***
The themes and events in this short story are not only unrealistic, but distinctly misogynistic. It's important that these themes are framed from a point of view of catharsis and not endorsement. Whether you have similar thoughts or are a victim of them, these stories are meant as a safe way to explore this prevalent attitude. This method of coping is not for everybody, so indulge accordingly. Enjoy.
***
Brooke knew it was prejudiced of her, but she was immediately incredulous when she heard that the new intern would be male. In addition to having bad experiences with men in her personal life for as long as she could remember, she also found that the men in the office produced the laziest work and coupled it with the greatest overconfidence. Still, Brooke was well aware of her inclinations and told herself that she would do her best to judge this new person on his specific merits and not her overwhelming past experience.
Will was his name and when he was introduced at a staff meeting, Brooke immediately felt strange vibes from him. But he was smiling pleasantly and acting politely and he didn't even take one glance at her generous chest. But in Brooke's experience, the men who didn't look had often been the most dangerous. It meant that they knew what they were doing.
But she knew how paranoid all of this would sound if she said it out loud, so she was cordial to him when she shook his hand and told him that he would be reporting to her on a weekly basis.
Brooke was a department head for Terra Polis, an accounting firm that prided itself on treating its employees well. Therefore even an intern like Will started off at an enviable salary. But this also meant that employees were held accountable and all new employees, intern or not, had to report weekly to their department heads so that the company could assess if they were working towards being a valuable employee.
"I look forward to it," Will had said when Brooke told him that she would be the one he would be reporting to. It was said in a brisk professional tone, but she still felt a strange dark shiver when he said it, as if his mind were saying something else that only her subconscious heard.
"Ooo, you think he's a dark wizard?" Brooke's sister Wanda teased over the phone.
"Please!" Brooke said back, laughing as she lay down on her loveseat, dangling her feet above her as she talked to her favourite person. "You're the only one who knows all the awful shit I've been through. I can't tell if it's a second sense or if it's just a permeating distrust of all men!"
"Can't it be both?" Wanda laughed back. "He's just an intern, Brooke. You'll be fair, no matter what your private feelings are. You've always been that way. Hell, I think I've yelled at Dad for our childhood more than you have and you're the one who has much better reasons!"
"Yeah, I guess," Brooke sighed. She appreciated how Wanda would always frame their childhood that way, but she still didn't like to think about it. "Anyway, thanks for listening to me vent. I should go make dinner."
"Yeah, of course. But don't worry, interns there only have - what did you say? - six month contracts? It will be over soon."
"Not soon enough. Talk to you soon."
The workweek proceeded normally for Brooke after that. Although Will would have to report to her, she didn't have to work directly with him. The day he was due for his report, Brooke did her typical research into his progress before his provided his verbal self-assessment. She was surprised to find that both employee reviews and her independent digging turned up that he was shaping up to be the best intern they had had in a long time. He was diligent and very quick to pick up on new systems. He had even been asking for additional projects when he was done his assigned work. And all in the first week! She recognized that she felt disappointed in his positive performance. Maybe Wanda was right and she should start to go to therapy to process these feelings.
"Come in," Brooke said when Will knocked on her office door a few hours later. He was precisely on time.
"I'm here for my weekly report, Miss Raycroft," he said, closing the door behind him. He was wearing expensive looking blue dress pants and a pale pink button up without a jacket.
"Oh you can definitely just call me Brooke. Please, take a seat."
He did as she said and she took a moment to remind herself to be kind to him.
"I don't mind saying right off the bat that although it's just your first week, response to you has been very positive, Will," Brooke started, forcing a professional smile to go along with her words.
"That's kind of you to say and it's great to hear," Will responded with an even tone and expression.
"How do you feel you've been doing so far?" She asked.
"Oh I'm not too interested in talking about that, Brooke," Will said, reaching into his pocket. Brooke felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, but even her varied horror stories with men couldn't prepare her for this. Will pulled out a large gem attached to a gold chain. He stood up and dropped it in front of Brooke's face. Her hazel eyes immediately snapped to it. It was completely mesmerizing. She had never seen anything so beautiful. It was like there was an entire galaxy inside of the white crystal. But this wasn't right. She was at work in her office, talking through a new intern on his first weekly report. She tried to look away from the crystal. She couldn't. She just kept looking and looking, staring deeper into its depths, trying to find something that she couldn't put her finger on. No matter how hard she tried to tell herself to look away, she found she had no control over her ability to do so.
"This was even easier than I thought it would be." Will's voice seemed like a shout and a whisper all at once. Brooke winced, but was unable to answer or move beyond that. "Getting into your office alone, I mean. That's obviously all I need. I only applied here because I saw you walk into this building from your car one day and I was like 'damn, I need that bitch in my collection'. But reporting directly to you? I didn't even have to try. I like to minimize who I use this on on the way to my target and this situation is what I call a hole-in-one. Anyway, time to get to work."
Brooke's fury and confusion and humiliation had no outlet. It just surged and twisted inside her as Will began to swing the gem in front of her helpless eyes. She watched it swing back and forth and back and forth in front of her.
"All that exists is this gem and me, Brooke. This gem and my voice," he said. But this time when he spoke his words were calming and appeared to come from all around her. She tried to resist it, she tried to remind herself where she was and what was happening to her, but the world around the gem faded away and Will's voice was just so soothing and powerful.
"All that exists is this gem and you, Will," Brooke said.
"Good. You find that the longer you stare at this gem and the longer you listen to my voice, the more you want to obey me. The more you want to feel your head grow empty. Mindless. Obedient."
Brooke's heart pounded. Was this really happening? Was this college kid really using some cliched hypnosis technique that was actually working? She felt like she was able to resist better this time. She still stared at the gem and was still unable to think of Will's voice as anything but all-encompassing, but she didn't repeat after him and she didn't feel her mind fading. Unfortunately this didn't seem to faze Will.
"Deeper. Deeper. You are so calm. You are so at peace. You love sitting here, watching this gem. You love listening to my voice."
This time Brooke wasn't able to resist. The gem seemed to be pulsing. She felt her crotch grow warm as she realized he was right. She loved sitting here watching. She loved listening to his voice.
"Deeper and deeper," he said.
"Deeper and deeper," she said.
"Your mind is growing empty."
