Gliding through the pool of her private club, Suzanne Nelson continued to do laps, pushing herself to reach another personal best in speed and in grace. Considered to be a deceptively-fair, but truly-ruthless hedge fund manager, Suzanne always did her strongest laps around the time of a big professional deal, or a large sum of money was on the cusp of being made. Her direct efforts would rake in the biggest single monetary amount ever in the company, to the benefit of her firm, but to the horror of many, many others. It wasn't the first time she'd made a controversial move that made enemies, but it might set the record for not only how many dollars she makes, but enemies as well. A hungry megaladon of a business woman, such victories always brought her back to the water to celebrate her favorite way of staying fit and healthy, just for the next opportunity to seize the next opportunity.
About to finish her personal best, she swam hard in the last lap towards the end of the pool, reaching the edge to emerge and grab at her waterproof phone keeping tracking of her timing. Her finger reached over to record her best time, only to be beaten by a big toe that touched her phone first, attached to a foot close to her face, happy to greet her from the water. The foot looked fresh from a pedicure, soft, feminine and toes slowly flexing, drawing attention to the gold toe ring shining off the water. Behind the foot was its owner, a beautiful woman looking to be her age with long brown hair green eyes that matched her long, flowing dress, smiling down at Suzanne. Helpfully, the woman reached down to take the towel Suzanne was too stunned to reach for, and handed to the woman.
With a face full of contempt that said enough, just as her eyes said plenty, looking back and forth between the intruder and the absent protection that should've prevented intrusion. Silently exiting the pool, she began drying herself off, looking perturbed and away from the mysterious woman in green.
"Whoever you are, get out before I call security."
Unfazed by the wealthy woman's anger and threatening gaze, the green-clad figure bent down from her chair to pick up Suzanne's phone, and stood up to hand it to Suzanne, more than daring, but silently urging the emergency call to be made. Quickly engaging the emergency number to contact her missing personal bodyguard, the dial tone lasted a few seconds before the call was answered. The beginnings of a fuming tone was met with an even, unemotional one.
"A Dazzling Lady has me swayed,
A Dazzling Lady must be obeyed."
Suzanne paused, horrified at the words that were spoken, noticing a figure near the clear door of the pool's entrance, leaning against it all of a sudden.
"A Dazzling Lady has me swayed,
A Dazzling Lady must be obeyed."
Looking back to the calm, standing lady, seeing her humble, knowing smile, the words, the mantra spoken over the phone seemed to grow in reverence and highlighting this woman's unique power play.
"A Dazzling Lady has me swayed,
A Dazzling Lady must be obeyed."
"Mind putting that on speaker? I love the sound of a good, honest advertisement," she spoke for the first time since she let her presence be known. Laced with an assertive, compelling charm, it hinted at what could've driven her suddenly-overpriced security to the converted condition that still repeated itself over her phone until she ended the call.
Not willing to give the satisfaction of fear or panic Suzanne was sure this move was meant to inspire, she opted to remain as calm as the woman obviously waiting for a formal introduction.
"I take it you're this supposed Dazzling Lady."
"As I take it you're the infamous Suzanne Nelson. And you can call me Dazzling."
"And what makes me so infamous?"
"Well, one might think it's your multiple ivy league finance degrees, cause unfortunately few men aren't intimidated by smart women. Or it could be the how the intimidated men of Wall Street have been fit to dub you with several unflattering titles, my favorite amongst them being 'Jaws with tits,'" the hypnotist smiled even more as she saw evidence of Suzanne's approval of that title as the corners of her mouth nearly curled into a smile. "But maybe the infamous part is more of a forecast, a financial forecast that you're rumored to being very close to pulling off."
Already hawkish eyes narrowed, not bothering to directly feign denial. "Assuming I would know what you're talking about, is this some half-ass bid at blackmail?"
"Blackmail isn't my style, Suzanne. Consider this more an interview."
"And what position do you think I'm offering?"
"Well, certainly one that can find holes in your security for one." Beneath the scoop-neck material of her dress emerged a shimmering amethyst crystal hanging from a thin chain around her neck; taking it off, she hung it at an angle that let multiple light sources in the low-lit room flash off its colorful facets. "It took sooo little time for this little beauty to subvert his duties, and his allegiances. As with most people, every dollar on his paycheck paled in value compared to every second he was allowed to stare."
Suzanne stared at it with fixed skepticism, darting between the amethyst, its holder, and the shaded figure under Dazzling's control now, trying to imagine exactly how long it took for him to go under. Putting the pendant away moments later, Dazzling quietly let Suzanne put it together that she was a hypnotist-for-hire, and a pretty efficient one.
"And here I thought hypnotism was just a stupid parlor trick or scam," the hedge fund manager proclaimed as she took a seat in a chair near Dazzling's, Suzanne's way of proclaiming a good impression was had. "But I don't see what practical use I'd have for one."
"Well, assuming this...probably fictitious deal goes through, a woman in your position attracts a lot of attention, most of it unwanted I'm sure. An embarrassment of riches upon the wealth you've already accumulated means more security, more threats, more safeguards, more investigations, and maybe more elements that you can't see coming until they've caught you in a truly vulnerable position."
"Speaking from experience?" Suzanne joked evenly.
"I'm surely the most benign surprise to come for you going forward, a specialized consultant with a unique set of skills that can 'negotiate' with any that come after me. Plugging holes in multiple aspects of security, dissuading angered investors from turning their fury towards you, perhaps even convincing three-letter organizations that none of the blame should come to you for your genius endeavors."