Kiera walked up the path of her neighbor’s lavish house, looking back over her shoulder at Tom. Her boyfriend was balancing a large, wobbly, blue Jello mold on a plate with one hand, playing the spry waiter.

“If that thing drops before we get to dessert, you’ll be sleeping on the couch this week,” she warned him.

“Duly noted,” Tom replied with a smirk. “I can’t believe you made one anyway. You know people stopped bringing these to dinner parties back in the 90’s.”

“Yeah, well, it was the only thing in the house that we could’ve brought. It doesn’t matter, it’s the thought that counts!”

Tom shrugged. “I can’t believe you even agreed to meet the neighbors for dinner. You’re usually an incurable homebody. And it’s not like we’re going to have anything in common with… Diane, was it? Or her husband.”

Keira rolled her eyes dismissively at her boyfriend. “It never hurts to have a good rapport with your neighbors.”

Besides, she thought to herself as she knocked on the door, I want to keep tabs on that cougar who was eying you like a piece of meat yesterday.

The door opened and Keira’s eyes widened as a handsome, smartly dressed man greeted them from the threshold.

“Ah! Keira, I presume?” The man said, his twinkling eyes raking up and down Keira’s body.

“Uhm, yes!” Keira said, taken off guard as he gingerly took hold of her wrist, the cuffs of his satin shirt brushing against her fingers. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he planted a kiss on the back of her hand.

“Encantado, mi amor.”

“Oh!...uh…gracias?” Keira said, her nerves suddenly on fire.

Tom loudly cleared his throat.

“And this must be your doting partner,” the man said, turning to toward Keira’s boyfriend. “…Tim?”

“Tom.”

“Tim-Tom! How delightful!”

“No, it’s just Tom—” The young man’s complaints were cut short as Diane appeared behind Raul, a stunning evening gown hugging her buxom form while putting miles of cleavage on display.

“Hello! Welcome!” Diane said, wrapping Keira and then Tom in an amiable hug. “We’re so glad you came! Come in! Come in! I see you already met my husband, Raul.”

Raul smiled at the couple. Keira smiled back, unconsciously straightening her back and pushing her body out slightly.

“Oh! Is that for us?”

Diane pointed to the jiggling, blue Jello mold in Tom’s hands.

“Yep!” Keira said, yanking the mold out of Tom’s hands. “Hope you like it! We didn’t have much in the house yet.”

“Oh, thank you!” Diane said, taking the plate of blue glop from Tom. “Oh wow! This takes me back to the 90’s, doesn’t it honey?”

“Hah! At least what I can remember of it!” Raul said. The couple chuckled together as Tom shot Keira a smug grin. She scowled back at him.

“Come in, already!” Diane said with a wave of her arm. “Dinner will be ready soon.”

Tom had to admit that he was enjoying the evening far more than he thought he would. Mr. and Mrs. de Figueroa, or Raul and Diane as they preferred, were a perfectly charming couple with an impressive, colonial style house and refined taste in food, art, and culture. Raul gave them the tour, leading them through the lounge, the study, the reading den, and the spacious backyard while Diane set the table. It wasn’t long before the group was enjoying shrimp cocktails and drinks on the patio.

“You have a such a beautiful house! And I love the décor, Diane!” Keira said, graciously.

“Thank you, dear!” The pretty, older lady said, handing Tom a drink. Keira couldn’t help but notice Diane leaning over a little more than necessary as she locked eyes with the young man. Tom caught Keira’s look and awkwardly cleared his throat.

“So…uh…what mob boss do you work for that you can afford this place?” he asked.

“Dude!” Keira recoiled, slapping her palm hard against Tom’s chest.

“What? It was a joke!” He glanced nervously at the older couple. “I was kidding, of course…aheh …and even if you do work for the mob we, uh, we totally don’t care!”

“Nothing to worry about, you two,” Raul said smiling. “We never whack people in our own neighborhood. Too messy, you see.”

The group laughed heartily, although Tom seemed to laugh a bit harder than the rest. Finally, after the group quieted down, he tried again.

“But seriously, what do you two do? I mean, for work?”

“Oh! I’m in publishing,” Diane said from the outdoor armchair. “A bit of editing, a bit of networking, just boring stuff like that.”

“And I’m a hypnotist,” Raul said, pouring himself more wine.

Tom and Keira exchanged glances.

“So…you’re like a hypnotherapist?” Keira ventured.

“Sometimes. I’m a licensed psychologist so I do offer counseling through hypnosis, but I also offer services for athletes, for public speaking, and for more…well…recreational activities.”

Raul exchanged a lascivious look with Diane that gave Tom plenty ideas of what ‘recreational activities’ they got up to. Tom scoffed.

“Get outta town!” he said. “You made enough from hypnosis to afford this?” He gestured around the yard.

“Oh, yes!” answered Raul. “Believe me, the loan officer found me very, very persuasive. Almost like he couldn’t say no to me!”

The group shared another laugh, Keira and Tom giggling nervously.

“Sorry,” Tom said, waving his hand dismissively. “But I can’t buy that! I guess I’m just a skeptic or something, but there’s no way hypnosis is real!”

Raul nodded thoughtfully, not the least bit offended. “Skepticism is natural. It’s such a mysterious phenomenon of the mind, isn’t it? Of course, people find it unbelievable. But I can tell you hypnosis is not exactly how you imagine it.”

He threw a smile at Diane. Her eyes twinkled back.

“Unless it’s exactly how you like to imagine it,” Raul added coyly.

He turned back to his guests who were looking at him like he was trying to sell them a bridge in Brooklyn.

"Perhaps a small demonstration?" He beamed and sauntered to his wife as she innocently sipped her cocktail. He braced his body close to hers and put a hand on her shoulder, before waving his fingers back and forth in front of Diane’s eyes.

“Diane, darling…I want you to try not to think of how tired you’re getting…don’t think about how you’re so tired and sleepy…don’t think about it and just follow my fingers…”

Diane’s green eyes swung back and forth along with Raul’s hand. Tom watched fascinated, none the least by the small, naughty smile creeping up Diane’s face.

“…trying not to be so tired…don’t get tired…don’t get sleepy…don’t get tired…don’t fall deep asleep....deep sleep now!”

Raul brushed his hand over Diane’s face. The woman’s eyes slammed shut and she deflated over the side of the armchair with a blissful sigh. Raul deftly caught his wife’s body in his arms and managed to keep her glass from spilling.

“That’s right, dear…drifting deeper and deeper…floating along as you listen to my voice…feeling safe and happy to entertain…”

Diane gave a little whimper as she nuzzled into her husband’s side, her eyes still closed. “Mmmyeesss…happy to ennertain…” she murmured.

Raul turned expectantly back to Tom and Keira who were watching in wide-eyed shock.

“Is she really under? You did it so fast!” Keira asked, astonished.

Raul chuckled. “If I had wanted, I could have dropped her with a snap of my fingers, but something my wife and I share is a love of theatrics. Remember, Diane and I have been playing together for years and she’s developed a strong rapport with me. For new subjects, I would have to be more patient."

"I still think she’s acting,” Tom said, crossing his arms.

“Tom! That’s rude!” Keira admonished him. Raul held up his hand.

“Now, now. Tom has a bit of a point. The myth with hypnosis is that the subject is a completely helpless puppet under the hypnotist’s control. Well, that’s a goal to reach for, but believe it or not, the subject does have to work a little at convincing themselves they’re in trance. It does require a small amount of ‘acting’ but more for their sake instead of the audience.”

“So, she’s not under your control?” Keira asked, trying to peer at Diane’s face as her head hung down over her plush cleavage.

“Oh, I didn’t say that,” Raul grinned. He draped his arm around Diane and whispered softly in her ear.

“Sleepy, sleepy darling…listen to my voice…when I snap my fingers, you will open your eyes and see a grand piano in front of you. You are a famous pianist, and you won’t be able to stop yourself from playing a beautiful concert for us. Just happy to play an elegant sonatina for us, losing yourself in the music as you play…seeing the piano in front of you in 3…2…1…”

SNAP!

Diane immediately lifted her head, her blank eyes opening wide. She glanced down in front of her, a momentary expression of confusion crossing her face, and then lifted her arms, a light fold in her elbows and wrists. With a deep breath, she began to move her fingers, ‘playing’ the invisible piano in front of her with marked precision.

Even Tom had to admit, if she was putting on a show, she was a much better actor than he would have thought. Diane articulated every note and chord with her hands, her feet pressing down on imaginary pedals as she closed her eyes, listening to a heavenly melody only she could hear.

“Bravo, my love!” Raul said, clapping his hands. “Why don’t you take a bow for your appreciative audience?”

Diane rose off her ‘bench’ and smiled radiantly at Tom and Keira who began to play along and clap for the new virtuoso. Diane waved and bowed low, making Tom’s pulse spike as inadvertently flashed him a delicious eyeful of cleavage.

Raul cheerfully approached Diane as she was blowing kisses to her adoring fans and touched her once on the forehead.

“Sleep…feet firmly on the ground…head sinking into deep sleep…”

Diane powered down like a robot, her head nodding on her chest again. Tom shifted nervously in his seat.

"I don't think that proves too much," he said, almost apologetically.

“Very well,” Raul said before addressing Keira. “Name a song and artist, Keira. Anything you think would make someone embarrassed to sing. Whatever pops into your head.”

Keira ran her teeth over her lip as she thought and then held her finger triumphantly in the air.

“Ooh! What about that song from the Bodyguard?”

Raul laughed to himself and then leaned into Diane again.

“When I snap my fingers, you will become Whitney Houston, ready to sing your signature song ‘I will always love you’ with as much passion as you can manage…feeling completely confident and at ease singing for the crown…knowing that you will hit each note perfectly in 3…2…1…”

SNAP!

Diane lifted her head, a fire shining in her eyes as she planted her feet and breathed deep into her diaphragm.

“And IIIIIIIIIII-eee-IIIIIIIIII will always love YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU-OOOOHHHH-IIIIIII will always....love YOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!”

Diane belted at the top of her lungs. Tom looked around, anxious to see if they were disturbing the households next to them. Diane had finished one verse and was breathing in an extra lungful of air for the refrain when Raul intervened.

“That was wonderful darling…sleep…”

Again, Diane’s head flopped onto her chest and she swayed peacefully on her feet. The younger couple stared dumbfounded.

“Oh my god!” Keira gasped. “That was amazing! She doesn’t sing?”

Raul shook his head. “Well, casually around the house, but no she’s not formally trained. I have to admit, even I was impressed to hear her hit those notes.”

Tom continued to study the dazed woman, sleeping on her feet with her head gently nuzzling her husband’s shoulder.

“And you can make her do anything?” he asked in disbelief.

Raul sucked through his teeth. “Not exactly. Remember hypnosis doesn’t always work the way it does in the movies. Subjects always have their own agency. There is nothing stopping Diane from waking back up in her normal mind except herself right now. Of course, subjecting your mind to the enticing words of a hypnotist does have a way of…well…stretching that agency…”

As he talked, Raul ran his finger softly down Diane’s neck. The dozing woman smiled and moaned sensually, her husband’s touch doing a little more than just relaxing her.

Raul toyed with his wife a few seconds more and then tilted her head straight over her neck, like he was posing a store-front mannequin.

“Waking back up now, darling….waking up completely aware of what happened, no shame, no embarrassment, just very refreshed and happy to have shown off in front of our guests. Waking up in 1…2…3…”

SNAP!

Diane blinked and lifted her head, centering her body over her feet and a beaming smile on her face.

“Whew! That’s always so much fun!” she said, chipperly.

Tom leaned forward. “So, you remember everything you just did? I thought people blacked out when they were hypnotized.”

Diane giggled and waved him off. “No, silly. I mean, that can happen and sometimes I get a little fuzzy on the details when we play, but sometimes Raul hypnotizes me to improve my memory!”

“That’s right!” Raul said. “Like I mentioned before, hypnosis has a wide variety of uses. It’s not just making someone cluck like a chicken or scheming to take over the world.”

Tom and Keira exchanged incredulous looks, completely aghast over what they just saw. Raul finally broke the silence.

“Well, perhaps enough idle entertainment for now. Who’s ready to eat?”

Keira grinned and Tom leapt to his feet. “I think we are! It smells really good in there.” He pointed to the glass doors of the dining room.

“Well, no time like the present!’ Diane said, ushering them inside. “The bathroom is down the hall and on the left if anyone needs to freshen up.”

Tom and Keira headed inside, Diane trailing them in their wake. Raul waited until the younger two had gone inside and then wrapped his arm around Diane’s shoulders, his fingers snaking around to tap her softly, just once, on the forehead.

Diane’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she sank into Raul’s spell. The devious husband brought her close and whispered.

“While we are having dinner, you will giggle every time to you hear the word ‘breast’. The word ‘breast’ is going to sound like the silliest word in the world to you and you won’t be able to stop yourself from laughing like a ditz. The more you hear it, the funnier it will be.”

Diane purred on her husband’s arm. “Yes, master…”

Raul checked once more to make sure they weren’t being watched, and then planted a loving, sucking kiss on Diane’s neck.

“And whenever you find yourself laughing over that silly word ‘breast’ you’re going to realize that you’re becoming more and more aroused…”

“Yes, master…” Diane said with a ghost of a smile.

“Good, waking up, forgetting this trance by following my commands like a good, darling wife for me… and waking in 1…2…3…”

SNAP!