Early afternoon on Wednesday I told my office receptionist that I won't be needing her after 3 o'clock.
Jerry was my only remaining scheduled appointment, at 4 pm.
Before he showed up, I rearranged my office. I made it somewhat darker and let soft music on. I put the sofa in a semi-reclining position and placed a metronome on a table in front of the sofa.
Jerry rang the bell exactly at 4 and I let him in.
He was dressed in comfortable long pants, simple tee shirt and sandals.
He appeared nervous...
I knew he would be, like most people undergoing a procedure that they do not know much about.
I told him to sit on the chair next to my desk, "Jerry, thanks for being here on time. My plan today is to find out which of the acceptable induction techniques work better for you. Once you are under hypnosis, I'll help you go deeper into almost a sleep mode, such that your sub-conscience will take over. I want you to understand that while I may try to hear certain details from you and direct you to change some of your behavioral habits, even under hypnosis I cannot make you do things that your brain will refuse to accept!..."
"Doctor, I do understand. I promised Debra and I promise you to cooperate as much as I can."
"Let me explain to you what I would like to do next. I am going to make the environment in this room as relaxing as can be with low lighting, soothing music and a comfortable sofa to lean on. I want to get you relaxed. If we are successful reaching with you the status we call 'trance', then everything else should be easier. OK?"
"Thanks for the explanation, doctor. I think I am ready to start now..."
I sat him on the partially reclined sofa, operated the mechanical metronome, told Jerry to listen to the ticks and follow the moving part with his eyes.
I let the device work, observing Jerry's eyes.
After about a minute, his eyes started flickering and his right hand jerked slightly, signaling some effect already.
I talked in a soft and monotonous voice, "Jerry, everything looks great so far. I want you to relax your body, close your eyes and take deep slow breaths..."
His eyes closed, his body lost his tone and his shoulders slumped. Jerry was in a moderate trance state.
Still in a soft soothing voice, "Jerry, I would like to talk to you about your past, because I think that it may help us understand what is going on. Is it OK with you?"
Dreamy voice, "OK."
"Jerry, I will take you back in time. Can you tell me please when and how you started smoking?"
"When I was 12, a classmate stole 3 cigarettes from his mother. He smoked one cigarette, gave me one and another child had the third one. I hated the taste and did not smoke again until I was 17. Then I joined a small group of boys and girls who smoked. I wanted to 'belong', so I started smoking too. It took me few weeks to get used to the taste and 2 more months to actually like it..."
"That is good Jerry... And when did you begin increasing the number of cigarettes per day?"
"When I was 20 I smoked 1 pack a day. I continued the same until I and Debra began having problems. I increased the number of cigarettes to relieve the stress. These days I smoke two and a half packs a day."
"Jerry, did you try exercising more? How about yoga or meditation?..."
"Anything I tried to stop smoking didn't work... I didn't try meditation, but I went twice to a yoga place with a friend and then other couple of times to a YMCA nearby. During these times I was not less stressed than usual and I needed a cigarette in my mouth... I tried Menthol cigarettes, but after a week I felt that it wasn't enough for me."
Talking slowly and calmly, "Jerry, I would like you to relax more and together we will go deeper into your past memory..."
Jerry slumped into the sofa and his breathing slowed down further.
"The other day you told me about your difficulties managing an adequate sexual activity with Debra. Do you think it has to do with your smoking?"
Jerry, in a very low voice, "I am sure that smoking is part of it. Lately I tried to avoid her, because I became breathless easily. The medications were and still are helping my breathing, but not to get my penis hard. After 15 minutes of trying to have sex, I felt in my mouth the need for a cigarette. Thinking about it distracted me even before I got tired..."
"Jerry, you told me confidentially that you tried to have gay sex and it was more successful than with Debra. Why do you think it was?"
"I don't know for sure, but I think that the expectations were different... The smell of smoke coming from my body didn't bother the guy and I didn't have to have a full erection. I was the 'bottom', so the other guy penetrated me. When I really felt the urge to climax, I masturbated myself, which was always easier for me to cum than do it with Debra... I was also sucking the other guy... Sucking a cock temporarily helped the craving for a cigarette in my mouth...
"Jerry, the other day you mentioned that you did it 'only a couple of times', so when did you start having sex with guys and how often did you actually do it?..."
"I didn't tell you the whole truth before... I started it 8 years ago. It was a friend from work. One time we got drunk together. I helped him walking to his apartment and we ended up having sex. Later I had sex with him 2 more times before he moved to another city. Back then at work I had a supervisor who liked to bully me. I didn't want to lose my work, so I didn't resist much. This supervisor somehow found out about my gay encounters and then he started blackmailing me. He told me that if I didn't want Debra to find out about it, I'd have to do whatever he ordered me to do... He knew that I needed the job and wouldn't quit it, so his way of humiliating me was to make me suck his cock whenever he felt like it... I don't think that he was gay, but he wanted me on my knees in front of him swallowing his spunk. My humiliation by my boss prevented my advancement at work. I never told Debra about it... Initially I hated my supervisor for doing it to me, but on those days that he was using my body, I actually ended up smoking less... I finally realized that I was a submissive guy... At one point I began liking the idea of blowing him. It gave me a sense of power to know that I was the one who decided when he would climax inside my mouth... After 3 years he retired and moved to Florida. I was really sorry when he left... I am not sure if this was a Stockholm syndrome or I was destined to be dominated by other men... After this guy left, I had shorter, mostly one time encounters with other men."