Millicent Jamison scanned the job search website on her laptop. This had been a regular habit since she had been made redundant from the Peerless Upholstery Company. She had loved her job as general office manager, taking phone enquires, booking appointments and a hundred other tasks that made her days interesting and varied. Now that her husband, Stephen, was on reduced hours she was desperate to find a new position. So far, she had been unable to find anything that matched her experience. At 49 years old, Millicent didn’t really want to change her career path completely.

Then, bingo! This must be it, she thought as her eyes focussed on a job vacancy that looked as if it was made for her:

‘Small family business with old fashioned values is seeking a general office manager to take bookings, arranging appointments, greeting clients and a myriad of other duties. Salary negotiable, according to experience. Please apply with CV and two references to Paradise Tanners at box number XX1.’

Feeling elated and more positive than she had felt in ages, Millicent wrote a letter of application and enclosed her impressive CV. For references, she included Mr Brocklebank, general manager of Peerless Upholstery and Mrs Wandless, Chairwoman of the local branch of the Mother’s Union.

Ten days later, a letter arrived from Paradise Tanners informing Millicent that she had been shortlisted for the position and invited her for an interview. My luck is changing, Millicent told herself.

On the day of the interview she wore a smart suit in a style that she thought would fit in well with the ‘old fashioned values’ Paradise Tanners proclaimed in its job advertisement. Millicent was a bit surprised when she arrived at the address given in her letter for the interview. It was a fairly large, Victorian semi-detached house, with no indication that it was a business address. With its fussy net curtains and a potted plant in the bay window, it was very much like all the other houses in the street. How odd. Millicent had been expecting a small factory or a unit in a business park, like her old firm.

Millicent rang the doorbell and after a few moments it was answered by a lady of about 40 years. “Ah, you must be Mrs Jamison. Welcome to Paradise Tanners. I’m Mrs Paradise, please come this way.” Millicent was ushered into the cosy front room and invited to sit down on the sofa.

“I’ve read your CV, Mrs Jamison and I must say, I am most impressed. Also, I have spoken on the telephone to Mr Brocklebank and he spoke most highly of you. You seem to have all the qualities we are looking for. Before we go any further, I perhaps should ask you what you know about our business, Paradise Tanners.”

Millicent blushed. She really knew nothing about the firm. She assumed that it must involve leather goods. Mrs Paradise smiled at Millicent’s discomfort. “I think I should explain. When we advertised the post, we were rather discrete and didn’t disclose the true nature of what we do.” Millicent’s face dropped, wondering what she might have let herself in for.

“Oh, don’t worry Mrs Jamison, it isn’t illegal. We’re not growing weed, or anything like that. But it is something that we need to be circumspect about. The thing is, Paradise Tanners produce spanking videos. We spank ladies’ bottoms and film them. We sell them as DVDs or publish them on the internet. It is perfectly legal, but obviously, we have to be very discrete.”

“Oh, I see,” remarked a startled Millicent Jamison. “What would I have to do, Mrs Paradise.”

“Well, just the things we put in the advert; answering the phone, taking bookings, keeping the files and generally making sure the office runs smoothly. You wouldn’t need to get involved in the spanking side of things,”. Then added thoughtfully, “unless that side of the business interests you, of course.”

Goodness, this wasn’t at all what Millicent expected when she applied for the job. But what’s the harm, she reasoned. She would be happily filing, keeping the calendar up to date, answering the phone and making the coffee. If ladies were getting their bums smacked in another room, well what did that matter?

“Well, Mrs Jamison, now you know a bit more about us, would you still like the job?”

“Yes please, Mrs Paradise. When would you like me to start?”

“Will Monday suit you? We are expecting a fairly busy week.”

Millicent was a bit vague when her husband asked about her new job. “Oh, general office work, pretty much like in my previous job,” she replied to his question.

On Monday, with a mixture of nervousness and excitement, Millicent arrived at Paradise Tanners ten minutes early. She was admitted by Mrs Paradise. “Call me Sylvia,” she said. “We are like family here at Paradise Tanners. Come with me and I’ll show you round.”

Sylvia led Millicent into the lounge where she had been interviewed. “This is the room we use for domestic scenes, like, for instance, daughter comes home at midnight, 2 hours after curfew. She has to go over daddy’s knee. You can imagine the scene, I am sure.”

Millicent, eager to show interest in her new job, responded “Oh yes, Sylvia, I remember getting home a bit late one night and going over dad’s knee.” Sylvia, looked at her new employee with renewed interest.

“Oh, you have some experience of being spanked, then?”

Millicent started to regret her impulsive remark. “Only a couple of times,” she assured her new boss.

Sylvia moved on to another room. “ This is the school room.” The room was set out with a blackboard, a teacher’s desk, some students’ desks, a wooden stool with a dunce’s cap perched on it and other school accoutrements, including an assortment of canes. A third room was a fairly conventional bedroom. Finally, Sylvia showed Millicent the office where she would be based and a waiting room which was rather like the one at the doctor’s surgery.

“This is where you should ask the ladies who are coming to be spanked wait until we are ready for them. I’ll let you into a little trade secret here, Millicent. We have a policy of always keeping the ladies waiting a little while, even if we are ready for their appointment. A wait adds to their apprehension and builds up the tension.”

When the tour was complete, Sylvia left Millicent in her office. “Your first job will be to welcome a Mrs Joanne Thimble.” Sylvia looked at her watch. “She should be arriving in about half an hour. She is a newbie, who answered one of our adverts. She will be having a spanking audition, which I shall administer. If all goes well, she may return for a more intense session. Please make her a coffee and show her into the waiting room. You can direct her into the lounge when I am ready. I will call you on the intercom.” The intercom was a model similar to the one Millicent had used in her previous job.

Mrs Thimble arrived a good fifteen minutes before her appointment. Millicent was surprised how ordinary she looked, just like a hundred other middle-class housewives. “Oh, I’m sorry, I know I’m rather early, but I wasn’t sure about the address. I hope I’m not inconveniencing you.”

Millicent put her people handling skills to good use, reassuring Mrs Thimble that everything was fine and showed her into the waiting room.

“Would you like a cup of tea or a coffee?”

“Oh, a coffee would be lovely please. Just a drop of milk and no sugar.”

When Millicent brought the coffee through a few minutes later, Mrs Thimble was fiddling nervously with her handbag. “Er, will you be umm,” she stammered. “Er, will you, be, umm, doing the spanking?”

“Me? Oh goodness, no. No, I think it will be Mrs Paradise. She’ll call through in a moment.”

Just then, Millicent heard a noise at the back door. She went to investigate, leaving Mrs Thimble alone with her coffee. A middle-aged man, carrying a large bag had just entered the building. “Hello, you must be the new office manager. I’m Cecil Paradise.”

“Pleased to meet you Mr Paradise. I’m Millicent Jamison. Mrs Thimble has arrived for her audition.”

“Oh good. My better half is doing the honours. I’m the cameraman this morning. I’d better go and set up the equipment or it’ll me who gets the spanking.” Chuckling at his own joke, Cecil Paradise bustled through into the lounge with his equipment.

Millicent returned to the waiting room. “Is the coffee alright, Mrs Thimble.”

“Yes, fine, thank you. Please call me Joanne.”

“So, Joanne, I am sure they will be ready for you soon. It will be Mrs Paradise who spanks you while Mr Paradise films it.”

“Oh, I see.” Joanne blushed. “This is my first time. I am a bit nervous.”

I would never have guessed, thought Millicent. “I am sure you will be fine, Joanne.”

“I do hope so. I have been quite excited looking forward to a new experience, but now I’m here, about to do it ... well, I must admit to being a bit scared.”

Millicent was about to offer further reassurance when a female voice spoke over the intercom. “Please show Joanne Thimble through to the lounge.”

Having guided Joanne through to meet Mrs Paradise in the lounge, Millicent returned to her office to look over the equipment. There was all the usual office paraphernalia to be found in any small office; computer, stapler, paper clips, a paper cup containing pens and pencils, telephone etc. Then her attention turned to a TV monitor screen. It was divided into quarters to stream the video footage from a number of security cameras. There was one showing the front door, another focussed on the back door and the other two quarters were just grey panels. Evidently, they were not used.

As Millicent was adjusting her office chair, a sudden movement on the monitor screen caught her eye. A third quarter of the screen had suddenly become active. A camera was panning around the lounge, the focus going from a blur to a more focussed picture. Millicent realised that Mr Paradise had switched his camera on and it was set to relay the view to the monitor screen. Gradually the view settled down to show Mrs Paradise and Joanne sitting at the table.

Millicent knew she should turn away. She felt guilty watching the scene in the lounge. Something forced her to keep viewing. There was no sound, just the black and white picture. The scene changed as the two women stood up. Millicent’s heart raced as she watched Mrs Paradise pull up Joanne’s dress. Mr Paradise adjusted the camera lens to zoom in on Joanne’s lacy black knickers.

Mrs Paradise’s hand rose and fell, beating a tattoo on Joanne’s plump, black lace covered bum. Millicent swallowed hard, feeling Mrs Thimble’s humiliation in sympathy for her. Then, Mrs Paradise pulled down Joanne’s knickers, exposing the pale flesh, which was just beginning to take on a rosy hue. Millicent blushed as she thought how thankful she was that it was Joanne getting the spanking and not her. What was that German word that summed up that feeling of enjoying someone’s discomfort instead of being sympathetic? Ah yes, that’s it; ‘Schadenfreude’.

Joanne began to wriggle and squirm. Evidently Mrs Paradise was making an impression on the inexperienced Mrs Thimble. Then, oh goodness! Millicent instinctively put a hand to her mouth in shock. Mrs Thimble had selected a leather implement, shaped like a ping pong bat and begun to swat Mrs Thimble’s bare bottom. Mr Paradise had zoomed in close on Mrs Thimble’s behind. Her legs were parted, exposing the fuzzy auburn fluff that decorated her matronly slit.

Millicent swallowed hard. She was shocked, but undeniably titillated by her voyeuristic view. She surprised herself at how much she was enjoying Joanne’s discomfort at the hands of the formidable Mrs Paradise.

Schadenfreude!

At last the ordeal was over. Mrs Thimble rubbed her sore bottom, before pulling up her knickers and adjusting her frock. Guiltily, Millicent turned the monitor off and, trying to control her breathing, waited for Joanne to emerge from the lounge. As she came out, she gave Millicent a weak smile.

“Was everything alright, Mrs Thimble?”

“Er, very invigorating, dear.”

After Mrs Thimble had left, Mrs Paradise came into the office.

“Millicent, I would like you to add Joanne Thimble to our database. Complete today’s entry and find a vacancy for next week. Our Mrs Thimble is a natural for spanking videos, she has a perfect backside that was made to be spanked. Next time, Mr Paradise will introduce her to his favourite strap.”

“Certainly, Mrs Paradise. No problem. I am completely familiar with Microsoft Office. I am sure your database will present no problems.”

“Good, and when you have done that, bring up Kandy Kreme’s record. (That’s with two K’s by the way). She will be in for a scene this afternoon. Kandy is a complete slut, but is in great demand by our customers. She is 29 years old, but can pass as a college student in short skirt and white blouse.”