No More Laters

by Coleen Singer

  It wasn't a long or passionate kiss, nothing to which a friend could really object, and it was only a split second that Jill's eyes automatically closed, but when she opened them again, Michael was gone.

  One more misconception to clear up, she thought with a sigh, but more determined than ever to find him and make him listen to the truth.

  "Come on. Let's go back in," she suggested. She correctly guessed that it was already after 11:00pm and she wanted to try and sort things out with Michael before the New Year was welcomed in.

  "Okay. I guess I can't monopolise you any longer, and besides if I'm not going to get any more kisses out of you, I'd better see if I can't find some other pretty girl to position myself near for the stroke of midnight."

  Jill laughed, delighted her rejection wasn't going to cause a rift in their friendship and that they seemed as comfortable with one another as ever.

  Back inside, Tim left her by herself whilst he went off to find a drink. After scouring the room for a moment, she finally spotted Michael and Rachel, who seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument.

  "Damn!" Jill cursed to herself. She needed desperately to talk to Michael on his own, but now was clearly not the time to interrupt. She saw Rachel say something with that all too common sneer on her face and saw Michael's reaction. She knew that cold expression which settled on his face like a mask when he was pushed beyond his limit, and even though that icy anger was not directed at her, she felt an involuntary shudder ripple through her and her hand went automatically to protect her suddenly tingling bottom. But he'd said he'd never spanked Rachel, she reminded herself, so at least Rachel would not have to worry about the consequences of her rude remarks.

  Still without taking her eyes from them, Jill saw Michael say something else and Rachel's shocked look in response. The sneer had quickly been replaced by genuine concern, which deepened as Michael began leading her towards the entrance. At one point, she hung back, shaking her head and clearly pleading with him, but another sharp word convinced her to follow.

  Jill also followed, but far enough behind so as not to be seen. If Michael had decided to leave, even if he was taking Rachel with him, Jill was going to somehow make him listen to her before he left. But Michael was not leading Rachel to the car park. Instead he was taking her past the children's playground, and onto the sport's oval next to the hall. Keeping a safe distance behind, Jill saw him lead her along the edge of the oval to where the bush began. It was harder to see them there as they'd left the lights of the hall and were now illuminated only by the moon, but she could still make them out. Every now and then Rachel would start to say something, but a quick, sharp word from Michael would silence her.

  Finally, at the far end of the oval, they stopped, and once again began arguing, but not loudly enough for Jill to make out what they were saying.

  "Well, then, go!" This time Michael's voice was crystal clear. "I shan't stop you."

  From her hiding spot a secluded distance away, Jill could hear Rachel's wheedling, and could see her putting her arms around Michael's neck, but Michael pulled them away and again spoke sharply.

  "No," Jill heard him say. "Not this time. I've said my piece, Rachel, and I'm not changing my mind. It's up to you."

  Rachel seemed to stamp her foot and even flounced away as though she would leave, but after a few steps turned and went back, still obviously cursing and complaining.

  Then with an unexpectedly loud "Oh for fuck's sake, then! Have it your way!" she suddenly pulled her panties to her knees and lifted her dress so, even from the distance, Jill could see her creamy white bottom glowing in the moonlight.

  "No," Jill cried in disbelief as Michael swung her around and tucked her under his arm. There was nowhere for him to sit, but tall as he was it was easy for him to balance her over his slightly bent knee. As soon as she was in position, Michael raised his hand and brought it down with a loud splat. Rachel wriggled indignantly but didn't cry out. Realizing how loud the sound of a hard hand on a bare bottom can be, Michael tempered his strokes, using pace and frequency to make up for intensity. The clapping sound of his hand on her flesh still sounded like gunshots but with the noise from the band and people partying it was unlikely anyone would hear except the grim-faced man administering the thorough spanking, the squirming girl across his knee who had begun to make some noise of her own, and the white-faced, broken-hearted, tender-bottomed peeping tom in the bushes.

  "Ouch, Michael!" Jill could hear Rachel complain. "That's starting to hurt. Ow! You've had your fun, ouch, stop it! You've made your—ow! I said stop it—point. This is, ow, ridiculous."

  Still Michael's hand rose and fell, unhurriedly, relentlessly.

  Jill thought he was magnificent. So strong, so powerful, so in control. She could see Rachel really beginning to wriggle and buck as the progression of spanks to her bottom created an ever-increasing sting. It hurt, Rachel was complaining, and Jill knew only too well that she spoke the truth. Yet at that moment, Jill also knew there was nothing she wouldn't do to trade places with the bare-bottomed girl. Yes, it had hurt her bottom and her pride when Michael spanked her, but it had been a special thing between them that she had grown to love. She loved the feeling of being under his authority and she loved believing he cared about her, and she loved that it had been a special private thing between only the two of them.

  And now here he was, with Rachel bent over his knee, her panties pulled down, having her bottom smacked by him for the first time. Jill knew it was the first time. Michael had assured her, just before he'd given her last spanking across his knee, that although he thought Rachel deserved a good spanking, her discipline wasn't his business. He'd also said he couldn't imagine it not being her husband's business, though, and now here he was disciplining her. Jill began to shake as a draught of cold fear slid sinisterly over her. Her need to speak to Michael, to explain about Tim, to tell him of her love was more urgent than she'd realized.

  "Stop it!" Rachel was still demanding, her wriggling growing more frantic as the heat in her bottom accumulated to a level way beyond comfortable. "Michael! I'll tell Daddy. Stop!"

  Her threat appeared to have the desired effect. Michael's hand stopped mid-way through its downward path towards the exposed target. Pulling her into an upright position, he spoke low and deep so Jill couldn't hear what he was saying, but it clearly infuriated Rachel who began squalling at him again.

  "I don't know who the hell you think you are, Michael O'Connell," she yelled "but I'm not going to put up with this crap! You can go and get…."

  More muted harsh words from Michael interrupted her diatribe, and the next time Rachel spoke, her voice was also lower although the unmistakable whine was still audible. Not allowing herself to dwell on the morality of her eavesdropping, Jill wished only that she could hear what was being said.

  In the next instant, Rachel obliged. "No, Michael," she said louder, and with unmistakable petulance. "I don't want to!"

  For a moment, Jill thought Michael was going to walk away, but he stopped as once again Rachel raised her skirt to offer her still naked bottom for further punishment. Once again, he tipped her over his knee, and once again his hand began a flurry of sharp quick smacks that quickly reduced her back to the squirming, bucking, mewling creature she'd been when she'd threatened to tell her father that Michael had spanked her.

  Suddenly the spanking was over, as Michael again pulled Rachel upright. With her heart feeling as though it had been ripped from her body and callously stomped on by a pair of hobnailed boots, Jill watched the man she loved and the girl he'd just spanked, collect themselves together and start back for the hall.

  Her own experience over Michael's knee told Jill that Rachel's spanking had not been particularly severe. In fact, it was her pride and ego that had been far more sorely tested than her rather skinny derriere, and Jill realized that whatever Michael had said to convince Rachel to submit to so humiliating an experience must have been serious.

  She held
her breath and melted into the shadows as the couple passed her hiding place in the bushes. They were walking quickly and Jill guessed it must be approaching midnight. She let them get far enough ahead to remove any danger of them noticing her, and then hurried after them. She had only one thought now, and that was to get a chance to speak to Michael as quickly as possible. Before all hope was lost forever.

  Inside the hall, Michael and Rachel were standing not far from the doorway through which she entered. All eyes were turned to the clock on the wall as, in unison, the revellers counted aloud as the seconds ticked away.

  5… 4… 3… 2… 1! Happy New Year!

  The chorus rose in a crescendo as the band began to play Auld Lang Syne. All around the hall, people exchanged kisses, joined in the song, and danced in giant circles. Well, it's now or never, Jill thought, seeing Rachel and Michael's New Year kiss come to an end and Rachel move off leaving him alone.

  "Michael," she forced herself to look at him boldly and speak with a confidence she didn't feel. "Have you got a kiss for me?" Somehow she had to make him understand by her kiss how she felt, but if he still couldn't see, she'd just have to tell him straight out. His eyes regarded her coldly as his mouth twitched as if amused by her request, and so long passed before he answered, that for one ghastly moment she thought he was going to refuse.

  "I guess I could probably find one," he said at last, and taking her in his arms, pressed his lips down onto hers. Jill had imagined a tender kiss in which she would be able to show him that hers was a kiss of love, but there was no tenderness in Michael's embrace. His hold on her was so tight she was afraid he might break her bones, and his bruising kiss so fierce she couldn't breathe.

  At last he let her go, and she was grateful for the semi-darkness of the hall so he was unable to see how affected she'd been by his harsh kiss. She could see him looking at her with a small mocking smile curling his lip.

  "Is that what you were after?" he sneered, and she knew he still hadn't understood. He couldn't and still be so cruel She would have to tell him she loved him.

  "Michael," she began, summoning every ounce of courage she had, but to her dismay, before she could say any more, Rachel reappeared.

  "Happy New Year, Jill," Rachel wished her coolly, but with a self-satisfied smirk which Jill noted with growing fear. "Come on," she said to Michael as she slipped her arm through his. "It's all organized."

  "Wait," Jill cried desperately, a sixth sense telling her that this was her last chance. "I have to speak to you, Michael. It's important."

  "Well, it will just have to wait," Rachel snapped, pushing past.

  "Yeah, sorry, Roo," Michael told her with a shrug. "Later."

  Jill watched them make their way through the crowd thinking how often on this holiday her relationship with Michael had had to wait until "later." She lost sight of them for a moment, then Rachel appeared on stage holding a microphone.

  She paused as the crowd, realizing that something was happening, turned their attention to her. Gradually the hubbub died down until the hall was completely quiet, everyone waiting to see what was coming next.

  "Happy New Year, everyone," Rachel began, then had to wait as the crowd responded in kind. "Thank you," she continued as the sound levels again diminished to a murmur. "I have a very special announcement to make." Her voice rang clearly out through the hall as Michael made his way onto the stage to join her and she slipped her arm through his. "In fact, we have a very special announcement: As of tonight, Michael and I are engaged to be married!"

  Jill stood staring blankly at Rachel on the stage, the words "Michael and I are engaged to be married" whirling meaninglessly in her head. Than as the momentarily stunned audience burst into a spontaneous round of clapping and cheering, the full import of the words hit her.

  "No!" she cried, but her words were swallowed by the tumult. She tried to push her way through the crowd to the stage, but the room began to spin and darken and she felt herself falling. Then someone caught her and putting an arm around her waist, half-walked, half-carried her out into the cool night air.

  Chapter Eight

  "Okay, okay," Jill yelled pointlessly at the ringing telephone as she burst from the shower, threw a towel around herself and rushed to answer it. "Hello," she said breathlessly snatching up the receiver mid-ring. "Jill speaking."

  "Hi, Roo," she heard a deep, familiar voice at the other end say. "It's Michael."

  "Michael!" Totally unprepared for the shock of hearing his voice, Jill felt suddenly afraid as a nasty thought sprang to her mind. "Mum? She's all right, isn't she?"

  "Yeah, she's fine. Don't panic. Well, no better, but no worse. Listen, are you free tonight?"

  "Yes, but—"

  "Good. I'm taking you out to dinner. I'll pick you up in forty minutes."

  "But…" Jill began, too stunned to think clearly.

  "No buts," he interrupted firmly. "Just be ready when I get there!" And the phone clicked in Jill's ear as he hung up.

  Jill returned to finish her shower, a thousand questions whirling around in her brain. The last time she'd seen Michael was three months ago on New Year's Eve. He'd been standing on the stage in the Mildura community hall with Rachel, who was announcing to everyone present that she and Michael were engaged to be married.

  Tim had caught her and helped her outside as she all but fainted at the news, and he'd driven her back to Melbourne the following day. She didn't see Michael before they left, and although she was sad to say goodbye to Elizabeth and Jack without knowing when she'd see them or the farm again, it was with a sigh of relief that she watched the farmhouse recede into the distance. No one knew the real reason for her early departure. Tim already believed she'd not been having a good time since she arrived and was simply happy to leave early, and the O'Connells assumed she was keen to get back to work with Tim.

  During the four-hour drive back to Melbourne, Jill had had plenty of time to reflect on her lucky escape, on how close she had come to making a complete fool of herself. She shuddered to think what Michael's reaction might have been had Rachel not interrupted when she did. What might he have said had she made her declaration of love. It was too ghastly to contemplate. No, she had had to admit that for the first time she could remember she was grateful to Rachel, for appearing just in time to save her from making a terrible mistake.

  Back in Melbourne, Jill tried to put the whole painful experience behind her, keeping herself busy so she had little or no time to dwell on her misery. Tim had been suggesting for some time she try her hand at writing the articles to go with her pictures, and this seemed like a good time to finally give it a go. It was with some pride that, a couple of editions later, she saw the first major article with her name in the by-line printed in the paper.

  In what little spare time she allowed herself, she kept her promise and learned to ride. It had taken enormous courage to even telephone and make an appointment, but she had been fortunate to find a riding instructress who had once had to wrestle her own fears and so was very sympathetic to Jill. It took three lessons before Jill could overcome her terror sufficiently to actually mount her horse, but once she did, as if by magic, her fear simply evaporated and, as Michael had so accurately predicted, she discovered she loved it.

  Determined not to rush things and make any mistakes that might set her progress back, she took things slowly, but the day eventually came when she experienced for the first time the thrill of cantering across an open paddock with the wind whipping over her, causing her eyes to stream and the skin on her face to tingle. It was the most exhilarating experience of her life and she did indeed wonder why she had waited so long.

  Learning how important it is to be proficient in all aspects of horsemanship, she took care to learn the correct method of harnessing a horse, how to groom and feed them, and even something about the different breeds and what constitutes good conformation. A whole new world opened up for her, but she kept it secret from everyone, including Vicky, until this very d
ay, when she'd taken her pregnant friend, now also living in Melbourne, to the riding school and astonished her by saddling and bridling her mount, and then putting it through its paces.

  Vicky had been delighted at the thought that, after the baby was born, she and Jill would be able to ride together.

  "What a wonderful surprise!" She'd said again for the umpteenth time, when Jill dropped her off at her home a short time earlier.

  It was a day for surprises, though, thought Jill as she dressed for her date with Michael. Why was he in Melbourne? Why had he called her? Where was Rachel? Too many questions and there was no way to answer them until he arrived, so she pushed them firmly from her mind and concentrated on getting ready. More to give herself some much needed confidence than to impress Michael, she decided to wear her favourite dress. Made of rayon, it fell in autumn-coloured folds, outlining her curves and complementing the smooth golden sheen of her skin. She put on a trace of pale lipstick and brushed her hair, leaving it down like spun gold on her shoulders.

  She was quite ready and trying, unsuccessfully, to quell her nerves by reading when the doorbell rang just over 30 minutes later. Ignoring the fluttering in her chest, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

  "Hello, Michael," she greeted him, somehow managing to keep her voice steady.

  "Hello, Roo," he answered as his eyes swept over her with undisguised admiration. Jill blushed, self-conscious at his frank appraisal and still confused by his unexpected arrival.

  "Can I come in?" he said at last as she stood, unmoving, blocking his entry. "I'd like to see where you live."