In Cruise Ship Hypnosis, Part 01, Chapter 1, Katie Thatcher was introduced as a stage hypnotist entertainer performing a popular cruise ship show. More importantly, she is also a trained hypnotherapist who holds group sessions to help with a multiplicity of problems such as ending a smoking habit, losing weight, etc. She also holds private sessions for people with more delicate and personal difficulties. Her husband, Matt, serves as manager and agent. Her role as hypnotherapist led her, reluctantly, into a moderate sexual relationship with Janine and, later, with a more intense liaison with Jane in Cruise Ship Hypnosis, Part 02. She fears that these actions will put her on the proverbial 'slippery slope' toward using hypnosis to take advantage of clients. While not absolutely necessary, I would recommend reading Cruise Ship Hypnosis, Part 01, Chapter 1, to provide a better picture of Katie and Matt's backgrounds and of the events referred to in this story.
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Katie and Matt stood on their balcony looking down at departing passengers filing off the ship as the cruise ended. Just yesterday those passengers had been highly valued -- providers of money paid in bars, money lost in the casino, money used to buy optional services that not long ago were included in the basic cruise cost. Now, they were hustled out of their cabins early in the morning and stored elsewhere in lounges, bars, etc. until it was their turn to disembark. Finally they were sent off ship to a big terminal warehouse to search for their luggage. By 10:00 AM, they were gone. All this rush to empty the ship and to prepare for the influx of new passengers who will be loved until they are ousted for the next crowd. It's a business and the old is thrown out to make ready for the new.
Katie and Matt, of course, were immune to that expulsion and later watched those new passengers file out of the cruise terminal building, happily smiling and eager to board and search for their accommodations. As entertainers, Katie and Matt were not required to do so, but they regularly pinned ID badges on themselves and aided the staff by walking through, on this ship, the Royal Promenade, introducing themselves and answering questions from the newcomers. This served a dual purpose -- they provided useful information to the new cruisers and also, by introducing themselves, they encouraged people to look for their stage performance schedule. If those people happened to be young and attractive, it wouldn't hurt if they came on stage!
After wandering about meeting people for some time, Katie observed to Matt, cynically, "My, it seems that quite a few good looking women have needed your help! It seems that every time I look over and find you, I see them hanging on your words. Is that just a coincidence?"
"Now, honey, you know that this is a good time to solicit business for the show and the sessions! We need some attractive women to be decorative on the stage! Getting a few of them under hypnosis is good for business."
"Yeah, but what kind of business are you thinking about? Another Jane? Forget about it."
"Why Katie, you hurt me! My thoughts are a pure as the driven snow!" The truthfulness of his statement was somewhat undermined by the licentious grin that accompanied it.
"You're as pure as the big bad wolf! You're also as transparent as glass! Now, if you've trolled for victims long enough, let's go up and get some lunch before you try to seduce any more women."
The cruise was underway shortly with its usual shakedown period during which the ship was explored by those new passengers. Matt, as the manager of their show in which Katie was the on-stage talent, had negotiated a good contract, with their usual excellent amenities, and was anticipating a pleasant summer when on board and visiting new sites when docked.
It was the third day of a 7-day cruise on the Mediterranean, Barcelona to Venice, and the day after Katie had successfully put on their first show of the cruise in her role as a stage hypnotist. The following morning, Matt was engaged in his favorite form of exercise, playing basketball. He had been a competent, but not special, player in college, a 6' 3" shooting guard. He loved playing pickup games on the cruise ships' courts but today he was limited to playing a game of HORSE with the only other player available. He still was a good shooter and, quite easily, had won three straight games and he and his victim, Richard (never addressed as "Dick") Henderson, were drying the sweat off -- it was quite hot in the sun -- and were walking off the court.
After a quick shower in their suite, Matt intended to join Katie in scheduling several private sessions with passengers who had personal problems that they hoped hypnotism could solve. Katie also offered group sessions -- ending smoking, cutting drinking, losing weight, etc., but these sessions were scheduled by the cruise director at set fees.
Actually, these group sessions were at least as important as the stage shows because, like on-shore excursions, they brought considerable profit to the cruise line. In addition to the financial considerations, these sessions were very effective, having a high success rate which led to an excellent rating on evaluation questionnaires. The private sessions, on the other hand, were very profitable for Matt and Katie because the cruise line only charged an administrative fee for handling the payments, while the rest of the negotiated fees were theirs.
As Matt and Richard walked in and headed for the elevators, Richard stopped and asked, "Do you have time for a quick drink before we go down? There's something I would like to talk about." They got their drinks and sat down in a lounge. "Look", Richard continued, "My wife, Cindy, and I went to your show last night and, frankly, I was really surprised. I've been to a couple of these stage hypnosis shows and really wasn't interested, but Cindy wanted to go. I expected the usual...well, phony shows that I had seen before. In one of those, the 'volunteers' were obviously shills or stooges. In the other the hypnotist whispered in my ear telling me what to do and how to act. I went along with it as a good sport, but I hated it.
"As I said, something like that was what I expected last night. Cindy wanted to go on stage and see what happened. All I remembered afterwards was hearing your wife telling us to relax and sometime later, I came to or woke up, feeling very good but vague about what had gone on. It was all over, whatever it was, and we left the stage with everyone applauding. Neither Cindy nor I remembered doing anything special and I suddenly was afraid that I had been doing something embarrassing like clucking like a chicken or something weird. Fortunately, the couple we were with had watched from the audience and had used their phone to record us. There we were, singing a duet and neither of us can sing! Even more unbelievably, we sounded reasonably good! Another person was playing the piano as if he were in a symphony, but he had no piano! I talked to one of the ship's officers later and he said that he's seen her act several times and that your wife is amazing."
