Stepping out of her red sedan, Renee couldn't help but be proud of herself. Only parked a little bit crooked, she thought. She told herself this would be an evening for the little wins - it had been a tough week at the community center and with a busy weekend looming ahead, Renee thought she could use some self-care. She had always read glowing reviews of Jet Nails on social media - family and friends insisting it was the best place in town for a manicure - but she'd always made some excuse. No time. Rent was due. She'd only break a nail the second she had to do something even resembling manual labor at the center. Today, though - no excuses. Renee needed a reason to feel good about herself.

As she reached towards the door of the salon, Renee quickly examined her hands. Sure, she wanted a manicure, but she didn't exactly need one. For a woman approaching sixty, her skin was incredibly healthy. The backs of her hands were smooth, free of wrinkles and spots, and her nails were a moderate length - neatly filed in a square shape that allowed her hands to look sturdy, professional, and well maintained. Still, it had been so long since she'd enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing the pristine shine of her painted nails while driving, texting, and the like. Even on a day where everything seemed to be going wrong, a nice manicure could make her feel like she had her shit together.

The inside of the salon was spotless. Work stations were lined neatly on one side of the room, and on the other was a single desk housing a point of service terminal. For as popular as this place seemed to be, Renee was the only occupant. As the door shut behind her, a woman's voice chimed from a room in the back of the building. "Be there in just a moment!"

Sure enough, after a few seconds, a young brunette popped out of a storage space in the rear and made her way to the front desk. She beamed at Renee as she punched a few keys in front of her. "Thanks so much for stopping in! My name is Jordyn, I'll be taking care of you today. Can I get a name?"

"Of course. It's Renee Weaver - R-E-N-E-E. I made an appointment on the phone a couple days ago."

Renee took a glimpse at her manicurist's nails as Jordyn reached for a binder under the desk, hoping to get a sense of the quality of work she'd be receiving. To her surprise, Jordyn's nails seemed totally natural. They were cut shorter and had a sort of opaque shine to them, a contrast to Renee's longer, more matte nails. Jordyn must have noticed Renee taking a peek. She smirked as she flipped through the binder with one hand and subtly laid the other flat on the desk, giving Renee a better view.

"Okay, Renee, here you are! And you were just wanting soft french tips in our deluxe package?"

"Yes, just keeping it simple."

"Wonderful! Will you follow me, please?"

Jordyn led Renee to a desk near the back of the space. The first thing she noticed as she sat down was how comfortable the chair was - padded arms, a soft, cushioned back, and a seat that her rear seemed to just sink into. Before the manicure even started, Renee found herself sighing in release. Before sitting opposite of her, Jordyn walked over to a nearby sink and filled a large bowl up with warm water. She returned, set the bowl down, and sat in her own chair.

"This is just to soften your nails before we get started!"

Before Renee could even think about lifting her hands into the bowl, Jordyn had taken them in a soft but commanding grip. Almost immediately, Renee's hands seemed to go limp - more from surprise than anything - but she allowed Jordyn to comfortably place her hands in the bowl. The sensation of the warm liquid enveloping her fingers made Renee tingle a little. She glanced up and noticed the young manicurist smiling at her.

Jordyn's eyes were a vivid green. If the rest of her body hadn't seemed so uniform and, in a beautiful sense, ordinary, Renee would have sworn that she was wearing colored contact lenses.

"I don't want you to even think about moving your hands," Jordyn said. "That's what you're paying me for. Remember?"

Renee let out a soft chuckle, taken aback by the woman's bluntness. "Of course," she said. "Wouldn't want to get in your way."

For a few moments, the two sat in silence. Renee couldn't help but notice a contemplative look on Jordyn's face. "Is something wrong?" Renee asked.

Jordyn leaned back for a moment, cupping her chin in her hand. Again, Renee noticed the gleam of the other woman's nails. Ever so slowly, Jordyn turned her head from side to side. "You know, when I lifted your hands into the bowl, I felt a lot of tension in them. A lot of stress. I’ve always had a good sense for that. Would that...you know, reflect anything going on in your life?"

Renee raised a brow. She wasn’t paying this lady to be her therapist. Still, there was nothing wrong with venting a little bit to a stranger. "I dunno, I..." She glanced up, again making note of those green eyes. "I guess it's just work? And I have all sorts of family stuff this weekend. Just one thing after another."

Jordyn nodded. "Actually, I don't have this on our service menu, but I've got several methods I can use for relaxing customers. Give them a bit of stress relief. A lot of people don't know this, but so much of a person's stress can be built up in their hands. It's a big part of why we gravitate towards things like a manicure when we want to tell ourselves how much we care about our bodies."

Absentmindedly, Renee found herself nodding along. She hadn't noticed it at first, but Jordyn's voice sounded so comforting. So familiar and reassuring. Had she known her from somewhere? No. It was her first time here and the salon was on the other side of the city from her apartment. She quietly told herself that some people were just naturally inviting.

"Yes," Renee heard herself say, almost in an echo, "that would be fine."

As soon as she said that, she shook her head. What had she just agreed to? Why did she agree to it? But then, Jordyn grasped her hands again, took them out of the bowl, and began to massage them. Maybe it didn't matter what she'd agreed to. Maybe this was exactly what she needed. Jordyn's hands had a sort of muscular femininity about them, so Renee felt a firm pressure on her palm as Jordyn sank her thumbs into it. Slowly, gently, methodically, and across both hands, Jordyn moved her way down to Renee's wrists, then back upwards to massage the individual fingers. When she got to the bulky wedding set on Renee's left hand, she gently massaged around it.

"How does this feel?"

Renee realized that her jaw had been slack the entire time Jordyn had been rubbing her hands. Her brain told her to respond. There was something to respond to, but she couldn't tell what. Something told her that the sound of the voice she was hearing was important. That if ever there was a time to put in effort, it was to hear that voice. To respond to it. As she thought of what to say, Renee allowed her head to lop gently to one side.

"Fantastic," Renee said, and again her own words rang about in her mind, bouncing about as though they were in a sonic house of mirrors. "Feels...really good..."

"Awesome!" Jordyn said. "And I'd like you to do me a favor. Close your eyes. It'll help you relax. You don't need to look at anything. You don't need to hear anything except my voice."

"Help...relax...voice..." At this point, individual words started to blur together in Renee's head. Obediently, her eyes fluttered shut. Hadn't Jordyn said that would help? She needed help. Jordyn had said so, hadn't she? Help...relaxing. Help...stress...stop thinking words. Renee felt Jordyn gently lay her hands down. For a few seconds, Renee generated thoughts of simply staying like this forever. Not trapped, but held lovingly in a void of pure bliss. Then, again, she felt sensation. Her brow furrowed until she made out what it was - a tender rubbing on her temples. Renee felt her chair lean backwards. Once more, she heard the voice.

"There we go...isn't that nice? I want to ask you some questions, Renee. Just listen to my voice and respond truthfully. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Thank you, Renee. You relax and respond so effortlessly. Have you ever been hypnotized?"

Again, Renee's brow furrowed. Having to remember was so difficult, but this was the voice. And the hands massaging the sides of her head...weren't those the same hands she had admired at the desk? The struggle of remembering was worth it to please those hands, that voice. Wasn't it? Renee found herself relaxing the muscles in her face as she remembered.

"Yes. I have been hypnotized."

"I thought so. Why don't you tell me about it? Briefly."

As Renee's mind started to piece together the images of her past experience, she felt Jordyn move down from the sides of her head to her shoulders. The fingers kneaded into tissue, generating waves of pleasure and relaxation. Even with her jaw drooping, her tongue resting behind her bottom lip, and drool running down the side of her jaw - Renee felt her mouth attempt to fold itself into a smile. Still, the voice had asked her to speak. She would have to sacrifice some of this relaxation in order to obey. That was okay. Giving the voice, the hands, the eyes whatever they wanted was so much more important.

"It was...my honeymoon. Thirty years ago. We went on a cruise. My husband...took me to see a hypnotist at the bar. I had been drinking. I volunteered."

She heard Jordyn giggle. "You went on stage?"

"I went...on stage. Yes. I was asked to look at a shiny object. It sort of...spun around and...I got sleepy..."

"You went under quickly?"

"Yes. Under deep hypnosis."

"Cute! Did you do anything silly?"

"Yes."

Another giggle. She was making the voice happy. This was good.

"Tell me about it, Renee. What did you do?"

"I…barked like a dog. The woman next to me turned into a squirrel...and I chased her. Then several of us stripped...naked. The hypnotist had a…magic wand…just a toy, but he said…if I…Oh, it felt so good.”

At this, Jordyn began to piece things together. She pressed her hand to Renee’s cheek, indicating she could stop. Immediately, her client’s face went limp again. "I see. So this was an X-Rated hypnotist! And he gave you a magic wand and told you it would, what? Make you orgasm?"

"Yes."

A smile formed on Jordyn’s face. She always dived into her clients’ past experiences with hypnotism and she had heard about all the old stage tricks. "And...did you? Orgasm, I mean."

Renee sat in silence for a moment. She had always been something of a prude. Now she was being asked to describe a sexual encounter that, after the fact, she had found quite embarrassing. But, still, this was the voice. If it wanted her to describe the experience, wasn't that for the best?

"Yes. I came twice. When I...slept with my husband that night, it was the best sex of my life."

"Good, good...and are you sexually active now?"

"No."

Again, Jordyn's hands moved. This time, from Renee's shoulders to her breasts. Renee considered protesting, but that seemed like too much work. This was okay. This was helping her relax. She felt Jordyn's fingers pinch at her nipples. The pleasure she felt began to shift its way between her legs. Had she not been so relaxed, Renee may have squirmed.

"You have such a nice body for a woman your age," Jordyn said. She picked up Renee's left hand by the wrist. It hung limply in her grasp. Jordyn again massaged around the bulky wedding set on her finger. Renee felt a warm, wet sensation envelop her ring finger and realized that the other woman had started to suck on it. She heard the faint phwt of it leaving her mouth, and the manicurist continued. "And you're married. Why aren't you fucking regularly?"

Whatever objections Renee may have had to this line of questioning were now gone. She was eager to tell the voice anything it wanted to hear. As she told herself this, Renee began to feel a sense of adoration swell in her chest.

"My husband works. Often out of town. He's never in the mood. Never...in..."

"Shhh..that's okay, sweetheart. Do me a favor, okay?"

"Of course. Anything."

"Undo your pants."

"Yes."

Renee knew she was moving, but she didn't feel herself moving. Her body felt as though it were a marionette being manipulated by strings. It didn’t matter what her body did so long as her mind stayed like this. She unbuttoned, unzipped, and pulled down her pants. Then, her undergarments followed. A flash of confusion interrupted her. What if someone else is in here? What if they see me? She recognized these thoughts and course-corrected. Has the voice indicated that you're in any danger? Have the hands stopped pleasuring you? The answer was no, and so Renee pushed that confusion aside.

Stuck once again in what could only be described as a pleasure void, Renee assumed that this was it. She would never wake up. Was she even asleep? The voice had talked about being hypnotized - was she under deep hypnosis? Where did that phrase come from - under deep hypnosis? Before she could process those questions, Renee felt it. Jordyn slid her index and middle fingers up and down her labia, giving a gentle pinch near the top. Involuntarily, Renee twitched with pleasure. The two fingers returned to massage her vagina. Carefully, Jordyn entered Renee, and she leaned her head closer so she could whisper in the older woman’s ear.

"Just like that. How do I feel?"

No discernible response followed. Renee could only moan in affirmation. As Jordyn picked up momentum between her client's legs, she held up a hand to Renee's lips.

"Kiss. Worship."

Renee heard these words loud and clear. These weren't curious interrogations or vague, far-off suggestions. They were commands. From the voice, the hands, the eyes. Was this not what she came here for? To feel good about herself? To kiss. To worship. Mindlessly, she found herself kissing the hand in front of her. Sometimes the kisses turned to licks, then seemingly random bites and grabs. Jordyn plunged her thumb into Renee's mouth - her client sucking on it vigorously. With her other hand, Jordyn continued to fingerfuck Renee, her wet pussy convulsing as she approached orgasm.

Removing her thumb from Renee's mouth, Jordyn slowly alternated between fingers - those on one hand going in and out between her client's legs and those on the other going into her mouth. Renee was gagging on a pinky when she found herself exploding with pleasure. Writhing in her chair, tears saloming down her cheeks, and her eyelids fluttering to reveal the whites of her eyes - she came.

"See?" Jordyn asked, "You don't need a magic wand. Just a nice manicure."

***

"Renee? Sweetie?"

Renee blinked once. Twice. And looked at the woman across from her. Jordyn's bright green eyes reminded her - the manicure! Looking down, she admired the woman's work. Her nails were a lovely, glossy flesh-tone with a French tip. Exactly what she had wanted!

"That is so lovely! I'm just really impressed, Jordyn! But...I don't understand why I dozed off. I've never done that before.”

Jordyn grinned. "Maybe I just have the magic touch!"

Renee got out of her chair - was it leaning back a bit? - and walked to the desk with her manicurist. She took out her wallet, handed her two twenties, and then turned to leave. But, she thought, this was such a nice experience. And Jordyn had been so kind. Jordyn was special. Not like other manicurists. Special. And don't special manicurists deserve special treatment? Smiling the whole time, Renee reached back into her purse and produced several much larger bills. "I just have to leave you a nice tip, honey. I can't stress enough how great I feel with these nails already!"

Jordyn took the money and gave a polite nod to her client. "I really appreciate that, Renee! And I really hope to see you again."

Yes, Renee thought, I really should make more time for myself and see Jordyn more often. And, of course, I'll have to leave a glowing review online! I'll never go to another nail salon again.