He was in the middle of a session when he heard a knock on the door. He put his patient in a rest state and went downstairs to see who it was.
A young woman stood there awkwardly, staring straight at her feet.
"Hello," he said.
She didn't look up, but just shook her head quickly side to side.
"Can I help you? I'm in the middle of something."
She gulped and handed him a folded note. He looked her over with curiosity. She was young, probably somewhere between 18 and 22. She didn't have graceful beauty, but she was very cute. Her body was completely hidden under loose, frumpy clothes. She didn't seem very confident in her appearance, even though she was really quite pretty. He read the note.
It read: "My name is Rose Porter. You are the best reviewed hypnotist in the area. I need help being less shy. I can barely speak to anybody. I am very lonely. Please help me. I have money."
He looked to her from the note and back again, and thought for a moment.
"Rose," he said decisively, "I will help you. But I am in the middle of a session right now. Come back tomorrow at noon and I will work with you then."
She nodded and ran off. He chuckled a little and went back upstairs to finish his session.
The next day, the doorbell rang just before noon. He was ready for her. He brought her upstairs and had her sit on the couch.
Slowly he took her through his hypnotizing regimen. He made her regulate her breathing, and count backwards, and keep her eye on a single, moving object. His voice was soothing and authoritative. She quickly slipped under his control.
He asked her about herself, and soon she was opening up to him. She was a fascinating person. She was brilliant, and was in an accelerated program at the local university. At only 20 years old, she was well on her way to acquiring her Ph. D. in neuroscience. But her whole life she had suffered from debilitating social anxiety. Speaking to strangers was impossible, and speaking to people she knew was difficult. Public speaking was out of the question. But her dissertation was coming up and she was going to need to give a presentation. Also, she was incredibly lonely. She wanted better relationships with her family. She wanted friends, for once. And she wanted to make love.
They talked in depth during their sessions over a few months. He trained her to feel more calm when people spoke to her. As time went on, she became more comfortable with him even when she wasn't hypnotized. He could see that he was helping her. She told him of her newfound ability to communicate well with her family. She had even made a new friend in her program. She was very grateful to him.
But she still had too much anxiety to approach a man about romance or sexual desire.
He decided to go into that topic in more depth.
"Why do you want to be with a man so badly, Rose?" he asked.
"Touching myself isn't enough," she answered, her blunt honesty a result of how completely she was at his mercy.
"What do you want to do with a man?"
"I want to touch him, and have him touch me. I want him inside me. I want to have an orgasm and make a man orgasm."
"What are you afraid will happen if you ask a man to do this with you?"
"He will say no, and he will tell others that I asked him, and he will make fun of me."
"Have you tried dressing more nicely?"
"No, because then people will look at me."
"Why are you afraid of people looking at you?"
"They might think I'm ugly and laugh at me."
"Do you think you're ugly?"
She sighed. "Yes."
He was shocked. The more time he had spent with her, the more he had realized how much her awkwardness hid her beauty. When she was relaxed, she was devastatingly lovely. But she was never relaxed, except with him.
"What if I told you that you weren't ugly, Rose?" he asked, gently.
She shook her head. "I wouldn't believe you."
"You are going to believe everything I say, okay, Rose?"
She nodded obediently.
"You are beautiful," he said. "You are a sexual being. You are sexually attractive."
She nodded.
"How do you feel, Rose?" he asked, concerned, because she looked a little flushed.
"I feel sexual."
"Good," he murmured. "What do you want to do right now?"