Things hadn't been going well with me and my "better half" lately. I'd come home last week to find her with her arms folded under her chest and that ball-shriveling stare she'd mastered in the years we'd been together.
Turns out, she'd found my secret stash of porn. All of it. Even the weird stuff.
From then on, I'd been sleeping on the couch and the only conversation I'd gotten out of her had been talk of sending me off to some Christian feminist (I didn't even know you could mix the two) rehabilitation camp. It was driving me nuts!
I'd talked to a coworker of mine after work about the problem, and he'd nodded along sympathetically. Once I'd finished whining—it was pathetic, wasn't proud of it either—he'd clapped his hand on my shoulder and smiled, "Bill, you're a good man. What that Elaine of yours is doing ain't right. But don't you worry, man. I've got the answer to all your problems."
And then he'd handed me over a business card, one for a shop, its address listed down at the old strip mall, called Magical Things. Oddly, there wasn't a phone number or email address attached.
"I'm not really sure a piece of jewelry is gonna be enough to fix this." I said as I looked at the card.
"Yeah. Me either. But just trust me. Just show up there and Esmerelda is gonna help you out right."
I was skeptical to say the least, but something about the wide, genuine grin he was wearing pushed me over the edge. And at this point, I was willing to try anything.
So here I was, opening the door, making an old-fashioned bell jangle as I stepped inside. The air smelled of apple cinnamon and the lighting was soft. It looked like an antique store, with musty bookshelves and displays for clothing that had been out of style for a long, long time. The shelves were lined with odds and ends. Cyrstal balls, wands, and the jewelry that I'd been expecting. The lighting in the shop was a bit dim, coming from some scented candles and a few gas-burning lamps. There didn't seem to be even a hint of anything post-Thomas Edison in the shop, including modern lights.
All in all, it felt a little out of place with the convenience store next door and the yoga studio on the side.
I made my way through, eyes wandering as I tried to figure out just what my friend had been thinking sending me here. But then my eyes found the front register, and there leaning on the counter, her breasts pushing against some dangerous levels of cleavage. She had straight black hair, some of the biggest dark eyes I'd ever seen, and one of the warmest smiles too. She looked eccentric and mysterious, especially with that large, pointed hat she was wearing like a witch on halloween.
"Welcome to Magical Things~ What are you looking for?" She asked with a sweet voice, her accent vaguely eastern european.
I loved my wife. I thought she was sexy and wonderful and more than I deserved. But this woman was just downright enchanting. I had to swallow before I could answer, "Ah...I'm not sure. A friend told me about this place. Said to ask for...a...Esmerelda. I've been having some trouble getting along with the wife lately, so I was thinking maybe a nice gift to patch things over...?"
She looked into my eyes and it took every ounce of willpower to not let my eyes wander down. I swallowed again, and then she pulled back, standing up straight for the first time since I'd seen her, "Mmm...yes. I know exactly what it is you need. Your wife is the trouble. I have just the thing. Just one moment."
She turned her back on me and left, disappearing behind a curtain into a backroom and leaving me there to catch my breath; I think I'd forgotten to breath since seeing her.
It didn't take long for her to return, and she was carrying a very small wooden box with her. She sat it on the counter's top, then opened the lid. Inside was a golden pocket watch on a chain.
"I'm not sure Elaine would be interested in a pocketwatch..." I started. Women didn't use pocket watches, did they? And even for men it was out of style.
"No, no, no. This is for you. The Watch of Enchantment. Simply let it dangle from the chain, let it sway, then tell a woman she is getting sleepy. She will be put into a powerful hypnotic trance. And then, you will be able to convince her of anything. Make her do anything. Make her believe anything. Use this and your wife will be like putty in your hands." She explained everything with a straight face. As ridiculous as it all sounded, the idea did get my cock a bit hard. Imagine if it really worked like that?
"...how much?" I asked as I took the watch into my hands, looked it over. The craftsmanship was very fine. It was heavy too, as if underneath the black metal finish the insides were made from solid gold. The second hand moved in precise ticks but when I put my ear up to it, I didn't hear anything. I had no idea if that was a good or bad thing when it came to pocketwatches. Honestly, I couldn't tell if this watch was worth thousands or under twenty bucks; I'd never been good at shopping.
"For you? Half-price. Only five thousand dollars."
"Five thousand?!" A number like that brought me crashing back down to reality. She was a scammer. My friend was in on it. I was an idiot.
"For the power of the Watch, this is very cheap. I give you this special price because I know you will be able to appreciate, yes?" She nodded, as if what she was saying was perfectly agreeable and not a complete load of nonsense, "Watch not just work for your wife. Any woman will fall under its sway. Very easy to make your money back if you be careful."
"Any woman..." I dropped the watch from my palm, let it dangle from its chain, "Even you?"
"Of course. Do I not look like a woman to you?" She said with a smile and a giggle.
Ridiculous.
"Fine. Then you're getting sleepy." If she was going to play it this way, I'd call her bluff.
"I...am getting...sleepy..." She parroted back at me, her head swaying lightly. Scam or not, hearing her say that with that sexy accent of hers, those big eyes going half-lidded, it got me harder than I'd been in months. I was straining against my jeans so hard it hurt.
She was pretending though, right? There was just no way this sort of thing could actually work. And even if it did work, why would she be so careless with it?
