No, you don't dare

You really want to tell the large man that you have a perfectly valid reason to be talking to his subordinate and he would need to go through HR to confirm this ridiculous punishment or, more likely, get sanctioned himself for trying... And you say "Yes, Sir, sorry, we just finished discussing the work issue" instead as you get up and move to the side to make room for Margaret who is likewise not protesting and walking (carefully as not to move the metal ball) around to bend over and present herself for punishment. Her meekness is actually the main reason you did not protest; there is no way she would second you in any appeal and without her support all you will earn is a much harder punishment and an enemy in senior management. Margaret probably will not thank you for your attempt at intervention either, so as much as you do not want to come back to your own office with a freshly striped bottom, you bend over together with her and watch Mr Hayley pick a cane from Margaret's storage. An actual cane... Although as far as you can tell a lighter one.

You and Margaret happen to turn to one another simultaneously, making a somewhat awkward eye contact but it is easier to keep your heads turned as you are grabbing the opposite edge of the desk so you stay that way as Mr Hayley walks back, the tool in hand. The rest of the office is very quiet; you suppose they all have seen Margaret from all angles before but either your or Mr Hayley's presence nonetheless drastically reduces all other activity. Only one keyboard is still seemingly clicking, but even that at an obviously too slow a rate. The large man wastes little time in further lecturing, striking his subordinate first, making her grunt and squeeze her eyes shut, and you a moment later, eliciting a similar reaction. The thin piece of wood stings massively... But (you suppose) unlike its heavier iterations it does not cut too deeply into the skin and hopefully will not leave too lasting an effect.

Which is not to say, of course, that the spanks are in any way easy to take. Each of the six times that the cane bounces of each of your bottoms the resulting grunt is louder turning into a moan. The previous soreness makes it worse too, as do the over a dozen of pairs of strangers' eyes looking at you being caned, nude and on display. Still you are relieved massively when you are told in little more than a grunt to get up and turn around. You both do so (you again being slightly more agile the Margaret for an obvious reason) and once your boobs and pussies are once again on full display you are told to apologise, which you do profusely, even though you are still boiling on the inside and you suspect Margaret is too... Still deeper on the inside, though.

The punishment is almost over, save for the last caveat. Mr Hayley announces that she Margaret is to inform him or his assistant of any future meetings with other naked ladies who (presumably, in his logic, unlike her much more responsible clothed colleagues) can help her get away from her duties. After that he watches you exchange very hurried goodbyes and, still burning with anger but sufficiently chastised to keep it to yourself, you leave Margaret's office and head back to yours. You give your bottom a good rub once you turn the corner and crane your neck to catch a glimpse of the lines running across your cheeks... And are greeted with laughter as two men almost walk into you as you are furiously working on your backside. You blush in shame and greater-still anger and try to walk past them, but they have other ideas.

"You need to watch where you're going, lady", the taller of them says. "S-sorry", you say through gritted teeth. They were no less distracted than you, even though for a far less embarrassing reason! Unfortunately they are not seeing it that way. "Just be glad we won't take you to a break room for a proper whipping" the same man says, disregarding completely the fact he has no authority to "properly whip" you for something so small. "Hands on the wall, bottom out, please". Oh, he even added a please!

You tell yourself to suppress your fuming pride even further, though. You cannot keep getting spanked through the day, there is only so much your bottom can take and even the light cane earlier left quite an impact. You decide to try a mix of strategies then and turn as told, placing your hands on the wall and sticking your bottom out in what you hope is a good angle but also turn your head and protest in what you hope is the cute kind of pout. "Um, sorry (this sorry sounds a lot less venomous), Sir, but we kind of ran in into each other? Maybe you could... Take that... Into account..?"

"She's got a point", the other man says as the first one is taking his belt off with an obvious purpose in mind. "How many were you going to give her?" - "A dozen? Unless she talks herself into more." That makes you consider shutting up very seriously, but fortunately your knight in white office shirt has your back. "C'mon, we are supposed to be fair about this. She did the exact same thing we were doing, only we were talking and she was rubbing her ass. Couldn't be too comfortable." He nods at the cane lines and continues: "Let's just do a couple each, apologise for our part and move on".