Part 45
Carly noticed Tim's shoulders slump and his head drop when he recognized Shawna's voice outside the closet. She leaned toward him and whispered, "What's wrong?" He looked up at her, realizing what she was reacting to. She said, "Are you worried because it's Shawna out there?" When he didn't answer, she said, "What is going on with you two?"
"What do you mean," Tim said, defensively.
"I've watched you with your employees, and with Danielle, and with Marcy and the women from this tv show. And even with me. But there's something off with the way you act with Shawna."
Tim said, "Something wrong with just me, or something wrong with her, too?" Still defensive.
Carly thought for a moment, her eyes trying to search his in the darkened room. For the moment, it seemed like she and Tim had both forgotten that they were stark naked in front of each other.
"I think with both of you," Carly finally said, "now that you mention it. What is that?"
Tim didn't answer. She said, "You two have some kind of a history, don't you?"
Tim's face suddenly felt warm. Part of his mind was aware of the continuing conversation among the six women just outside the closet door. But his mind was also racing, trying to decide how much he should tell Carly, or if he should tell her anything at all.
"Come on," Carly urged. "Maybe I could help with whatever it is."
Tim looked down into her eyes, and decided. "We dated briefly. Years ago, when we were in college."
Carly nodded. When he didn't immediately continue, she said, "What happened?"
Tim fidgeted. "It... didn't end well."
Carly nodded again, encouraging. "How so?"
"She got mad at me, and she broke up with me. I didn't see her again until I interviewed for my current job, and found out that she was a boss in another part of the company. And things got... awkward."
Carly said, "Have you two talked about it?"
"No," Tim said. "Maybe that's the problem. It is obvious that she still holds some kind of a grudge, and I wanted to bring it up, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to talk about it."
Carly said, "That's not uncommon, when there is unfinished personal business from the past." She watched for a few seconds while he fidgeted. "What was it?"
"What was what?"
"What did you do wrong, that made her break up with you?"
"I didn't do anything wrong," Tim said quickly. "I mean, I don't think it's wrong. Necessarily."
Carly let the silence sit with him. Then he said, "I mean, in context, I didn't think it was wrong." After another minute of uncomfortable silence, he said, "Okay. I spanked her."
Carly's eyebrows went up. "You... spanked her?"
Even as distracted and uncomfortable as he felt, Tim noticed the change in her posture and voice. "Yeah. Um, we were making out, and joking around, and I just started whacking her butt."
"How hard?" Carly asked. "Did you hurt her?"
Again, Tim noticed that something was different in her demeanor. "No, no, nothing like that. I mean, it might have stung a little bit, but I wasn't mean, or trying to hurt her. I just swatted her butt a few times, over her skirt."
"Why do you think you did that?"
Tim squirmed again. "C'mon. She's got a very cute butt, and we were making out, and I don't know that I gave it a lot of thought, other than it would be fun. It was just foreplay."
Carly said, "It might have felt that way to you. But something like spanking can feel... different to different people, or in different contexts."
More of the dim hallway light fell on Carly than on Tim, and he saw a new, thoughtful look on her face. After a moment of silence, Carly once again focused on Tim, seeing the curious look on his face. She crossed her arms, and Tim was momentarily distracted by the way the gesture looked a little defensive, and also caused her perky breasts to jiggle.