Lockdown

Belinda whistled as she came down the stairs. She was in a good mood, and was ready to go out with her friends, global pandemic be damned. She jumped over a pile of random boxes and glanced at the kitchen sink as she passed it in the corridor. It was full — had been for a week, really. But who cared? Sure, there was an ecosystem developing in there, but wasn't like she was getting visitors, and doing the washing-up was boring anyway.

She slipped-on a pair of trainers and was about to open the door when somebody knocked. She jumped. As far as she knew, she wasn't expecting any delivery. Startled, she hesitantly unlocked and opened the door. In the corridor stood her landlord, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Ah, Belinda, there you are!" he said, "I've been trying to reach you for weeks!"

"Hum, err, I..." she mumbled, blushing. Yes, there was that little issue of the rent not having been paid for the last two months; that had totally slipped her mind.

"Can I come in?" he said, his tone making it clear the question was purely rhetorical. She moved away from the door to let him in.

He looked around and raised a concerned eyebrow gazing at the absolute mess, the old pizza boxes, the dirty socks, the empty bottles, and more besides. Belinda was looking down at the floor, twisting her hands together as her cheeks burned with shame.

"I..." she started, not finding anything more to say. The German, normally so bubbly, couldn't see a way to justify how she had let herself go so badly. Blame it on COVID, she thought, half-heartedly. She knew it wasn't that. She was a procrastinating slob at the moment, and she could only blame herself for it.

Her landlord, Mr Dawson, seemed at a loss for words just as much as she was. He was slowly shaking his head in disbelief and making his way towards the kitchen. Panic settled in Belinda's gut and she blurted out, "Wh-what can I do for you, Herr?"

He turned around, his hands on his hips. "Well, I came to check you were all right, since you weren't answering your phone, or emails, or texts..."

"Hum... Yes... I was, err, I have been very busy you see and..."

"I can see that..." he said, looking around in dismay. She nodded nervously and looked down, her blushing showing no sign of going away. He continued, "Mostly, we need to talk about your unpaid rent..."

She looked up, shyly, then down again. "I know, I'm sorry..." she mumbled.

"I know things are tough at the moment, Belinda," he started, then pointed at all the delivery food packages strewn around, "But I'm not sure you have your priorities straight..."

"No Herr..." she whispered.

"What was that?"

"No Herr," she said again, louder.

"Do you think this how you should keep your flat?" he continued, gesturing at their surroundings.

"No Herr..."

"And about the rent?"

"I will pay it, Herr..." she said, her head still bowed.

"In full and on time?"

"Y-yes, Herr..."

"All right, I'll give you until the end of the week..."

"Thank you, H..."

"I'm not finished!" Mr Dawson interrupted, "I will be back on Sunday to check that you've cleaned this mess, and for the rent. And before I go, I'm going to give you a taste of the consequences, should either not be done by then."

"Con-consequences, Herr?" she said, looking up at him worriedly.

He cleaned an old Domino's box off a chair. "You are going to come over my lap, and I'm going to spank your bare bottom, young lady."

Young lady? She thought. He was not a decade older than she was. Wait, that wasn't even the point, she corrected herself. A spanking? What was he talking about?

"I... I do not think you can do that..." she said, looking away.

"No? Don't you think you deserve one? Look at this place! It was just re-done when you came in. I remember your mother telling me how you were a very neat and ordered student..."

"Ja..."

"Do you want her to know about this mess you've done?"

"No! Please..."

"And I can only guess at how your university work is going..."

She said nothing. Tears were welling in her eyes. She was a mess, she knew it. She missed home, she missed rules, she missed being held accountable. Yet... a spanking?! Like a misbehaving brat?...

He sat down on the chair, waiting for the cogs to stop turning in her head. Finally, she bowed her head and shuffled her way to him, walking around a mouldy curry tupperware and what looked like the rest of some Chinese. He pointed at her jeans. "Pull them down"

"Please, Herr..."

"Pull. Them. Down." he said, unmoved by the tears of shame that already had started rolling down her cheeks. She bit her lip and undid her belt buckle, then pushed her tight jeans down, revealing a tiny pair of white panties. He was gracious enough not to comment further and indicated her over with a shove of his head. She approached, closed her eyes, and went to lay across his lap. She felt his firm hand holding her side and she shuffled slightly, trying to find some comfortable position despite the shame and humiliation. Her comfort, however, was the least of Mr Dawson's concerns, and he made that very clear when the first of many heavy slaps landed on her perky, offered bottom.

"Auuuu!" she yelled out in pain and surprise. Sure, she'd been spanked before, but he was clearly not going easy on her. Each slap made her wince in pain and kick her legs. After a dozen slaps, she was already crying openly. "Please! Herr! Herr Dawson!" she cried, trying to wiggle her way off his lap. He held her in place, unwavering. Clearly, he had done that before. "That's enough! Auuu! I will clean up! Bitte!" Relentless, the slaps came, hard and fast, a staccato of pain on her rump.

"STOP!" she yelled and tried to protect her burning cheeks with her hand. He paused. For a moment, she thought he had listened, and that her nightmare was over. she lowered her shoulders and sniffled. "Let me go, Herr... I.." Then his hand grabbed the elastic band of her panties, and she panicked.

 "Nein! Neineineineinein! Bitte!"

"I told you I was going to spank your bare bottom." he said, matter-of-factly.

"No, please! I will clean! I will pay the rent on time! I will do anything you want!"

With one pull, her panties were down to her mid-thighs and her bottom bared for him to admire and punish as he willed. She clenched her buttocks, foolishly hoping to hide her intimacy and to make what she knew was coming hurt less. With the first slap, she knew it wouldn't work.

The thin fabric of her panties hadn't protected her much, she knew, and maybe it was all psychological, but the flesh-on-flesh slaps felt ten times worse. Maybe it was that her bottom was already burning, maybe it was the sheer humiliation of having her ass bared for a man — pretty much a stranger — to see. She wailed with every merciless slap, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop them. Through her tears, she looked at the mess around her, and knew that it was what she needed. "I will change" she thought with every stroke of Mr Dawson's large hand, "I will change, I will change, I will change, I will change..."

Finally, after an eternity of pain and tears, she found herself standing in the corner, her hands over her head, her burning cheeks on display. Her phone on the coffee table was counting down 45 minutes, and even though she knew that Mr Dawson had left, she dared not move away from the corner. The mantra kept repeating in her head, "I will change, I will change, I will change, I will change..."

She would make him proud on Sunday. Her burning bottom was a dire reminder of the consequences if she didn't. But mostly, she knew that she would make herself proud.