Stepping out of her red sedan, Renee couldn't help but be proud of herself.
Only parked a little bit crooked
, she thought. She told herself this would be an evening for the little wins - it had been a tough week at the community center and with a busy weekend looming ahead, Renee thought she could use some self-care. She had always read glowing reviews of Jet Nails on social media - family and friends insisting it was the best place in town for a manicure - but she'd always made some excuse. No time. Rent was due. She'd only break a nail the second she had to do something even
resembling
manual labor at the center. Today, though - no excuses. Renee needed a reason to feel good about herself.
As she reached towards the door of the salon, Renee quickly examined her hands. Sure, she wanted a manicure, but she didn't exactly need one. For a woman approaching sixty, her skin was incredibly healthy. The backs of her hands were smooth, free of wrinkles and spots, and her nails were a moderate length - neatly filed in a square shape that allowed her hands to look sturdy, professional, and well maintained. Still, it had been so long since she'd enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing the pristine shine of her painted nails while driving, texting, and the like. Even on a day where everything seemed to be going wrong, a nice manicure could make her
feel
like she had her shit together.
The inside of the salon was spotless. Work stations were lined neatly on one side of the wall, and on the other was a single desk housing a point of service terminal. For as popular as this place seemed to be, Renee was the only occupant. As the door shut behind her, a woman's voice chimed from a room in the back of the building. "Be there in just a moment!"
Sure enough, after a few seconds, a young brunette popped out of a storage space in the rear and made her way to the front desk. She beamed at Renee as she punched a few keys in front of her. "Thanks so much for stopping in! My name is Jordyn, I'll be taking care of you today. Can I get a name?"
"Of course. It's Renee Weaver - R-E-N-E-E. I made an appointment on the phone a couple days ago."
Renee took a glimpse at her manicurist's nails as Jordyn reached for a binder under the desk, hoping to get a sense of the quality of work she'd be receiving. To her surprise, Jordyn's nails seemed totally natural. They were cut shorter and had a sort of opaque shine to them, a contrast to Renee's longer, more matte nails. Jordyn must have noticed Renee taking a peek. She smirked as she flipped through the binder with one hand and subtly laid the other flat on the desk, giving Renee a better view.
"Okay, Renee, here you are! And you were just wanting soft french tips in our deluxe package?"
"Yes, just keeping it simple."
"Wonderful! Will you follow me, please?"
Jordyn led Renee to a desk near the back of the space. The first thing she noticed as she sat down was how
comfortable
the chair was - padded arms, a soft, cushioned back, and a seat that her rear seemed to just
sink
into. Before the manicure even started, Renee found herself sighing in release. Before sitting opposite of her, Jordyn walked over to a nearby sink and filled a large bowl up with warm water. She returned, set the bowl down, and sat in her own chair.
"This is just to soften your nails before we get started!"
Before Renee could even think about lifting her hands into the bowl, Jordyn had taken them in a soft but commanding grip. Almost immediately, Renee's hands seemed to go limp - more from surprise than anything - but she allowed Jordyn to comfortably place her hands in the bowl. The sensation of the warm liquid enveloping her fingers made Renee tingle a little. She glanced up and noticed the young manicurist smiling at her.
Jordyn's eyes were a vivid green. If the rest of her body hadn't seemed so uniform and, in a beautiful sense,
ordinary
, Renee would have sworn that she was wearing colored contact lenses.
"I don't want you to even
think
about moving your hands," Jordyn said. "That's what you're paying me for. Remember?"
Renee let out a soft chuckle, taken aback by the woman's bluntness. "Of course," she said. "Wouldn't want to get in your way."
For a few moments, the two sat in silence. Renee couldn't help but notice a contemplative look on Jordyn's face. "Is something wrong?" Renee asked.
Jordyn leaned back for a moment, cupping her chin in her hand. Again, Renee noticed the gleam of the other woman's nails. Ever so slowly, Jordyn turned her head from side to side. "You know, when I lifted your hands into the bowl, I felt a lot of tension in them. A lot of stress. I've always had a good sense for that. Would that...you know, reflect anything going on in your life?"
Renee raised a brow. She wasn't paying this lady to be her therapist. Still, there was nothing wrong with venting a little bit to a stranger. "I dunno, I..." She glanced up, again making note of those green eyes. "I guess it's just work? And I have all sorts of family stuff this weekend. Just one thing after another."
Jordyn nodded. "Actually, I don't have this on our service menu, but I've got several methods I can use for relaxing customers. Give them a bit of stress relief. A lot of people don't know this, but so much of a person's stress can be built up in their hands. It's a big part of why we gravitate towards things like a manicure when we want to tell ourselves how much we care about our bodies."
Absentmindedly, Renee found herself nodding along. She hadn't noticed it at first, but Jordyn's voice sounded so comforting. So familiar and reassuring. Had she known her from somewhere? No. It was her first time here and the salon was on the other side of the city from her apartment. She quietly told herself that some people were just naturally inviting.
"Yes," Renee heard herself say, almost in an echo, "that would be fine."
As soon as she said that, she shook her head. What had she just agreed to? Why did she agree to it? But then, Jordyn grasped her hands again, took them out of the bowl, and began to massage them. Maybe it didn't matter what she'd agreed to. Maybe this was exactly what she needed. Jordyn's hands had a sort of muscular femininity about them, so Renee felt a firm pressure on her palm as Jordyn sank her thumbs into it. Slowly, gently, methodically, and across both hands, Jordyn moved her way down to Renee's wrists, then back upwards to massage the individual fingers. When she got to the bulky wedding set on Renee's left hand, she gently massaged around it.
"How does this feel?"
Renee realized that her jaw had been slack the entire time Jordyn had been rubbing her hands. Her brain told her to respond. There was
something
to respond to, but she couldn't tell what. Something told her that the sound of the voice she was hearing was important. That if ever there was a time to put in effort, it was to hear that voice. To respond to it. As she thought of what to say, Renee allowed her head to lop gently to one side.
"Fantastic," Renee said, and again her own words rang about in her mind, bouncing about as though they were in a sonic house of mirrors. "Feels...really good..."
"Awesome!" Jordyn said. "And I'd like you to do me a favor. Close your eyes. It'll help you relax. You don't need to look at anything. You don't need to hear anything except my voice."
"Help...relax...voice..." At this point, individual words started to blur together in Renee's head. Obediently, her eyes fluttered shut. Hadn't Jordyn said that would help? She needed help. Jordyn had said so, hadn't she? Help...relaxing. Help...stress...stop thinking words. Renee felt Jordyn gently lay her hands down. For a few seconds, Renee generated thoughts of simply staying like this forever. Not trapped, but held
lovingly
in a void of pure bliss. Then, again, she felt sensation. Her brow furrowed until she made out what it was - a tender rubbing on her temples. Renee felt her chair lean backwards. Once more, she heard the voice.
"There we go...isn't that nice? I want to ask you some questions, Renee. Just listen to my voice and respond truthfully. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
"Thank you, Renee. You relax and respond so effortlessly. Have you ever been hypnotized?"
Again, Renee's brow furrowed. Having to remember was so difficult, but this was the voice. And the hands massaging the sides of her head...weren't those the same hands she had admired at the desk? The struggle of remembering was worth it to please those hands, that voice. Wasn't it? Renee found herself relaxing the muscles in her face as she remembered.
"Yes. I have been hypnotized."
"I thought so. Why don't you tell me about it? Briefly."
As Renee's mind started to piece together the images of her past experience, she felt Jordyn move down from the sides of her head to her shoulders. The fingers kneaded into tissue, generating waves of pleasure and relaxation. Even with her jaw drooping, her tongue resting behind her bottom lip, and drool running down the side of her jaw - Renee felt her mouth attempt to fold itself into a smile. Still, the voice had asked her to speak. She would have to sacrifice some of this relaxation in order to obey. That was okay. Giving the voice, the hands, the eyes whatever they wanted was so much more important.
"It was...my honeymoon. Thirty years ago. We went on a cruise. My husband...took me to see a hypnotist at the bar. I had been drinking. I volunteered."
She heard Jordyn giggle. "You went on stage?"
"I went...on stage. Yes. I was asked to look at a shiny object. It sort of...spun around and...I got sleepy..."
"You went under quickly?"
"Yes. Under deep hypnosis."
