She came home from work and told him they needed to talk. She had received bad news about her job. He sat with her at the kitchen table and listened. She told him the company was not doing well, and had notified the employees they were going to be cutting back hours for some of their employees. His heart sank. They were barely able to pay their bills as it was. They each had a second job on the weekend and could barely make ends meet. She said right after the announcement she had gone to her boss’s office and practically begged to keep her full time hours. The boss said business was slow, and there was no way to avoid it.

She took a deep breath and sighed heavily. He took her hands in his and reassured her. “You did the best you could. We’ll just have to figure something out.”

“We’ll, that’s not all.” She said sheepishly. ”There’s more.”

He looked at her, unsure how it could get any worse.

“I offered to do anything to keep my hours. I may have been rather suggestive in my tone.” She looked at him, ashamed of where this had all ended up. She explained that the conversation with her boss had taken a turn, and strayed outside of official company business. Eventually the boss offered a possible arrangement, but with rather strong demands.

“I vowed never to speak of it to anyone, and I promised you would not raise any objections.” She explained. He felt like he had been stabbed in the chest. “It will be one hour, every Friday evening, and it will happen here at our house.” She paused. “The boss insisted the utmost discretion was required. Going to a hotel would be too risky.”

He was not happy about it, but given their current income struggles he saw no other choice. He agreed to her plan. He knew she was doing this for them, and the least he could do was support her and make sure she was safe.

“Today is Friday, and I asked for a few hours to discuss it with you. I can still call it off if you want. Otherwise, after dinner…” she didn’t have to finish her sentence. He knew what was going to happen.

They didn’t talk much over dinner. They were both trying to come to terms with their new reality. He decided to stay home, to be there when the boss arrived, and show that they are still a couple, and would not let their marriage be torn apart by the circumstances.

“Thank you dear. I promise to start looking for a new job immediately. I don’t know how long it will take, but this will only be a temporary arrangement. I love you so much. Some day we will be free of this humiliation.” They cleared their dishes and waited quietly.

At 8:30 there was a knock on the door. She hugged her husband and went to answer the door. She quietly greeted her boss and led the way back to the living room. That’s when he first laid eyes on the boss. It was a woman. Not at all what he had expected. As they entered the living room the boss’s eyes shifted from her employee, and locked eyes with him. She squinted a bit and a devious smile crept onto her face. They all stood in silence, waiting for someone to break the ice. Eventually the boss spoke up.

“I want you.” She said to him. “Bent over the dining room table. Now.”

He was frozen in shock. Both from the fact that the boss was a woman, but also from the fact that the boss was ordering him around.

“Honey, please, just do as she says.”

He slowly led the way to the dining room and bent over at the waist, resting his chest on the table.

“Lower his pants.” The boss instructed.

He felt his pants unfastened and dropped to the floor. He was embarrassed from the exposure. His heart was racing. He was nervous, and a little scared. He watched as the boss pulled a wood paddle from her hand bag.

“You are to remain silent.” The boss instructed, with a smile. “This is going to hurt.”