Paved with Good Intentions: A Nat and Alyssa Story - Part Seven

[naughtylilgirl09]

Paved with Good Intentions: A Nat and Alyssa Story - Part Seven

Nat woke up with the sun. He knew it was still early. Grabbing his watch from the bedside table, he looked at the time. Six in the morning. Technically, an hour later than when he typically woke. But, early for Alyssa. That was what mattered. He knew she’d be fast asleep and would stay that way for another two or three hours.

Getting out of bed, he went into the bathroom and washed up, before returning to the small bedroom to get dressed. Nat took his time that morning. The quiet within the quaint room provided a wonderful environment for productive thinking. Which was precisely what he needed.

The previous evening, in the midst of Alyssa’s yelling and slamming doors, his mind had pieced the situation together. It had been seconds before his eyes closed when it’d struck him and he’d known exactly what was going on.

The dance league. Alicia. His spending time around that dance training gym and not with Alyssa. Alyssa’s strange behavior, which had been oddly similar to Alicia’s. He should have seen it sooner. Really, he could have kicked himself for not picking up on it. More than that, he felt ten times the fool for not ever thinking about how Alyssa; not taking even a moment to consider how she would be affected, or how she would react to everything.

It made complete sense that Alyssa had felt abandoned. He hadn’t seen her or attempted to spend time with her, for six weeks. Then, for her to find out, all that time, not only had he not made time for her, he’d spent it with her former dance troupe and training program; with the coach who had been like her family and her number one frenemy, Alicia Kranston.

Taking a seat on the side of the bed, Nat sighed, the memories coming back to him. Alicia and Alyssa. Two girls who were very similar, yet incredibly different. They’d certainly liked to argue with each other. If one liked something, the other automatically didn’t. The only thing that he knew they agreed on, at least while in college, was their dislike for him. Neither of them had cared for him when he was their undergraduate advisor. He’d been forced to deal with Alicia the entire four years that she was a student. Within that time, he couldn’t recall a single encounter where he didn’t find himself scolding, lecturing, or yelling at her. Alicia provoked it, too. He was aware of it. But, as an advisor, he didn’t have the power to do anything more than scold, lecture, and, on occasion, yell.

Alyssa became his advisee during her senior year. Similar to Alicia, she had made her disdain known. Towards the end of her time at school, Nat had begun to see a side of her that was tolerable. Even one he cared about, slightly. Then she’d graduated and moved on…or moved in, to a house down the street from him. Alyssa had known that he wouldn’t be happy about it and was correct. She’d swore to him that he wouldn’t ever have to talk to her, and it’d been true, up until that snow storm.

Nat shook his head to himself as the memory faded away. He remained sitting on the side of the bed as it was a comfortable place to think. That snowstorm changed everything. He now, genuinely, truly cared about Alyssa. He thought of her as family. He treated her a daughter. He knew of her abandonment fears and hated the fact that he’d triggered them.

He would make it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere. That, in no way, was Alicia going to take her place, he would never want that. That, while he was aware she’d been upset, it didn’t mean that her behavior was okay.

He went over everything once more in his head. Yes, there was a lot that he needed to cover. The question was, how to do it? Moreover, how to do it, without allowing Alyssa to walk herself into more situation where he’d have to put her over his knee. She already had quite a long list of things that they would be discussing. He did not want to create any type of situation where she could add to it.

He thought back to last night, as he stood up and looked in the mirror. He wasn’t sure if she understood what he was trying to get through to her with the ‘lesson’ that he gave. That was a conversation that would be necessary. It was important that she understood what the intended lesson was, why he hadn’t punished her, and that above all, he still loved her, even if he didn’t spank her before bed. That was a big one. It was important to her, she’d made that clear. She’d pushed and pushed to the point that he’d nearly done it.

‘Nearly’ being the keyword. Nat was glad that he hadn’t done anything more than what he had, last night. He needed the time, space and sleep. When she slammed that door, the memory floated through his mind. Well, he thanked every higher power in existence, that he’d found the strength to let her have her fit, and simply go to bed.

As he walked back over to the bed and sat down, pulling his shoes and socks on, he remembered the noise of it, the slamming that first time. Alyssa yelling. The door slamming again. The vibrating of the walls, from how hard she was slamming the door.

Nat stopped moving, for a moment, and closed his eyes. Yes, grateful. He was grateful to whatever it was that had given him that willpower. Because there’d been a second, a split second, following that first time he heard her slam that door, where he’d nearly given her that spanking, she seemed to be begging for.

Except, it wouldn’t have been a fair punishment. It wouldn’t have been a spanking where he was in a solid frame of mind and could objectively judge things. No, he knew that if he’d gone into her room, he would have bared her bottom, bent her over the bed, and used his belt over and over. He wouldn’t have been calm enough to watch for the signs to tell him when she’d truly been punished, or reached a state of acceptance, or was contrite. He’d have spanked her until he felt better. That was never acceptable.

Standing up, Nat started towards the door. He stopped and looked in the mirror. It wasn’t complete, but what he had was the best plan he could come up with. Nodding to himself, he continued over to the doorway. Hand on the doorknob, he thought to himself, ‘it’s early. I’ll let her sleep for a while longer. After yesterday, she probably needs it.’

He nodded again, mainly to himself, and then opened the door. Nat walked out into the main hall and stopped short. He’d expected to be staring at a closed door. Either that or a broken one given how many times she’d slammed that thing.

What he didn’t expect, was to find Alyssa laying on her stomach on the hallway floor, fast asleep. Even from where he was standing, Nat could see the tear stains on her face. She’d cried herself to sleep. He sighed. This was certainly not how he expected to start the morning.

Walking over to her, he squatted down and shook her arm. “Lyssa,” he said, loud enough to wake her, but not loud enough to scare her.

“I promise,” she mumbled.

Nat shook her arm, again, “Alyssa, come on, sweetheart, wake up for me.” He saw her eyes flutter and she started to open them. “Alyssa,” Nat said his voice stern. “Time to wake up.” That did it. Her eyes opened and he could tell that she realized where she was. Finally, she looked up at him.

“How did you end up here?” Nat asked her.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out of it.

“It’s early,” he informed her, attempting to keep his tone gentle. “Let me ask you this: did you fall and weren’t able to get up?”

He could see everything coming back to her. All he had to do was look into her eyes. “No, sir,” she said quietly.

“You didn’t fall,” he asked, again.

“No, sir, I didn’t fall,” she repeated.

Nat stood up, “all right, let’s get you on your feet.” He held out his hand to her. She looked at it like it might bite her. Then, after a moments debate, she took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

Nat looked her over, something he’d wanted to do last night. Just by the way she held herself, the way she was shifting around, avoiding him in different respects. He knew there was something wrong. “I see you decided not to change for bed,” he remarked.

While he expected some sort of reaction, he got silence. “Do you want to change clothes and meet me downstairs?” he asked her.

“Yes, sir,” she said quietly.

“All right,” he replied, nodding to both her and himself. He turned and headed for the stairs. Then, he turned back to her. “Alyssa, whatever is going on with you, I can’t help you, if you don’t talk to me.”

Again, she didn’t reply. Nat wouldn’t have found it odd if it were anyone else. But Alyssa talked. She always talked. She always had something to say. He turned and headed downstairs, going to make coffee. Hopefully, after they each had a cup of the stuff, the day would go better.


Alyssa watched as Nat went downstairs. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the floor. Her body ached from sleeping on the hard surface. Though, her body also ached from the spankings Nat gave her yesterday. She walked into the room that was supposedly going to be hers. He was going to hold her hostage at this campground place. To what? Help her with her issues? She didn’t have any issues, she wasn’t the problem. Alicia was the problem.

Alyssa opened her bag and pulled out clothes to change into. She was moving slowly, a combination of sore, sleep deprived and undercaffeinated. It was strange, Nat waking her up the way he had. He’d been nice. Not that he was ever horribly mean. But, he hadn’t mentioned anything about last night. When was that shoe going to fall?

Dressed, Alyssa was about to head out of the room when she noticed something in her bag. It was a t-shirt. One that she mainly wore for exercise or sleep. One of the many shirts that she had from when she’d been on the dance league. The one that Alicia had gone back to. The one that also had the training team that Nat’s daughter was trying to secure a spot on. The whole league was the reason, Nat suddenly decided, he liked Alicia when the entire world knew that he didn’t.

Alyssa thought on it for half a second and then changed into the dance shirt. Part of her was curious to see what the reaction would be. The other part of her, well, he wanted Alicia, yesterday she gave him the personality. Today, he’d get personality and appearance.

Downstairs she found Nat, coffee made, breakfast on the table. Alyssa went right for the coffee, but he stopped her. “Go sit at the table,” he told her. “There is juice for you.”

“Juice?” Alyssa knew she sounded like a whining child, but juice? Really? He knew she drank coffee. Everyone knew that about her. Not letting her have coffee was the equivalent of torture.

“Yes, juice,” Nat replied, his face was the equivalent of a stone. It was that blank expression that he’d always had when she’d been a student. The one that she could never read. “I didn’t say that I wouldn’t let you have coffee, Alyssa,” he said, staring at her. “Right now, I’d like you to start with the orange juice that I have put on the table for you.”

Alyssa nodded, understanding what he meant. That was the ‘Nat’ version of saying ‘if you behave, I’ll let you have your coffee.’ She walked over to the table. It was easy to tell where she was supposed to sit, there was one plate, one set of silverware and one glass of juice. She bit her lip, as she looked over the furniture.

It went with the whole rustic cabin theme, that was for sure. Four very sturdy, wooden, unforgiving, hard chairs, and a matching table. If she had to guess, she’d go with oak or maple. Wood wasn’t her forte. Alyssa knew that it was unforgiving to her recently spanked backside, and that was enough.

She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘Alicia’, she reminded herself. She could do this. She could be Alicia. Alicia would sit down on a wooden chair like it was nothing. She could do that…. She could try to do that.

Walking around the table to the place that was set for her, Alyssa pulled out the chair to sit down. Her eyes nearly fell out of her head, when she saw a pillow had been placed there. That wasn’t right. She’d looked at the other chairs, there were no pillows on those. Alyssa stared at the pillow and then turned and looked over at Nat. He was leaning against the small island like structure in the kitchen, watching her.

Was it a trick? Alyssa looked at the pillow again. What if she wasn’t supposed to use it? Like, maybe it was a test or something? She glanced up at Nat again. Alyssa was surprised when he had a small smile on his face. “Go ahead and sit down, Alyssa,” he told her. “I put the pillow there for you.”

Alyssa nodded her head and then sat down. Why had he done that? Why had he done something nice for her? And what was that smell? Whatever he’d made for breakfast, it smelled amazing!
It was on the plate in front of her, covered by another plate to keep it warm. Alyssa lifted the plate off her meal and stared in shock. Pancakes. She loved pancakes. Nat knew she loved pancakes. He rarely made them, or even let her eat them. He always said it was an alternative way to eat cake for breakfast.

Alyssa looked up, expecting to see him in the kitchen. She jumped, when he quietly cleared his throat, from somewhere close by her. Nat placed a cup of coffee down on the table and sat in the chair to her right. “You better start eating unless you want those to get cold,” he said and handed her a fork.

Alyssa nodded. It was all she could think of to do. The small space was quiet as she ate. The only sound was that of her chewing or the occasional slurping noise if one of them drank some coffee. He was being nice to her. There had to be a catch somewhere. There had to be. Yet, even by the time she’d finished the coffee, orange juice, and all the pancakes, she still hadn’t thought of anything.

Alyssa put the knife and fork on the plate, followed by the glass that had once been filled with orange juice. She was about to reach for the empty coffee mug when Nat’s hand appeared and grasped it. “I’ll take care of those,” he said to her.

She looked up at him, as he stood up, picking up her plate and coffee mug. “I, I, I can do it,” she said, lamely.

He gave her an amused smile. “I’m aware you can,” he replied. “Just sit tight for a few minutes, let the food settle.”

Alyssa nearly gaped at him, as he, not only, brought her dishes over to the sink, but washed them as well. She didn’t even realize her mouth was hanging open, until Nat had come back to the table, sat down, chuckled and tapped her chin.

“What’s on that mind of yours,” he asked.

She didn’t want to ask him. It sounded so awful to ask. Alyssa also knew it would drive her crazy if she didn’t ask. She frowned at her lap, coming to a decision about what she wanted to do. Biting her lower lip, she looked up at him. “I’m just wondering…” she couldn’t seem to get further than that.

Nat gave her an encouraging smile. “Yes,” he said, using the gentle tone, that usually made her feel like everything would be all right. He reached out and tapped her lower lip until she let go of it. “Wondering what?”
That small act, his stopping her from biting her lip. It was something he did a lot. But, at that moment, it brought tears to her eyes. Alyssa looked down, not wanting to cry. “I uh, it’s just, uh, I was wondering why you’re being so nice to me?”
There. She’d asked. Did she dare look at him? It took almost all of her courage, but she raised her head up and snuck a glance over his way. He didn’t look furious. In fact, he didn’t look angry or upset whatsoever. She turned her head so that she was looking at him. He looked friendly.
“Oh great, that’s just great!” she said. Her hand immediately flew to her mouth when she realized that she’d spoken aloud.


Nat raised his eyebrow at the comment. He didn’t speak though. He knew that if he remained silent, long enough, Alyssa would tell him everything. She had her hand over her mouth and a look of worry in her eyes. She said something, though he couldn’t understand her with her hand covering her mouth.

“You’re going to have to lower your hand, Lyssa,” he said gently. “I can’t make out what you’re saying.”

She was acting cautious, ready to jump at any second. He watched, as she slowly lowered her hand away from her mouth. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” she said to him.

“All right,” Nat replied. “Everyone has those times where you mean for something to remain in your head, but it comes out of your mouth.” If it was possible her eyes widened further.

“To answer your question,” he continued, “why am I being so nice to you? You had a difficult day yesterday. Something was hurting you badly, to the point that you were sleeping on the hallway floor. Now, I wouldn’t say I’m being super, over the top, extraordinarily nice to you. I made you breakfast, which I typically do.”

Nat felt a smile tug at his lips. “Yes, I gave you a pillow to sit on this morning. But, other than that, not much else is different, sweetheart.”

He saw the way her eyes lit up when he called her sweetheart.

“You-I mean,” she looked up at him nervously.

“Go ahead,” Nat reached out and took her hand.

“You washed my dishes,” she whispered.

Nat couldn’t help himself, he laughed. “I didn’t realize that was my being extra nice, Alyssa. You clear the table and wash the dishes almost every evening at home. I figured I’d do it here.”
He watched her nod and knew there was something else. Nat squeezed her hand lightly. “It’s all right, ask me.”

“You made pancakes,” she whispered.

At that, Nat smiled. “Yes, I made pancakes. I know you love pancakes, Alyssa. So, I made you pancakes.”

“But that’s like a treat,” she looked confused. Nat pushed his chair back and beckoned her over. The pause wasn’t lost on him, but she did come over to him. Nat lifted her up onto his lap and she curled up in his arms instantly.

“Yes, I suppose you could view it as a reward,” Nat said quietly. “I thought of it more as a reminder. I want you to remember, Lyssa that no matter what is going on, no matter how awful you act, or how horrible of a punishment I’m having to dole out, always remember I care about you. Nothing is going to change that.”

When she tensed up in his arms, Nat had his suspicion confirmed. He’d been fairly certain when he’d seen her enter the room. Lifting her away from his chest, he set her on his lap so they were facing each other. “Nothing, Alyssa,” he repeated. Then he tugged at the sleeves of her t-shirt. “Especially, not this.”

He watched as she looked down at her shirt and then back up at him. “You knew?” she asked.

“No,” Nat lifted her up and adjusted her in his arms again. “Not yesterday. Not last night. It was just before I fell asleep that things started to come together.”

Alyssa looked down, ashamed.

“Tell me, has Miss Kranston seen your imitation of her?” Nat asked, looking down and pulling her chin away from his chest.

That got her attention. “No,” Alyssa said, “and she can’t know. She’d be so mad.”
Nat chuckled at that, “I can imagine she would. Now, tell me, young lady. Because while I believe I know the answer, I want to hear it from you. Why is it that you suddenly turned yourself into Alicia?”

She looked down and tried to hide in his chest. “Ah, ah, ah,” Nat stopped her. “None of that,” he said gently. “I won’t be upset with your answer, Alyssa. I won’t punish you for your answer. What will earn you a handful of swats is refusing to answer.”

That got her to look up at him, though she looked downright miserable. “I, I thought you didn’t want me anymore,” she said quietly. “I didn’t see you for six weeks. Then, when I did, you told me about the dance center and how Tina is trying out for the training team, and that Alicia is over there. That you noticed she seems to be close with the coach.”

Nat nodded, “yes, I did say that. You’re going to have to tell me how you connected those pieces.”

He saw the look on her face and put his finger to her lips. “I know how I arrived at the conclusion that I did, Alyssa. I want to know how you did.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. “I mean, it seemed like so long since I saw you,” Nat saw her wringing her hands. “Then, that was practically the first thing we talked about. Or, at least, it seemed like it. It felt like, I mean, it, I just felt like, all of a sudden, you wanted Alicia and not me. Because Alicia does have a close relationship to Coach Brady, and if you wanted someone to try to talk to him about making sure Tina made it on the team, or even just give you any insight at all about what was going on, Alicia is the one that could do that. And, and I just felt like I wasn’t good enough anymore.”

Nat was surprised when she looked up at him. “All of our lives, Alicia always got what she wanted. She took what she wanted. I just figured that she took you, too. So, I thought, I mean, you wanted Alicia, I would be Alicia.”

“I’m sorry that you felt like that,” he told her, running his hand over her hair. “I’m sure there is more too it than what you’re telling me.”

He could see her about to object, so he held his finger up to her lips. “But, what I want to be clear on is that whether you were acting like yourself or acting like Alicia, it is there still will be punishments for the behavior.”

[MiaDevlin]

I really enjoy reading your stories. Please keep adding to it!