Jessica Day 01 - Jessie and Jack

This is not a real story, is a work of fiction. If you would like to try the exercises, do it. But you will not ascend to a higher plane. :D

- "Every one of us is different. A grounding exercise that one person likes may not good for you. That's why we use here a buffet of different exercises each week, for you to find one that work best for you. Use whatever it is that connects to you, keeps you calm, safe, and relaxed. We start like always, let your intention to embrace intimacy fills you and this space. We end like always, let your intention to embrace intimacy fills you and this space."

- Wow, Jessie you sounded like her, let me take some notes ... can I?

- Sure Jack, you already payed me. I think is something like that, maybe not the same words, but something like that.

We both laughed looking at the empty cookie plate in front of us. One of Jack's dreams was writing his own screenplay, and now he had his first big break working as an assistant producer. But there was a problem, Jack had been hired because he had experience in intimacy retreats, which was not the case. Jack just went to these retreats to meet people interested in achieving hyper-orgasms... whatever that is.

I met Jack at one of those retreats. He approached me to know my girl friends. Girl friends not girlfriends, they all like me but we never went beyond that. Later Jack even shared some useless tricks he knew to help me pass the friend zone. With no result, useless tricks are useless. In his mind Jack believed he was an alpha male with the power to charm everyone around him, and living in his own private fantasy world of the law of attraction, he was sure that one day he would produce his own film. Rarely did I see Jack thinking about strategies on how to raise funds. Every phase of the filmmaking process demands funds. Even if it's only to charge a cell phone or to eat a burger with fries. But not for Jack. In his mind, it was enough to think positive and the right people would show up to open all the doors and pay all the bills.

Jack already had this dreamy mindset before entering the world of intimacy retreats. And perhaps these retreats fed those hallucinations. Most, if not all, of these retreats are hosted by hallucinating people who provide a neo-hippie space to share their hallucination of how it is possible to make the world work better. Nothing against dreams and dreamers, but after meditating please go to the streets and speak to other people.

I say hallucination because the speech in this retreats is a word salad of meaningless expressions. From astrophysics to quantum mysticism, they are experts in everything. I was one of those hallucinators, maybe I still am... but less than Jack. Intuition exists as spontaneous possibilities... an empty but profound sounding scam.

I stopped attending the middle of the retreats after I ran out of money. The basics of Maslow's pyramid, without money to eat there is no motivation for anything else. It was no surprise that I found Jack after renting the cheap apartment across the street from my cheap apartment in this cheap building. And it was Jack asked me some tips, due to my experience in the retreats. I told him right away that I didn't understand any of that mentioning some doubts I had about what was said ... when I understood everything. Jack was still a dreamer. Intoxicated by the hallucination, just another moth that threw itself into the flames. So I decided to talk to him over a plate of cookies at his house... my only meal that day, but I didn't tell Jack that.

I'm not crazy about detox diets, often preached at these retreats... the truth is that money isn't enough and I'd rather have a place to sleep. After consuming the few resources I had on retreats, I found myself at the fast food areas of a shopping center eating what people left on the tables. It's very simple, you just need to stand close to a full table at peak hours surfing the web on your phone and when those people get up, pass by discreetly and take what's left. Yes, leftover potato chips with mustard or pizza dough can keep a person alive.

Then I had an idea, since Jack needs my help at least I was going to eat for free. And these cookies were the start of my meal. I don't have supernatural powers, but I was sure that at the end of the day Jack would knock on my door again wanting to know more. I didn't know anything about retreats either, but I had my phone. In addition to free meals, I had free wifi and even charging stations.

My routine was simple, I spent the morning in a shopping center hunting for breakfast, then I walked until I reached another shopping center to hunt my lunch. I rarely had dinner, tired of walking all day. Staying all day in the shopping center is a red flag for the security guards. Bouncing between shopping centers and picking just one table on each one of them was almost permissible. Several times I saw the security guards looking at me during my pick, but as it was only one table per shopping center they never said anything, unlike other people I saw being kicked out for eating leftovers from several tables. While waiting for the table, I was charging my phone and surfing the internet. From books to movies on the most diverse topics, from doctoral theses by professors from private colleges to comic books... all free at my fingertips. Usually I was looking for topics that I was interested in or comedy to laugh a little. But in this case I was focused on the retreats.

It wasn't my idea, in one of the retreats I overheard a conversation I shouldn't have. It appears that the material they were giving out had been taken from a book. As the conversation was of interest to me, I saved the title of the work on my mind and after a simple search, I found it online. I read a little and got the bases to ask some questions and could see to what extent these retreats were a scam. Maybe there are real retreats with honest people, but unfortunately I didn't find any. It was all ripped, copied, hacked and pasted from internet conspiracy theories seasoned with new age wisdom. So I did the same, during the morning I watched some videos and read some books, and I repeated the same during the afternoon. At the end of the day I felt that I almost knew that topic. Almost... is the key word, deep inside I knew it was a scam to eat something before going to bed. Using my new non-existent super powers I know exactly what tonight will be like.

- Hey Jessie can you give some more tips?

- It depends Jack, do you have more cookies?

We both laughed and went to his kitchen. As I anticipated, the table was full of cookies, cakes, snacks and fruit. I then spoke to him about the importance of the gaze.

- "Let's begin. The gaze, the eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication that indicates your interest and helps you to build a connection. We all like when people give us their visual attention. Making and breaking eye contact can make moments of shared attention. And this shared attention is going to create the connection. So one person cannot impose the visual will on another; it is a consent experience. Consent is always the key to intimacy. Try to look at someone briefly and look away, tests the waters and try to look again for a few seconds, if someone return your gaze, this is a green light. Use the five-second rule, maintaining eye contact can feel good, but too much can be intense."

Jack was drinking my words. as I slowly devoured all the fruit on the table. The only fruit I'd eaten lately was leftovers of delicious gelatine, and it couldn't compare to a piece of fresh fruit.

- Thank you Jessie, this stuff is so deep. My boss is even thinking about hiring you.

I returned home and couldn't believe what I had done. It was enough to watch half a dozen of new age videos to fool Jack. The proposition of working for his boss was challenging and I could already foresee more free meals. The next day I received a phone call, a job interview in the form of an invitation to lunch, to compensate for my time traveling to the warehouse that served as the company's headquarters. I am in front of the warehouse door, I ring the bell and a voice tells me to come in. The electrical noise of the heavy door being unlocked is almost unpleasant. The warehouse is almost empty, to my left I see a small room and I hear a voice inviting me to enter.

- Come in Jessie, please seat down. Here you have sausage with soya and a dash of pineapple orange and my secret spices. This one is the same mix but in a patty format, well it is so small that you could call it a slider not a patty. I like sausages a lot, but sliders are perfect to snack between the small breaks of each shoot. Here I ago again talking to much, let's continue. After the soya we have more soya, with a cooler name. Tofu sliders, the bread on the side if you want to make a burger. I like to eat pure like this. If you want do like me, grab a bowl and fill it with the food you want. A rainbow party with tomato, beetroot, pepper, lettuce, sweet potato and flaxseeds. If you need some animal protein I have some slices of frittata on the fridge. People didn't show up this morning so I have plenty to share. Please don't be shy on eating, I only eat fresh food and in the end of the day here we take all leftovers and share with our sisters that are working the streets. As you can see you have also rice, pasta and others. And after we finish this, we still have my special chocolate cake.

I sit at the crowded table and copy what she does, filling my bowl with some rice, tofu and mostly fresh salad. Very healthy and very rare in my diet. I look around, she reads my intention and hands me the Japanese chopsticks called hashi. We eat slowly and she continues to talk about the recipes in front of us. I say her because she introduced herself as Mistress, even though she is clearly a man in a dress. I have no problems, even support. Some people like to dress up, some people like to wear leather, and there's still room for anyone else who wants to do something else. As long as they buy me lunch, feel free. They can even be naked. She finishes talking and pauses, I look at my almost empty bowl and before serving myself again, I put it on the table.

- Let's talk about your role, I have conducted my experiments on several retreats like you and Jack, and I need a partner to give me the feminine view for the script. Can you do it?

When I accepted the invitation I didn't count on that. But after seeing Mistress in a dress, I could almost predict what she wanted. I let her continue talking and confirmed my prophecies. Most retreats work with male and female biological polarity, and some even deny entry to people who identify otherwise. Mistress almost cries when she tells me of one of her experiences where she was in a retreat where nobody wanted to talk to her.

-Thank you for the invitation, I'm not the best person to give a female point of view on this and...

Mistress made a gesture with one hand pointing to the sky, and the other hand positioned flat on top of it in a 'T' shape. The sports time-out signal. She got up, went to the fridge and came back with a tray of several slices of chocolate cake and half a dozen dropper bottles.

- I understand that you are not a member of our club, but you have been the only person that I feel I can talk to about this topic. Most consultants I've had disappear after seeing me in this dress. But not you, we even managed to have a meal together without talking about the job in question. So I beg you, please don't turn down this job. I really need you. Let's make an experiment. Come tomorrow and we'll see how it goes. If you like it, we'll continue, otherwise friends as before. While you're thinking about it, help yourself to some slices of cake. Each of these bottles has a coating that I'm testing, and I'd appreciate your feedback.

I took a knife and sliced the chocolate cake into 8 small pieces. I appreciated the first piece to know the flavour of the cake and the presence of the chocolate. I took a small break to swallow before continue. I put a few drops from the first vial on the second piece and told her that it was salty.

Mistress takes that bottle and writes something on the label. Then she takes the other bottles and covers each of the remaining pieces of cake.

- This one is slightly bitter. This one it's an aggressive flavour that attacks the tongue with a kind of earthiness that I can't really compare to anything. This one tastes like green tea. Oh, this one is spicy. Mmmm, this one is de-li-ci-ous. This one is salty. and this one is like seafood.

While listening to my comments, Mistress wrote something on each of the labels.

- Thanks for the help Jessie. After knowing the flavour, I am also interested in knowing how much to serve, as a cake cannot have just a few drops of frosting. Can I count on you? It's simple, just drink each of these bottles as far as you can.

I look at Mistress and at each of the flasks, some I drink halfway, others I only drink a little, and one of them I drink to the end.

- Yes, these are the expected results. The one you said was delicious is the one you drank until the end. But... if you mix a little of this with a little of this. Yes, this is able to work. Can you try this cocktail Jessie?

I start drinking and I don't stop, the taste of the mixture was very good.

- Perfect, thanks Jessie.

- It was a pleasure, the taste was great. About the proposal. I realize what happened and accept it. Tomorrow I will do the experiment.

Upon returning to my home, I remember that Mistress had asked to return at the same time. She also told me that in the middle of our session we would take a break to eat. In other words, another free lunch. Which was really nice to make a pause from potato chips and leftovers of pizza dough.