Edie sat across from her client, keeping her excitement in-check as her client read over her the specifics of her proposal. She'd spent a solid hour on this meeting, convincing this bank that her advertising service was exactly what they needed. Skeptical clients never made it easy, but they were eventually convinced. Everyone in the room stood up and Edie and the client shook hands.
Another sale made, another notch on her designer belt. Her charm and charisma for work could help her sell ice cubes to South Pole penguins. She walked out of the meeting room feeling giddy. She wanted to take a victory lap around somewhere, or someone maybe. Will came to mind, thinking he'd be good to celebrate with, or something quick with Emil, Ronald, or Robert. She understood the stigma around being the cheating fiancΓ©e, or the mistress for a married man, but she honestly couldn't bring herself to care about the consequences. Consequences required being found out in the first place.
She was thinking about calling Ronald to see if he was busy. Her 'shy boy' was a ways away uptown, but it might not be hard to get him over to her. However, she stepped into her office to find she already had company, a woman waiting for her. She looked a slightly older woman, but quite attractive. Auburn hair, pleasant smile, dressed similar to Edie but with a navy color scheme of pumps, stockings, matching skirt and jacket over a white blouse. The Newton's cradle on her desk was sounding off, making Edie think the woman maybe hadn't been there long. The woman stood tall, and both women silently observed each other. Edie held a confused smile on her face, and the confusion grew parallel to the grin the older-looking woman couldn't hold back.
"I hear you're quite the salesman."
Edie took in the dulcet tone of her words and wondered if she was dealing with a client, or another salesman. Everything about her suggested the latter, as it seemed like she was employing Edie's brand of charm. She even noticed her words were timed with the clicking balls.
"Ok lady, what are you selling me?" Edie asked in her own head.
The answer received was the navy-attired woman stepping forward, timed again with the balls. The older woman reached out to hold Edie's face gently in her hands. Even with some people she was close to, such a gesture would be met with a reactive recoiling. The auburn-haired woman's boldness left her almost too surprised to react like Edie normally would. The palm was warm against her face, the thumb stroking in-time with the clicking. The younger blonde noticed her guest's eye color matched her hair color, and her eyes widened in response to take in her whole face and see how beautiful she looked.
"My name is Lydia; I've heard a lot about you."
Word of Edie did get around in the circles she worked in. Among the best salesman in the city, with a keen eye for weakness, and a love for exploiting it. Destined for an executive position in her current company, or any company who she wanted someday. Lydia, whoever she was, seemed focused more now on Edie being the best-looking seller around. Naturally blonde hair, cut to a slanted perfection, a slim body she worked hard to maintain, knowing it made up a good chunk of her selling power. The older woman wasn't as young or as thin as Edie, but she still had the goods to make a sale. Her presence alone was softly imposing, as if to propose "this is the way it's going to be, enjoy it." One of Lydia's hands slipped away from Edie's face while the other traced fingers down to her chin, cupping it, centering Edie's green eyes on Lydia's auburn ones.
It seemed like Lydia just expected her to be taken into those eyes, and for some reason it was working. The lovely color in them, framed by Lydia's creamy skin, and a cascade of auburn curls. Those waves of sublime coloring took her deep into those eyes, noticing a depth that seemed to expand the longer she looked. There were ghostly sensations against her body around her cleavage and stomach, and she couldn't look away to see if it was Lydia touching or Edie starting to imagine and hope where Lydia might touch her.
"Would you like to know about me?"
Edie freely shook her head, or it just felt easy to move against the hand on her chin. Lydia shook her head too, so it was merely easy to follow those unblinking eyes.
"I come bearing a special offer."
"What...offer?" Edie managed to whisper.
"Truth, my dear girl. The chance to find out more about yourself, to embrace the inner you, which can shine brightly in your outward self, brighter than you ever though possible. I can see it in you, even though it might be hidden to everyone else, even yourself. You may look in the mirror and see a beautiful woman, but the longer you look into my eyes, the more you will see a reflection of your true self. My eyes will show you this truth, my eyes will show you happiness. Let go to my eyes as you become filled with your true self."
Edie had sunken too deep into those auburn pools to even realize she was the client now, the easy mark absolutely primed for the kill.
"You're going to hear words that reflect what I see in you, words that are the truth, words that will set your inner self free. Free to interact with me and shine brightly."
"Hypnotized."
"Slut."
"Bimbo."
"Slut."
"Hypnotized."
"Bimbo."
"Bimbo of a hypnotized slut..."
Edie woke abruptly, blinking her eyes rapidly to get her mind and imaging right. Fortunately, she wasn't in her office, and that woman wasn't there. She shook her head to repel the nightmarish daydream, the final, sweetly whispered words in her head, and the disgust of the thought of an empty smile on her face as she accepted those words. It took her longer for her senses to tell her what she'd woken up to.
The first thing she realized is that she was resting on her knees, in the room of a house somewhere. "What the hell," would've been her reactive statement were it for her mouth not working. There was nothing attached to her face or stuck in her mouth to prevent it from moving, just that her the muscles of her mouth were loose and barely in her control, but it was still kept comfortably shut. She noticed her vocal cords didn't work either, feeling relaxed beyond her control. Most of her body felt the same way. Arms remained at her sides, unable to muster the physical urge to get up from kneeling. She was merely mute and still, with the exception of being able to turn her head.