(a day in the life)
Phiona was working on her latest novel. It was late. She was hunched over the laptop, staring at the screen, struggling with writer’s block. She would occasionally pound the desk or pull at her hair. Charles watched her, silently, from the doorway. After a few minutes, he called to her, “Phi. Come to bed.”
He was stern and commanding, but she was too lost in her own world to notice the tone he’d used. “Yeah, yeah. I just need to get past this one part. Go ahead, I’ll come when I’m done.”
“You’ll cum when I tell you that you are allowed to,” he chided her, “Now. Bed.”
He hadn’t raised his voice, but this time Phiona heard the command for what it was, but she’d already missed it the first time, so she decided to play a little before obeying. She needed the distraction. “Can’t I come when I’m done here? Why now?”
“Because it is 12 after 5 in the morning, and you haven’t had more than 6 hours of sleep yet this week. Get your ass in bed.” He knew that she’d started playing and gave her an opening to play up the brat a little more, “Or else.”
“Or else you’ll spank me, yeah, I know. But you know I like the spankings, couldn’t you think of something more original that might actually work as punishment?” She replied, sticking her tongue out, “I told you, I have to finish this part in the story. I’m so close.” She turned back to her computer.
Charles walked calmly and steadily across the room, closed the laptop, pulled out Phiona’s chair, and lifted her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. She was getting ready to really play it up and give him a few kicks and “damsel in distress” pummelings on his back when she realized how exhausted she really was. She simply allowed herself to be gently carried to the bedroom and tossed upon the bed.
“You are exhausted, lover. You’ve pushed yourself too hard with this novel. Sleep now. We’ll deal with your punishment when you’ve had your rest.”
She was asleep within a few moments. Charles watched her sleep for a while before climbing into the bed behind her, spooning and cradling her. “I worry about you, love,” he whispered into her sleeping ear.
When Phiona awoke in the morning, she headed straight to her desk and reached groggily to open the laptop lid. Her hands fumbled in empty space. Confused, she rubbed her eyes and took in the empty space on her desk. The laptop was missing. The extra monitor was also missing. In place of her keyboard were a legal pad and quill pen. Instead of her mouse, she found an inkwell.
“CHARLES! Where is my computer?!?”
“We’ll discuss that after breakfast … Phiona,” Charles replied with softhearted sternness. “But for now, come eat with me, please. I made your favorite,” he finished much more sweetly.
Phiona stubbornly walked into the kitchen to find Charles putting the finishing touches on a plate of made-from-scratch breakfast burritos. “Thank you, Charles. I’ll eat while I wrap up the end of the final chapter,” she said as she reached for her plate.
Charles smacked her hand away with the spatula. “No. We will spend some time together, enjoying this breakfast. Then we will discuss the terms of your punishment for not listening last night. Your novel, even as delayed as it is, can and will wait.”
Phiona acquiesced and sat politely at the table. Every time Phiona attempted to steer the conversation toward her work, Charles redirected the conversation back to the mundane trivialities of everyday life.
As they wrapped up their meal, Charles mentioned, “I do have a play date tonight with Diane, so I imagine you will have plenty of time to work on your book then. If you finish your lines, that is.”
“Lines? Really, Charles? Lines? Like I’m not writing enough as it is already?”
“Yes, Princess, lines. You will write, by hand, with the quill & ink provided, ‘I will not sass Sir when I am too tired to play.’ one hundred times. You will also write, by hand, with the same quill & ink, ‘I will not allow work to push my body beyond my physical limits, for that is Sir’s job.’ one hundred times. I think 200 lines is a mild enough punishment, though perhaps not quite fitting enough.”
Phiona lowered her head, “Yes, Sir,” and began clearing the table of dishes.
Charles gently reached under her chin and lifted her head until their eyes met. “Little One, I just worry about your health and your well-being. Nothing is more important to me than you are. As your partner and Dominant, it is my job to take care of your health and happiness. Just as you take care of mine. I love you.”
Phiona’s expression softened and warmed. “Thank you, Charles. I love you, too. I’ll do my lines, and I’ll work on learning their lessons. Will you, please, tell me where the computer is so that I can work on the book when I finish writing my lines, Sir?”
“Come find me in my office after you finish the first set. I think taking a break between the two sets to work on your novel is fair. I do understand how important it is.”
Charles was in a work meeting when Phiona knocked at the doorframe. He turned to look and motioned her to come in, but she started to shake her head and gesture/mouth that she would be back later. Charles gave her a stern look, turned to the meeting, interrupting the current speaker, “I’m sorry, folks, I need to take care of something. I’ll circle up with the local team afterward and get back with you all later.”
Turning back to Phiona, “It was a boring meeting anyway. Thank you for saving me from it. Have you finished round one of your lines?”
She presented him with a few sheets of paper. “Yes, sir.”
“Good girl,” he replied as he opened his desk’s filing-cabinet-style drawer, extracting her laptop and handing it to her. “You may have a 1 hr break from lines, which just so happens to coincide exactly with my break time, or so I just decided.” He gestures to the beanbag on the floor by his desk, “You may take your break right here, by me. I will start the timer after you get started.”
Phiona smiled back at him, “Thank you,” as she took her laptop and settled into her place at her partner’s feet. “Now, back to this book. Go ahead and start our timer. Love you!”
She opened her laptop and started typing, right where she’d left off the previous night. Charles smiled down at her and just watched her while she worked. “Computer, set a timer for 1 hour, starting now.”
The hour passed in silence, with Charles watching Phiona working on her book. The alarm from the computer startled them both out of their individual focuses.
“Is it time already?” Phiona pouted.
“Yes, love, time for the rest of your lines.”
“But I was just getting into the flow again!”
“Now, rules are rules. You can have the mouse, keyboard, and external monitor back when the lines are done, or I am finished with work, whichever comes first. That will help you get back into your zone. Leave the laptop here, please.”
Phiona understood from his tone and posture that fighting this would only lead to even more lines. She closed the laptop and handed it to him. “I’ll be in my office working on my lines, Sir.”
“Thank you, Princess. I love you. I will see you after work or after you’ve completed your lines,” he replied as he turned back to his own computer.
Phiona finished her lines and checked the time; it was half over seven. She thought to herself, “Why didn’t Charles come see me when he finished work?” She tidied her papers and stowed the inkwell, then went in search of him.
Charles was still in his office, poring over code and spreadsheets. “Charles,” Phiona called gently, “It’s my turn to scold you, I think. Do you know what time it is?”
Her voice made him jump a little. “Huh? What? Oh! Yeah, yeah. Thank you, my love. Are you all finished with your lines then?”
“Yes, Sir,” she replies as she hands him the stack of papers. “But, Sir, if you don’t hurry, you’ll miss your playdate.”
He smiles at her. “Yes, indeed. Here is your laptop; the mouse and keyboard are in the drawer there. Work on the novel, enjoy your night. If you’re asleep by the time I get home, I may wake you,” he teased with a wink.
She blushed and thanked him, “Thank you and …YES! Please do! Please consider this my ‘enthusiastic consent’ to be woken when you get home.”