“This is Marnie. I am sorry I cannot come to the phone right now or anytime for the rest of the week as I am grounded,” a tearful Marnie said from the answering machine.

Marnie herself did not dare turn around, let alone answer the phone. Her nose stayed resolutely in the corner as she contemplated Steve’s threats. Earlier he had made her record the message with an unspecified threat with his eyes and as usual she had meekly complied.

This time whoever it was hung up immediately, this was worse somehow because now Marnie would never know who it was. She sniffed and shifted in the corner taking a chance to rub at her bottom.

At 26 it was humiliating; no scratch that, at any age it was humiliating. At 26 having everyone know she was grounded by her boyfriend Steve was beyond embarrassing. Not that the spanking wasn’t deserved as such, but corner time was both embarrassing and tiresome. But the fact that everyone who knew her would guess and everyone who didn’t… how would she ever live it down?

She ran the responses she had overheard through her and blushing tried to think how she could laugh them off.

“Is this some kind of joke?” had been an early entry to answering machine.

She hadn’t recognised the voice, which was a mixed blessing.

“Marnie? Marnie is that you… eh… I’ll call back.” Her friend Trish sounded truly confused.

“Oh Marnie, what have you done now?” he mother had said in a weary voice. The horror of this addition to the list of callers had been compounded some minutes later when her sister had called with laughter drenching her voice.

“It’s true,” she had squealed. “I don’t believe it. I guess I’ll call you next week then. Can’t wait to hear all the juicy details. Wait until I tell…” the last part had ended with her sister dissolving into laughter and ringing off.

There had been others in this vein, and Marnie had cringed at each. She sighed heavily. Well she had chosen this life, but sometimes it wasn’t easy.

“Oh Steve, you can’t,” she had whined. “Can’t you just…”

Steve had silenced her. “Are you making the rules or am I?” he has cut in sternly.

“You are,” she had agreed miserably.

That had been over an hour ago.

Marnie sighed again and let her fingers steal to her sore bottom. Steve had spanked her good this time; she had never thought he would stop. She doubted very much if she would be sitting much even after she stopped being grounded.

But before then she had the corner. Damn it.

Just then the phone rang again and Marnie gritted her teeth.

“Oh, eh… I wanted to speak to a Ms Marnie Jones about her account,” the hesitant male voice began. “We have had to put a stop on it. A small matter of a £2,567 over payment. It has all been drawn against one store… We need to eh… well if you could call the bank on…”

Marnie winced and refused to hear the rest. Steve was going to kill her.

Not the end