He pulled up in front of Summer's apartment; through the second floor window he could see people, lots of people. Ben knew if he wanted to get any sleep, he was going to have to find Summer and sort out the mess from day before.
He slowly climbed the stairs, past a young couple that was necking. Side stepping to get around them, he nearly lost his balance as two guys ran out of the apartment that the music was blaring from and ran down the stairs. At least they left the door open, which gave him an in without having to get Summer to answer the door.
* * *
Summer swayed unsteadily to the music with Joel wrapped around her. She was more than a little tipsy and she didn't seem to notice that his hands were under her tight dress and clamped onto her naked butt. When she heard a familiar voice, she looked up.
"Wow," Ben said, narrowing his eyes. "I thought you were upset."
"Go way," she said, peering at him through bleary blinkered eyes.
Ben's eyes opened wide. "You're drunk!" His eyes drifted from Summer to the boy's hands. "Seriously dude?" he said with disdain. "Get your hands out of there."
"She knows what she's doing. She's only a little tipsy," Joel shrugged, but under Ben's angry glare he removed his hands. "Whatever." He stumbled away leaving Ben to catch Summer.
Ben lifted the drunken girl over his shoulder and went looking for a bedroom. When he found one with a little sign that said Summer he pushed it open, only to find a couple on the bed in the throes of inebriated passion. He tapped the boy on the shoulder while sneering at his lily-white bouncing ass. "Take your girlfriend and get out. I'm about to call the police."
"Huh?" The kid muttered.
"Get out." Ben pulled himself up to his full height and both the kids scrambled off the bed, adjusting their clothes as they ran. Fortunately, they were only on the top of the bed, so he ripped off the covers and threw them into the corner before settling the now semiconscious Summer into the bed. He found a clean sheet in the linen closet and quickly covered her.
"You get out," she mumbled as she turned over and shut her eyes.
Even though she was sleeping, Ben couldn't resist giving her bottom a firm whack before he went back out to determine which one was the friend who actually lived there.
He found the other bedroom door with a sign that said Poppy. "Poppy! Anyone here called Poppy?" he called out. No one took any notice. He managed to turn off the music and got a few grumbles for his trouble, but still no answer to his call for Poppy. So he made his way into the kitchen. With a large pot and a metal spoon in his hand, he walked through the crowd making a horrendous racket until the noise died down and they were all staring at him like he was a madman. "Thank you. Now who is Poppy?"
A girl pointed to a sleeping girl on the sofa.
"Good, now we know who lives here, the rest of you can go home." Nobody moved. "Okay, then, I'm going to count to five and then I'm going to call the police. Anyone here actually old enough to drink?"
There was rumble of complaining around the room, but they all left, leaving him with two drunken girls to care for and a hell of a mess to clean up.
Chapter 5
After spending half the night running between the two sick girls, Ben gave up and put Poppy in the same bed as Summer. "It's okay honey, you'll live," he crooned as he held Summer's long hair out of her eyes while she emptied the contents of her tummy for the third time that night.
Summer was too sick to argue. She wanted to tell him to get the hell out, but she couldn't summon the strength or the inclination. What the hell did it matter anyway, she thought, she was about to die. She'd never felt so sick in her entire life. "Drink this." she could hear him saying to Poppy.
"Fuck off," Poppy said. "Seriously," she added with a glare.
Summer almost laughed but it made her teeth hurt and her head, actually every part of her was hurting.
"Did I see you laugh, Summer?" Ben said, not believing his eyes. "I have been looking after the two of you all night and I'm telling you both, there isn't anything at all funny about this. Nothing."
"Sick. Don't yell," Summer whined, putting the pillow over her head.
Ben pressed his lips together with frustration. He uncapped another bottle of water and pulled the pillow off her head. "If you know what's good for you, missy, you'll start drinking." He picked up Poppy's bottle off the bedside table and passed it to her. "You too."
Poppy looked at him through bleary eyes. "What are you going to do, spank me too?"
Ben balked a little but couldn't help himself. "That's exactly what I feel like doing to both of you."
"Look cowboy, normally I would gladly take you up on your offer, but today I'm dying so I'll pass."
"He's not a cowboy," Summer said trying to take a sip of her water.
"In my dreams he is," Poppy chuckled, grasping her head to stop the thumping.
Ben shook his head. "You two are incorrigible. But you're obviously going to live so I'm going to go and get you both something to eat."
"He cooks too," Poppy said, knocking Summer with her elbow and upsetting the water all over her. "Sorry."
"S'ok. Feels nice." Summer didn't even have the strength to wipe it up off the sheets.
* * *
An hour later two very sheepish looking girls emerged from the bedroom to find Ben cleaning up.
"I would have made you a sandwich, but the only thing in the fridge is diet coke."
"Oh, good, diet coke," Summer said. "There's diet meals in the freezer, but I don't want anything."
"You're not having diet coke when you've had no food and there is no lining left on your stomach. I'll heat up a couple of meals then and you two can eat," he said as he finished picking up the rest of the garbage. "By the way, I'm not vacuuming. You two can do that."
"Has anyone ever told you you're bossy?" Poppy grumbled.
"I'm sure lots of people have thought it." Ben tied up the last bag. "I'm just going to put these down in the trash and then I'll heat your food."
"No need. I can do it." Summer was grateful that he'd looked after them, but she was still hurt and embarrassed about the other day. "Thanks for helping, but you can leave now."
Poppy backed out of the room. "I'm just going to have a shower or something," she said wandering away, well aware that neither Ben nor Summer even noticed.
"You can heat your own food if you want, but I'm not going anywhere. We have unfinished business."
"You are not going to spank me here, in my home, for something that I did on my own time."
"No, I'm not. That's not what I was talking about. Mind you, I will spank you for that at another location, it was really a stupid and dangerous thing to do."
"I won't let you," Summer said half-heartedly.
"We'll see. Right now I want to talk about what happened the other day."
"There's nothing to say. I misread a situation and I'm sorry."
"No, that isn't all there is to say. I'm sorry. When I thought about it I could see how you misread what happened."
"Thanks, I guess. Now you can leave."
"I shouldn't have shouted at you."
"No, you shouldn't."
"It was reaction, Summer. I've worked really hard to get where I am; I love my job and I love my hairy kids as you call them. If someone saw me...kissing a college student that I'm supposed to mentoring...I could lose everything, Summer."
"Is that all I am to you?"
"For now, that's all you can be."
"For now?" Summer felt like someone just switched the light on to the world. Really there was a chance?
"We'll see what the future brings. First we have to get you through college."
"Okay. I can take that."
"Good. So I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yes. You can go, I'll eat, I promise, and I'm sorry we gave you such a horrible night." She really couldn't get rid of him quick enough.
"I forgive you but I'm still going to spank the daylights out of you tomorrow."
&n
bsp; Summer's head sprung up. "No, you can't, I just told you this was in my private time."
"You could have ended up with alcohol poisoning, Summer. When I got here some slimy little punk had his hands all over your half-naked backside and you were too drunk to even notice."
"Joel?"
"We didn't exchange names and phone numbers. It was all I could do not to punch his lights out."
"Why didn't you?" Summer asked, trying to push away the confusion that was trying to creep through. Part of her was excited that he cared enough to want to punch Joel and yet he did nothing about it, that was disappointing.
"Because he was just a kid and I don't hit kids."
"Just women." That was a low blow she knew, but she was hung over and cranky and she didn't feel like weighing her thoughts before she spoke.
"Oh, you just listen to me, young lady. I would never, do you hear me? Never hit a woman. I may spank your bottom occasionally. No, I take that back. More than likely, a lot, but I don't hit women."
"Okay. Sorry. I know you would never hurt me that way."
"Good. That's a start." He picked up his keys to leave and then bent and kissed the top of her head.
* * *
"Wow," Poppy said, emerging as soon as the front door was closed.
"What?"
"That man is your future husband; I can feel it in my bones."
"Shut up Pops, you're full of it." Summer disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door.
"I'm not joking," Poppy said to the empty room.
* * *
Summer's alarm went off an hour early like she'd set it and she leaned over and switched it off. She hadn't been asleep for hours. Maybe it was fear. No, she wasn't scared of Ben. She wasn't looking forward to the spanking, but when she thought about what he'd said about Joel, she realized he was right. Wearing a dress like that and then getting too drunk to know what she was doing was stupid. If he spanked her, she deserved it. What was she talking about, if? When he spanked her, because, if she knew anything about Ben, he was a man of his word.
She drove carefully, making sure no more tickets would be coming her way. The thought crossed her mind that she really should be doing something about those she already had. But today wasn't the day to worry about that though, she had enough on her mind already. Like trying to not look awkward in front of Ben. By the time she got to work she'd planned out exactly what she was going to say. That she was sorry. That she heard what he'd said and that she wasn't going to drink again. If he still insisted on spanking her, she would be an adult and admit that maybe she deserved it. If what he'd said was true and she had no reason to distrust him, then she could have woken up in bed with Joel, a person she barely knew. She wasn't a virgin, but she didn't do randoms either. Sex had to mean something.
* * *
"Good morning!" Ben said, when Summer walked into his office a good half an hour early.
"I can do early."
"I'm sure you can, but I'm thinking maybe the fact that you're already in trouble helped to spur you on a bit."
"A little," she admitted honestly. Her planned speech sat on the tip of her tongue, but never seemed to make it out of her mouth. "What do you have planned for today? I mean for work, what do you want me to do?"
"Well, today begins the part of the job that everyone hates, but it is as important as all the hands-on stuff. Paperwork."
Summer's whole body sagged. "Yuk. You know I hate paperwork. It's too much like school."
"Well when I say paperwork, we aren't in the dark ages. I mean on the computer paperwork."
"Just as bad."
"Too bad. It has to be done. Come sit in my chair."
Summer shuffled over to the large desk with very little enthusiasm. "How long do I have to do this for?"
"I'm going to set you some tasks, so the quicker you can get them done carefully, the quicker we can go on to something else."
Summer sat down and stared at the computer screen trying to take in the instructions Ben was giving her. It was a far cry from her day yesterday as a proper keeper. "Okay, I think I can manage," she said finally.
"Good. Now I just have to take the new girl, Cher, out to the enclosure to show her how we do the feeds."
Summer's mouth must have dropped to her chin. "Who's Cher?" she managed to choke out through her very dry mouth.
"She just started an internship last week. She's specializing in primates. Today is her turn with us."
Seriously? She was going to be here doing Ben's dirty work while he took the cute blonde out to play in the enclosure? Summer could see a girl she hadn't seen before, standing out by the doors that lead to the outside. Obviously waiting for Ben.
"Convenient. No wonder I have to learn the paperwork today."
"It isn't like that, Summer and you can knock off that attitude before it grows wings. You're already in trouble; you don't want to make it worse."
"Could you leave the door open, please?" Summer snapped as he left. "It's hot in here." It wasn't hot at all, but she wanted to be able to see what went on out there. Bet he doesn't spank HER over a log if she complains. "He better not," she grumbled to herself.
It didn't take Summer very long at all to get through the work that Ben had left for her, which was some feat as she'd been poking her head out the door every ten minutes to try and see what was going on out there. She couldn't get back out there quick enough so that she could get a better look through the glass viewing area. If she were expecting to see a soap opera unfold, she would have been disappointed. Nothing exciting happened in the two minutes she was standing there. She no sooner got a peek at them before they were on their way back in.
"You've finished the work?" Ben asked. He'd seen her standing at the window and went to find her as soon as he got back in. His look told her she better be finished.
"Uh huh."
"Good. Then you can go and cut up the fruit for this afternoon with Cher."
"What is this, pick on Summer day? Why can't I do anything fun today?"
"Right. Go in my office and close the door."
"No, I'm sorry. It just slipped out really. I'll chop the vegetables."
"Too late. Now move."
"You can't spank me here; someone will hear," she hissed in an angry whisper. "Specially with the new blonde lurking around out there somewhere."
"Who said I was going to spank you now?"
"I thought I was in trouble."
"You are." He took her arm and marched her into the office firmly. "Sit."
She sat.
He grabbed a handful of paper out of the printer tray and put it on the desk in front of her. "Now write: If I act like a bad tempered little girl in grade school, then I will be treated like one."
Summer scribbled out the sentence with a bad squirmy feeling in her tummy.
"Now print it one hundred times, neatly or I'll make you start over."
"That's not fair! I'm not a child!"
"One hundred and fifty times. Want to try for two hundred?"
Summer was angry, but she wasn't stupid. She closed her mouth and started writing.
* * *
Summer opened the door and stuck her head out, the neatly written lines clasped to her so no one else could see.
Ben was talking, but he saw her and made a motion for her to go back into the office.
"I finished," Summer said as he opened the door.
He took the pages and checked every line. "Good. You can't act like a spoiled brat every time you don't get to be the focus of the day. Summer, there are other students here that are trying to make the best of their experience, the same as you. Don't be selfish."
"I wasn't. Well I didn't mean to be, I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted. Now, I have to show Cher around a bit more but I have an assignment for you to do."
"To keep me busy."
"Maybe, but it will also be a help. We need to make some changes to the enclosure."
"I'm listening."
&n
bsp; "I want you to figure out a new idea for something to amuse our kids as feeders. You need to think big but not expensive. It has to be fun for them to play with, something that will challenge them to find their food. You also have to bear in mind that this is an exhibit so we want to make it interesting and fun for people to watch without being exploitive."
"Wow. That's a lot of things to consider."
"I know and I know you can do it or I wouldn't have asked you."
"Thanks, Ben." Summer was over the moon that he trusted her. So much so that she nearly forgot about her upcoming spanking.
"How'd you do?" Ben asked, coming back into the office at lunchtime.
"I came up with something. It's kind of like a shape sorter only big. In the middle is the food. When they get all the shapes into the right spaces it automatically opens from the outside."
Ben nodded. "That's a great idea. Any idea how we get the puzzle to open when all the shapes are inside?"
"I haven't got to that part yet. Engineering isn't really my forte."
"Fair enough. The idea has merit. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"Let's catch a bite."
"Sure." Summer was dying to ask what Cher was doing for lunch but she didn't dare.
"You hungry?"
"A little."
"Will you join me for lunch?"
"Sure." She packed up the desk and followed him out of the office.
"You're quiet today," Ben said.
"I guess." Summer was trying, but she just didn't feel like being chatty today. They were nearly at the cafeteria, though, when she got a pleasant surprise. There was Cher sitting on a bench with a guy who could only be her boyfriend. His arm was wrapped around the young blonde and he was kissing her neck. "You know I am a little hungry after all," Summer said happily.
"When was the last time you went home?" Ben asked, forking his salad enthusiastically.
Saving Summer Page 6
