Maid to Serve

by Ray Gordon

  Leaving the house she made her way along the drive, the evening sun and fresh air relaxing her. In her spare time she’d get away, she decided, and enjoy the tranquillity of the lovely countryside.

  Deciding to tell her mother that things were fine with her new job and home and she was happy, she thought she’d give it a few days before coming to a final decision on whether to stay or not. To leave after only one day would be silly. She had to give it a fair crack of the whip; otherwise she’d always wonder what might have been.

  A little way along the hedge-lined lane Hayley spotted a middle-aged woman strolling towards her. ‘Good evening,’ the woman said as they drew closer to each other.

  ‘Good evening,’ Hayley politely returned. ‘It’s a lovely evening for a nice walk.’

  ‘Yes, it is,’ the woman concurred, stopping and studying Hayley from head to toe. ‘I haven’t seen you around here before,’ she said. ‘Are you a local girl?’

  ‘As of today I am, yes,’ Hayley told her. ‘I live at Hadleigh Manor.’

  ‘Hadleigh Manor?’ the woman echoed, frowning at her.

  ‘Yes, I work for Michael Philips and his wife,’ the girl elaborated.

  ‘Michael Philips?’ the woman frowned. ‘I’ve never heard of him.’

  ‘Michael Philips the record producer.’ Clearly the woman was too old to have heard of a music celebrity.

  ‘So what happened to old Mrs Stevenson?’

  ‘Who’s Mrs Stevenson?’ Hayley asked, beginning to feel a little confused. ‘I’ve not heard her name mentioned before.’

  ‘She’s lived at Hadleigh Manor for decades,’ the woman snorted. ‘She’s a bit of an old recluse. She never sets foot outside the house. I suppose she must have sold up and moved to the coast, or something like that.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Hayley murmured, again thinking there was something very odd about Hadleigh Manor. ‘I was under the impression that Mr and Mrs Philips have lived there for years.’

  ‘Well, it’s news to me,’ the woman said. ‘I know most things that go on around here, but I’ve heard nothing about the old lady moving.

  ‘Ah well,’ the elderly lady brightened, ‘it’s nice to have met you, my dear.’

  ‘And you,’ Hayley said, smiling as the woman walked on.

  When Hayley stepped off the train that morning, a porter helped with her suitcase and asked her where she was going. She’d thought nothing of it when he said he’d never heard of Michael Philips – but now? Intrigued and confused, she decided to go back and take a look in the woods to see if there was a gardener’s outbuilding there. Earlier in the day he’d mysteriously disappeared amongst the trees, and now they were out of bounds to her. What secrets did the woods conceal? Something was going on, she thought, returning to the grounds of the manor and slipping into the dense undergrowth beyond the lawns.

  Glancing about her as she again made her way along the winding track, she noticed a small brick building she’d not seen before and ducked behind a bush in case anyone was there who might spot her. Deciding it was an old air raid shelter she waited for several minutes, checking the coast was clear before emerging from her hiding place and cautiously moving towards it.

  Pushing the creaky old door open, she was about to venture inside when she heard twigs cracking underfoot and voices in the distance, and without thinking twice she quickly and silently retraced her steps and made her way back to the gardens like a frightened rabbit. She didn’t want Belinda or some creepy gardener to catch her in the woods where she shouldn’t be.

  Calming her breathing and walking back towards the house, she realised she’d not even phoned her mother. She’d do it tomorrow evening instead.

  Entering the house by the backdoor she was surprised to find Michael Philips waiting for her in the capacious hall, and looking extremely stern he asked her where she’d been.

  ‘Just down to the phone box, sir,’ she replied, wondering what the problem was.

  ‘My wife isn’t at all happy,’ he reported. ‘She saw you going into the woods, after expressly telling you they’re out of bounds.’

  ‘Oh, I... I thought I saw a rabbit, sir,’ she lied, forcing an unconvincing smile. ‘I used to have a rabbit and so I—’

  ‘Belinda has gone into the woods to look for you,’ he continued. ‘She’s not very pleased with your disobedience. You’d better go up to your room and wait for her there.’

  Hayley was shocked by his attitude. ‘Wait for her in my room, sir?’

  ‘Yes, Hayley, wait for her in your room,’ he repeated.

  ‘But I was only...’ Hayley sighed, hanging her head, ‘yes sir.’

  ‘You know the woods are out of bounds, don’t you?’

  Hayley nodded meekly.

  ‘And you’d better change, too. If Belinda sees you dressed like that she’ll be even less pleased with you than she is now.’

  ‘But I’m not on duty,’ Hayley protested. ‘Surely I can wear what I like when I’m not on—’

  ‘That doesn’t matter.’

  ‘You mean, I have to dress in my work clothes even during my time off?’

  ‘You know how Belinda wants you to dress. Why do you keep deliberately trying to annoy her?’

  ‘I’m not trying to annoy her, sir,’ Hayley argued. ‘I just thought that in my own time I could dress as I pleased.’

  ‘I told you earlier, Hayley, my wife can be a funny woman at times. Just do as you’re told and you’ll be all right. Now, you’d better go up to your room and change before she gets back.’

  Climbing the stairs Hayley was aware of her hands trembling and her heart racing. She felt like a naughty schoolgirl as she went directly to her room and closed the door. Why did she have to change? This was her own time, she thought dolefully. Surely when not on duty she could dress how she pleased? She wasn’t at Belinda’s beck and call twenty-four hours a day.

  But not wanting to antagonise her new employers, she slipped out of her jeans and T-shirt and picked up the suspender belt from the back of the chair. She wasn’t giving in to Belinda, she tried to convince herself; she was simply avoiding getting off on the wrong foot. What was wrong with jeans, anyway? And what on earth was wrong with walking in the woods? What were they trying to hide from her?

  Clipping the belt around her slender waist, the dangling suspenders framing the triangular patch of her white panties, she was about to unhook and remove her bra when the door burst open.

  ‘What on earth is the matter with you, girl?’ Belinda snarled, slamming the door behind her with such force that the room seemed to shake.

  ‘I’m sorry, ma’am,’ Hayley squealed, ‘I didn’t mean to make you angry. I was only—’

  ‘Only wandering around the bloody woods when I’ve already told you not to!’ the woman accused venomously. ‘I specifically said that the woods are out of bounds. Didn’t I? Now bend over.’

  ‘Bend over?’ Hayley echoed incredulously.

  ‘That’s right, bend over and touch your toes.’

  Hayley was stunned. ‘Bend over and...?’

  ‘I’ll count to five,’ the woman went on relentlessly. ‘One... two...’

  Bending over and grasping her ankles, Hayley yelped as Belinda’s hand landed squarely across the cotton-covered flesh of her young buttocks with a loud slap. She rocked forward a little under the impact, stunned by the unjust assault. She couldn’t believe what was happening as a second slap resounded around the room. With the stinging sensation permeating the tensed cheeks of her bottom she tried to stand upright, but Belinda pressed on her back with her free hand and held her down. This was a very bad dream, she thought. A very, very bad dream. Belinda Philips, her boss, sending her to her room like a scolded child and spanking her for being naughty? Was the woman mad?

  Again and again Belinda’s palm spanked the burning globes of Hayley’s vu
lnerable bottom. This was a nightmare, the girl thought, struggling to break free. Her young body trembling uncontrollably she looked back between her thighs at the inverted view of her boss. The woman was possessed, she’d lost her senses she was sure as the gruelling spanking of her bottom continued, and at last finally ended.

  ‘Let that be a lesson to you,’ Belinda panted, scowling at Hayley as the girl scurried away and cowered in a corner of her small bedroom. ‘Now, get yourself to bed.’

  ‘To bed?’ Hayley gasped, rubbing her stinging bottom cheeks. ‘But it’s only early—’

  ‘To bed, Hayley, now,’ the woman insisted.

  ‘You can’t order me to do as you say just because you’re—’

  ‘I can and will order you to do what I say,’ the woman cut in belligerently. ‘Unless you want another good spanking, that is?’

  With tears rolling down her cheeks, her bottom lip quivering, Hayley sat dejectedly on the edge of her bed as Belinda left the room and slammed the door shut. Drowning in confusion, her head spinning, her bottom sore, she was stunned. She couldn’t comprehend what had just happened to her – her boss spanking her and then ordering her to bed? She wasn’t going to be treated like this, like a child. Checking the time, she knew it was too late to catch a train home but, she decided, she’d leave Hadleigh Manor first thing in the morning.

  Resting on her bed, her buttocks stinging like mad, she again wondered what secrets the woods harboured to justify them being made out of bounds to her. There was obviously something hidden in the trees that Belinda didn’t want her to discover, but what could it be? Surely not an old air raid shelter? Unless that virtually derelict structure was Belinda’s secret den, a love nest she shared with the gardener. But Michael Philips had also said the woods were out of bounds, so... perhaps he knew about an affair between his wife and the gardener and to save some dignity he didn’t want Hayley to discover the sordid truth.

  There was a knock on the door and then Michael entered without waiting to be invited. ‘It’s only me,’ he said. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘No, I’m not all right,’ Hayley sulked, pulling the quilt over her half-naked body. ‘She... she spanked me.’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ he said, with no great surprise.

  ‘And she ordered me to bed,’ she complained.

  ‘Hayley, you have to understand that my wife—’

  ‘I don’t have to understand anything,’ she cut in indignantly. ‘Your wife treats me like a child and I’m not going to put up with it any longer. I’m leaving first thing in the morning. I’m sorry, but that’s my decision.’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear you say that too,’ he said amiably. ‘What will you do, go back to the bakery?’

  ‘Yes, I will,’ she confirmed resolutely.

  ‘Well,’ he mused pensively, ‘if you’re determined to leave us already, perhaps I can help you. After all, I don’t suppose you really want to go back to your old job.’

  No, Hayley didn’t really want to go back to her old job. It would be somewhat humiliating to return so soon. ‘Well, I... what have you got in mind?’ she asked curiously.

  ‘I was talking to Dave Ruby the other day,’ he announced.

  ‘The Dave Ruby?’ Hayley asked, suddenly interested in what he had to say. ‘You were talking to Dave Ruby, the...’

  ‘The one and only king of rock,’ he chuckled. ‘Yes, I happened to mention you and he said he’s thinking of employing a live-in housekeeper for his Sussex home.’

  ‘Goodness!’ Hayley breathed, feeling star-struck.

  ‘He asked me whether I knew of anyone who’d be interested in the job,’ Michael went on breezily. ‘Of course, in his position he’d want to see glowing references before appointing anyone. Still, you’re going home so it isn’t really relevant.’

  ‘No, no, I’m very interested,’ Hayley breathed excitedly.

  ‘You’d need a first rate reference from Belinda,’ her male employer pointed out.

  ‘Oh,’ she sighed despondently, ‘that’s probably the last thing she’d give me now. I don’t suppose you could give me a reference instead?’

  He shook his head. ‘Belinda deals with things like that. Besides, how could either of us give you a reference after only one day? But if you were to stay on, at least for your probation period, then that would be different.’

  ‘Well, I suppose I could,’ Hayley conceded.

  Michael shrugged. ‘It’s up to you,’ he said indifferently. ‘It’s your decision.’

  ‘But she spanked me,’ Hayley complained again. ‘She spanked me and sent me to bed. I’m not a child, Mr Philips.’

  ‘But she did tell you not to go into the woods,’ he pointed out firmly. ‘So what did you do? You went into the woods.’

  ‘What is it about the woods?’ she asked, exasperated.

  ‘A few weeks back a stranger was seen roaming in them,’ he went a little way towards explaining. ‘An intruder, but he slipped away before we found out who he was or what he wanted. Belinda only has your safety in mind.’

  ‘An intruder?’ Hayley pressed. ‘That sounds serious.’

  Michael nodded gravely. ‘In the woods, lurking.’

  This was all sounding very strange, and then Hayley recalled the woman she’d met in the lane. ‘How long have you lived here?’ she asked.

  ‘Quite some time,’ he said, somewhat evasively. ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘What happened to Mrs Stevenson?’

  ‘Mrs Stevenson?’ he echoed, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. ‘She moved. Who have you been talking to?’

  ‘A woman I met,’ Hayley told him, watching his body language. ‘She said she’d never heard of you.’

  ‘Hayley, you have to understand that we have many celebrities coming here,’ he said, somewhat patronisingly. ‘If word got out that stars like Dave Ruby were regular visitors the place would be constantly besieged by the paparazzi and screaming groupies. We keep ourselves to ourselves for security reasons. We do our best to keep a very low profile here, and you must respect that.’

  Hayley felt a little guilty for being suspicious and for discussing her employers with a complete stranger. ‘Yes,’ she said, somewhat chastened, ‘I can understand that. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Anyway,’ he said, smiling, ‘enough of that. Should you decide to stay on with us here I’m sure Belinda will be only too happy.’

  ‘And if she tries to spank me again, what do I do, let her?’ Hayley asked, somewhat mutinously.

  ‘Yes, in a word,’ he answered blithely. ‘She’s a stickler for discipline and obedience. It’s the way she was brought up, my dear. Now, I’d better go and see what she’s doing. You think about what I’ve said and we’ll talk again in the morning.’

  Feeling a little easier as he left the bedroom, Hayley couldn’t imagine working for the famous Dave Ruby. To meet him would be incredible, she mused excitedly, but to actually work for him. But on the other hand, she thought, bringing her feet back down to earth, without a glowing reference from Belinda that was unlikely to ever happen. Closing her eyes she tried not to worry about Belinda and her peculiar ways. Perhaps the odd spanking would be worth enduring if the end result was the job of live-in housekeeper to Dave Ruby.

  Taking a shower the following morning, Hayley decided to stay on at Hadleigh Manor, at least for her probation period. With Michael apparently on her side she reckoned things wouldn’t be too bad. He was right, she reflected, returning to her room with a towel wrapped around her naked body, Belinda had specifically said the woods were out of bounds, and she had deliberately disobeyed that.

  Dressing in her short skirt, blouse and stockings, she still felt acutely self-conscious. With the outline of her nipples pressing against the crisp material and her panties barely veiled by her short skirt, she brushed her golden hair and tried to relax. Applying a little make-up, pra
ying that she looked all right, she finally left her room and went down to the kitchen.

  The early morning sun was streaming gloriously through the window, lifting her spirits. It was eight o’clock and Belinda wouldn’t surface for a couple of hours yet, so perhaps now was a good time to go and phone her mother.

  Leaving the house through the backdoor, Hayley was sure that at this hour Belinda wouldn’t be watching as she made her way around the house and down the winding drive towards the country lane, and in her somewhat skimpy clothing she hoped she wouldn’t bump into anyone on the way to the phone box.

  But then stopping dead in her tracks she turned and stared at the bushes; she’d definitely heard a rustling sound coming from there. Something or someone was in the undergrowth, but she daren’t investigate; the woods were out of bounds and she’d learnt her lesson. Then spotting some movement from behind a large bush, she stared aghast as an erect penis poked out into view! Stunned, she gazed open-mouthed at the male organ pulsing amongst the green foliage. Was this the stranger Michael had spoken of? Or was it the elusive gardener? Whoever it was clearly knew Hayley was watching as he ran a fingertip over the shiny surface of his purple globe. Paralysed, frozen to the spot, she watched the man’s fist move up and down the brazen erection.

  As he projected his hips forward, obviously making sure she could see his indecent act, Hayley gazed in awe at the huge organ. She’d never seen a penis before, let alone an erect one. The hairy sac containing heavy balls jerking as he quickened his wanking motion, Hayley was frightened – but also fascinated. Wondering whether the anonymous man was going to ejaculate, she knew she should run, but something compelled her to watch the obscene act.

  Sperm suddenly jetted from the bloated knob, hanging in long strands from the pumping fingers. The obscured figure let out a muffled grunt of pleasure, withdrew into the concealing undergrowth, and with the spell suddenly broken Hayley turned and made a dash for it back towards the house.