"...and in a moment, you'll wake, knowing everything I say to be absolutely true. One...two...three...and wake."
Julie blinked her eyes rapidly as she managed to take her attention off of the candle. "What did..." Suddenly, the events of the last twenty-five minutes sank in. "You hypnotized me!" she said, her tone awash with shock and fear.
Dave chuckled. "No I didn't."
Julie looked at the candle again, now just a little embarrassed. "You didn't? But I remember, we were complaining about the service in this place..." She looked around the crowded restaurant, still not seeing a waiter anywhere. "And you...you said you had a way to make the time pass quicker, and you had me look at the candle, and then you started talking..." She thought she remembered him saying something about going into hypnosis, then. But she knew he hadn't hypnotized her. So what had happened?
Dave shook his head and looked at her with a sympathetic expression. "I don't know what you're thinking, Julie, but none of that happened. We've just been having a quiet conversation. No hypnosis, no staring at the candle, none of it."
Julie blushed a little.
Great,
she thought.
This is our first date, and Dave's going to think I'm a complete nutcase.
"Sorry, I just...I guess I zoned out a bit, daydreamed a little."
Dave smiled. "Don't worry, Julie. I'm sure you're just very interested in hypnosis. You found out I'm a hypnotist, and it made you wonder what it was like to go into trance. It's OK. As soon as I mention it, people can't stop thinking about what it would be like to go under for me, and I'm sure you're no exception. You're just a very good subject who just doesn't have the courage to ask to be hypnotized."
Julie wanted to ask how he knew, but she stilled her tongue. She didn't want him to think she was obsessed with hypnosis or anything. "So, um...what were we talking about, then? Before I, um, zoned out."
Zoned out wishing you would hypnotize me, but not quite having the guts to ask.
"We were talking about this restaurant," Dave said. "I actually picked it because of the lousy service, you know. The waiters usually take a half-hour to get around to taking your order, and I thought we could use that time to get to know each other better. The food is worth the wait, by the way."
Julie's stomach rumbled. "Good, I'm starving. So let's see, other than your..." She imagined for a moment drifting off into Dave's eyes, listening to his soft voice, but...no. He probably had women asking to be hypnotized all the time. It would be rude. "Other than your job, what can you tell me about yourself?"
Dave shrugged. "Well, it won't shock you to know that I really enjoy dominating women in the bedroom."
Julie nodded. "OK," she said matter-of-factly. "You mean like whips, chains, all that sort of thing?"
"Some of that, yes," Dave said. "But it's really obedience that turns me on. Seeing a woman get submissive, pliant, and ready to obey...you have to admit, the thought of being a slave kind of gets you hot."
Julie shifted in her chair, just a little. "Well, I mean..." She tried to think of a way to describe her feelings on the subject. "Yeah, a little. In the abstract. But y'know, just as a fantasy. It's not something I could ever see myself doing." Hypnosis, on the other hand, she could definitely see herself doing. Perhaps Dave would offer to hypnotize her later.
"Oh," Dave said, just a touch of disappointment in his voice. "Well, you might change your mind about that, I suppose. So now you tell me what you like to do in the bedroom. I think we know each other well enough by now to share our sexual fantasies without being ashamed."
Julie's eyes glinted a little wickedly. "I really like getting foot massages," she said. "There's just something about a guy rubbing my feet that gets me turned on."
"Oh, that's not surprising at all," Dave replied. "It's because of the pressure points. There are all sorts of pressure points in the human foot that do different things. Here, go ahead and put your foot in my lap, and I'll show you."
Her curiosity aroused, Julie kicked off one shoe and slid her leg up under the table so that it rested gently in Dave's lap. "What sort of 'pressure points'?" she asked.
"Well, this pressure point here, for example," he said, pressing a spot on the sole of her foot, "makes you hear a bell ringing."
Julie's eyes widened. "That is so weird!" she said. "How does it work?"
"I don't know, it's something about the nervous system. But it does explain why you get turned on by foot massages. They're probably touching here." He gently rubbed at her arches. "Every time someone touches here, you get a little more turned on."