The reason Maryam and Johanna are at the restaurant

"So…I thought it was a bit strange a high-flyer like Maryam had chosen a place like this for a date." Julia seems to have formed the same opinion as you regarding how much input Johanna had in the decision. "Apparently, they had reservations at the Imperial, but they were cancelled because a previous booking had overrun. You can imagine how that went down with Maryam!"

You laugh and express agreement that you wouldn't want to be the one who had to tell her and the other diners.

"Anyway, she got the young man who telephoned her to tell her what the event was that was running late." Julia leans even closer. "It turns out that the entire restaurant was booked out for the Grover twins' assessment." She looks at you in expectation, but sees nothing except a blank expression of bewilderment. Either the Grover twins only became a name to conjure with as a result of your meddling with the rules of society or they were celebrities who somehow managed to avoid your notice all their lives. When Julia takes pity on your ignorance and explains that they're the world-famous daughters of a billionaire pop star and his award-winning actress-cum-fashion-designer wife, it doesn't make it any more obvious which of these possibilities is correct.

"So they're famous for having famous parents, then?" You make your scorn for such loafers clear.

"Well, Antarctica's been the most highly paid model in the world for the past two years and Innocence has over twice as many followers on social media as any other celebrity, so there's a bit more to them than that." Your surprise that Julia knows so much about the pair must show on your face, because she immediately starts to explain. "My sister's staying with me until she saves enough for a place of her own or meets a potential husband and she's a big fan of theirs, so I find out what they're up to whether I like it or not. But the point is they decided to invite some of their most ardent fans to participate in their assessments and so many men wanted to do it that instead of having just a few assessors, they chose a couple of hundred and planned to let them each give just a couple of strokes apiece. Then the new tipping rules came in unexpectedly and it was too late to rescind the invitations."

"And some of the guys wanted their idols to tip them with sex?"

"All of them, according to Maryam's source. I mean, they were their biggest male fans of the appropriate age, so it's not a complete surprise. It's not as if they could just wait and take their tips another time, either. Their fan base is international, so a lot of the assessors will have flown in from all over the world and if they don't take this opportunity they'll never get another."

This was a complication you hadn't foreseen. Perhaps you need to amend your rules to restrict tipping with sex to times when it doesn't disrupt events. Then again, even just giving a punishment could inconvenience others, such as spanking a waitress when other diners are waiting for their meals. Still, you can't solve all the world's problems tonight, so you make a mental note to investigate the issues properly tomorrow and concentrate on your date instead, which seems to be going unexpectedly well.

Whilst she's not exactly flirting with you, Julia seems very open and receptive, laughing at your poor jokes and barely-amusing anecdotes. She expresses no surprise at your lack of prior romantic attachments, suggesting that the easy availability of gorgeous young women at the university eager to hone their carnal skills. together with the time pressures associated with academic achievement, make anything more than casual encounters a relative luxury. She excuses her own spinsterhood by saying that most of the men she meets seem to think that her confidence and professional success mean that she wouldn't welcome lasting domination in her private life, which couldn't be further from the truth.

"Also, having my twenty-eight year old sister living with me does cramp my style a bit," she admits, wryly. "Helen's a technical secretary and I love her to bits, but she can't hold a meaningful conversation and our tastes in music and furnishings are completely different, as I'm sure you've guessed."

You express sympathy and wave away Julia's offer to pay the bill, pointing out that you invited her out. Besides, you have to do something with all the tip money you've been accumulating. You even feel Amy has done well enough to warrant a gratuity of her own. Given that every spanking she receives costs her the price of a meal, she probably needs all the extra she can get.

By the time you rise, Maryam and Johanna are part-way through their desserts, your student once again safely impaled on her chair's jutting member, so you and Julia wander over to say goodbye before you leave. However, it turns out that Maryam has an interesting suggestion.