A whole week went by without anything out of the ordinary. Samantha did make sure that Chloe studied for her trigonometry test, but that was hardly out of the ordinary. Samantha did her best to be involved in Chloe’s education.

Every bit as ordinary was Janice leaving on another business trip across the country.

Janice’s suitcase sat on their bed, full of clothes, toiletries, and so many little things she’d need for an extended time away. There wasn’t a lot Samantha could do to help, she still hovered nearby as she watched her wife pack. On her face she wore a bright, cheery expression—the happiest that she could sustain without it seeming or feeling forced. It was hardly the most disingenuous, but it was a bit exaggerated for how early in the morning it still was.

In case there’s anything I can do to help… I want to be ready! I want the way she remembers me here at home to be all smiles and ready to welcome her back!

For her part, Janice was too busy moving quickly, but calmly, from one part of their bedroom to another. Her short blonde hair bounced around her face, and her sharp green eyes darted from one thing to another without lingering.

In contrast to her wife, Janice’s skin was tanned—or it had been at the height of summer. The crisp white of her button-up blouse only served to emphasize what of her time in the sun remained, whereas Samantha somehow managed to make her beige sweater look like a much darker, and richer color than it looked before she’d pulled it on.

“I’m going to be pretty busy all week, and it’s very likely that I’ll be busy through most of the nights, too. We have a lot to go over, and no one’s going to get anything done if morale tanks. There’s no helping it, but I should be able to have some fun while I’m out there.”

“Don’t worry, Janice.” Samantha shook her head—another thing that Janice was too busy moving to really notice on a conscious level. “Try to not work yourself too hard! Chloe and I both appreciate how much you do for us. It wouldn’t make either of us very happy if you came back feeling exhausted from more than just the jet lag!”

Janice laughed, and Samantha’s smile stretched just a little bit wider.

Not that it would be the most surprising, but neither of us would enjoy it!

After one final glance through a list on her phone, Janice zipped up her suitcase and lifted it down onto the floor. She moved over to Samantha and leaned in for a quick kiss to her lips “I’ll see you in a week!” She made her way out of their room, baggage tugged along behind her.

Samantha followed close behind the red roller bag. “See you in a week, sweetie!”

It wasn’t long before Samantha was watching Janice toss her bag into the trunk of her car before disappearing down the road. When she pulled the door closed behind her, Janice was once again alone. She let out a quiet little sigh, her smile turning wistful as she made her way through the house. There wasn’t much out of order, but she could find enough to distract herself without trying too hard.

The morning vanished, as did some of the mess that naturally settled in whenever Samantha wasn’t looking. A quick sandwich later, and she was back to tidying.

She was dusting the ceiling fan that hung in the kitchen when the familiar, jarring sound of the doorbell pulled her out of a near dissociative state.

BIN-BON!

Samantha whined, her hand squeezing tighter around the duster’s handle as a blush spread across her cheeks. Eventually I’m going to get used to that doorbell… It’s only been… what… sixteen years? …Is there any way to make it quieter while still being sure I’d hear it?

Forcing herself to laugh at her own easily startled nature, Samantha sat the duster down on the nearby kitchen island and made her way to the door. This time, she was calm enough to make a quick glance outside.

Wearing a pair of faded black jeans, and a t-shirt for a band that didn’t recognize under her leather jacket was the unmistakable figure of Mary. Her dark blue eyes met Samantha’s, and the older woman’s brown pair widened.

What’s she doing here on a school day?!

Samantha quickly threw open the deadbolt and pulled the door open. Mary smiled lazily, her hand rising up for a lazy wave.

There was no look of guilt or shame in Mary’s eyes, no look that she was trying to get away with something or that she was anywhere she didn’t belong. Samantha’s confidence faltered, and her voice was a much softer than she’d expected it to be when it finally worked its way past her lips. “Shouldn’t… shouldn’t you be in school?”

“Nnnnnope?” Mary’s smile shifted into a bratty smirk. “I’m enough ahead on credits that I could take one less class, signed myself out of study hall, and that made it so I ended up with a schedule where every other day I get out at lunch. Technically I could leave before lunch, but then I’d be all kinds of antisocial.”

“Oh.”

Samantha blinked.

I wouldn’t have ever even thought of doing something like that when I was her age. I’m not even sure my school would have let me do it…!

“Uuuuuh-huh.” Mary laughed. It was hard not to feel laughed at, but there was no malice in it, and she really hadn’t done anything wrong. All that Samantha could really do in response was blush. “Can I come in? It’s a little cold out here. This jacket keeps my body pretty warm, but it doesn’t do a lot for my face. Or my hands.”

“Oh!”

Samantha didn’t know how she kept finding a way to blush darker. Hidden away under her hair, even her ears were a deep red as she stepped back inside. She couldn’t even find words to respond with, and instead just nodded.

Mary laughed a little more, and stepped her way inside. Like before, she casually pulled off her shoes, dropping them carefully down in the foyer.

She’s so polite… I’m glad that Chloe has a friend like her.

“Hope I didn’t interrupt you nestling into the darkness this time?” Mary’s smirk shifted into a bit of a grin as she pulled her arms out of the straps of her backpack. “I didn’t want to interrupt you before… I just really wanted to get that project done. The sooner, the better sort of a thing…”

“Nestling into the… oh!” Samantha laughed quietly, shaking her head. Her blush wasn’t going away, but at least it wasn’t getting any worse. “No… No I finished that last week.”

She actually remembered the book I was reading…? Samantha’s blush still wasn’t subsiding, but now she was feeling it for a new reason. That’s… so thoughtful. I can’t remember the last time Janice commented on one of my books besides commenting on a title. I think it was Seasonal Lovers or A Blooming Desire?

I can’t even remember when I read either of those…

“Any good?” Mary quirked up a brow as she worked at unzipping her backpack. “The reviews online all seemed pretty happy with it.”

“I liked it…!” Samantha laughed again, but it was different—more relaxed. Her smile softened. “I liked it a lot, actually. Why did you look up reviews online? Were you thinking of reading it?”

Mary looked up from her backpack and shrugged. Her back was close to the door, and Samantha was still standing not far away. “I was curious. I thought I’d see what it was you were into… or well… what else you were into, anyway. It sounded pretty interesting, but I’m not sure I’d read it. Might be more fun to have you tell me about it. A little long to have you read it to me…”

All that Samantha could imagine was reading the scene Mary’s arrival had interrupted before.

A chapter long sex scene where the heroine Astrid proclaimed not just her love, but went on at length about just what sex with her lover did to her body.

Somehow her face found a new way to burn.

“I’m not sure that would be very appropriate, Mary! You’re old enough to read books like that on your own if you’d like to, but I don’t think… I’m a married woman, and… and your friend’s mother. That would be…” Her voice trailed off, and she swallowed to try working away the lump she felt in her throat.

“…Wrong?” Mary’s eyebrow raised as she asked.

Samantha could only nod.

With a shrug, Mary pulled out a familiar book—one that Samantha had tried to forget wasn’t hidden in plain sight amongst so many others that would be equally unobjectionable to a casual glance, or even someone caring to flip through. There still wasn’t anything unsavory about the title, but that didn’t stop it from making her heart race to see it in Mary’s hand. Either remembering Samantha’s concerns, or having a similar philosophy on caring for the written word, she held the book carefully.

All of the lines on the spine… I think they’re all in the same places, just… more pronounced…?

“I wanted to bring this back to you before I forgot and kept it forever. It was a pretty good source. I haven’t turned in my paper yet, but I’m only allowed to quote my source so many times.” Mary held out the book, and Samantha made sure she didn’t reach out for it too quickly. “Thanks for letting me borrow it. I know Chloe didn’t really ask, but you know Chloe. Always eager to please.”

“That’s Chloe, alright!” Samantha laughed as she started to pull the book out of Mary’s hands, only to feel that the book wasn’t budging. Mary wasn’t letting go, and her grip was strong. Samantha froze in place, and let out a soft, breathless whining sound as Mary moved closer.

It would have been difficult to interpret the initial grasp as a mistake, but the move closer added a certainty that there was more to it. There was intent.

Mary pressed her lips together in a moment that seemed to stretch on for minutes before she spoke. “I was thinking that maybe you might like to try some of what was inside of the book. My paper should be good enough to get me an ‘A’ already, but there’s nothing like personal experience, right? Don’t you think that I should write what I know?”

Samantha was speechless.

She’s… asking if she can… hypnotize me? Why would… She whined again, so softly that even Samantha wasn’t sure if she’d made the sound loud enough to be audible. Hypnotizing me wouldn’t… I mean most people wouldn’t even think of hypnosis as something… sexual…

Obviously she doesn’t, right… Mary just wants a good grade. It’s not like she came over here to ask to have sex with me…!

“Personal experience… really… trying to learn the material… that’s always a good thing!” Samantha let out another shy laugh. She didn’t try to pull the book out of Mary’s hand, simply let it hang in the air between them. “It’s been tried before, though, and I’m not a very good subject so—”

Mary laughed. It wasn’t a particularly young laugh. It didn’t sound like it was a bedroom laugh, either, but it still made Samantha want to squirm. “Was it Janice?”

“Y-yeah…” Samantha quietly mumbled. Unable to maintain eye contact, she stared down at the book. That meant staring down at her hands, and Mary’s hands, so close to each other. “We tried it… oh… years ago now…? It didn’t work out, so… I don’t want to be frustrating!”

“Well, I didn’t just use this book for my research.” Mary chuckled, her hands finally letting go. Samantha held the book in place on her own for several moments before shyly nodding. “I could try something that’s not in there. It might work better. It’s less verbal, more…” Mary frowned, and even if Samantha couldn’t look up to see her face she could hear it in the younger woman’s voice. “Kinesthetic? I’d need to touch you, but it’d all be above the waist.”

Both of them laughed, but their laughs sounded nothing alike.

Before Samantha could respond, Mary spoke again. “Above the shoulders, really. I’d just need to hold your head. We could try it right now. It doesn’t take very long.”

“What if it doesn’t work…?” Samantha finally looked up to meekly meet Mary’s gaze. “You won’t be too disappointed, will you?” Vulnerability, a quiet longing tempered by fear, shone from deep inside of Samantha’s eyes.

Mary shook her head without a moment of hesitation. “Nah. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. I’d just like to try. It sounds really easy. Won’t waste much time.”

“Okay!”

Samantha heard herself respond before she’d made up her mind.

It’s been so long since Janice and I tried, and she was never interested anyway. She only gave it a try to humor me, so it’s not like I’m doing anything behind her back that I’d only be doing with her! Her mind raced, logical arguments rising up to fight off the sinking pit she felt in her gut. I could probably even tell her that I let Mary try to hypnotize me! Even Chloe wouldn’t mind!

I never would tell them because that would just be embarrassing—being hypnotized by a teenager—but it’s not like there’s anything wrong with it! I could even let her do it if she wasn’t eighteen!

She bit her lip, staring so hopefully into Mary’s eyes.

It probably won’t work anyway, but if it does…

Her nipples tingled. Her thighs squeezed together the slightest bit. Her heart beat just a little harder, just a little faster.

“Alright!” Mary smiled wide, and reached out to gently place her hands on either side of Samantha’s head. “So all you really need to do is just relax your neck, alright? I’m going to move your head around on your neck. It won’t hurt or anything, so don’t worry about that.”

“I’m not worried about that!” Samantha laughed, and then quickly corrected herself. “I’m not worried about anything!”

Mary raised an eyebrow as she slowly turned Samantha’s head so she faced to the left. “Uh-huh… well… to the left…” Then she reversed the motion. “To the right…” Several times she had Samantha looking side to side. It was slow and careful with a grasp that wasn’t tight or loose, but exactly as strong enough as it needed to be to smoothly guide Samantha just where Mary wanted her to go.

There’s nothing naughty about this. There’s nothing wrong with this at all! Samantha felt herself relaxing in Mary’s grasp. All she needed to do was let Mary move her head. It was one of the easiest things anyone had ever asked her to do. I was making a big deal about nothing!

There really is nothing naughty about hypnosis, and Mary is just Chloe’s friend.

Relax.

After several passes side to side, Mary gently moved Samantha’s head so her eyes faced the ceiling. “And Up… Sorry to shake up the pattern!”

Samantha couldn’t help but laugh. So much tension was gone. Everything was alright, and just like everyone was always telling her, she worried too much about everything. There’s no way that this is going to work, but at least it’s not going to make anything worse. She got to try out a non-verbal form of hypnosis, and that should help her write about it better for her paper, but that’s all it is!

Without warning, though no more jarring a motion than any other, Mary guided Samantha’s head so her eyes looked as close to the floor as she could manage.

“And down.”

A small, quiet groan fell from Samantha’s lips as her eyes hooded.

With one simple gesture, it felt like Mary had pulled her down so much further than if she’d ended up on her knees. She felt so heavy, Hazy. Her body was still there, but she felt outside of it, distant from it, removed from the world and all of its concerns as Mary’s hands held her in place. It was easier to feel Mary’s hands than it was to feel her own.

That made it so easy for her grasp to slowly weaken.

Down…

It was the only thought that was easy for Samantha process.

Down.

It was more than just a direction. It was a feeling. It was an understanding. Samantha was down, down, in a space, a mental state she’d never felt before. She knew that the rest of the world was still there, that Mary was still touching her, still holding a part of her, but it was easier to not be more than distantly aware. It was easier to feel distant to everything but Mary’s hands and that single idea.

Down.

Her eyes felt fuzzy, heavy, so difficult to keep open and so unfocused. She wasn’t really focused on anything in the fuzzy haze in front of her, but it would have been difficult if she had.

All of the sounds of the larger world around her felt like they were further and further away—on the other side of thicker and thicker glass.

Her body felt so heavy, but she wasn’t going to fall. It was easier to stay standing than it was to crumple, and Mary was close enough that the part of her that might have been worried about falling knew it didn’t need to—not with those hands on her head.

Just like she didn’t fall, she didn’t let go of the book, either. Instead, her grip loosened. The glossy cover slowly slid in her grasp, only slowed by the texture of her skin. The further it slid, the less of a grip her hand on the book, and the quicker it slid down until it moved past her thumb. Samantha couldn’t feel her usual surges of panic or anxiety, not wrapped up in the smooth, warm feelings of Mary’s hands holding her head.

For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, thanks to the attentions of someone else and not some book, Samantha wasn’t feeling any stress at all. An experiment that she didn’t even expect to work had somehow taken all of that away.

The touch of her daughter’s best friend had somehow made everything feel better in ways that no one, not even her wife, had ever managed.

Down…

Mary hadn’t repeated the word, but it was the only thing in Samantha’s mind, echoing softer and softer like the most elegant, perfect truth of a long-sought epiphany.

She would have smiled if she had any control over her face at all. Instead, she sighed and let the all consuming feeling sweep her away. It was so easy to do without even trying. Mary had taken care of everything for her.

Mary smiled.

And then the book fell from Samantha’s hands.