Wednesday:
"Brittney, before you go I need to speak with you for a moment."
Brittney flinched when she heard her boss call out to her as she gathered her things to go home. She know what it was going to be about, she'd screwed up and hadn't been at her desk when a very important client showed up. She'd kept a million dollar client waiting for 10 minutes before getting back from her smoke break and she knew she was about to get chewed out for it... She just hoped she wouldn't get fired for it. She walked into Ms. Jones's office already mentally preparing herself for the inevitable yelling.
"Have a seat..." Brittney settled into one of the seats facing Ms. Jones's desk. Her office was beautifully appointed and large enough to have a desk with chairs facing it as well as a sitting area with a couch and a couple of comfortable chairs for more casual meetings. "Brittney...we have a problem..." she began.
Brittney cut her off hoping to forestall a tongue lashing, "I know Ms. Jones and I'm really sorry. It'll never happen again. You see, there was nothing on your schedule so I thought I'd have time for a smoke break but then he showed up half an hour early...if I'd known he was gonna show up early there's no way I would have left my desk. I swear." She said in a rush.
Ms. Jones held up her hand to stop her. "Brittney, I understand that he showed up early which is why you need to be at your desk to receive clients AT ALL TIMES, understand? I can't have you running outside 10 times a day to take a smoke break. You didn't use to take some many breaks, what happened?"
Brittney felt miserable but at least it seemed like she wasn't getting fired. "Well I... I've been trying to quit so I was on the patch but it just didn't work out for me."
"Hmmm, so you've tried the patch, what else have you tried?"
"Everything. The patch, the gum, everything."
"Hmmm, have you tried hypnosis?"
"Yeah I listened to hypnosis tapes while I slept for about a week but it didn't take."
"Well you need to do something Brittney, if you can't stop smoking I'm afraid I'm going to need to start looking for a new assistant. Just think about your health, smoking kills..."
"Yeah. Yeah I know, I've heard it all before..."
"...but before it kills you it takes your beauty. Your teeth turn yellow then brown then fall out, your skin turns grey, your hair goes limp...you're a pretty girl Brittney, that's part of why I hired you. It's like having a nice piece of art in the waiting room but if you're just gonna throw it all away for cigarettes..."
Brittney was flattered that Ms. Jones thought of her as pretty. She'd always thought of herself as rather plain. Plus she'd gained 10 pounds in the last year and knew it was showing. She wasn't ugly by any stretch of the imagination but she didn't think of herself as pretty either. Especially not when compared to Ms. Jones. She was absolutely stunning with mocha colored skin and a perfect hourglass figure. Not to mention the fact that her outfit probably cost more than Brittney's car. She practically radiated power.
"Now, you said you tried hypnosis tapes but have you tried mesmerism?"
"Umm, I'm not even sure what that is..."
Ms. Jones sighed, "that's understandable I guess, not many people are familiar with mesmerism. It's sorta similar to hypnotism but not exactly. Hypnotism is helping to guide someone into a trance, basically you give them instructions so that they can entrance themselves. Mesmerism is forcing someone into a trance. It's sorta like the difference between giving someone directions and picking them up and carrying them to the destination. Understand?"
"I guess so...but why are you telling me this?" Brittney asked confused.
"Because of the way hypnotism works, the hypnotic suggestions can only work if you want them too one hundred percent. If even one percent of you don't want to quit smoking then the effects won't last. Mesmerism on the other hand can force you to take suggestions even if you don't want to. In other words, if you're mesmerized you'll stop smoking even if you don't really want to quit."
"That sounds pretty cool actually. Almost like mind control right?"
"Sort of, that's a vast over-simplification but it's the right general idea. Anyway, I'm telling you all of this because I happen to be proficient in mesmerism. If you like, I can work with you and make you stop smoking."
"Wait," Brittney said as she realized some of the ramifications of mesmerism, "So if what you're saying is true, you could put me in a trance and make me do anything right? Like anything, anything?"
"Well there are limits of course, I couldn't make you hurt yourself for instance. But something like making you stop smoking should be fairly easy."
"Well...alright. I guess I'll give it a shot..." Brittney decided.
"Wonderful. But I should warn you, each session will take about an hour and we'll need to meet every day after work for the first week for it to fully work and be permanent. After that an occasional touchup every now and then when you start getting strong cravings should keep you clean. Go lay on the couch and we can get started."
Brittney considered for a moment to make sure she didn't have any plans that would prevent her from staying an hour after work every day before she moved over to sit on the couch.
"No dear, lay down. I need you to be as comfortable as possible for this."
Brittney kicked off her heels and laid down on the couch as Ms. Jones moved over to sit in one of the comfortable chairs by the couch.
"Are you ready Brittney?"
"Yes Ma'am. Just tell me what I need to do."
"Just get comfortable dear, and look into my eyes. That part's important. My force of will is going to put you in a trance so you need to be looking into my eyes."
Brittney wiggled around on the couch for a moment to find a comfortable position to lay in while still being able to look Ms. Jones in the eye.
"Good. Now just keep gazing into my eyes as you listen to my words," Ms. Jones began in a calm, soothing voice. "Gaze into my eyes and feel yourself getting lost in them. Falling, deeper and deeper into my eyes until you are helplessly lost in them. But you won't worry about getting lost, will you? Because you trust me, right? You know that I'll take care of you. You aren't afraid of getting lost in my eyes. You know I'll guide you to where you need to be. You can just relax and enjoy the warm tingle in your chest as you surrender control to me. You feel yourself sinking, deeper and deeper into my eyes as my words soothe your mind. You feel yourself falling into a trance. You feel your eyes getting heavy and you slowly let them close. I'm going to count down and with each number you will fall deeper and deeper into a trance. When I reach zero, you will be completely under my control."
"10... 9... 8... 7... your eyes are closed and you feel yourself surrendering control to me... 6... 5... 4... your mind is empty as each and every thought flows out of them like water pouring out of a faucet... 3... 2... 1... you're almost there... 0."
"Keeping your eyes closed, I am taking you into a new room in your mind. In this room, you see everything that you are. On the wall is a dial that reads 'trance'. It shows how deep of a trance you're in from 1-10. What number does the dial read now?"
Brittney wasn't sure what was happening or whether it was working or not. She was definitely relaxed and she definitely trusted Ms. Jones and would obey whatever she said but she felt more like she was about to fall asleep than that she was entering a trance. She felt so sleepy that she couldn't even form coherent thoughts, she wasn't sure how she should respond to Ms. Jones's question but oddly enough she wasn't worried about what she should say. She didn't feel the need to tell Ms. Jones what she wanted to hear like she normally did. Without conscious thought, Brittney heard herself respond "7" but couldn't remember picking that number or even why she said it.