“I am not a child. I got the part without your help, Kurt, and I know how to keep it. I don’t need you to boss me.”
“Of course not, Angel. You need me to take care of you, and that’s what I’m doing. Now, promise me. You will have those lines learned by tomorrow, right?”
I rolled my eyes at him, but when I heard him clear his throat, I sighed in defeat. “Fine. Have it your way.”
“Oh, hey, did you get the Burger King ad, too? You should have told me!”
“Stop it!” I exclaimed, giggling. He kissed my nose lightly, and I relaxed. While it had been unpleasant for a few minutes, it was over. I can do this, I told myself. I could be the kind of girlfriend he wanted without any of the unpleasant side effects.
“I’ll see you at four to start our shoot,” Kurt said, leaning down to grab his bag.
I blinked at him in surprise. “Wait a minute, what?”
“I’m going to head home and do some last minute rehearsing.”
“Without me?” I pouted.
“My mirror isn’t nearly as fun,” he admitted with a grin, “but she’s been known to pull through in a pinch.”
“I don’t understand. I thought—”
“It’s simple, Cal. You’re not getting your rest and it’s interfering with your work, right?” I nodded my head, still not comprehending. “So, in order for us both to play the part of responsible adults, I’m going to go home so that you can focus on your lines, and then go to bed.” He waved away my groan. “I know, I know, neither of us wanted the role, but it has to be done.”
“Is everything a joke with you?” I demanded in exasperation.
“I’m not joking, Callie. I am trying to make you feel better about the situation, but I am very serious about what I expect from you.” His eyes met mine and he stared me down.
“There’s still time,” I insisted, whining. “It’s only five!”
“Yes, and four in the morning comes early, just like it does every morning.”
I glowered at him, my lower lip protruding, when I realized he was not going to give in. “Whatever,” I muttered. “Just go.”
“I’m doing what’s best for both of us,” he reminded me. I ignored him, determined to show him how unhappy I was. He leaned over to kiss me, but I turned my head away. Pain exploded in my rear as Kurt landed a good whack across my seat.
“Hey!” I protested. “What was that for?”
He ignored my glare. “We love each other, and I expect you to act like it at all times. Yes sir?”
“Fine. Yes, sir,” I huffed at him. I allowed him to kiss my lips, and glared at his retreating back as he left the apartment.
Natasha started creeping out from under the couch the minute she heard the door slam. I welcomed her company, and sank down to the floor to let them rub all over me, purring.
“This is why I prefer cats to humans,” I grumbled. “At least the two of you aren’t mean to me.”
I knew I was being a bit unfair, but I felt stung by Kurt’s rebuke. I was a grown woman, after all. I knew how to put away my wants and focus on what I had to do. Just because I hadn’t been so great at it lately didn’t mean that I didn’t know how. I’ll show him, I thought to myself. He’s missing out, because I’m a better rehearsing partner than his stupid reflection. His loss.
* * * * *
“Oh, no!” I cried, awaking with a start when my alarm went off. “What am I going to do?” I didn’t even bother to get dressed, instead picking up my script where I had dropped it last night, still resting on the first page of the scene I was supposed to memorize. I scanned the lines frantically, but my eyes were filling with panicked tears and it blurred the words.
I knew Kurt was going to be furious. My nerves were shot, and it made it nearly impossible to concentrate. Before I knew it, there was a knock at the door, and I knew the driver had arrived to make sure I got to the shoot on time. I opened the door and begged for five more minutes so that I could at least brush my teeth.
Staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I tried to calm down. It’s not going to be so bad, I told myself. You can do this. You basically know your lines. That will be good enough. I tried to smile, but even my reflection wasn’t buying the lie, and the smile fell away.
Kurt called me while we were on the way to the set, but I sent him to voicemail. I knew that I would have to ‘fess up with him and face the music sooner or later, but I preferred to push that conversation off for as long as I possibly could.
I spent the customary two hours in hair and makeup before I was told to go to the set. When I got there, Kurt was reading over his script, his lips moving as he went over his lines one more time. I’d gotten to read over my part two more times while I was having my hair done, but I’d had to put it up during makeup. Maybe it would be good enough.
“Hey,” I said, smiling tentatively.
“Hey, baby,” he replied with a wide smile. If he was remembering our conversation from last night, it didn’t show. “Did you get some rest?”
“Mm-hmm,” I agreed, not trusting myself to speak. I felt like the guilty felon who couldn’t wait to confess to rid herself of guilt. But why confess and get into an argument when I might be worried for nothing? It still could turn out fine.
“So, I was thinking if we can get this scene shot today, we should celebrate. You feeling like steak?”
I stifled a groan. He knew I was always in the mood for steak. It would be just like him, to reward me for listening to him. Maybe I can pull it off, I hoped to myself.
“Kurt, Callie, good morning!” Liam boomed as he and the other directors filed into the room. “Looking good, Callie. Are you having a problem gaining those fifteen pounds?” He had his face smoothed into an expression of concern, and I hid my smile.
“Yes, I’m so sorry. I’m not trying to let you guys down. I’ve been a calorie counter my whole life—habits are hard to break.”
“We’re working on it,” Kurt replied with ease, and I could feel him trying to hold in his laughter.
“No problem, no problem!” Liam assured us. “You keep working on it, but in the meantime, I wanted to tell you personally that you’re looking great.”
“Thank you.”
“Anytime, doll. You two ready to roll?” he asked. Kurt nodded, and I offered a tiny smile. “All right, then! Quiet on the set!”
It’s going to be fine, I told myself one last time. It wasn’t. It was a figurative blood bath. Each time I had to call out “Line?” I saw Kurt’s jaw tighten.
I could tell that Liam was getting more impatient with me with each shoot, and between his heavy sighs every time he called cut, and the way Kurt’s jaw was pulsing, I wished the part of the stage I was standing on would cave it. Hopefully I would at least break a bone or two, and be exempt from their wrath.
“Let’s try that one again. Remember, Callie: ‘Whatever you say, Richard.’ ”
“Got it,” I answered tersely.
“Okay. Act 3, Scene 4, action.”
“Rolling!” the cameraman man called out.
There was the briefest of pauses before Kurt turned to face me, a smile in place of the tight-lipped annoyance he’d worn just moments ago. I’ll say this for him—the man was good. “You’re home, honey. How was your day?” He opened his arms to me, and I walked into his embrace.
“Fine, I guess. How was yours?”
“Not bad. The office called earlier. Someone set fire to the copy machine—again.” He winced comically, and paused for the laugh track.
I waited for my line, which I delivered deadpan. “I guess they need to make a rule about sitting on the copy machine. If people didn’t make pictures of their bare behinds, it wouldn’t catch fire.”
He grinned jovially. “That’s the truth.” We smiled at each other, before he, on cue, walked to the sofa and took a seat. “Honey…”
“Uh-oh,” I muttered under my breath.
“We need to talk.” He patted his lap meaningfully.
“I was afraid of that. Look, Richard—”
“Come on, Lori. Have a seat.”
I made a show of wringing my hands before walking toward him and placing myself on his lap. “Honey, I—”
“No excuses, Lori. We talked about this before. Your car is three thousands mile overdue for service! I told you to pay better attention to it—I put the date in your phone and sent it to your email.”
“I’ve been busy!”
“Too busy to be on your phone or the computer?” he scoffed. “Come on, babe, let’s be real. You didn’t get it done because you thought you had better things to do. And you know what happens when you ignore what I ask you to do.”
I grimaced, disliking how my situation had synced up with what’s going on with Lori in the movie. It felt like Kurt was scolding me in front of everyone. “That’s not fair. I didn’t mean to forget.”
“I know, babe. You never mean to, which means I need to make this a memorable lesson for you. Go into the bedroom.”
I winced, but gave a tiny nod. “Whatever you say, Richard.”
I knew we were going to keep rolling, so I stood up, waited a second for Kurt to stand up beside me and pat my bottom before I walked ahead. I stopped in front of the bedroom and looked back at him, my eyes pleading. “Richard…” I paused, because for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to say next. Damn him for leaving me last night! He should have stayed and ran lines with me!
Kurt cleared his throat, looking at me pointedly. I winced before I said it, but I had no choice: “Line, please.”
“Cut!” Liam called.
Kurt was glaring at me, and I shifted my foot across the floor uncomfortably. I’m sorry, I tried to tell him with my eyes, but if he understood my telepathic message he didn’t soften.
“Let’s call it, folks,” Liam said, clearly frustrated. “Lunch break.”
“I am so sorry,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. “I will learn my lines over lunch, I promise.”
“Two hours,” Liam said, his mouth set in a firm line.
Crap! My mind screamed. Why couldn’t they have just given me the freakin’ line? Now I had to endure Kurt, and I could tell he was not happy with me. Almost as if he knew I was thinking about him, he chose that moment to take my arm and gently steer me off the set.
“Let’s go back to my place,” he said, his voice deadly soft. “It’s closer.”
I’d been shaking my head since my place. “No, I think I’ll just stay here and—”
“Callie.”
I had never heard my name said with such a combination of warning and annoyance. I glowered at him, but followed him out to the car. He tapped the window, and the driver, who had been napping, snapped awake.
“To the house, please,” he said as he opened the door for me. I climbed in and we sat in tense silence. I was regretting every choice I’d made that had lead up to this moment: the late night dates, the times I’d spent watching TV when I knew I should have been memorizing my lines, and especially, especially falling asleep after Kurt had given me another chance. I suppose I could have pushed some of the blame onto him, because he had been the one keeping me out late on those dates, but he hadn’t had any idea that I still hadn’t learned my lines.
When the car pulled into the driveway, I grabbed onto the door, my fingers clinging to it as if it were my life preserver. In a way it was, because I knew he wouldn’t yell at me until we got into the house where no one could hear us. I’d just decided to stay there forever when Kurt came around the side and opened the door for me.
“You know, I’m not really that hungry. Maybe I should go back and work on my lines.”
“Nice try,” he said, offering me a hand. I took it, and was forced to wave goodbye to Teddy.
“See you soon,” he called out to us.
We trudged up the walkway hand in hand, as my heart pounded in my chest like a sledgehammer. As soon as the door was closed behind us, I made a beeline for the couch. Kurt followed behind me at a more controlled pace. I’d sat on my hands, moved them to my lap and folded them across my chest before he got to the couch.
He took in my fidgeting, but didn’t comment. “So,” he said, taking a seat beside me. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Um…”
“Not a lot?” he suggested.
I narrowed my eyes at him. How dare he sit there and judge me? Who’d given him the right to boss me around? I decided then and there that I was not going to sit here and be lectured like a child. “You know what, Kurt? I messed up, yes. I should have learned my lines. But you wanna know something else? It’s my life and I get to do whatever I want with it!”
He seemed taken aback by my sharp tone, but it only gave him pause for a minute. “Okay. You’re right, Callie. However, when we agreed to be in a relationship, we talked about this.”
“I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now,” I snapped
“Maybe not—you did, however, agree to it.” He held up a hand to stop the arguments that sprung to my lips. “I told you to do something and you chose to ignore me. There are consequences for that, Callie.”
“I said I will learn the lines and I will,” I grumbled.
“You will,” he agreed. I couldn’t help but notice that he seemed calm and collected whereas I felt like a bottle that had been shaken up and could explode at any moment. His voice was even and controlled, while I was snapping and biting his head off. “That doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t learn them by your deadline.”
“I get it, okay? I screwed up. You don’t have to keep telling me.”
“Do you really get it? Why do you have to memorize your lines, Callie?”
“So that you can perform off-book,” I replied. I couldn’t believe the nerve of this man. I knew why I was supposed to know my lines. What did he think I was, an idiot?
“And so today, when you couldn’t, you wasted a lot of money.”
I’d about had it with his patient, reasonable lecture. “Your dad’s, you mean,” I scoffed at him.
“This is not about my dad,” Kurt replied firmly. “You have to respect the needs of other people, Callie. Not learning your lines or doing what you’re supposed to is selfish to everyone involved. It slows the rest of us down.” He waited for my response, but I slouched down and folded my arms across my chest, staring into space. “It’s very unprofessional, babe. You’re a great actor, and I don’t want you to get overlooked because of your work ethic.”
“My work ethic is fine, Kurt. It was a one-time thing!” I insisted.
“Maybe. But who else is going to give you a shot if word gets around that you can’t take the time to learn your part? You know it will happen. I can name at least twenty actors that have had that happen and I know you can, too.”
Despite myself, his words were starting to sink in. I felt my pulse speed up wondering just what I had been thinking, playing nonchalant with my career. He was right: there were thousands of girls, some of the them probably better actors, that would have given their left arms to be where I was now. What was I doing, taking chances? I couldn’t afford to, especially not when I was a no-name actor who needed to work to eat.
“You’re right,” I said, though not very graciously.
“Look at me,” Kurt ordered. His face was stern, and didn’t soften when I obeyed his command. “Now try that again.”
If it were any other man, I’d tell him where he could take his directives, but it was Kurt. Every time I looked at him I felt myself falling deeper in love with him. Besides, I saw that he was only trying to take care of me. I had to admit, I did deserve the scolding.
“You were right,” I said again, my voice contrite. “I should have listened to you and studied my lines. I embarrassed myself today, and I can do better. Thank you for caring about me, Kurt.” I received the briefest of smiles and a nod of approval.
“Today has been a waste of everyone’s time. We can’t afford to have too many of those days, especially on a low budget film.”
“I understand, sir. Now, please, can you stop with the lecture already?”
“You don’t feel like we need to discuss it anymore?”
I didn’t like the way his body tightened up when he asked that, but I nodded my agreement. “I understand my mistake. It won’t happen again.”
“Good. I guess we can go ahead with your spanking then.” He was watching my face as he said it, and I wondered if I looked as horrified as I felt.
“What?” I squeaked.
“Your spanking, Callie. I told you what to expect if you disobeyed me. Now, I want those pants off and then I want you to lie over my lap.”
I slid my pants down to my ankles in a daze. Surely this wasn’t happening. Not again. Even though I wanted to resist, I found myself complying with robotic, stiff movements that eventually ended with me over Kurt’s lap.
I couldn’t decide if I would rather him lecture me some more or just get on with it. Fortunately—or not—he didn’t ask my opinion, and began smacking my panties with mild swats. It didn’t hurt—not at first, anyway—but I still found myself whimpering. I hated knowing that Kurt was upset with me, hated that I hadn’t listened to him.
He was covering each inch of my bottom with swift, firm spanks, and before long it started to sting. I’d just begun to feel the spanking when he started putting more strength behind the swats. I tried to be good and take my punishment, but as my bottom heated up I couldn’t help but squirm.
“Be still, please,” he instructed, dealing a hard slap to each of my thighs.
“Kurt!” I groaned. “That hurts!”
He chuckled, but continued spanking me, now with more vigor than before. “What would be the point if it didn’t hurt?”
“It doesn’t always hurt!” I defended myself, gasping as a painful spank landed on my sit spot.
“Punishment spankings are a different animal, babe.”
You’re an animal, I thought to myself, but I knew better than to say it aloud. I didn’t say much of anything, because the backs of my thighs were beginning to throb with pain and I could think of little else. The spanking that had started out with just a spark was now at a full roar as Kurt concentrated all his energy on spanking my poor, defenseless bottom. He got into a rhythm, spanking each cheek in turn. Just when I thought he would never stop his relentless pattern—right, left, right, left—he did, and moved on to my tender thighs.
“Stop!” I gasped. “Please, stop!” Kurt didn’t even acknowledge my pleas, and I wondered if he could hear me over the sound of the full thud his hand made each time it landed on my rear. I tried to wiggle away, and I succeeded in stopping the spanking. I hardly had time to notice—my poor butt was radiating with heat—because once he tightened his grip on me, he began again, and each smack packed more of a sting than any of its predecessors.
I continued to beg between gasps and whimpers. I felt helpless, completely trapped on his lap for as long as he intended to punish me. My behind had to be the deepest shade of crimson by now, and still, he didn’t let up. I told him that I would never, ever do it again. I would never disobey him; I would be the model girlfriend. I would do anything, anything if only he’d let me up.
“We’re not done yet,” was all the reply I received.
My eyes had been watering for the last dozen swats, and these words, although spoken with kindness, were the final blow that sent them spilling over. If it was possible, once I was crying he stepped up the pace. I was getting two spanks per second, and it was only after I was choking with sobs that he finally stopped.
He pulled me into a sitting position on his lap and kissed my cheeks where they were wet with my tears. I was breathing heavily as I cried, and he held me tightly against him until it stopped.
“Stand up,” he ordered, and I obeyed, wiping tears off my cheeks. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” I asked. The thought of him leaving while I was this vulnerable made me feel very lonely. I felt pretty shaken, and I needed him here to reassure me.
Without a word, Kurt started to unbuckle his belt. My eyes were drawn to his hands, and as I watched him fiddle with the buckle, my heart leapt into my throat. I was simultaneously filled with curiosity and a niggling fear. The way I saw it, things could be headed in two different directions. If, on the one hand, he was ready to declare his love to me by stripping naked, well, who was I to say no? But if he had some other purpose in mind, I knew that I would have to get out of there, and quick.