"Apart from that she wouldn't wear stockings and suspenders." Jim complained to Angus, a colleague in the office. It was one of a list of criticisms he voiced in complaint since she had phoned telling him she was leaving. The trip to the sub office was going well and Jim would soon be returning home, only to an empty apartment, which he wasn't looking forward to.
Angus had patiently half listened to the moaning while they worked. With a smile on his face he told Jim. "My wife wears what ever I want her to. Last year she went to a hypnotist to help give up smoking. To save him hypnotising her from scratch each session he used a phrase to put her into a hypnotic state. He calls it a password. I found it out and have been using it to add my own instructions." Feeling he had revealed too much of a personal, perhaps even sordid, tale he shut up to concentrate on preparing the report for Jim.
Jim felt the embarrassment creep upon them both. He didn't now the man well only arriving from head office a few days ago, yet they seemed to be getting on, but it occurred to him this might be a set-up. "Well it must be a disappointment that she wears them only under hypnosis, isn't it?" Jim asked, trying to sound casual. He might as well see where this was going and with a little encouragement Angus continued.
"It was, but I worked out something. I suggested she was itchy wearing tights and shouldn't wear them. After that worked I suggested she felt uncomfortable not wearing anything on her legs, so obviously, she started to wear stockings - those stay up ones, you know with elasticised tops. I suggested they might fall down leaving her embarrassed in a supermarket. To avoid the embarrassment she should hold them up with suspenders. After sometime repeating it all, she's now taken to wearing stockings and suspenders all the time." He boasted.
"That sounds very convenient, having a wife who panders to your whims. Well worth the trouble I'd say. Do you have more plans for her?" Looking a little sheepish Angus changed the direction of the conversation back to the company accounts.
"What you were telling me this morning sounds intriguing. Perhaps you could give me some hints for my next girlfriend. So I could get her to give in to some little whim or other." With a little encouragement Angus was soon sharing his experience and explained the mistake made in directing her too directly toward what he wanted to achieve.
"It's not so easy. You can't just tell her to do something she wouldn't normally do. You would have to build up to it with lots of little commands. It's tricky." They fell into silence for a while thinking their own private thoughts.
"What's the first step? How do I get her hypnotised to start it all off?" Jim asked. Angus was enthusiastic with the chance to share this new found game with someone so wrote down the number of the hypnotist.
"What if the next girlfriend doesn't smoke? How could I get her to go?"
Angus thought about this seriously although Jim was still sceptical about the whole idea so it didn't matter that much - he just played along. He merely wanted to find out what Angus had been up to since he was so enthusiastic about it.
"You could tell her someone at work had lost weight through hypnosis, pretend to get the number from one of the girls in the office. After all women always want to improve their figure. That's something I'm working on with Melody."
It was true Jane had always been on some diet; it was something he disliked about her, all those fad diets spoiling an evening out at a restaurant. He had to join her eating only carbohydrates or not eating them, avoiding fat as though it were a demon or subsisting on vegetables. "You could be on to something there Angus." He said.
Seeing Jim was taking it seriously he decided to make him an offer. "You could come round on Friday evening if you like and I'll show you how it's done." Angus offered.
Before Angus could take back the suggestion Jim agreed. "That would be great. Perhaps you could help with me out with the next girlfriend." He laughed, although this was an empty statement as there was no way he could possibly let Angus near a girlfriend of his. Not wishing to return home this seemed like an amusing diversion to what would have been a lonely weekend.
Next day was Friday and the end of the day had arrived after many conversations, which intrigued Jim to distraction. He was looking forward to this demonstration that Angus was just as eagerly planning.
***
Walking in to the house the first impression was of an ordinary, neat and tidy home, with nothing out of place. When Melody walked into the lounge it was she that looked out of place, significantly. In the conservatively fashioned home there stood a dream of womanhood that any man would lust over. Angus was around forty yet this woman looked a young thirty something. Long dark hair flowed over bare shoulders and under the fringe were long eyelashes, a pretty little nose and wide full lips.
What struck him most were the clothes. It was a French maids outfit, low cut with a very short hem. "Take his coat then bring us drinks." Angus ordered, without a please or thank you which would have earned any husband a rebuke before a guest or not. So perhaps Angus had achieved all that he had boasted about.
With his coat neatly folded over her arm Melody asked, "What would you like to drink, sir."
