An American Bimbo In Paris

She'd been in France for six weeks now - a month longer than planned. Her handbag had never turned up. Lauren hardly ever thought about that at all. It surprised her, just how fast staying with Fleur had become her ordinary life. So much so, in fact, that she could hardly remember any other. Those memories, when she dwelt on them, felt more like a dream than anything else. More often, though, she chose to simply live in the present. It was much better that way.

Though, hadn't there been some reason she was supposed to be eager to get back to America? It took Lauren several long moments to remember. Oh, her studies. Lauren giggled. Studying seemed like such a silly notion. She hadn't so much as touched her schoolwork in weeks.

"How do you feel, darling?" Fleur asked her. Lauren sat up slowly, still clinging to her taller friend.

"Good." Lauren sighed happily, and giggled a little more. "Just, very... good."

She didn't have the words. Lately, words didn't come to her easily, especially longer ones. She didn't think much about that either.

"Wonderful," Fleur purred, and started to stroke Lauren's hair. Lauren closed her eyes again, leaning into her friend's touch. It was the kind of gesture that would have embarrassed her a few weeks before. Now, it felt perfectly natural.

Just as natural, in fact, as Fleur's hypnosis. Fleur had now hypnotized Lauren every single night for six weeks straight. Lauren had joked that her friend probably knew what was going on in her head better than she did. Thanks to her friend's tender care, she felt more relaxed than she could have ever imagined - but it had gone beyond that, now. It had become part of their routine, and so Fleur had suggested using hypnosis for other things, like helping her learn French.

"So," Lauren said, giggling blissfully. "How's my French coming along?"

"Your French?" Fleur seemed bemused by the question. "It's perfect, of course."

Lauren was confused. "Of course?"

"We're speaking French right now."

Lauren blinked. "W-we are?"

Lauren took a few moments to double-check the words she'd been saying. Sure enough, they were French. She'd been conversing with Fleur in French, as fluidly as if she'd been doing it her whole life. When had that started? Lauren wasn't sure. In fact, she wasn't sure she could firmly remember the last time she'd spoken English.

"I-I don't understand." Lauren was trying to make sense of how this was possible, but her head was still so foggy from the hypnosis. "But... how?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." Fleur sounded perplexed, but she kept stroking Lauren's hair calmly. "You've been speaking French forever, haven't you? You studied it in school, remember."

"Oh..." Was that right? Lauren wasn't sure. It didn't sound right. But she couldn't be sure; she couldn't think. As time passed, the suggestion seemed to settle with her, and her sense of unease dissipated. "I... I guess you're right."

"I'm always right." Fleur giggled. "You can be such a ditz, you know."

Lauren couldn't help but giggle too. It was true. She'd been such a ditz for the past few weeks. She'd been so relaxed, it was so easy for her to forget things. It was just like her. She'd always been that way. Hadn't she?

"Then... what were you teaching me? While I was hypnotized, I mean." That was the last thing Lauren couldn't figure out.

"Oh, a few things." Fleur waved away the question. "But you really shouldn't worry yourself about it, darling. You think too much."

Lauren found herself giggled again. Fleur was right. She spent way too much time wrapped up in her own head. Fleur was helping her get better at that, though. It was much better not to think instead. Almost meditative, in fact. And Fleur had more than demonstrated that she could do all the thinking for the both of them.

"Come now," Fleur said from above her. "We have something more important to talk about."

Lauren slowly sat up. "We do?"

Fleur nodded. She still had a smile on her face, but for once, she looked serious; maybe even a little nervous. "Well... I don't know quite how to say this, but... we've been getting very close lately, don't you think? And so... I wondered if you wanted to, perhaps, make that official?"

A broad, irrepressible grin spread across Lauren's face as she grasped what Fleur was actually asking her. "Are... Fleur, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

A faint blush touched Fleur's cheeks. "Yes."

"Oh my god." Lauren couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe she was so lucky. Fleur returned her feelings. "Honestly, I've felt the same way for weeks now." It was true. But, uncharacteristically, she hadn't been able to muster the courage to make the first move. "So... yes. My answer is yes. I'll be your girlfriend."

Fleur kissed her.

Any concerns Lauren might have had about hypnosis, or about the fact that they still technically resided in different countries, vanished completely. She pressed herself eagerly into the kiss, delighting in the taste of Fleur's lips on hers. She was so happy.

"Oh, darling, this is wonderful!" Fleur cried, as she pulled away. In a single moment, all her nervousness vanished, replaced by the utter confidence and calm Lauren had come to expect from her new girlfriend. "And this means, we can finally do something I've been waiting for for far, far too long."

"What's tha-"

Lauren was cut off when Fleur shoved her, hard, sending her sprawling on the couch on her back. Instantly, Fleur was atop her, straddling her.

"This," Fleur answered, her voice low and sultry. Lauren felt like a deer in headlights, able only to mewl and moan as Fleur's hand went between her legs, teasing her as she began to quickly remove her clothes.

"I... um... um..." Lauren didn't know why she was acting this way. She wasn't a blushing virgin, and nor was she a bottom. But something about Fleur seemed to bring it out in her. "I... usually... um... you know... I'm used to being on top," she protested shyly.

"Not with me," Fleur growled, firmly and possessively.

Lauren turned a bright shade of red, and giggled as all the resistance went out of her. "Yes, Fleur," she moaned submissively. Following Fleur's lead felt like second nature. As ever, it was proving so easy to let Fleur do all the thinking instead of her.

"Good girl." The praise sent happy butterflies somersaulting in Lauren's stomach. "I love you, Zoe."

"I love you too, Fleur," Lauren responded at once, and then parsed what Fleur had said. "Wait, um, 'Zoe'?"

"It's just a pet name," Fleur told her. "I think it suits you. That's all. Don't worry your pretty head about it."

Lauren nodded meekly. As always, when Fleur told her not to worry about something, it was easy to obey. She thought no more about Fleur calling her 'Zoe', and as her new girlfriend lowered herself to kiss her neck, she quickly stopped thinking about anything at all except pleasure.

***

Zoe giggled, surprised and confused, as Fleur handed her the flyer she'd picked up from the coffee shop, advertising an open barista position.

"You... want me to get a job as a barista?" Zoe asked dumbly.

She wasn't sure why the idea seemed so strange to her, but then again, she wasn't sure about a lot of things. She wasn't sure how long she'd been staying with Fleur for. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in France for. For all she knew, it could have been her whole life. She wasn't sure if she could speak English or not - she thought she could remember speaking it, but those memories seemed fainter and fainter by the day. Strangely, though, that didn't trouble Zoe. Almost nothing did. She spent so much time with her head completely empty, and it was doing her a world of good - and it was all thanks to Fleur.

"Why not?" Fleur replied. "You need a job sooner or later, don't you?"

"I guess..." Zoe giggled nervously. Something was itching at the back of her mind, she just couldn't figure out what. "But... aren't I supposed to go... home?"

Fleur laughed, and reached out to pet Zoe's head condescendingly. "This is your home, silly! Where else would you want to be?"

"Oh yeah." Zoe couldn't help but nuzzle Fleur's hand submissively. The way her toppy girlfriend treated her always banished all her worries - but not this time, it seemed. "But then, um, maybe there was, like... something else I was supposed to be doing?"

"Like what?"

At that, Zoe was lost for words. "Maybe... maybe... going to school or something?"

"Going to school?" That just made Fleur laugh even louder. "Where do you get such silly ideas, cutie? I think we both know you're not suited for that, darling. I love you, but intelligence has never been your strong suit."

"I guess you're right." Zoe giggled in turn. She couldn't put her nagging sense of unease, so she decided to stop thinking about it. Not thinking was always the right answer.

"No, you'll be much better as a barista," Fleur continued. "You'll look so cute in the uniform! And I'm sure the customers will love how girly and ditzy you always are."

Zoe blushed at her girlfriend's praise. "I guess I'll apply then! Just as soon as I can-"

Her phone buzzed, and Zoe paused to look at it. It was an email. She almost didn't look at it. She hadn't looked at her emails in weeks. But something possessed her to take a look, and before Fleur could stop her, she started reading. It was in English, but she could just about make out the words.

'Lauren,' the email began. 'Consider this your last warning. You're missed several deadlines now, and haven't returned any of my recent emails. Since you've always been an exemplary student, I'm choosing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but unless you contact me at once, I'll be left with no choice but to take disciplinary action and terminate your scholarship. Professor Shepherd.'

And just like that, it all came flooding back to her.

Lauren dropped her phone, head throbbing as memories of another life poured back into her. She looked at Fleur aghast. "What the-"

The hypnosis. It had to be the hypnosis. When she thought about the way Fleur had been acting, it was the only explanation that made sense. Her head was still foggy, but it was all starting to come back to her.

"Fleur!" Lauren cried - still, to her alarm, in French. "I... I don't... how could you do this?"

Fleur's only response was to let out a long, sad sigh. "Oh dear. I was truly hoping it wouldn't come to this."

"You... thought that you could brainwash me and take my life away without a fight?" Lauren couldn't bring herself to be angry; she was just confused.

"It's... not like that," Fleur explained awkwardly. "Please believe me, I was trying to help you."

"Help me?" Lauren echoed, astonished. "By ruining my academic career? By... by making me dumb?"

She thought about how foggy she'd been, and about how much she'd come to depend on Fleur for anything intellectual. She could barely remember the life she was accusing Fleur of having stolen away. She thought about her English fluency slipping away from her. How could any of this have been to help?

"Just calm down," Fleur said patiently. "Zoe, calm down, and let me-"

"My name isn't Zoe!" Lauren exploded. But inwardly, she lacked conviction. She'd been going by 'Zoe' for weeks now. It felt more like her name than 'Lauren' did.

"Just..." Fleur sighed again, and made her voice soft. "Just breathe."

Lauren shuddered as a soporific wave hit her, and against her will, her breathing started to turn slow.

"That's... not... fair..." she whimpered, trying and failing to resist the hypnotic compulsion of Fleur's words.

"I'm simply trying to help you understand." With Lauren pacified, Fleur was able to reach out and stroke her cheek, softening her even further. "Breathe. Relax. Listen. This is all for you, after all."

"You... you keep saying that." Lauren could hear her voice already drifting. She was so completely under Fleur's spell.

"Darling, when you came here, you were so unhappy," Fleur said sadly. "Even here, with me, on vacation, you couldn't allow yourself to relax. I wanted to help. I knew hypnosis was the only way to get you to take a break for a little while. I never meant for it to go this far, of course. But with every step I took, you seemed happier and happier, and, well..."

"It seems a little more self-centered than that," Lauren snorted weakly. "You made me your girlfriend."

For once, Fleur looked bashful. "That... wasn't part of the plan. Or, well, it was part of a different plan." She made herself look straight at Lauren. "Darling, I've had feelings for you a lot longer than you think."

Lauren didn't know what to say to that at all.

"So," Fleur continued. "What are you going to do now?"

"I..." In truth, Lauren didn't know what to say to that either. "I-I'll go home, and then, um..."

"You silly thing." Fleur smiled. "Can you actually remember what you were supposed to be studying at school? Can you even speak English anymore?"

"Of course I... I... of c-course..."

Lauren trailed off, fighting internally to put the pieces of her mind back together. It was hard. It was so hard. Everywhere she turned, there was nothing but fog and confusion. It was as though Fleur had hollowed her out, leaving her mind utterly empty. She tried to piece her knowledge of English back together logically, but that went no better. What did she know? There had to be something. A few words, here and there. Every French person knew at least that much. But she wasn't French! Was she? Her memories kept betraying her. But if she wasn't French, did that mean she didn't know anything? No, no, that wasn't right. But then, what was? Lauren sagged hopelessly.

She was so dumb. And Fleur had made her that way. Everyone she had prized about herself - her brains, her academic success - it was all gone.

"There, there." Fleur rubbed her head, as if she was nothing more than a dejected puppy. Lauren hated how much comfort she took from the gesture. Her instincts to be submissive towards her girlfriend went deep. "It's OK. You can just stay here. I'll take care of everything."

"But-"

"Answer me this," Fleur continued, ignoring Lauren's weak protests. "Are you happier now? Or before?"

"Of course, I was-" Lauren froze. The simplicity of the question stunned her. Was she happier? Had she been happy before? For all her achievement, she couldn't say that she had been. And now? She thought about all those nights spent snuggled up with Fleur, without a worried thought in her head.

"You see?" Fleur smiled. "What life do you want? To be Lauren, a miserable, smart grad student? Or to be Zoe, a happy, dumb barista, living with your girlfriend in Paris?"

"But..." Lauren's cheeks were flushed. She couldn't believe what she was considering. "Isn't... isn't it wrong?"

"No," Fleur said simply. "It's not wrong for you to be happy, darling."

Lauren blushed far more fiercely, and looked away. Fleur knew exactly what that meant.

"Breathe," she intoned again, in the soft, soothing hypno-voice Lauren had come to know so well. "Let me make the decision for you. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out."

Lauren obeyed. It wasn't as if she could resist. And besides, after everything, it was blissfully pleasant to let Fleur sweep her thoughts away again.

"In." Lauren was filled with warmth, breathy and intimate.

"Out." She let her mind drain of worries and memories both, enjoying the hazy uncertainty that washed over her.

"In." She responded instantly to Fleur's words, without thought.

"Out." Her eyes unfocused, becoming glassy, vacant orbs and leaving the world around her blurry.

"It's easy, isn't it?" Fleur soothed. "To let me think, instead of you. You're so good at that, aren't you?"

Already, Lauren was beyond being able to grasp the meaning of what she was saying, but she nodded and smiled anyway. "So good." She loved being good.

"You've done it so many times before, after all," Fleur continued. Her voice was quiet and sing-song, and Lauren could have listened to it for days. "It's so normal, for a ditzy girl like you."

Lauren giggled reflexively, just the way Fleur had conditioned her to.

"Normal and safe," Fleur repeated calmly. She took Lauren's hand, guiding her to sit with her on the bed. "Because you trust me. Because you love me."

"Normal. Safe. Love," Lauren echoed distantly.

"And we've talked a lot about forgetting, haven't we?" Fleur continued. "You're so good at that. So good at forgetting for me. Because you know how forgetting feels, don't you?"

"Feels... good..." Lauren answered slowly. "Good to forget bad thoughts. Good to forget bad things." She had the feeling she was repeating back Fleur's words from another time, though she couldn't remember. That made her happy. She didn't need to remember. She needed to forget.

Fleur nodded.

"So I know you'll be so very good at what I'm going to tell you to do." Fleur leaned in, eyes shining with anticipation. "I need you to forget everything. Forget it all, all over again. Don't worry, my darling. I'll make sure this time, you never have to remember."

Lauren nodded. She closed her eyes, and let the magnetic pull of Fleur's words carry her away. It felt like falling. It felt like she was falling into water, sinking, letting it wash her clean of everything she didn't need anymore. Her thoughts melted and disappeared as soon as they came to her, leaving her empty. It should have scared her, but it didn't. She knew she was in safe hands.

When she opened her eyes again, she was Zoe.

Zoe giggled, leaning happily against her girlfriend. She'd never felt so totally carefree - and she couldn't even remember what she'd forgotten.

"How are you feeling, darling?" Fleur asked, staring at her intently.

"Like... like..." Zoe giggled, and reached up to twirl her hair. "I don't know."

Fleur searched her eyes for a moment, looking for something; a flicker of remembrance, a spark of intelligence. There was nothing. Thanks to the lingering effects of her hypnosis, her girlfriend's eyes were wide and vacant, shining with nothing but blissful ignorance, reflecting nothing but a dumb, puppy-like innocence and eagerness. All of Lauren's torment and weariness was gone. She was staring into the eyes of a hopeless, happy bimbo.

"Good." Fleur kissed her forehead, smiling. "That's the right answer."

Zoe giggled again. She felt unbelievably foggy, and she loved it. She loved being dumb. "My head, feels, um..."

"Don't worry about that, darling." Fleur let herself lie back on the bed, spreading her legs and reaching down to lift her already-short skirt. "There are much better things for you to do than think."

Zoe took her meaning at once. She might not have been smart, but she was very, very good at pleasing her girlfriend. Fleur had trained her well for that, and Zoe loved being trained. She couldn't imagine being a top. It was much, much easier to let someone else tell her what to do.

She shifted onto her knees, crawling between Fleur's legs eagerly. Zoe knew her place. At a wink and a gesture from Fleur, she reached her hands into Fleur's skirt and reverently removed her panties, then eagerly threw them aside. At another gesture, she planted her face between her girlfriend's thighs and started to worship.

Fleur started to purr, simmering with relaxed arousal, as Zoe started to kiss her way up Fleur's sensitive inner thighs, knowing it was exactly the kind of foreplay her girlfriend liked. She took her time with it, teasing Fleur until her girlfriend was stirring and shivering above her, crying out to be touched. By the time Zoe reached Fleur's pussy, Fleur was both wet and impatient. She reached down, grabbing a fistful of Zoe's hair in her hand and, with a dominant smirk on her face, pushing Zoe's face into her. Zoe giggled. She loved goading Fleur into handling her like that.