Dinner

Jie announces that the meal is ready to be served, so you repair to the kitchen where the table has been laid for two, complete with napkin rings, place settings penned with beautiful, illuminated calligraphy and a floral centrepiece. Jie holds Léa's chair for her and despite your earlier conversation, you think you detect a flicker of relief that she won't be eating out of a dog bowl on the floor or some such. Your shapely guest lowers herself carefully to her seat, past spankings enough to leave her bottom slightly tender, as it very possibly will remain for as long as she's of spankable age, or even longer if you have your way. She smiles at you across the table and you toast her health while Jie brings the first dish.

Your accommodating grad-student has done an admirable job of preparing a menu that fulfils both your desire for flavour and opulence and Léa's need for healthy and calorie conscious fare. She refills your glasses and then retires a few paces away to keep an eye on the next course and give you as much privacy as possible in the open plan room. However, for the next few moments, conversation is limited to "mmm" and "ah" as you both attack the delicious starter with gusto.

Léa clears her slightly smaller portion just before you do yours and touches her napkin to her kissable lips.

"Your girl has outdone herself, Jaques. I think that may be the nicest thing I have tasted since leaving France."

You have no problem giving credit where it's due and pass on the praise to Jie when she collects the empty plates and cutlery. The unexpected compliment takes her off guard, but her delight is plain to see and brings you pleasure in turn. Making a girl smile is perhaps the next best thing to spanking her to tears.

After Jie departs to dish up the main, you turn your full attention to the beauty sitting opposite you and open conversation with what you expect to be an uncontroversial topic, asking how her day has been. You're unprepared for the gravity of her reply, however.

"It has been emotional, Jaques; I will not deny it, but I believe it is for the best in the long run. You see, my bloke and I broke up today. We have been growing apart for some time and it was right to end the relationship. He is no longer happy with me and I realize now he does not have my best interests at heart."

"Oh, Léa, I'm sorry to hear that—about him not wanting what's best for you, I mean."

"Thank-you, Jaques. He was quite opposed to me being spanked and refused to accept that it is for my benefit, to improve me as a person. We had been together for so long, it is hard to think it is over, but now I can move on with the next chapter of my life." A smile returns to her face. "I am sorry for spoiling the mood, Jaques. This should be a happy night."

"Not at all," you reassure the newly-single blonde. "You have every right to feel ambivalent about such a big change in your circumstances. I hope I can start to show you that the good will outweigh the bad."

"Oh, you have already done that, Jaques," she replies. "Without your support over the past couple of days, I would not have had the strength to end things."

"So it was your decision, then?"

"It was mutual, but I was the one who brought up the subject. I asked him whether he still wanted us to be together and he said 'no' so here we are." She shrugs expressively. "It is what it is, but I can tell you honestly that I would rather spend tonight with you than back home with him."

You don't think she noticed the ambiguity of her last words, although in fact you do hope that she's going to spend tonight with you.

Just at that moment, Jie serves the main course, or courses as it turns out, because she's cooked two completely different dishes to satisfy your different dietary preferences. You don't fancy your guest's rabbit food, although she seems delighted with it, so you murmur that with her figure she hardly needs to watch her weight.

"You are joking, Jaques," she actually laughs as she speaks. "You do not remember what I was like when I first came here." She blows out her cheeks and makes a motion with her hands to indicate a woman whose waist curves the wrong way.

You actually do recall her arrival quite well, since she was the first really good looking young woman to join the college for years. With the changes you've made through the Rulebook, a number of your other colleagues are now taking greater pride in their appearance and keeping in shape, but at the time, Léa definitely made an impression on you and not one for being plump. Of course, you never saw her naked, nor even particularly revealingly clad, but you're sure she was slim and fit, if not quite so sylphlike and curvaceous. She notices you looking at her askance and hurriedly elaborates.

"I am exaggerating, Jaques, but I have lost over six kilos since coming here." Seeing you trying to calculate in your mind what this means, she searches for an equivalent you will understand. "Nearly a stone…two dress sizes?" She smiles as comprehension—and appreciation—dawn on you. "I am ashamed to say I was proud of my appearance before leaving home, but a college full of stunning teenagers with perfect figures is an excellent incentive to improve oneself."

"Well, Léa, I can't comment on what you were like before, but you are quite stunning yourself at the moment."

"Thank-you, Jaques. I must admit, I would never have expected to be saying this, but I find you astonishingly attractive as well, right now."

It's not exactly an unreserved compliment, but comparing your looks with hers, it's more than you could really hope for and it has the advantage of being true, at least as far as you're able to read a woman's body language. You lock eyes for a heartbeat, searching for the right thing to say, and then the opportunity passes and you change the subject to the safer topic of academia.

By the time the mains have been cleared and you're ready for pudding, the atmosphere has relaxed once more and you're chatting as naturally as a beautiful naked twenty seven year old and a fully clothed man a generation older could hope to do.