3rd fam meeting

"I have a second complaint," Izaak said, voice booming.

"Ooooo, what else did you do, Clo?" I teased.

"Against you," Izaak responded plainly, so serious it made my tummy twist into knots.

I chuckled uncomfortably, trying to ignore how tingly he made me.  "Me?  What did I do?  I think you're trippin', bro.  You're already gonna torture me all weekend and now you wanna add onto it?"

"When I took you and Chloe to the airport and found the vape pen, you assured me it was yours."

My heart thumped against my chest.  "Yeah, and?  It was.  You know I'm a big pothead and all."  Gabe shook his head at me, already figuring out where this was headed, but I continued to play dumb.  "And you already spanked me for it.  Why bring it up now?  Didn't get enough?  Damn you're more of a sadist than Gabe."

"The weed was Molly's, and she gave it to Chloe," Izaak said, tone a little more forceful now, which made me flinch a little before I glared playfully at my best friend.

"What the fuck, did you rat me out??"

"She did not.  But if we're all part of this family and helping each other out, I expect honesty from you.  How am I supposed to fulfill my role as mentor if you jump in to sacrifice yourself and let everyone else off the hook?"

My eyes gave an exaggerated roll at his seriousness.  "Yo, it ain't that big of a deal.  Why are you trippin' so much?"

violet and chloe dialogue

"How could you fucking do this to me?  After everything I told you in confidence."

"This wasn't to you... it just happened..."

"It's my turn to talk and your turn to shut the fuck up and just listen to me."

"But you're yelling at me and I don't like it.  Can't you just spank me and get over it that way?"

"No, I'm too mad.  You want a spanking, go to the doc.  I'm not here to cleanse your guilt.  You're the one who fucked up and betrayed our friendship."

Clo looked so pathetic, giving me those puppy eyes as if pity would dissolve my anger.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"What are you even sorry for?  You haven't let me talk!"

"Sorry... for not letting you talk.  Go ahead."

"Goddammit, Clo.  You're so fucking fake, and so good at it.  You just have those pretty big eyes and pouty lips that get you whatever the fuck you want.  No wonder you're a con."  I shook my head, laughing at my fate.  "I'm not gonna tell Gabe yet, but you better figure out a plan ASAP, you know he's been up my ass about getting this shit done."  The server came with our two shots of tequila, so I downed mine fast, and went ahead and stole Clo's, because she'd just put me in a worse position than I'd already been in.

Of course, Toby would say I was actually just mad at myself for already being in this situation.  I should have told Gabe from the beginning instead of waiting for Clo to come to me with the info.  

chatgpt scenes

i was having fun with chatGPT last night hehe (sadly it wouldn't write any spanking scenes).  here's some scenes it generated for me:

---

Violet had hit rock bottom. Her addiction to cocaine had taken over her life, causing her to lose her job, her apartment, and most of her friends. She felt like she had no one left to turn to.

Suddenly, there was a knock at her door. She hesitated for a moment before calling out, "Come in."

The door opened, and there stood her older brother Vic, looking tired and worn down. He walked over to Violet and gave her a hesitant hug.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry for not being there for you when you needed me."

Violet felt tears welling up in her eyes as she hugged her brother back. They sat down on her bed, and Violet began to explain what had been going on with her.

She had been struggling with addiction, she told him, and it had taken over her life. She had hit rock bottom.

Vic listened to her, feeling a mix of sympathy and anger. He knew that addiction was a disease, but he couldn't help feeling betrayed by his little sister for letting it get so bad.

But as they talked, Vic began to see the pain and remorse in Violet's eyes. She was truly sorry for what she had done, and she wanted to make things right.

For the first time in months, Violet felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, she and her brother could find a way to move past their differences and rebuild their relationship.

violet's thoughts about meeting toby

Toby's the type to let everyone else talk and never contribute to the conversation.  Ha, that's what makes him a good shrink I guess.  But I like to ask questions, sometimes "too personal" (whatever that means), and I've been told that I don't know when to stop.  

He's kinda a pro at dodging my questions and distracting me, so despite directly asking him a hundred times if he's into spanking, I never got a direct answer.  I guess I like talking about myself too much.   I described in dramaticized detail the punishments I'd received over the last year, trying to engage him in conversation about it.  Always ended up in some kind of psychoanalysis of me, unrelated to spanking.

He did share other tidbits about himself with me, though.  Like he's from a dysfunctional family, took care of his lil sis a lot, which is sorta how he first related to Vic.  

Actually he and Vic instantly connected.  They met before Toby came to see me in jail, introduced in person by Molly.  When I saw the two of them together, I realized why Toby was so invested in me — he empathized with Vic.  He had to take care of his sis in the same way Vic cared for me.  He'd experienced the same fears and anger and love.  He swooped in for Vic, just like he wished someone had done for him.  

That's how I realized my first impression of him was dead wrong.  Honestly, I'm not sure we'd be here today if I hadn't met him.

notes to get back into writing

after violet realizes it's chloe, she flashes back to their trip to seattle and starts seeing everything in a different perspective.  she suspects that chloe found something in the basement, and that's part of her intention in going to stay over there... seeing what she can find on chloe.

third family meeting chapter:

violet is looking through all the yearbooks online, maybe that's what gabe is mocking... 

"You went all the way across the country to find prom pictures?"

"Fuck off.  I'm gettin' close to figuring out who this chick is."

Gabe pointed at the printed credit card charges.  "We'll take care of this 12 cents tonight."

"Shit, I forgot about that."

"Your disobedience is obviously on purpose."

"Yeah, I bought extra snacks on the plane just to make sure you'd have something to beat me for."

"You're gonna regret that."

"Just don't fuck with Clo, she didn't even know I did it."

"Oh, I don't care if she knew or not.  We made a deal."

"Bro, that's not fair."

"I wasn't born yesterday.  Don't you realize I already knew what you were going to do?  I'd hoped Miss Patterson would either be a good influence on you, or a good incentive for your obedience, but I see she wasn't."

x-x-x-x

also chloe can ask violet about jail...

"What was it like being in jail?"

"The worst.  I never wanna go back."  I glanced up to see that she looked paler than normal.  "Why do you ask?"

She blushed.  "Ugh, I hate to admit this... please don't laugh."  She covered her face and I raised my eyebrows with curiosity.

more videocall

"Yo... no way!" Violet said after I finally spilled the beans.

"You really didn't know?  I assumed you would be eavesdropping on all of Izaak's conversations."

"Nah sis, 99% of his convos are boring as fuck, I stopped listening a long time ago. And anyway, he has this thing about privacy and the first week we were in Egypt he taught me all about boundaries."  She winced, undoubtedly remembering the spankings she'd gotten.  "But what are you gonna do?  What did Gabe say?  Does Vic know?"

"I dunno," I said, a blanket response to all three questions.  I wanted to turn the convo back to Violet, find out more about this week of learning about boundaries, but remembered Izaak's strong encouragement to let her help me.  "I'm really scared..."  I broke off, continuing to fight the urge to change the subject.  Why was this so hard?  

"That you won't find another job?"

"Not exactly..." I began, thinking about it for a moment.  "Like Toby said he wouldn't give me a bad recommendation or anything... but he isn't sure I should keep doing therapy at all..." Normally she would've interrupted with a question or comment, but now she just sat there quietly, resisting any urges to inject her two cents.  "And maybe he's right... because he usually is... but then what else am I going to do with my life?  I've spent a lot of time and energy on this career..."

videocall continued

"I have already spoken to Toby, so I know what happened."

Uncertain how to respond, I chewed on my fingernail, looking down at the floor.

"Violet doesn't know, but you are going to tell her and allow her to support you."  I looked up at him to argue, but knew there was no use.  He was wearing his stubborn face, which meant no matter how compelling my argument, I would lose.  "You need your family right now.  Lean on us for support."

I nodded, holding back my tears as I admitted, "I feel so ashamed..."

"You should," Izaak responded simply.  The bluntness threw me for a loop — Toby and Gabe had been tiptoeing around my emotions, careful not to say anything that would send me in a spiral.  Izaak rarely offered me that courtesy.  If he thought it needed to be said, I was going to hear it.  "Getting high before work is disrespectful to your client, your career, and yourself.  If I were there right now, you would be getting the spanking of your life, kiddo.  I'm surprised Gabe hasn't done it yet."

My heart thumped against my chest as I imagined how this week away would have been with Izaak.  Yikes... he'd probably have me getting up at dawn and exercising all the time and eating healthy and shit... suddenly I felt grateful for Gabe 😅

"How do you know he hasn't?" I finally asked.

Videocall

“Bro, where ya at? You must be with gabe cuz no way you’re out of bed this early on your own.”

I rolled my eyes as violet inspected the background of my video image. Izaak sat next to her, shaking his head in amusement.

“You look good,” I told him, feeling his energy more alive and hopeful than I ever remember him being.

“I’ve been working on myself,” he reminded me, “and it’s helping a lot.”

“Any new insights or big moments?”

“The beach house!” Violet nearly shouted, finally recognizing something. “Why are you there with gabe? Shouldn’t you be snoozing your alarm for another hour until it’s time to drag yourself out of bed for work? You’re not sick-looking. Why aren’t you working today?”

“Are you spending your vacation learning how to be a detective?” I snapped back.

Izaak gave violet a mean look, enough to make her submissively settle down a little. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to rudely interrupt,” she said sincerely, which caught me by surprise. Of course then she added back in her near-shout, “but somethings off and I know you’ll keep this conversation about me and izaak unless we make you tell us.”

“When did YOU get so perceptive??” I joked.

“Izaaks not the only one workin’ on himself. So cmon, spill it.”

I looked at Izaak to see whose side he was on, and I was outnumbered. Rolling my eyes, I said, “I’m not working today. I have the week off, no big deal. I would prefer to hear about your trip.”

“No you wouldn’t, you just want to avoid talking about yourself.”

“Why do you sound so much like Toby??”

“Ohhh I bet Toby would tell me what’s up with you…”

“No!” I said a little too passionately. “I mean, he’s working, no need to bother him.”

Violet opened her mouth to say more but izaak cut her off. “Can you give us a minute please,” he asked politely, and she opened her mouth to argue, but his dominance took over and shut her up. She grumbled something under her breath and said she’d be back later, and left.

Now izaak turned to me, giving the same look he’d been holding for violet, which made my tummy twist up into knots.

Almost missed my train stop…

Toby sat across from me, knees almost touching mine as he gave me the most serious and compassionate look, though his eye contact was intense. “I really need you to think about what you want out of life. I know you were taught to put others first and not have your own opinion — and there are some benefits to that… I’m just speaking from my own experience. I almost killed myself getting through med school because it was too much. I had to re-examine if it’s really what I wanted or what my ego wanted. Then I had to change my lifestyle to fit the field I was getting into. I’d advise you to do the same.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond without getting defensive and yelling that I’m not him, my ego doesn’t drive my decisions like it does for him, but I figured he wouldn’t like that.

He’s psychic though. “I know we’re different people and I’m projecting onto you a little, which is why I believe you should think about it. Take some time — without weed or other mind altering substances — and see what the different parts of yourself are saying. Because getting caught with drugs at work is serious… I know you feel ashamed, but I need you to look me in the eyes, please.” I gulped and glanced back up at him. “It is serious and unethical at best. Which part of you thinks it’s okay to get high before working with a minor?”

I shrugged.

He paused to convince me to answer, but I broke eye contact again, also not daring to look at gabe who sat beside me watching the interaction.

Toby gave me a long time to respond before sighing. “I can see you’re not ready to dig into it yet, and that’s okay. I’m going to meet you where you’re at and not apply pressure.”

He placed a caring hand on my thigh, causing me to slightly flinch because I hadn’t expected it, and when I finally glanced back up at him, I saw his sternness had faded and now he felt like hippie Toby that I’d met years ago and just enjoyed being free and let loose. I knew part of him also didn’t see anything wrong with smoking before work (maybe?) but he had changed over the years. He knew something I didn’t. He had figured out the consequences before it got out of hand.

“I should go.” Toby glanced at gabe. “Thank you for looking after Molly so much. As her friend and surrogate older brother, I appreciate it.”

Hmm…

“Okay Molly, you’ve had a few days of avoiding the subject, but now we’re going to talk about it…”

“Noooo,” I whined, giving him a puppy face I was sure would work.

It didn’t. “Yes,” gabe responded sternly with a look that told me if I wanted to keep arguing, I’d be doing it over his knee. When i hung my head in response to not having my way, he continued. “How are you feeling about everything?”

“Like I suck. I’m only good at helping people and now I can’t even do that now.”

“Who said you can’t help people anymore?”

“Toby,” I said with an eye roll.

“There are thousands of ways to give service, young lady, and you know it.”

(Idk could also go “who said you’re only good at helping people” but the other way felt right in the moment 🤔)