After the show the two women were led backstage to Miss Mesmer's dressing room, which had the name Alana Morgan written on it.
When the door opened, Isabella was stunned to see how beautiful Miss Mesmer was up close. On the stage with the hot mind melting lights, Isabella didn't get a good look at the hypnotist. She had long blonde hair with dark roots and streaks which fell down past her shoulders. She wore a silk robe which looked expensive and hugged the woman's curvy body with elegance, as if she was royalty.
"Come in, girls. It's good to see you. Once I saw you in the crowd I knew I had to meet you. Did you like the show? The lights weren't too bright, were they?" The hypnotist sat on her makeup chair with her legs crossed and completely bare along with her feet.
Isabella didn't like feet. In fact, she hated them. Hated the look, the feel and especially the foul smell. But she did notice Miss Mesmer's feet. On the hypnotist's long toes was a purple pedicure with perfectly shaped toenails. Her feet were large and had high arches and pillowy soles. With all of her animosity towards them, even Isabella had to admit that Miss Mesmer's feet were as pretty as feet could be.
"It was amazing!" Sophie couldn't contain her joy as she gushed to Miss Mesmer. "Oh wow, I'm speechless! I've been to two of your shows already and I can't believe I'm meeting you in-person. You were incredible tonight! Especially with Issy on stage, that was everything I was hoping for."
"Did you like it, Issy?" Miss Mesmer asked.
Isabella was about to protest her use of her nickname "Issy" because only Sophie called her that, but Sophie didn't seem to mind or notice. "Well Alana, I didn't like it to be honest. You humiliated me."
"True," Miss Mesmer said, "But I had a point to prove. You claimed you didn't believe in hypnosis so I showed you otherwise. Which you volunteered to do, might I add."
"You still took advantage of me! How was I to know that stuff actually worked? I don't even know how you did it."
"Truly, my dear, I am sorry you felt so embarrassed. It was not out of cruelty, it was for fun. I'm sorry if you regret it, but again, you did volunteer."
Isabella shook her head. "It seemed pretty cruel to me. Sounds to me like you like humiliating people, you get a kick out of making people your puppets because you're some kinda of control freak."
"Dear, you have to learn humility. You chose to go onto stage. It was a nice thing to do, your girlfriend appreciated it. You got embarrassed, good. You could learn to laugh at yourself every once in a while." Miss Mesmer explained it simply, Sophie gasped as Isabella's face turned red again.
"Who do you think you are? Telling me what I have to learn... What do you know? You're just a two bit hack who might as well be performing at a circus." She stomped. "Sophie lets go." She turned and marched towards the door with Sophie in tow.
"Wait." Miss Mesmer said.
Sophie stopped but Isabella just laughed. "Why don't you make me-" but before she could blink, she heard the snapping of Miss Mesmer's fingers and Isabella fell back into trance once more.
The rest of their time with Miss Mesmer was a blur to Isabella. It wasn't until they left the theater when the fog in her mind began to clear and the haze lifted more with each step as they approached the car. Isabella fumbled for her keys, dropping them onto the asphalt. Sophie picked them up for her, gave Isabella a kind smile and said "I'll drive, you're still maybe a bit sleepy from all those trances."
Sophie never drove, it was always Isabella. Sophie could drive but in all their years of dating there were only a handful of times when she drove. Nevertheless, Isabella found herself walking to the passenger side door and getting into the seat as Sophie sat in front of the wheel and started up the car. "Sophie, what happened?"
"You don't remember any of it?"
"Not much of meeting Miss Mesmer. Did... did she put me in trance again?"