Of Victorian Businessmen and Brothels (For FrankFly)

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Ava snuggled down deeper into the covers of her fluffy down bed. It felt so warm and wonderful, especially since she could see the snow piling up outside. She never wanted to leave, even though she knew it was probably after ten o'clock, and she would need to practice piano before her mentor returned.

Of course, he wasn't her father. Not... not exactly. He was almost like one, but she was his ward, and nothing else. She didn't mind: he took good care of her, and she knew after he died, the money she would inherit would keep her in good standing, even if she decided not to marry (heaven forbid).

But for now, she didn't worry about that, and she cuddled closer into the soft sheets and the thick comforter, and promptly fell back asleep.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


"It's not my fault I told him 'no', and you know that," Lilly said with a pout, crossing her arms over her chest, even though she knew that - when in the corner - her hands were supposed to be on her head. She was the perfect image of a brat in need of chastisement, even though she was nearly twenty.

Of course, there was a little bit more than the small brunette was admitting. She worked in a brothel on the nicest side of the town, which was known for having rather... interesting clientele, if the toys on the wall said anything. A man in the main hall had slurred in her ear if she had "wanted a poke" and squeezed her bum very hard. She worked there (so she knew what to expect), and she knew that some men were cruder than others, but they were supposed to wait until they got into the rooms in the back before touching her, for God's sake!

So she'd slapped him across the face, leaving a nice mark that would certainly bruise the next day. In the middle of the hall, where the other clients were. And, considering she was the prettiest of all the women working in the brothel, seeing her slap someone was easily a way to deter people from making 'purchases'. Nearly four men had left after that, and it wasn't until they left when Lilly realized that the boss had been in the room when she made her mistake.

Which would not mean good things for Lilly. He cared very much about the women who worked there (particularly Lilly), but he also cared for his clients as well.

[FrankFly]

Harland opened the door the beautiful, ornately-carved oak door of his home, shaking the snow that his boots and coat had collected onto the mat that was laid just inside the door. The front hall was warm and well-lit, which was a wonderful contrast to the wintry weather outside. He began to unbutton his large, black long coat, which had been dusted with white snow, and hung the the heavy coat on the rack, which he kept next to the door, before taking off the leather boots. He didn't want to track water all around the house and make life harder for his maid, Lydia.

He began to climb the beautiful staircase of the the two story house... At one time, he had planned to fill this place with a wife and a family. These plans had never come into fruition, however. Now, the only people who resided in the house were the sandy-haired Harland, the slightly uppish maid, Lydia, and Ava. He suspected young Ava was the closest thing to a daughter that he'd ever have. While they didn't exactly share that kind of relationship, he was still happy to have her.

He reached the top of the staircase and knocked gently on her door. Surely, she wasn't still sleeping, but Harland assumed she was probably getting dressed, and didn't want to intrude upon her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Victor stood looking out the window, watching the snow fall upon the street below. He was a tall, slender man, with neat black hair and a mustache to match, and eyes that suggested a good amount of cleverness.

"Hands on your head, Lilly. You know better."

He made this order, despite never having turned away from the window. There was no way that he could be positive, but Victor felt that he knew Lilly quite well, and could safely assume that she was not behaving as she was expected to. He soon turned from the window, however, and his suspicion was confirmed.

"I can't help it if a client oversteps his- or her- boundaries on occasion..." Victor began. He did his best to stop such harassment, but he couldn't single out every unruly visitor. "However, you can learn to control your temper. If you would have fetched me, I would have removed him from the premises right away."

Victor sighed, and turned back to the window.

"I think that a good dose of the slipper will do for your actions. What say you?"

Of course, Lilly's opinion wouldn't really affect how Victor would proceed, but he always liked to give her the courtesy.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

At the sound of the soft knock, Ava woke up, and it took her a moment to realize what was going on. The maid, Lydia, never knocked on her door, unless she heard movement (or speaking). That was one of the advantages of having a female maid.

But she knew this was not Lydia at the moment. It would be Harland, and that would not be good for her, if he knew she was sleeping this late. That would mean a scolding, or worse (and she hoped it would not be worse). So she quickly scrambled out of bed and threw on a thick house-coat, which was a thick silk that covered her body completely in the cold.

She cracked open the door a little. "Yes?" she answered softly, with what she hoped was a grin. "Oh, you're back! I wasn't expecting you to come back so early..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lilly, huffing softly, put her hands back onto her head, the pout still firmly in place on her face. This was so stupid! She hated corner-time, and she knew that Victor knew that... maybe that was why he did it...

"I think that would be painful and unnecessary," Lilly said. That was usually one of her basic, sassy replies to him spanking her. After all, what was the point for him to own a brothel for spanking and doing other things to people, then to punish her by spanking her? (And she was pretty sure that he didn't do this to the other girls who worked there.)

"And I'm pretty sure you'd get the best rate from Mallory, not myself."

[FrankFly]

"Yes," Harland said with a soft smile. He peeked inside the bedroom, and his expression hardened slightly. "Did you just wake up?" he asked.

Ava seemed to be dressed, but her bed was still untidy, suggesting that she had thrown the covers off and rushed to get dressed the moment that she heard his knock. He liked to expect more of Ava, but occasionally, the girl made it difficult to do so.

"Don't you lie to me, girl..." he said, wagging a finger at her as a form of warning. Since Harland felt as if he did a great deal to make Ava's life the best he could, he didn't think that asking for a little discipline in return was unreasonable. If she answered him honestly, she would probably receive a scolding. However, if she did lie, he would find out, and more drastic measures might be taken, for the dual offense.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I have no interest in warming Mallory's derriere, as Mallory did nothing wrong," Victor replied coolly. He opened a trunk that rested at the foot of his bed and pulled a slipper from the collection of various other implements. This heavy, thick slipper had no partner, so it was obvious this was never used for nighttime footwear. "Unfortunately, the same can't be said for you..."

He swatted the corner of the bed with the slipped, indicating that he wanted her to leave the corner and bend over, placing her elbows on the bed. Whether or not she would actually comply was anyone's guess. Victor guessed she probably wouldn't.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Ava sighed a little, then she opened the door and let him inside, if he so choose to do. "Yes, sir," she murmured softly, looking down at the floor. Ava was not one to lie, especially when she was usually to terrible at doing it.

"I... I just woke up. I know you wanted me to practice on the piano, but... but it is just so cold out, and my bed was warm... and I didn't want to get up, so when I did, I just fell back asleep..." she murmured, sitting down. "I'm sorry, sir..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Alright," Lilly said in an off-handed sort of way, keeping herself in the corner with her hands on her head. She was not going to move; not on his terms. "But just because you're the owner, doesn't mean you don't have to pay like everyone else does."

Of course, if she wasn't about to get punished, this might be amusing, but her sass would likely cost her quite a bit... but for Lilly, that would be worth it.

[FrankFly]

Harland shook his head, waving off her apologies.

"It is alright, Ava," he sighed in a bit of a grumpy way. He was very relieved that she hadn't lied, as he didn't like to resort to corporal punishment to deal with the girl. He would carry through with some with no hesitation if the situation called for it, though. He believed in spare the rod, spoil the child. However, he had a tendency to spoil the child in other ways...

"I will be expecting two hours of practice from you now, you know," he said. He found this to be a fair punishment for such laziness. If you could consider piano practice a punishment. Behind the ivory keys, Harland felt at peace... He could forget about all the things in his life that he had forgotten or been unable to accomplish...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Victor wasn't particularly interested in playing her game this morning... Some days, when business was slow, it was very appealing... But there was work to be done today. He smacked the bedspread for a second time.

"Lilly, come over here and assume the position this instant, or I shall drag you over here and put you in the most humiliating pose I can think of," Victor warned.

This was a threat that carried a bit of weight for a woman about to be punished by Victor. The man knew a lot of ways to position a lady to receive a spanking, and some of these ways spared said lady more dignity than others...

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

"Yes, sir," Ava said, a small pout on her face as he scolded her. But, she nodded at his acknowledge of punishment, and she bundled up a little bit in her thick gown. It was still cold after all, and it helped her preserve her modesty.

"Thank you for not being mad at me," she said softly, knowing very well how cross he could be at times when she had been naughty. Particularly if she had been naughty more than once.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lilly sighed in a rather dramatic fashion - she adored pushing his buttons, above all else - but, to her credit, she shuffled over to the bed, pout firmly in place, and bent over the bed.

Of course, she could make a relative guess to what pose Victor might choose (they had done that kind of play before), but she also knew when it was time to take her punishment. And even a spanking in this relatively-modest position hiked up her skirt, showing off the fleshiest parts of her plump bottom, so she would be 'showing off' something regardless.

[FrankFly]

Harland sighed, this time, it was less grumpy, and more fatherly.

"Ava, I never get mad at you. I simply become disappointed with your behavior at times..." he explained.

As firmly as he believed in the use of corporal punishment, he also believed that it should never be applied to a young woman's bottom when angry. There was a fine line between abuse and discipline in Harland's mind.

"However, I will be disappointed in you if you decide to oversleep again, understood?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Victor smiled victoriously as Lilly walked over, her bottom lip protruding, clearly unhappy with being threatened into compliance. He watched pleasurably as the woman bent over the bed, raising her bottom nice and high into the air for him.

"I think I'll have your undergarments down for this one," Victor informed her, his hands idly playing with the slipper.

Of course, he wasn't going to do this for her. She had to bare herself for him.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Ava nodded a little, then she shook her head, "Yes, sir, I understand. I won't oversleep again," she answered, then leaned forward to give him a one-armed hug (since the other kept her coat up over her gown).

"I'm going to go ask Lydia to help my dress, then I'll start practicing," she said. She was not as fond as the piano as Harland was... or rather, she hated practicing, but she loved the look of adoration men gave her whenever they watched her play a piece perfectly. And the look of pride Harland would give her felt wonderful as well, so it would be worth it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Of course, after about ten seconds, when Lilly realized that she was going to need to do it herself, she let out a groan. "Really?" she snapped, looking back at his smug grin.

"Oh, for the love of... Jesus Christ..." she muttered to herself, as she reached around to unlace her bloomers (which were much, much shorter than one would guess) and let them fall to the floor before getting back into position.

"Happy now?" she sassed.

[FrankFly]

"There's a good girl," he said, a small smile forming across his face. "I'll find Lydia for you and send her in."

However, as soon as he said these words, there was a curt knock upon the open door. Obviously, the short, curvaceous maid had heard her name and come slinking around. Harland had warned her about eavesdropping... However, he was in a pleasant enough mood to let it slide.

"I think that's her right now. You may enter," Harland said.

Lydia entered the room. She was a very pretty woman with short auburn hair who was in between Ava and Harland when it came to age, although was probably closer to Ava's end of the scale.

"Good morning, sir," she gave a polite bow to Harland. "Miss," she said, performing a matching bow for Ava.

"Help Ava dress, please," he commanded.

Lydia appreciated the fact that he said "please".

"I'll leave you two alone," Harland announced, before exiting the room, leaving Ava alone with the maid.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Victor tried to keep from getting too excited as he watched the woman's underpants slide down her legs, fully exposing her shapely bottom to him.

"Yes," Victor replied, equally as impertinent in his tone. "But I shall be much happier when you've been properly disciplined for your actions..."

As he touched the flat sole of the slipper against Lilly's bottom, he slid it around the surface of her skin gently, watching how the woman's round buttocks reacted to the pressure caused by it's touched. It was clear that he was enjoying the view...

"Are you ready to begin, Lilly?" he asked, still idly massaging her backside with the sole of the slipper. Again, this was a situation where the lady's input didn't effect the outcome.