Pam and her sister, Gillian, are talking in a coffee shop.
"Pam darling, you would not believe, he is so wonderful," Gilly's voice goes very high and squeaky when she is excited, "even though he is quite a bit older than me, he is so energetic especially in the bedroom," Gillian was telling her older sister Pam all about the new man in her life, "I have my own credit card, a maid looks after the flat and the laundry," Gilly sips her Starbuck's Latte, "I have so much freedom, except I do have to go off with him to boring business parties to be shown off," Gillian looks at her watch, "must dash, I have to clean the en-suite."
"Wait Sis..." Pam was startled, "I thought you said you had a maid."
"We do, but Andrew is very strict about some things... he makes me clean the bathroom. But as you know, I like a strong man."
"Can't you stay just a bit longer, you haven't told me half the stuff you usually tell me about your men, you know the 'interesting' bits." Pam grins.
"No I must go, if I don't do this he will send me to BLACK LI..." Gillian tails off.
Pam senses something, "Where will he send you?" Gillian looks uncomfortable; but she knows Pam won't let it pass.
"He'll send me to the Black Lines Studio..."
"Gilly, what is the 'Black Lines Studio'?"
"When I am 'naughty', he sends me the Studio to have me 'disciplined'. Black Lines Studio is a professional discipline agency where busy men can send their wives, or girlfriends, to be corporeally punished when they break the rules, you know, like overspending on the credit card."
Pam's mouth drops, "you mean that when you fail to clean the bathroom he sends you there to be 'spanked' like a naughty schoolgirl?"
"Yes Pam," now she wants to shock her sister, "or if I have made more than one mistake, the professional gives me the cane - which is simply awful," Gilly lifts up her skirt, "look, see, it leaves welts." Pam looks and sees the dark red tracks on Gilly pale thigh. She is shocked. Gilly continues, "The spanker, Robert Harwood, is a very strict man, and if he..."
"Wait a moment," Pam interrupts, "Robert Harwood? Is he tallish, grey hair, glasses," Pam pauses to think, "does he have a sliver steak on the left eyebrow?"
Now it's Gillian's turn to be startled, "Yes, how do you know him?"
"I used to work with him about three years ago - do you remember I used to chat to you about 'Bob' quite a lot."
Gillian looks up, "Oh yes, you were really keen on Bob weren't you! Do you want Robert's number - I really must go."
Gillian gets up, and hands Pam a business card, before leaving. Pam looks at the card, it is black with 'Black Lines Studio' printed in white across the middle. The contact details are at the bottom of the card. Pam feels her heart beating faster. Pam flips it over, it is an old appointment card, Time:, Date: and Reason:. It was filled out in a neat hand with a time and date indicating Thursday evening the last week. Pam shivers as she thought about her little sister attending the appointment. Pam reads, and rereads, the 'reason'. Against 'Reason', her sister's new boyfriend had written the single word: 'Disobedience'.
Pam resolved to call Gillian after supper to find out what she was getting into. As she caught the bus home she started thinking about Bob or rather Robert Harwood as she tried to think of him as. She had 'fancied' him a lot more than a little, he was kind, funny and serious. Off course, back then she had still been married to Carl (may his new tart make him miserable). In the Office where they she had allowed herself to flirt with Bob. She could tell that she had an affect on him, especially when she leaned over his desk and showed him her cleavage. But even when she was so brazen, he had never flirted back. Until that is just before he left, when he had started to reciprocate. Bob would make excuses to visit her desk. And while talking to her he would 'accidentally' touch her shoulder or hair. It wasn't too blatant, but she knew what it meant. Paradoxically it was then that Pam had stopped flirting with Bob. She didn't want flirting to go 'too far' and turn into an affair. Well, actually she did, but she couldn't face Carl.
However, right now, after all this time, they were both free. Bob had lost his wife to Cancer the same year that he left and she was separated from Carl. Pam was excited, but what was Bob doing with this Black Lines Studio thing?
On the phone that evening she got the truth out of Gillian. Apparently she had readily consented to the Black Lines Studio arrangement. She loved her men to take 'charge' of her. Previous boyfriends had spanked her themselves, but sending her to the Studio was Andrew's way of taking charge. And it was certainly effective. The sisters talked about the way Gillian had used her fashion model 'looks' to move from man to man, each more powerful than the last. She said it was more than just a 'meal ticket'. She was on a quest for man who could truly control her. And she finally told Pam about the fantastic sex they had after she came back from a Studio punishment. When she came she felt very submissive, and it really turned them both on.
---
Pam puts down the phone and starts to review her own life. If she was honest she would have liked it if Carl had been more 'hands on' with her instead of putting his job first. She looks at the card, takes a deep breath, and dials the number.
"Black Lines Studio, how may we help you?"
"Is that Robert Harwood?"
"Yes."
"You may not remember me, my name is Pamela Stuart. We used to-"
Robert's broke in, "Hello Pam I thought I recognised the voice - it's been a few years."
They chat on for a bit, Robert had wondered how she had found him at 'Black Lines'. And Pam explained that Gillian had let his name slip. Finally, to Pam's delight, Robert suggested they meet in a wine bar.
Hearing his voice brings back a lot of good memories. Its warm tone, even over the phone, makes her calmer.
After she puts the phone down Pam starts laying out the clothes that she will wear for their meeting. She decides to go for an old fashioned style, high heels, stockings, black skirt and jacket, and a close fitting sheer white blouse - reminiscent of the clothes she wore as a secretary when they were working together. To make the outfit special she chooses a low-cut balcony bra and matching panties. She thinks the outfit will make her confident and she hopes that it might 'please' Robert.
---
Pam can't help getting to the wine bar early, she orders a dry white wine. After about ten long minutes she hears a familiar voice.
"Pamela Anne Stuart, nice to see you."
Robert asks a waiter for a bottle of wine, and leads her to a corner seat. They talk about the old days and the difficult times they went through with their spouses.
As he refills her glass and he says casually, "You hurt me back then, when you rebuffed my approaches."
"I am so sorry Robert, I was frightened that we would go too far and cause trouble in our homes."
"I understand that, but I had been trying to protect our relationships for years. While you Pam, continuously flirted with me. Do you think it was easy ignoring you? I mean when I could see line of your panties, the lines of your suspender belt and the lacy patterns on your bra through your sheer blouse. How was I supposed to work when your perfume made my head swim?"
"I am sorry."
"But are you sorry really Pamela? I notice you are wearing similar outfit tonight. But instead of the lacy bra you used favour, I can see that it has a modern dark pattern," Pam blushes, "same old Pam, same old game," Robert looks into her eyes, "our little meeting has been pleasant. But how do I know that you are not about to reject me again, this very evening?"
"I won't. Please believe me, I've changed, what can I do to prove myself," Pam feels shaky inside.
Robert looks at her, "Give me your bra."
"What," Pam is shocked.
"You heard me."
"I, I can't..."
Robert smiled "Don't be absurd Pam, just go to the Ladies, remove it and bring it back to me. But you won't, will you? Just like before..."
Pam blushes again, "I would do it, but people might..."
"Let me help you." Robert reaches over and, with deft finger and thumb, unhooks her bra. Pam feels her breasts fall on to here ribs. In that moment she is defeated. Like a robot she gets up and goes to the Ladies and does as he had instructed. On her return, she hands her bra, scrunched up, to Robert. He puts it in his jacket pocket, "That is a start, but you still have a way to go to convince me that you are not still just teasing me."
Robert stands up and places a Black Lines Studio card on the table.
"Friday 8pm OK for you," he looks into her eyes. She can't respond. He flips card over and write on reverse, flips it back over and pushes it across the table to her. Robert walks toward the door. As he passed her, he leans over and says, "don't be late." Pam parts her lips, but no words come out.
Pam is left sitting bra-less looking down at the black appointment card. It is all that she can see, everything else is a blur. She considers leaving without reading the card. But instead she slips the black card into her bag and leaves wine bar. As she walks down the street it is strange having her breasts free. She calls a taxi and prays that no-one's would noticed her hardened nipples. In the taxi she gets out the card and reads the back, 'TIME: 8pm, DATE: Friday, REASON: Teasing & Disobedience'. Oh God, two items, hadn't Gillian said that two crimes meant the cane?
At home she sits wondering what to do, her feelings are in a whirl. She decides to phone someone, she knows what Gillian would say, she would say (with a grin) 'Attend the appointment, you deserve it'. So she dials older sister's number. Sally had been happily married for years, she would surely bring Pam to her senses. They talk a while, then Pam introduces the topic, by saying that she had been having some wild sexual fantasies involving being spanked recently, Sally (bless her) made it easy by immediately confessing to having rape fantasies. Pam explains that the Black Lines Studio thing as though it was a vivid fantasy she was being 'afflicted' with, and asks Sally what she would do if she had been given a Black Lines Studio card. Sally says it would depend if her attraction to the man was just sexual or if her feelings ran deeper. Sally is so sensible, thinks Pam.
While Sally is talking about something else, Pam looks 'inside herself' and finds that she does indeed have deep caring feelings for Robert. And along with those feelings, she finds something else, something that surprises her. She finds a feeling that says she HAS to attend the appointment because Robert has commanded her to do so. Pam realises 'in a flash' that she has been secretly waiting someone to command her, all her adult life.
"Sally I'm sorry but what I just said was not a dream it is really happening to me. And what you said to me has helped me decide. I find I 'must' go there to the Black Lines Studio, because Robert told me to attend. And I find myself compelled by something inside to OBEY him."
Sally laughs, "I knew all the along that it was a 'real situation'. And also I understand why you must go. It seems that I am better at hiding awkward truths than you are. You see when I get 'out of line' my 'boring' husband has me bend over the bed while he straps my bum with his belt until the the sheet is damp with my tears. After one of those sessions I am much nicer person and have that wonderful warm 'family feeling' again."
