Meeting a Woman 01: at the Dojo

Meeting A Woman At The Dojo - Romance

This is my first story since my Creative Writing elective in High School many, well several, decades ago. I've tried to leave certain things about the characters and events of the story to your imagination and focus more on the story. I've got several ideas for a series of this type, each having new characters. They would have a title like "Meeting A Woman At The ____________." I think it could be fun.

I'm putting this under Romance but be warned that there is a scene that could be slightly non-consensual. It is a spanking after a lost bet.

Thanks for any positive feedback and helpful critiques.

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Daven had worked for the International Auditors Group since graduating college. In those eight years, he had steadily earned promotions for his quick and accurate work. Daven's current manager Eric had grown very confident and impressed with him in the two years he had reported to him. So much so that he always gave Daven the best and most challenging assignments.

Daven didn't seriously date a lot because his job was a constant cycle of fixing issues and finding that needle in the haystack from city to city about every 2-3 months. He didn't mind it. Finding a lady that met his standards was very difficult these days. Trying to find someone in a bar or online wasn't his thing. He didn't seem to be in any one place long enough to get to know anyone very well, let alone build a relationship.

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Carrie had been around the city her whole life. It wasn't always an easy life because both of her parents worked several jobs just to make sure they could cover the basics of food, shelter, and education for their daughter. She had to grow up fast in her neighborhood because weakness wasn't a quality that translated well to the city streets.

Her parents always provided for her the best they could, but they weren't often around when she needed them. This caused her many sleepless nights trying to figure out how to navigate the pressures of growing up in today's society.

The nearby karate school impacted Carrier's life as she was growing up. She didn't go in the front door as most students do because she was invited to study the art of karate as a way of paying restitution for a bad choice she made.

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The Conway family had been a part of the community for many years. Their two oldest boys had stayed in the city and had started their businesses in the community.

Thomas started a local market that catered to the needs of the residents. It was much easier to walk to the local market than to take the bus across town and try to carry a week's worth of groceries home on the bus. So he stocked his store with what he knew was needed and nothing else. It proved to be a good business model for him. He didn't get rich from it but wasn't poor either.

His brother Rick caught the fever of martial arts while he was in the Navy stationed in Japan. He studied at a school that was very close to his duty station for most of his enlistment. After finishing his time in the Navy, he stayed for another four years to continue his study of the martial art of karate. When he returned home, he knew he wanted to open up a dojo of his own and provide the many lessons that the study of karate can teach. There is much more to learn than just kicking and punching. The mental discipline and confidence that can be gained can be life-altering.

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Carrie was known in the neighborhood as a good kid. But like most kids without parental supervision, they can be drawn into a group of friends that aren't always the best influence. That was the case with Carrie. Her newest friends had found that getting things with the "five-finger discount" was much easier than trying to pay for things that they didn't have the money for.

This poor decision is something that changed Carrie's life for the better. It just took her many years to come to that same conclusion.

The day the event happened was like any other day. Carrie and her small group of friends entered the market and while two of the group bought a few snacks, the other 3 were using their special discount.

Thomas had been watching the group for several weeks and was positive that something was going on with the group. When they arrived, he asked his wife to cover the front checkout while he had some shelf stocking to do. As he suspected, the kids were putting candy and snacks in the backpacks and it didn't appear they were planning on paying for them. As he approached the group they knew they were busted. They all ran but one.

Carrie was so new at this game she didn't realize what had happened. By the time it finally clicked in her mind, Thomas had a hand on her arm and the other on her backpack and was moving here to the front of the store. He set her down in a chair behind the counter and explained to his wife what had happened. Mrs. Conway asked her husband what they should do, maybe call the police. Thomas had another idea. He wanted to confirm who she was first and then put his idea into motion.

He confirmed that she was indeed Carrie Ford the daughter of Mel and Jan Ford who lived across the street from the store. He knew that her parents worked very hard to provide for her but simply couldn't be there to be the parents they wanted to be. They were good people, just hadn't ever caught the right break in life.

Thomas knew that his brother Rick could always use some help around the dojo, so he called him to see what his brother thought of the plan. They both agreed that the plan could provide Carrie with the support she would need over the next several years of her life to lay a solid foundation of strong character and even stronger decision-making skills.

Rick immediately came over to the store and he and Thomas spoke briefly about the plan. They both approached Carrie and suggested she had a choice. She could agree to come to Rick's dojo after school for an hour each day to help clean the school or that Thomas would have to call the police. Carrie knew that having the police come and arrest her for stealing would be devastating to her parents. They would be so disappointed in her. So she agreed to come to the dojo and do the cleaning tasks that Rick would have for her.

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Rick soon found that Carrie was really a good kid and that she performed her cleaning tasks very well and he was trying to find even more for her to do. They were soon bonding on a level that Carrie didn't even realize. She soon started asking if she could stay and watch the karate classes.

Rick could see her interest in karate and soon discussed it with her. He told her that she had paid her debt for trying to steal from his brother, but that if she continued to clean for him, he would allow her to start taking karate lessons with the normal class. She didn't have to think about it long. She had wanted to take lessons almost from the first day of cleaning around the dojo. She knew her parents didn't have the money for it, but this was the way that she could take it almost completely free. Just a little bit of her time.

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The rest they say is history, but there is a lot more to the story.

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Carrie Ford grew into a very strong-willed woman. The confidence that she found in herself from the art helped her finish school and build and develop her character that any parent could be proud of. Sensei Rick was also very proud of her too. He continued to work with her nearly every day on not only her karate but sharing life lessons with her to continue her growth.

The one thing that he had been working on for the past few months was her slightly arrogant attitude that she had developed as of late. She had become one of his best teachers and he had recently promoted her to one of his assistant instructors. It had gone to her head a little bit and she was so confident in her skills that could almost come across as taunting some of the other students. Her fighting skills were good enough that only Sensei Rick could beat her in a sparring match.

He continued to warn her that she needed to correct her attitude, but she just couldn't help the feeling that she received from taunting her classmates and other instructors. Sensei Rick knew it would come to a head soon, but he just wasn't sure in what form it would take.

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Daven had been in town for a few weeks and had finally started to feel like he was settled in for the next several months. When he had that feeling he knew it was time to find the local dojo so that he could keep his skills sharp. After his online search, he found a dojo that was close to his work assignment as well as the apartment that was being provided to him. So after work the next day he decided to stop by the dojo and check it out.

When he arrived he was pleased to see that the class was a decent size and that it appeared that the class was well disciplined and very well taught. He was a little surprised to see a young woman teaching at the front of the class. Not that he didn't think that women were good martial artists, it just seemed that her age seemed young to be teaching an entire class. As he watched he was very pleasantly surprised that she was doing a wonderful job.

As he continued to watch the class, an older gentleman came out of the back room. He noticed Daven was watching and approached the viewing area where people could watch the class. Sensei Rick introduced himself as the Head Instructor and asked if he could be of any help. Daven explained that he was in town for the next several months and that he was looking for a place to train.

Carrie noticed that Sensei Rick was speaking to the man that had been watching the class for the past 15 minutes or so. She couldn't hear any of their conversations but just assumed that maybe he was asking about classes for his kid or maybe he was thinking of even starting. She didn't have time to watch for long because a couple of the teenage brown belts decided now would be a good time to try to assert their dominance over the other. How many times had she seen these young boys start to get good at the art but didn't yet have the discipline to control their skills, yet. She had to laugh at them even though she knew she was going to have to correct them.

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Sensei Rick and Daven continued to talk about Daven's background, where he had trained, his style, and most importantly who his Sensei was. After speaking to Daven for about 10 minutes, Sensei Rick started to form a plan. He asked if Daven could come back after the dojo closed to discuss a matter privately. Daven was more than happy to come back later and said that he would go and get something to eat and be back shortly after the dojo closed. They shook hands and agreed to meet in a little over an hour.

When Daven returned he knocked on the office door that went directly into Sensei Rick's office. Daven sat down in the offered seat and was genuinely curious about what Sensei Rick might want. It didn't take long for Sensei Rick to outline his plan.

He spoke of Carrie's background and how she came to the dojo. How she had become one of the finest students he had ever had. He spoke about her fighter skills and her teaching skills. But what he wanted was Daven's help with her attitude. After hearing from Daven who his instructor was and also all of Daven's accomplishments, he was assuming that he would be a good challenge for Carrie and that this might eventually help her attitude.

Sensei Rick proposed that Daven come in as a "new" student and work as much as possible with Carrie. He wanted Daven to learn quickly from her and then ultimately dominate her as a way to help work out this attitude that she had developed. He didn't want her hurt, but this was one lesson that he was having a very difficult time getting her to understand. Daven agreed and said he was very much looking forward to learning karate from Carrie. They agreed that he would start as a white belt and attend the regular class. Sensei Rick also suggested that he take private lessons with Carrier 1 or 2 days a week to help him "learn" faster. He thought that they should speak by phone at least once a week to see how the progress was going. Sensei Rick said that there would be no charge for classes and that he would contact Daven's instructor to say that he had agreed to help out with a difficult student.

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Carrie introduced Daven to the class and let everyone know that he was new to town and that everyone should make him feel welcome in the class. She noticed right away that he was going to be a problem for her. She didn't normally have issues with students, but most students didn't look like Daven. He could be a model with that physic and his good looks. But she willed herself to be calm and just teach like she always did.

She did notice that he wasn't as clumsy as most new students but didn't think much of it. Some people come to karate from other sports and some of the balance and athleticism do transfer over to karate pretty easily.

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Daven noticed right away that this project that he had signed up for was going to be hard for two reasons. Number one was that he had to figure out how to make it look like he didn't know anything about karate. Not an easy task. It's like trying to sing off key for folks that can sing. Number two was just how gorgeous and sexy Carrie was.

It didn't take her long to come back to where Daven was working on some of his "new" moves and she started giving his suggestions and corrections on his form. For the most part, she was speaking to him in a normal teacher/student way. But that would change over the next several weeks.

They agreed to meet early on Monday mornings before his work and also after class on Fridays for his private lessons. On Mondays, they would work on his basic movements and his kata, and Fridays, they would work on his fighting.

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They fell into a good groove for the normal class time and he was genuinely enjoying the private sessions. He could see that Carrie was an excellent instructor and that he was sure that she would have her dojo someday. He continued to struggle with both things that he knew from day one. How to not show how good he was and not get distracted by how attracted he was to Carrie.

Carrie was very pleased with how Daven was progressing. She was sure that he would be testing for a higher rank very soon. She was especially enjoying the private sessions with him. She sensed that he might be only a few years older than her, but she tried her best to keep their conversations to just karate and nothing personal. She knew she didn't have time for a relationship even if she found herself very attracted to Daven. She had to find a way to keep herself from getting too crazy about him. So she started doing what she had recently been doing when people started getting too close to her or she just felt like inflecting her dominance over them. She would taunt them. She was getting rather good at it too.

Daven could almost feel the switch turn in her head. The next few weeks turned into an increasing frustration for Daven as she continued to increase the taunting of him not only in his private lessons but in the normal class as well.

He decided he was going to try and break through to her. Maybe it would help in an environment outside of class. So after his Monday morning private lesson was complete. He asked her if he could take her to get some coffee before he had to be at work. She could have kicked herself for saying yes, but there was something about him today that was particularly sexy. She couldn't figure out what it was yet.

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Their coffee time was going well. Too well in fact and Carrie decided to try to regain control of the situation. She asked him why an auditor nerd would want to take karate. Needless to say, he was a little flabbergasted by the question and didn't respond right away. As he was thinking about his response, he wanted to make sure that he was respectful but also felt that she shouldn't get away with saying something like that.

He replied to her that she should be careful, that someday this nerd might just challenge her to a fight. She just smirked at him and shook her head. She thanked him for the coffee and got up and left. As she walked away she was again kicking herself. Why did she have to go and say something like that? They were having a nice time. But she also knew that nothing would ever come of it. She didn't have time to date.

Now that she thought he might be interested in her, she decided to keep the pressure on him with the taunting. Nothing he ever did was good enough. If his balance wasn't good enough, she would just push him. If his foot position wasn't right, she would take her bo staff and tap his leg into the correct position. Some were a little harder than a tap.

He was starting to figure out what she was doing. He almost laughed a few times and smirked on a few occasions that she did see. That just infuriated her more. Was he not taking her seriously?

They continued with their little cat and mouse game for the next several weeks. Sensei Rick and Daven continued to speak each week about what was going on. They were still a little concerned that Carrie seemed to be getting worse instead of better. Daven suggested an idea that he had that he wanted to try in the next few months. He wanted to challenge her to a fighting match in front of the whole class. He would let her win and see how she reacted. He was thinking that he might need to do this every few months as he continued to "get better." Sensei Rick had thought and suggested that Daven and Carrie should put a wager on their fight. That got Daven thinking and he just started smiling to himself and his plan started forming. This could be so much fun.

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Carrie was in a foul mood today and was going after Gaven. This was a Friday and he decided he had had enough. He would challenge her to a fight during his private class after the normal class had ended.

She continued her taunting into his private class and he decided that now was the time. So he challenged her. He said that if he beat her that she would have to go on a real date with him. If he lost, he would just have to train harder. She accepted the challenge and then proceeded to win the fight without much of a challenge from Daven. He was surprised at how hard she was punching and kicking him. In their training, they weren't supposed to be making contact that hard.

He quickly got his things and quickly left. She tauntingly spoke to him on the way out that she would see him bright and early Monday morning and chuckled as the door closed behind him. Sensei Rick just watched from his slightly cracked office door. He could see the setup coming.

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Daven continued to suffer another few months of this torture. He could tell that underneath this hard exterior that Cassie had developed, there was truly someone in there that he thought he would like to know better. He just had to wait a while longer.

So he waited a few months and challenged her again in his Friday night private lesson. Same challenge. If he won, she had to go on a real date with him. And again he lost. But she could tell he had improved, but it still wasn't close at all. And again he got his stuff and left. Yogi Berra's quote came to mind, "It's like déjà vu all over again."

She just couldn't help herself. She started to feel weird around him. It was a feeling she hadn't felt very often before. She liked that he tried to challenge her but the win was nearly as enjoyable as it was the last time. She was starting to think that the taunting wasn't as much fun as it had been either. But it didn't stop her. She just continued because she didn't know how to stop.