Driving Home The Lesson

John walked into the open plan kitchen as his wife, Emma, was sitting at the breakfast bar with a bowl of cereal. The sunlight was streaming in through the double doors on the far side of the room, silhouetting Emma as John approached. He walked up behind her chair, placed his hand on her right shoulder, and bent forward to kiss the top of her head.

"Oh hey!" Emma responded, twisting round to kiss him, "Good shower?"

John laughed, "Not bad, but a bit lonely to be honest..." He grinned. "How are you feeling about the interview on Wednesday?"

Emma picked up her spoon again and scooped it into the bowl, swirling the cereal and milk around. "I'm ok I think. Nervous, but ok. I just wish I had more time to prepare."

John smiled as he walked over to the worktop and picked up some bread from the loaf lying open, grabbing a knife and scraping some butter out of the container. "I bet you're the most prepared candidate they have. You'll be fine."

Emma looked up at him and smiled. "I hope so," she said, "I guess we'll find out. Ugh I'm not really hungry, I think I'm going to go." She pushed her chair back and stood up, walking over to John. Emma was five feet and three inches tall, petite build, and slim. She had dark brown hair down to her shoulders, and big brown eyes. She had a small, turned up nose and an almost pixie-like look. Next to John's six foot, she felt tiny as she looked up at him. "I'll see you his evening, yeah?"

"Definitely. I hope you're not too busy today," he said, leaning forward to kiss her. "Drive safe."

Emma rolled her eyes and grinned, "yeah, yeah...", and began to turn away towards the door, but a moment later found John's hand on her arm turning her back around.

John raised his eyebrows and leaned forward to look into Emma's eyes. "Did you just roll your eyes at me, young lady?" He asked, with a subtle smile on his face.

"Ha, um... would I do that?!" Emma responded, doing her best to look bashful, but unable to restrain a grin.

John still had his hand on Emma's arm, and gently pulled her arm to turn Emma around so she was facing away from him. He swung his right hand down and smacked her square on the bottom, once on her right cheek and once on the left. Then he turned Emma to face him again. She was blushing. "You know what happens to cheeky girls in this house, don't you?" he said, still grinning.

Emma managed an embarrassed smile, "yeah, yeah ok, I'm sorry, I'll drive safely ok?"

"Good girl." John cupped her face with his hand and kissed her again, once on the lips and then on her forehead. "Have a great day and I'll see you this evening."

Emma picked up her keys and bag and wandered towards the door, looking in a slight daze. She looked back at John, smiling as she caught his eye, mouthed "I love you", and turned to leave.

"I love you too."

---

Later that day, John was sitting in his home office, headset on, staring at the screen watching a colleague deliver a presentation on... something. What was it on? His mind was wondering and he brought it back to what was in front of him. He enjoyed his job and he liked his colleagues, but some were a little... earnest. And at 5pm on a Monday, he was struggling to stay focused.

Suddenly his left trouser pocket vibrated, followed by a shrill ring. He fished his phone out and looked at the screen: a local number he didn't recognise. He made sure he was on mute on his work call, and then answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is that John Harris?" The voice sounded formal, official.

"Yes, that's me. How can I help?"

"There's nothing to worry about sir, but I'm a police officer, PC Brenner, calling from the hospital." John felt the hairs raising on the back of his neck, and his heart beginning to pound. "Your wife's absolutely fine, but she's been in a car accident and is a bit shaken up. Are you free to come down?"

"What happened? Is she ok? Yes, of course I'll come now. But she's ok? Can I speak to her?"

"She's going to be fine. She's just being looked over by the doctors in Accident & Emergency, but she's not injured. She asked me to call you and ask you to come and pick her up. If you ask at the front desk they'll show you through."

"I'm on my way now."

John hung up and looked back at the screen to see the presentation continuing. He quickly typed a message into the chat, "sorry, family emergency, having to pop out but will follow up with you all later" and signed out of the call, shutting his laptop down. He grabbed his keys, took a deep breath, and started towards the door, his head swimming with thoughts. It was a car accident - what had happened? Was she ok? They said she was fine. But what does fine mean? Why were the police there? Was it her fault? He kept coming back to the fact that the police officer had reiterated that she was fine, and he tried to bring his thoughts under control as he stepped out the front door, locked it behind him, and headed for his car.

The hospital was only ten minutes' drive away, although on this occasion it felt like an hour. He arrived and found a parking space, before walking into the A&E entrance. As he approached the front desk, he paused and waited for a woman in front of him to finish speaking to the nurse. After what seemed like an eternity, the nurse beckoned him forwards.

"Hi, my name's John Harris and my wife Emma is here. I just got a call asking me to come down. There was a car accident."

The nurse was typing into the computer in front of her and quickly scanned whatever appeared on screen. "Ok, she's in bay 4. Through the doors and on the right." She pointed to a door to the side of the desk.

John thanked her and headed through the door. It smelled of hospitals, and there were cubicles with blue curtains drawn across them, and numbers on plastic laminated cards stuck to the wall. He saw number 4 on the right hand side and walked up to it. The curtain was closed.

"Hello? Emma? It's me."

A female nurse popped her head around the curtain and looked John up and down. "Are you John? Come in..." She pulled the curtain aside and motioned for him to walk through. There was one bed surrounded by monitoring equipment, and Emma was sitting up in it. A policeman in uniform was stood next to her with his notebook out, writing with a pen. He looked up.

"Mr Harris? We spoke on the phone. Thanks for coming down. I'm just about done here so I'll leave you two to it." He snapped his notebook shut, and looked back towards Emma. "Thanks for your time, Mrs Harris. Like I said, based on what you've told me, it sounds like it was an unfortunate accident. These things happen and thankfully nobody was hurt. You'll get a formal letter from us in the post, but I don't think you've got anything to worry about. We'll keep your car until we've finished our investigation. You'll need to speak to your insurance company and give them the reference number that will be in the letter. And next time, just beware of animals in the road."

He turned to walk down the bed towards the curtain, nodded at John, and headed off into the corridor.

John took his place next to Emma and bent forward to put his arms around her, as she leaned in towards him. He brought her in close to him and held her head to his chest, bending his neck down to kiss her on the top of her head. Then he guided her back from him again and looked her in the eye. "What on earth happened? Are you ok?"

Emma had looked remarkably composed up until this point, but suddenly her eyes were moist and as she replied, her bottom lip quivered. "There was a dog in the road and I swerved and I hit a tree. It all happened so fast. I'm really sorry John, the car's a mess. I didn't think quickly enough, I think I've ruined the car." She wiped a tear away from her right cheek and leaned back in towards John.

"Hey, don't be silly. I don't care about the car! But you're ok? You're not hurt?"

The nurse, who'd been writing up notes while they were talking, moved towards the foot of the bed. "She's fine. She's been checked over and there are no injuries. It sounds like she wasn't going that fast, and the air bag did its job. But she's had quite a fright, so make sure she rests and gets lots of sleep. She's free to go. I'll leave you to it." The nurse clipped the notes to the bottom of the bed and walked out of the cubicle.

Emma shifted her legs around over the edge of the bed and stood up, putting a hand out to steady herself against the wall. After a few seconds, she bent down to pick her bag up and then started walking slowly towards the curtain. John put one hand on her back to steady her, and took the bag out of her hand with the other, and then walked alongside her, sweeping the curtain out of the way so they could get out.

As they reached the car, John opened the back door and threw the bag onto the seat. Then he turned to Emma, who was standing beside him, and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her in against his chest. Her head rested against him just below his chin, and he kissed the top of her head again as he held her tight against him. "I'm so relieved... when he said there'd been an accident... are you sure you're ok? You're definitely not hurt?"

"No, I'm really fine. I'm just tired. And I'm really sorry about the car." Emma sniffed and he realised she was crying.

"Sshhh. It's ok. You're safe, that's all that matters. Stop apologising. Accidents happen. It sounds like there was nothing you could do. Let's get home and you can tell me all about it." He guided her around to the passenger door, opened it for her and helped her into the seat. Then he got in on the driver's side and they headed home together.

Once they arrived home, John walked Emma into the living room and she collapsed on the sofa, curling up in one corner. John went into the kitchen and came back with two cups of tea. He set them down on the coffee table and sat next to Emma, pulling her over to snuggle up against him.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" He asked. "Only if you want to... we can wait until tomorrow if you're too tired." He stroked her head and the side of her face, while holding her tightly with his other arm.

"Yeah, I think I should," she replied. She hesitated and took a deep breath, burying her head against John's chest. "I was driving home from work early because I wanted to prepare for tomorrow. I left the motorway by the stadium and was driving down the single-lane road, you know? Near that cottage we always talk about buying." Her voice faltered and she paused again, and John could feel the moisture on her cheeks.

"Hey, it's ok, you're safe now." He stroked her cheek and cupped her head in his hand. "The policeman said there was a dog?"

"Yeah, it was on the road, and when I saw it I didn't really think, I just swerved to try to miss it, and there was a tree, and it's kind of a blur. It all happened so quickly and suddenly the car was smashed into the tree and the bonnet was up in front of the window and the air bag was in front of me... I was in a bit of a daze. I think someone came out of the cottage and they must have called an ambulance, and that was it really. The police came too and asked me questions once the doctors had finished looking at me." She sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"Did they find the dog?"

"Yeah the police said it escaped from the cottage. It was fine. I'm just glad I didn't hit it..." her voice broke again as she was talking, and she buried her face into John's chest again.

"Well it sounds like there was nothing you could do. And I know you'd never have forgiven yourself if you'd have hit the dog. The car can be fixed. It wasn't your fault."

Emma didn't say anything, but John heard her take a deep breath. "You know it wasn't your fault, right? You don't have to blame yourself?"

Emma kept her face hidden against John's chest but said nothing. John waited.

"Emma?"

She slowly pulled her head up and looked up into John's eyes, and he could see the tears beginning to fill them, as her shoulders heaved and she began sobbing. She whispered something that John couldn't hear.

"I can't hear you. What did you say?"

She looked away again, and took a deep breath. He could feel her tensing as she took another deep breath.

"I was texting."

There was silence while John processed this. He paused again. "Say that again?"

Emma took another deep breath. "I was texting while I was driving," she sobbed. "That's why I didn't see the dog until it was too late. I don't know how long it was there, but I looked up and it was there and all I could do was swerve." She rubbed the tears from her face again and took a deep breath. "It was my fault. I could have killed the dog, John, it was all my fault and I could have killed the dog."

John was still thinking, still absorbing this. Mixed emotions were flooding through him as he thought about what he'd just heard. Previous conversations where he'd warned her not to text while driving, where they'd talked about her safety, the conversation this morning when he'd told her to drive safely and she'd rolled her eyes while shrugging it off. A mix of continued relief that she was ok, and a deep feeling of protectiveness for everything she'd been through, mixed with anger for the fact that she'd put herself in this position. Everything seemed to form together into a coherent set of events.

"I know I shouldn't have been texting. I'll never do it again. I was such an idiot. And I ruined the car... John, I'm sorry." She paused and took another deep breath. "Do you want me to go to the bedroom?" Her cheeks were still wet and she was still crying.

He knew what she meant by that, of course. He knew that she would be expecting repercussions for what she had done. That would be partly why she knew she needed to tell him, because that was part of their arrangement. She was asking if he was going to punish her now, if he was going to follow her to the bedroom and put her over his knee, giving her a spanking for what she'd done. Ever since the early days of their relationship when they'd first broached the subject of discipline, that had been the norm and what they'd agreed to. When she misbehaved or acted irresponsibly, she would be punished over John's knee like a naughty girl.

John breathed in. "Not now, sweetie. What you did was unacceptable, especially after all the warnings I've given you. So I am going to spank you for it. But let's leave it until the weekend, ok? You've had a big shock and you still have your interview on Wednesday. You need to rest and sleep and I don't want you to have to deal with a sore bottom as well as everything else." He began to guide Emma closer, to sit her on his knee, sideways on so her legs were facing down the sofa. "Come here, let me give you a proper cuddle." Emma bent her knees up and leaned into John, who wrapped both arms around her, the left arm bent with his hand holding her head to his chest, and his right hand reaching down and gently rubbing her lower back and bottom. He held her there as she cried and cried.

Eventually, it seemed that her tears had run out, and her body relaxed and she drifted off into a fitful sleep. Half an hour or so later, John picked up her and carried her to the bedroom, laying her on the bed. He pulled the covers over her, kissed her forehead, checked she was still sleeping, and headed downstairs to tidy up and collect his thoughts.

---

It was Saturday evening, and as the credits rolled of the film they'd been watching, Emma snuggled up against John on the sofa. She kept her head firmly against his shoulder, and kept looking at the TV screen, not wanting to acknowledge the end. She said nothing and tried not to move. John looked down and glanced at the clock on the wall, deciding now was the time.

"Ok, Emma? I think it's time now. I want to you go upstairs to the bedroom and stand in the corner. I'll be up in a few minutes.

He could feel Emma tensing up against him, and she looked up at him. "Do we have to do it now? Can't we wait? Tomorrow?" There was a hint of pleading in her voice, the way she always got when the time approached, though she was careful to keep herself under control.

John spoke softly but firmly. "No, Emma. We're doing this now. Upstairs. Now." He patted her bottom with his hand and looked her in the eye.

Emma knew better than to argue. She sighed and stood up, walking out of the room and heading up the stairs.

John took their cups into the kitchen, and made sure the house was secure and the doors locked. Then he walked up the stairs to the bedroom to see Emma standing in the corner, looking at the wall, with her hands clasped behind her back. She was wearing black leggings that stopped mid calf, and white ankle socks. She had on a slim fit white t-shirt that went down to her hips. Her hair was tied back into a loose pony tail.

John looked around the room and saw that Emma had already closed the curtains across the big bay window. It was a medium-sized bedroom with a king sized bed opposite the window, and on another wall, either side of the chimney breast, there were two tall wardrobes. Either side of the bed there was a bedside table with drawers in.

John shut the bedroom door behind him and went to sit on the edge of the bed, facing the corner where Emma stood. "Ok Emma, come here."

She turned around to face him and walked over slowly. She clasped her hands together in front of her as she walked up to him, and she moved right into him and pushed her body against him, to prompt him to hug her. She looked nervous.

John put his arms round her and gave her a hug, and then gently gripped her shoulders with his hands and moved her back, so he could look her in the eye as she stood in front of her.

"Right Emma, tell me why we're here."

Emma paused and looked at the floor, interlinking her hands and then twisting them together. John waited. "Because I texted while driving."

"Right, and why is that a bad thing?"

"Because it's dangerous."

"And you knew it was dangerous right?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And how many times had I warned you about it?"

"I don't know... a lot, Sir."

"A lot. Right. You did something that I'd specifically told you not to do, that you knew was dangerous, that you knew could harm you or someone else. And you are very, very lucky that nobody was hurt. Do you understand how serious this is?"

Emma looked him in the eye, her eyes wet and her cheeks flushed. "Yes, Sir," she whispered.

"You know what happens in this house when you act like this, when you put your safety at risk. You're going to be punished for it. You need to learn the lesson and you need to realise that you cannot do things like this. I will not put up with it and every time you do it, you're going to be over my knee getting a very sore bottom until I think you've learned your lesson. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Ok, over my knee." John put his hand on Emma's elbow and guided her over his knee, so she was lying across his lap along the edge of the bed. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and held her hip with his hand. He pushed the bottom of her t-shirt up so it was out of the way in the small of her back, and rested his right hand on her bottom, feeling the texture of the leggings that hugged her. "Ready?"

Emma made a noise that John took to mean yes. He raised his right hand up and brought it down [SMACK] on her right bottom cheek. There was a sharp intake of breath from Emma, and then John brought his hand down again on her left cheek [SMACK]. John held her tight around the waist and continued to spank her over her leggings... sometimes alternating sides, sometimes spanking a few times on one cheek and then moving to the other. Emma didn't say anything and stayed in place, as John continued to spank her.