His Firm Guidance

by Constance Masters

  “I was with your MOM!”

  “I won’t tell you again. Lower your voice.”

  “I’m sorry, but you’re making me feel picked on.”

  “Listen. I don’t want you to feel picked on, but I don’t expect to be ignored OR shouted at. I told you that I will spank you if I think you deserve it. Shouting at me will only make it worse.”

  “Ok. I’m sorry. Really.”

  “I believe you, this time,” he said, still in the quiet voice. “I’ll ask my mom if you can borrow her car tomorrow and you can go into town and enroll. I want you to go online tonight and see what classes you think you might like to take and what you need to do to wrap this up tomorrow.”

  “I will. I promise. Can we forget it now and have a nice evening?”

  “Yes, we can,” Tyler said, kissing her head. “You got lucky this time. You better not come home tomorrow with another excuse.”

  “I won’t, I promise.”

  “Good girl.”

  * * *

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you, Whitney?” Grace asked.

  “No, it’s fine. I don’t know how long it’ll take,” Whitney said with a smile. “You don’t mind me borrowing the car?”

  “Not at all. You take your time. I wasn’t going to go anywhere today.”

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “No, I don’t think so, unless you see something you like to eat that we don’t have here.”

  Whitney was a little nervous when she first started the car and took off down the driveway, but it didn’t take her long to get a feel for the car. It actually felt freeing to get out. Though things had been better since they’d cleared the air, it was awkward to be in someone else’s house. She helped out through the day and Grace was even teaching her how to cook some of Tyler’s favorite foods, but it wasn’t her home so she couldn’t totally relax.

  As she got closer to town, she noticed a sign for the new apartment block they’d built on the other side of town. She’d LOVE to live there. After a quick look around to make sure there was no one coming, she slowed down and pulled over a little for a closer look. On the billboard there was a picture of the large block of apartments surrounded by lush green gardens and a swimming pool! That was where they HAD to live. Visions swam in Whitney’s head of her and Tyler lying around the pool on weekends tanning and playing in the pool with all the other young couples who probably lived there. Her eyes fell to the bottom…only two one-bedroom apartments remaining. Don’t MISS this opportunity. Hell, NO! She had to go and look at these apartments. Her conscience was prickling, but her need to see this apartment was telling it to shut the hell up. There was plenty of time to go get enrolled in school, wasn’t there? She scrambled around in her purse for her phone and rang the number. Within minutes she was on her way to see what she hoped would be their new home.

  * * *

  The apartment itself wasn’t overly large, but it was large enough; there were only two of them. One bedroom, a living room, dining area, and a nice-sized kitchen. Everything was brand new, which was very appealing, and there was a small terrace that overlooked the pool.

  “There’s no laundry room,” she said to the man with a beaming smile.

  “No, Mrs. Jackson,” the smiling man said. “No need for a laundry room in the apartment when you can wash and dry your clothes in our state-of-the-art laundry room downstairs. It’s conveniently located on the bottom floor so you can put your laundry on and go lie by the pool or go to our fully equipped gym. Your husband must work hard; he deserves a place to work out and relax, doesn’t he?” “Yes, he does,” Whitney said with a nod.

  “If he had to pay for a gym membership that would be extra money from your budget.” “Yes, it would,” Whitney agreed. This was making total sense. The man with the white teeth was definitely trying to whitewash her, but that didn’t mean that what he was saying was total bull. This was a nice place.

  “Doing your laundry down in the communal laundry room will be the perfect place for you to meet some new young friends.”

  “Are there a lot of younger couples here?”

  “Oh, yes, lots.”

  “Ok…you’ve given me something to think about. I’ll have to let my husband know and see if we can come and look together on the weekend.”

  “If we still have any apartments available then, I’ll be happy to show you one.”

  “But it’s only a few days until the weekend.”

  “Oh, I know, but you have to understand, these are very sought-after apartments, Mrs. Jackson.”

  “Oh, I bet they are.” She took out her phone and glanced at the time. Yikes, it was well after noon. She could call Tyler but he might be in a meeting or something. If she sent him a text and he didn’t reply, she was no better off. Maybe she should just bite the bullet and make a decision. There couldn’t BE a better apartment than this for a young couple to start married life. “What do I have to do to make sure the apartment doesn’t get leased by the weekend?” she asked, ignoring the feeling of guilt that was settling heavily on her chest.

  “If you pay the deposit, the apartment is yours.”

  “How much is the deposit?”

  The smiling man seemed to have even more gleaming white teeth now as he handed her a booklet and pointed to the relevant information.

  “That much?”

  “That is your first and last month’s rent,” he said. “You’d have to agree it’s a bargain for the lifestyle that living here is going to afford you and your fortunate husband.” This was a six-month lease, which wasn’t THAT much of a commitment, was it? If Tyler wasn’t happy about it, then he could pick the next place and she wouldn’t even complain. She smiled.

  “Will that be cash or charge?”

  “I guess it better be charge,” she said getting out the shiny brand new emergency credit card that Tyler had given her. Well, it was an emergency, wasn’t it? They could lose this place if she didn’t do this.

  “Sign here, please,” the smiler said, thrusting a clipboard under her nose.

  “I can’t sign the lease on my own, can I?”

  “No, of course not. You’ll need to be approved or your husband will. We’ll run your credit card through the regular checks and your husband can come with you at some point and you can sign the lease together.”

  “Ok,” Whitney agreed and, even though the weirdest feeling like little electric shocks sparked through her, she still slid her card through the machine. When the receipt rolled out, she took it from the now ecstatic smiler and tucked the receipt into her purse along with the card. Well, at least she hadn’t spent the enrolment fee. She best go and enroll before she had to face Tyler and tell him that she hadn’t done as she was told for the second day in a row.

  * * *

  Whitney had never imagined herself attending the community college where they grew up. She’d hated school while she was there; it took her all her time to get her homework done and stay out of detention. Well, not really. A lot of the time she finished her homework in detention so that she could actually have a life outside of schoolwork. Of course Tyler was always there pushing her along to do better. Telling her how smart she was and how she wasn’t doing half as well as she could if she really tried. Yeah, right.

  With a less-than-exuberant enthusiasm, Whitney took herself to the front office.

  “Hi. My name is Whitney Jackson. MRS Whitney Jackson. I just wanted to enroll in some classes.”

  “Sorry, Mrs. Jackson,” the clerk winced. “You’re an hour and a half late. Our site clearly said that all enrolments for this semester had to be finalized by twelve-thirty pm.”

  “It said that?” Whitney said out loud without realizing. Her blood ran through her veins like ice water. She was a walking dead woman. She may as well take Grace’s car and fly into the Grand Canyon like Thelma and Louise, but it’d be lonely to be an outlaw and a runaway on her own. What the hell was wrong with her? She wiped the runaway thought from her m
ind while she tried to come up with a solution. Not only had she put an ungodly amount of money on the emergency credit card, but now she couldn’t enroll until next semester. Of course she could offer to get a job to help pay the rent, right? Tyler would love that. About the only place she could get a job would be probably be back at the diner.

  * * *

  Whitney parked the car carefully exactly where she found it; there was no way in the world she wanted to add dinging the car to her list of transgressions today. She was feeling decidedly shaky as it was. How she was supposed to hide that from Grace, she had no idea. She couldn’t explain to her mother-in-law that she was likely going to get spanked. Of course Tyler did say he wouldn’t spank her in his parents’ house. So what did she go and do? Get them their OWN place where he could spank her to his heart’s content, which she was pretty sure was going to be a lot.

  She took a big breath before she walked in the back door with Grace’s keys dangling from her fingers. “I parked it under the tree all safe and sound,” she said with her best manufactured smile. “Thank you so much for lending it to me.”

  “You’re welcome,” Grace said. “Did you have time to get some lunch?”

  “Not exactly,” Whitney said.

  Grace poured a glass of lemonade and turned to pass it to her daughter-in-law, but set it down when she found the girl in tears. “Whatever’s the matter?”

  “Nothing,” Whitney said. “I’m tired. I think I need to lie down.” She stood to walk away, but Grace pressed her back into the chair.

  “It’s obviously something bigger than a nothing if it’s got you making puddles all over my kitchen table.”

  “It’s ok. I just made a mistake, that’s all,” Whitney said, trying her best to push her emotions back down.

  “Might help to talk it out.”

  “Maybe,” Whitney said, twiddling her fingers but saying nothing. She wanted nothing more to open up to someone, but she just wasn’t sure that Tyler’s mother was the right person. After all, her loyalty would be to her son, wouldn’t it? Not to her.

  “Whitney, I’m happy to listen and try to help if I can, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what the problem is.”

  “I messed up.” Whitney tried to smile. Grace’s face held nothing but concern.

  “Ok, that’s a start. How?”

  “I was supposed to enroll in school.”

  “I know that much.”

  “Well, I was supposed to check online. You know, find out what I needed and stuff.”

  Grace first nodded in understanding and then shook her head when she realized where the problem had begun. “You didn’t, did you?”

  Whitney shook her head and burst into a fresh bout of tears. “No!” she sniffled. “And it closed before I got there.”

  “Uh oh. What time did it finish?”

  “Noon.”

  “Noon? But Whitney, you left here in plenty of time to get there by noon.”

  “I…was kind of waylaid.”

  “What happened? Did the car break down? Did you get a flat?”

  Whitney took a bunch of tissues from the box Grace passed her and blew her nose. “Not exactly.”

  “Did you go shopping? Did you need to buy something…personal?”

  “I didn’t need to BUY anything, but I kind of rented something.” She looked up at Grace’s confused face. “I put a deposit down for an apartment.”

  Grace’s mouth fell open with shock. “You bought an apartment? By yourself?”

  “No. I didn’t buy it. I just paid the first and last so they wouldn’t give it to someone else. It’s so beautiful. “

  “Oh, my.”

  “Tyler is going to be mad, isn’t he?”

  “I don’t imagine he’ll be happy. How on earth did you manage to pay the deposit?”

  “Well, it was sort of an emergency. Tyler gave me a credit card to use in case of an emergency.”

  “Oh, my,” Grace repeated. “You don’t do things by halves, do you?”

  “Any advice?”

  Grace sighed. “What time are you expecting him home?”

  Whitney shrugged. “After five.”

  “Then there isn’t much time.”

  “You have an idea?”

  “I sure do. I know it isn’t what you’re going to want to hear, but it’s the only way. Phone him and tell him. “

  Whitney’s face fell. She hoped Grace might have a miracle up her sleeve.

  “Head him off at the pass. He will have calmed down some by the time he gets home.”

  “Or he will have simmered on it ‘til he’s ready to explode.”

  “Either way, you’re going to have to tell him eventually.”

  “Do you think Thelma and Louise really did die when they sailed off that cliff?”

  “Thelma and Louise! I loved that movie!”

  “Yeah, great ending.

  “Look at the bright side.”

  “There’s a bright side?”

  “You haven’t killed anyone.”

  “Hmm. I guess.”

  Chapter Five

  Whitney sat on the edge of the bed with her phone next to her. She’d tried to dial the numbers, but her fingers just wouldn’t cooperate. She knew that Grace was right, but it was so hard. He’d trusted her. Getting punished would be bad enough, but hearing the disappointment in his voice would be worse. That was the answer. Maybe they could do this by text; that way she wouldn’t have to hear the sound of his voice. Was it the coward’s way out? More than likely. She’d admitted to herself already that she was in trouble and that she probably deserved to be. Nothing so far had pointed to the fact that she had to be brave about it. The message that the frazzled young woman managed to tap into her phone was inadequate but to the point.

  I made a mistake today and I’m sorry.

  She waited what seemed like an eternity, but what was probably only a few minutes before she received a reply.

  Are you ok?

  She looked at the screen for a minute, feeling even guiltier before it dawned on her that it was a question and she had to reply.

  Yes.

  Not really, Whitney thought.

  Did you enroll?

  Whitney sighed. What was he, psychic? A direct question. That made it more difficult. She knew that lying would just make things so much worse.

  No, but I tried.

  Breathe, breathe, breathe, she thought while she waited.

  We’ll talk when I get home.

  In a moment of complete stupidity she started typing and immediately regretted it after she hit send.

  I have a surprise to make up for it though.

  That wasn’t smart. Her being in school was important to him, although she had no clue why. How on earth did she think that putting them into debt was going to make up for what he probably saw as her disobeying him? It wasn’t that bad, though; he didn’t ACTUALLY know what she’d done. Maybe. She was so wrapped up in her attempt at self-soothing that when her phone dinged she nearly fell off the bed, dropping her phone and turning it off in the process. “Crap,” she said, trying to open the message.

  WE’LL TALK WHEN I GET HOME.

  “Fuck, he’s going to kill me,” she said out loud, all thoughts of her soaping gone from her mind. She was just lucky that he wasn’t there to hear her.

  * * *

  Whitney was helping to prepare dinner when Tyler got home, coincidentally at the same time as his father.

  “Hi,” he said, kissing her and giving her a hug before pecking his mother on the cheek.

  “Hi,” she said back, continuing to dice carrots like her life depended on it.

  Grace stirred a pot and opened the oven to check on the chicken that didn’t need checking. “Would you like a drink, Tyler?” she asked.

  “I would,” Brian said. “What AM I today, the invisible man?”

  Three people muttered their hellos and Brian poured his own drink while watching the awkward show. “Is something going on here?” />
  “I just need to have my wife to myself for a while.” Tyler took the knife from Whitney’s hand and put it gently on the counter before taking her hand and leading her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

  “What did she do?”

  Grace raised her eyebrows. “Sit down and I’ll tell you.”

  * * *

  When they reached the top of the stairs, Whitney started talking, fast. “I know it’s going to sound really bad. I know you trusted me and I know I promised to…”

  “Not here,” Tyler said, tugging her into their room and shutting the door. He sat on the bed and pointed to the spot next to him. “Sit. Start talking.”

  “Well, um, I really did mean to enroll today like I promised.”

  “But you didn’t.”

  “Well, no, not exactly. I tried. I went there.”

  “And?”

  Whitney scuffed her bare feet on the carpet and started to get up to walk around, but Tyler’s hand pressed gently on her leg, so she stayed where she was. “Maybe I better start at the beginning. Tyler, there’s more than the school thing.”

  “Sounds like the beginning would be a great idea.”

  “That’s what I just said.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Sorry. I’m nervous and you’re not helping.”

  “Just tell me.”

  “Ok, ok, but will you please let me tell you without stopping me?”

  “Tell me,” Tyler said, trying to keep his frustration at bay. “You left here with every intention of going to enroll in your classes and then what happened?”

  “I was driving into town and I saw a sign.” Whitney’s tummy coiled and her bottom tingled with apprehension. She was trying to concentrate on what she was saying, but her mind was drifting and trying to read his. Would he do it here? He said he wouldn’t. Would he take her back to the picnic area or spank her in the car? What if he took her somewhere where someone really might see?

  “What sign?”

  “Oh, um, I saw a sign for a new apartment block. It’s over on the other side of town. It would be even closer for you to drive to work from there than it would be from here. It’s beautiful. Lovely grounds and, well, a bunch of other great stuff and amenities. It even has a gym. Imagine how much money you’d save on gym fees if there was a free gym right there in the building?”