Stan's boss was cute as a button, and she had a figure to die for. She was also one of the meanest people he'd ever met. Today, as he stood in front of her desk, it was all he could do not to start yelling, but he knew that wouldn't help matters. Besides, he was afraid of her.
"But you stole my idea," he said meekly, hating the whining tone in his voice, wishing he could be confident and assertive.
"There's a reason I'm your superior, Stan," Cindy said, making no effort to keep the contempt out of her voice. "I take lame ideas like yours and turn them into good ideas that work. That's why I have an office on the fourth floor, and you work in a cubicle with three other people in the basement."
Stan started to protest, but she cut him off immediately.
"Enough," she said dismissively. "I have work to do. Now get back down to the basement with the other bootlickers and think up some more lame ideas for me to improve."
So that's the way it's going to be, Stan thought to himself. He'd given her the benefit of the doubt. She'd had her chance. Now it was time for plan B.
"I brought you something," he said tentatively, pulling out the simple chain with the large tear-shaped crystal hanging from it. "Just to show there are no hard feelings," he added.
"You brought me something?" she asked in the same contemptuous tone. "That's not appropriate, Stan" She looked at the necklace and rolled her eyes. "And that thing looks incredibly tacky."
"It looks tacky, but the crystal is really special," he said, holding it up for her to see.
She waved him away. "I have work to do," she said, looking back at the papers on her desk. "I don't have time for this nonsense."
"Just bear with me," Stan persisted. "It will only take a few minutes, and then I'll leave you alone. I promise you won't regret it."
"Oh, all right," she snapped, looking up at him again. "If that's what it takes to get rid of you. What exactly is it you're planning to do?"
Stan took a deep breath and started to wave the crystal back and forth in front of her face. "The crystal reflects light in a really pretty way," he said, "but that's not the best part. If you keep staring into the crystal for several minutes, there's a magical effect."
Cindy snorted. "Now you're talking about magic? Jesus, Stan. What are you, six?"
But he noticed that she was watching the crystal now, and that her eyes were following it closely.
"That's right," he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone of voice. "Just watch it go back and forth. Notice how the light sparkles in the crystal. It only works if you keep watching it."
"The sparkles are pretty," Cindy admitted, her voice softer than before. He watched her eyes following the crystal as it swung first this way and then that.
"Now gaze deeply into the crystal," he said. "Let yourself feel more and more relaxed. Let a deep sense of calm start to flow through your body. You can't see the magical effect unless you're deeply relaxed."
He noticed that she had slumped back in her chair slightly, and that her arms had gone slack.
"Back and forth," he said. "Keep watching it go back and forth. Look at the way the light plays off of the crystal."
"Back and forth," she repeated. Cindy was looking a bit confused now, as though she was in the grip of something she didn't understand.
"What is...?" she began to say, but couldn't seem to find the word "happening." "What is...?" she began again, but got stuck in the same place. She sounded dazed now, and her eyes were beginning to look a bit vacant.
"Don't worry about anything," Stan went on. "Just let yourself relax into the crystal. Look at it swing back and forth, back and forth. Feel your eyelids becoming heavier and heavier."
Cindy blinked a couple of times, as if fighting off sleep, and he noticed that her mouth was hanging slightly open.
"I can't...," she began to say in a slurred voice. "Something's...wrong. Need to...look...away." And to Stan's surprise and dismay, she suddenly did just that, turning her eyes away from the crystal with an enormous effort.
Stan felt a flash of panic, fearing for a moment that all was lost and cursing himself for his overconfidence. Then he noticed the bewildered state Cindy was in and realized he was all right after all. He quickly reached out with his left hand, took hold of her chin, and gently turned her head back around to where he was swinging the necklace. He noticed, with a sense of relief, that her dazed eyes immediately latched back onto the crystal. She looked mesmerized by it.
"No," she whimpered in a frightened voice. "Can't...think."
"Shhh," Stan said, moving the crystal closer to and a little above her face, forcing her to strain upwards to watch it. "There's nothing to worry about, Cindy. Just relax and watch the pretty sparkles as the crystal swings back and forth. You don't need to think any more. Just let the sparkles go deep into your mind."
"Pretty sparkles," she murmured mindlessly. "Back and forth."
Her mouth was hanging open now, and her eyes looked blank.
Stan could tell she was ready. In fact, he almost shouted with triumph, but managed to restrain himself.