Melanie watched from a distance as her most famous client finished her stage rehearsal; it always gave her goosebumps to watch her sing, undulate, and tantalize the crowd not just with fancy clothing and a recognizable voice the world over, but with a charming aura anyone could be taken by if they'd gotten to know her like Melanie did. As a specialized wealth management agent, Melanie had learned a great deal about the trappings of money, especially for those who'd not grown up with it and frankly needed her counsel to manage it properly before losing it to a number of variables. So many of her famous clients somehow gained a sense of entitlement that they were entitled to 'rich and famous' as a permanent designation, and that everyone around them was responsible for keeping it that way, no matter their own gargantuan mistakes and blusters. That kind of clientele could wreck a professional psyche in a fierce way, leading some in Melanie's profession to seek early retirement or mental health; she was quite lucky in not only could she handle clients like that better than most, but when she needed it, she had an outlet that helped her let go of absolutely everything, making her feel like the celebrity, or just worth a billion dollars with normally trivial things like verbal triggers spoken from a powerful voice that loved dangling shiny pocket watches in their visions. In that state, Melanie's own wealth manager was a woman named Alexis, whom her clients referred to as Mistress Alexis.
"You okay, Mel?" Taylor asked Melanie who'd drifted off into space for a moment, lost in a deeply-pleasant thought.
"Oh yeah, just a long day," she smiled back to the singer who sympathized.
"Definitely a long one; can't wait for some R&R,"
"Neither can I," Melanie meant to say, but what came out for some reason is "and it can't wait for you."
Melanie's biggest, and somehow friendliest client, Taylor Swift took her strange comment in stride, walking with her wealth manager deeper backstage, both heading toward her dressing room. Hidden past everyone else was a subtle hesitation to Melanie's words, something she'd found herself invisibly succumbing to, ripples of pleasure beginning to make waves just from the implicating phrasing. It was something they both understood, a secret they shared through understanding glances, and the occasional deep breath leaving them in-sync to the will of someone else. Such feelings were in the background as Melanie went over the usual financial figures, answering some questions the blonde had and offering advice on some of the best ways to spend without overspending. The pair was on auto-pilot all the way to Taylor's dressing room before her cellphone went off; while working with clients, she was inclined to ignore other calls and set her phone to silent if disturbed; Melanie looked anything but disturbed as the sound of a particular ring tone hit her like the trill of a siren's song. Gentle, serene background music used for ASMR sessions made Melanie almost stop in her tracks, keeping herself firmly upright while everything above her torso went relaxed and her shoulders began to lose energy. Looking around to make sure she was alone, she'd been conditioned to ready herself as safely as possible to receive the call at that sound, either by pulling over if she was driving in a car, or seeking privacy if she wasn't. As she was alone with the lone exception of Taylor by her side, Melanie took the call.
"Hello?" she said in the soft voice few in Melanie's life had the privilege of hearing. Whoever spoken back to her doubled the beatitude that came over her with just a word. Slumped shoulders and relaxed muscles gave way to a dreamy smile directed to blonde singer.
Taylor watched with widening eyes and the transformation she saw in her friend, surprised on the surface, and underneath it jealous of the luck that had befallen her friend all of a sudden.
"It's...for you..Taylor...."
Lethargic hands passed Melanie's cellphone to trembling ones as she brushed her blonde hair to the side to press it to her ear.
"Hello?" she asked, keeping some of the mystery of whom might be calling.
"Have you heard? Sign language is actually the least-spoken language in the world..." a familiar voice giggled into her ear.
Taylor rolled her eyes at the extremely dad joke, but they never made a full arch as they stopped to roll back as a surge of pleasure crashed into her essence and washed over her body. Melanie seemed ready to catch her if it was too much, but she steadied herself, huffing in bliss.
"You're lucky I'm a singer and not a comedian; my value to the entertainment world would be so warped if those are the jokes I got pleasure from."
"Yes, how unfortunate," Alexis giggled "How nice it might be to see you totally conditioned to tell only dad jokes on stage as a stand-up comic, and challenge yourself not to become a puddle of pleasure after telling each one."
Taylor nearly hated how quickly the hypnotist transitioned form making fun to making her quiver beneath the clothes she had on. In the several talks they'd had since Alexis introduced herself to Taylor as the voice that could do to her what so many masseuses, relaxation therapists, and other attempted soothsayers couldn't; it wasn't that those others did give the singer what they intended, they did. But even if it wasn't specifically meant for her in the borrowed recording, Alexis gave her a chance to exchange power, to let someone else have it and reward her in extraordinary ways. The rarity of whom she could trust with giving up any of the power she'd amassed in her career was staggeringly low compared to the number of people she worked with; such was the ultimate drawback of being a star of any kind, let alone a mega-star.
Lately, it felt like she only wanted to boil it down to Melanie and Mistress Alexis, and she was surprised to know a hypnotist that had that much power over any mind still sought consent and to even educate the mind she could claim without those things. After several talks, and finding out Taylor willfully wanted her control as much as Melanie or any of her other subs, it became a matter of patience, waiting for when Alexis was ready to give Taylor the individual session she'd been dreaming about since. Or so that was what Taylor consciously knew, that and how wildly-different their first conversation literally played out.
***
"Who is this," Taylor asked on their first conversation, not understanding at all why someone calling Melanie would be trying to talk to her, nor why Melanie looked so out of it when she answered. Taylor loved surprising people with her voice, her way of sweetly intimidating people.
"Listen to my voice," Alexis intoned in the same manner that she did in her recording meant for Melanie. A combination calming, overpowering and sexy that drew everybody in, especially vocalists who could appreciate the influential power of vocals. "Do you know who I am?"
Literally stopping in her tracks in the middle of her dressing room, Taylor could only gasp as her mind raced in speeds too fast for analyzing any one though, the amalgamation of them bringing her to the same conclusion - she was already taken by the voice that didn't know it had her spellbound until recently.
On the other end of the line, Alexis waited patiently, unwilling to hide her guileless smile. She could only imagine Taylor's position, going deep for a voice she only knew in a repetitious fashion, only to have that voice speak new words to her, directly to her. Despite deciding to keep their interaction long-distance, the hypnotist then wished she could be there to see how the ultra-recognizable face short-circuited itself from anticipation and pleasure.
"...y-y-yesss..."
"And who am I?"
"M-mmmm-mmistress...Alexis..." Taylor finally managed to get out, finding solace in a cushioned seat nearby she could sink into.
"Alexis is fine for now," slipping effortlessly into a normal, conversational voice, the effect was mostly gone, but the charmed remained. "It's nice to finally meet you, Ms. Swift."
"P-please, call me Taylor." The surrendered tone could've mistakenly given the impression that she was begging for it, especially in the near whimpering of saying her own name.
"Very well, Taylor," even Alexis could hear the soft sounds of swooning on the other end from an affectionate pronunciation, a telling sign for how much progression had set in from one recording.
"I hear you've become a fan of my audio works."
"Oh yeah! I have, your voice, what you said in that was incredible."
"That's high praise coming from a talent of your caliber," Alexis admitted, her own sense of being starstruck completely hidden. The hypnotist refused to believe the name Melanie had given her in regards to garnering a new interested, dedicated listener, the hypnotist figured she was being set up for a practical joke, waiting for a punchline that never came. Impatience plus a fear of such a reality triggered Alexis to trigger Melanie for the truth, several times. Information set heavy on the interrogator as the interrogated was more than happy to give her the same information several times over.
"You do realize that recording was meant for someone else, namely the woman nearby staring off into nothing in her own dreamy state," a slight tinge of chiding offset the description of what Taylor wanted to be, throwing her off a bit.
"I'm..I'm so sorry about that M-Alexis. I was just trying to listen to a relaxation file. I thought it'd be like an ASMR file or something for peace."
"That can be dangerous, Taylor, like taking-medication-not-prescribed-to-you dangerous."
"Yeah...but to be fair, most voices don't drug others leave people as trippy as yours does."
