the corner by Lodge Street," Valerie told her.

"Oh, I see. The Mercedes wouldn't fit in those small spaces; Dan is ever so cautious about scratching the paint, so we parked in the paid lot across the street. You know how it is." Her eyes glimmered, knowing full well that Valerie did not know how it was at all. Jeff and Valerie's Volkswagen didn't quite compare.

"Of course," responded Valerie through gritted teeth. She focused her attention on the menu. The sirloin did sound good...

When the waitress came to collect their orders, Sharon ordered first. "The perch, please, with a small garden salad and just water to drink." The waitress scribbled this onto her pad.

"And for yourself, madam?" she inquired of Valerie.

"Uh...uh..." Valerie stammered. Sharon had ordered a meal that clearly would help her maintain her slim figure. "I'd like the perch as well. And...a side of rice, please." She knew she had to change it up a little. It would be even worse to appear as if she were copying Sharon.

Twenty minutes later, platefuls of steaming food arrived. Jeff had ordered the sirloin that Valerie had had her eye on, and it looked delicious compared to her fish. She tried not to look at it, and dug in.

When they were well into their meal, Mr. Hayes stood up and clinked his knife to his glass. Everyone at the table was immediately silenced. "As you all know, Jeff is an exceptional employee. He is outstanding in all aspects of his work, and the day he walked in for his interview I just knew that he would prove to be an extraordinary worker. And let me just say...I was right!" Everyone laughed appreciatively. "So, I could not be more proud to announce that Jeff is going to be promoted to Marketing Executive!" Everyone clapped loudly, including Valerie. Jeff beamed.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Hayes. I hope you know how absolutely honoured I am," Jeff said, trying to maintain composure. He received a few slaps on the back from his male co-workers.

Valerie was on a high herself, thinking of what Jeff's new salary bonus would mean. More clothes...more makeup...more shoes... She grinned despite herself.

When Valerie's low-fat soy vanilla ice cream arrived (although Jeff's triple tiered chocolate cheesecake looked better), she dug her spoon in eagerly. Suddenly, though, she felt a cool wet seep in through the material of her dress onto her lap. Her spoon dropped into the dish with a clatter. She turned to see Sharon, who was holding an empty wine glass. The stain was slowly spreading on Valerie's new dress.

"Oh, Valerie! I'm so sorry! That was completely accidental!" Sharon apologized, but Valerie noted that she didn't sound very sorry.

"It's quite all right, Sharon," Jeff piped up quickly. "I'm sure that--"

"No, it's NOT all right!" Valerie exploded. "She totally meant to!" She turned to face Sharon. "You bitch! You ignorant cow!" Before she could stop herself, she hurled the deep red contents of her own wine glass onto Sharon's white dress. Sharon gasped.

"VALERIE!" Jeff's fingers curled so tightly around her wrist that she squealed. "Apologize right now!"

"I won't!" Valerie refused. "That bitch meant to!" His grip tightened. "Ow!" she shrieked. "Fine! I'm sorry, Sharon!"

"Why, there's no need to worry," Sharon responded coolly. "Emotions overcome all of us sometimes. Was that an expensive dress, Valerie? I'll be more than happy to pay for a new one." Her smile resembled that of a wolf. Valerie's heart pounded even more. It was just like Sharon to play the bigger person and make her look even more foolish.

Valerie had nothing left to say. She simply stood up, turned on her heel and left, leaving the table speechless. Her high heeled shoes clicked against the pavement of the parking lot as she marched over to their car. She unlocked it quickly and flung herself into the passenger's seat.

Jeff didn't emerge for another hour. She braced herself for the worst. He slid in cool as a cucumber, twisted the key in the engine and drove halfway home before speaking.

"So, you know that we only get the belt out for severe offenses. I would say that this is most definitely a severe offense."

"But, but Jeff! I don't want a spanking!" Valerie cried. Her bottom tingled on the heated seat.

"Valerie, you and I both know that your behavior was beyond unacceptable. Now, there is no question that you will be receiving a spanking tonight. If you speak one more word on this ride home, I will double your punishment...and let me tell you, you're already not going to be sitting comfortably for days, young lady." Something in Jeff's voice let her know that he was dead serious, and she kept her mouth shut. Ten minutes later, their car rolled into their driveway. "Up to our bedroom NOW. I want you fully naked. You will fetch the belt, and bring it downstairs to the living room, where I will be waiting for you. You have three minutes to do this. If you take any longer, your punishment will be longer. Is any of this unclear to you, young lady?" She shook her head vigorously. "Three minutes. Go."

Valerie did all that he had asked of her, and trudged down the stairs to the living room. He had placed a footstool in the middle of the room. "Hand me the belt, young lady." She obeyed. "Now kneel at my feet." Once again, she obeyed. "I cannot believe the way you behaved tonight, Valerie. It was such a critical night for me and I expected more of you." She could tell he was trying to control his anger. "Your vanity and jealousy is becoming absolutely ridiculous. You have to check yourself out in absolutely every mirror you see, and frankly, I've had enough. First, you made us late because you spent far too long touching up your appearance. Then, you dumped wine on my co-worker's wife, in front of all of my other co-workers and most importantly my boss, because you are jealous."

"I'm NOT jealous!" Valerie protested, but he held up his hand to silence her.

"Young lady, you will not speak out of turn," he cautioned her. "And yes, Valerie, you would not care what Sharon thought if you were not jealous. So, this is what is going to happen. You are going to go into the kitchen where I have filled a basin with cold water. You are to rinse your face and hair so that your face is free of all makeup and your hair is in its natural state. Then, when you are done, you will call me into the kitchen where I will place a bar of soap in your mouth for swearing tonight. You know I don't tolerate that. When the bar of soap is in your mouth, you will stand in the corner with your bottom stuck out so that I can give you a hand spanking. If the bar of soap leaves your mouth, we will place it back in and begin again. After your hand spanking, you will receive a belting. Tomorrow morning, at six-thirty, when I am about to go to work I will wake you up and deliver another hand spanking. You will not be permitted to go back to bed. Instead, you will begin your housework and you will do it in the nude so that your red bottom is on display. You will not be allowed to leave the house tomorrow and if you do I will know about it, because I am going to call you every half hour. If you do not pick up the phone when I call, I will drive home immediately, and you will receive another belting. Tonight, you will go to bed at ten thirty. Are we clear?"

Valerie could not believe he was being so harsh! She nodded feebly.

"Good. Also...one more thing. For the next month, you will not be permitted makeup, hair styling products, nail polish, or anything of the sort. I want you 'au naturel' as they say, so that you can overcome this ridiculous vanity problem."

"Jeff! NOOO!" she cried out desperately. "Jeff, please! I can't! I need that stuff!"

"No, you don't. I will be confiscating it from you. I think this will be a real benefit to you, young lady. Now wash your face."

Valerie trotted glumly into the kitchen, tears brimming in her eyes. She dunked her head into the cold water and scrubbed at her face until it was clean. She called Jeff into the room.

"Good job, Valerie." He went over to the sink, where he picked up a fresh bar of Ivory soap. "Now, come over here, young lady." She hesitated. "NOW. Don't make me come over there." She slowly went over. "Open wide. You know you deserve this. Because you said two swear words, you will receive a hard two minute hand spanking. Consider this your warm up. Now into the corner you go." She went over and pushed out her bottom the way she knew Jeff wanted it. She heard his tongue click in approval. The soap tasted awful; she hated the stuff. It wasn't the first time she had been in this position but it never tasted any better. However, she didn't have long to think about it because her mind was soon focused on her bottom that was getting soundly spanked.

SMACK! "You will..." SMACK! "Never..." SMACK! "Act that way..." SMACK! "Around my co-workers and boss..." SMACK! "Or simply act like that..." SMACK! "Ever..." SMACK! "Again!" SMACK!

"Mmmm..." SMACK! "Pthhhhh..." SMACK! "Pthhrrryy errrrr..." SMACK! This was supposed to sound like 'I'm so sorry sir', but the bar of soap in her mouth made it quite difficult to speak.

SMACK! "Oh, you're not sorry yet..." Jeff said, landing another resounding smack onto her rapidly reddening bottom. "But you will be!" SMACK!

This continued in a rain of spanks for another minute or so, until Jeff finally allowed Valerie to remove the bar of soap. "Go into the living room right now," he commanded. He slapped her bottom again, hard. She scurried away quickly. He followed. "Young lady, I want you to kneel sideways on the seat of that footstool so that your bottom is arched high in the air and your hands are on the ground." It took a bit of maneuvering, and he helped her a little. "Very good," he said as she struggled to hold the position. "Now keep it that way. If you move out of place, you know that I will spank you longer and harder, and that is not something that you want with this belt." Tears streamed down her face and dripped onto the floor. She heard him approach her from behind, and saw the belt in his hand. She whimpered. "Forty strokes with this belt," he said. "They will all be hard, but I expect you to take them. You know that you deserve them." And with that, he landed the first fiery blow.

"Owww!" sobbed Valerie. Another blow landed. "OWWW!" she cried even louder.

"You brought this on yourself," Jeff said, observing how her soft bottom was already welting from the two strokes. He landed another.

"OWWWWWWW!" Her bottom wiggled furiously.

"You keep that bottom still, young lady," he warned. "You know what happens to quivering bottoms." He landed ten more blows; twenty more blows. "Seven more," he told her. "They are going to be even harder. And if you don't take them, we will start from 1 again." He whipped the belt down hard, and left her sobbing again. One...two...three...four...five... "One more, Valerie." He hit the hardest he had hit the entire punishment, and left her crying hopelessly, her poor red bottom stuck high in the air. He allowed her to come down from that position and kneel in front of him, hands on her head.

"You know I love you baby," he told her softly. "You know I hate to do that to you. But I just can't let you act that way. You mean the world to me, Valerie, and I won't let you embarrass yourself like that." He kneeled down with her and kissed her tears away, and rubbed her tender bottom, which made her cringe a little. "Now, it's ten twenty. You know you need to be in bed in ten minutes."

"Sir?" Valerie said in a small, sniffly voice.

"Yes, darling?"

"Will you come to bed with me, maybe?"

He smiled at her. "Yes, I will," he said.

"And sir?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Do I have to get a spanking tomorrow morning?"

He grabbed her hand to help her up. "Yes, baby. You know I don't go back on my word, and you know that you deserve it. But come; let's not worry about that now. Let's get you comfortably to bed...on your tummy!" He grinned a little at her, and they mounted the stairs to bed.

***

A month later, Valerie was feeling great. The cashier at the supermarket, the one who always cashed her out, told her that she had been looking exceptionally radiant lately, and asked what she was using. She had noticed more males paying attention to her on the street (although this was something she took care to keep from Jeff). She enjoyed the extra hour she could take to sleep in in the morning because she wasn't worrying about her appearance. She grew more comfortable with her natural look. Really, who noticed if she was wearing mascara anyway? Although she had been scared at the prospect of not being allowed to primp constantly, she found that it was actually rather...relaxing. She had apologized profusely to Sharon (although she still thought that she could be a bitc-- er, nuisance). She felt very at peace.

As she was laying on her bed reading one October afternoon, she heard Jeff enter the room. She looked up to see him carrying her assortment of beauty tools, including her curling iron, her box of makeup and her bin of nail polishes. She just smiled at him.

"Really, honey...just put those away. I don't think I'll be needing them. In fact, I feel just great. And I've learned that primping doesn't pay."

Jeff felt a surge of pride. "Your lipstick and your blush does look good sometimes," he told her, "but I think that a bright red bottom looks best on you!"

~~o0o~~

This story was written by K. Marthy. She is in her 30's, she's married and just started a spanking relationship about a year ago. She is new to writing but you can see she seems to be catching on fast! She said she is toying with the idea of a sequel because Valerie isn't the only one in this story that deserves a good spanking!

I hope you'll leave a comment encouraging her to keep writing - we always need new Fantasy Friday stories! If you have one please send it to elisspeaks@yahoo.com