She tries to be smart about it

"Uh... 4? Yeah! 4!" she answered triumphantly with a smile.

The room fell silent.

Rebecca's smile wavered a bit but she held onto it, confident that this was a smart plan. It was obvious to Jared that she had chosen 4 not because it was low, but because it was the highest number of demerits she could earn before incurring punishment.

Sly little bitch, he thought. It wasn't that he hadn't expected something like that. In fact the whole point of giving her a voice in the matter was so he could play off whatever answer she gave. But 4 was a special answer. It showed that she understood the demerit system completely, yet deliberately chose not to entertain any thoughts of accountability. Jared couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not. On the exterior, he needed to at least hide the parts of him that were turned on by her bratty little efforts of resistance.

"Tell me, Rebecca," Jared began as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, playing the role of displeased authority figure, "do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Wait, what?" she asked, her smile slowly vanishing.

"Answer the question."

"No! I don't! I think 4 is a good number!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Uhh because... because there were only 4 things I did wrong!"

Another shit-eating grin appeared on her face.

"5 things," he corrected.

"Oh, uhh, really?" Rebecca asked, looking from side to side as if she didn't already know the answer.

"More than 5 if you want to be technical. You did mix up instructions on 3 separate projects," he reminded.

"Okay then why did you even ask me! I don't think I deserve to be punished! Me being late wasn't even my fault!" Rebecca complained, her tone reminding Jared of what a girl much younger would sound like when throwing a tantrum.

Jared gave her a stern look. She pouted as she crossed her arms and sank back into the chair.

"You're acting like a spoiled brat," he stated, causing her to sneer and roll her eyes. She mumbled something to herself, but Jared didn't want to waste any energy on it. He needed to do something before the punishment started.

"Alright, Rebecca," he began with in inhale, "give me your phone."

"What? Why?" she asked worriedly.

"Give. Me. Your. Phone," Jared said, adding emphasis to each word.

"Ugh!" she huffed, pulling the device out of her bag and placing it on the table. She didn't bother putting it within Jared's reach, making it so he'd have to reach over the table to grab it. He even saw a smirk on her face when she did it.

Okay then, he thought.

Instead of reaching across the table, Jared began walking toward where Rebecca was seated. This caused her to retreat further into her chair as he approached. He made a point to get really close, placing one hand on the back of the chair while grabbing the phone with the other.

Rebecca mustered the courage to speak, "What are you doing?"

"What's your passcode?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"Uhh that's kind of private," she stated.

"Not anymore. You've lost that privilege, at least while you are at work with me."

"That's not fair!"

"Rebecca, how long do you want to be here tonight? We haven't even started your punishment yet."

"But... it-it's my phone," she stated weakly.

Placing the phone back down, Jared quickly pulled her chair out from underneath the table and turned her to face him. The speed of this action caught Rebecca off-guard, as Jared grabbed both sides of the seat of the chair and pulled her toward him so their faces were less than a foot apart. He could smell her perfume mixed with the minty-ness of her breath.

Did she take a mint or something before coming in here, he thought.

"The harder you make this for me, the harder I'm going to make it for you," he stated, with a soft but authoritative tone.

Rebecca couldn't do anything but listen, unable to break eye contact.

"While you are here," he continued, "you follow my rules. If you want to act like a naughty little girl, I'm going to treat you like one."

Rebecca's face became flush as that last point seemed to strike a chord.

"Now give me your passcode. If not, I'll gladly call Aileen to tell her that we will be here all night. In fact, maybe I should tell her to leave now. I could always give you a ride home myself when we are done," Jared said with a smirk.