The Coffee Shop Pt. 02

Phi blinked his eyes a few times after he opened them, and then said to me, "Thanks Paul. I feel a lot better."

"John, I don't think we'll have any more problems, now," Phil called out to John with a smile.

John looked at me with a puzzled expression, as he had seen everything that happened. He hadn't heard what I'd said to Phil, but he knew something had happened. He walked over to Phil saying, "Okay, then, let's continue...."

I knew that John was going to ask Phil what had just happened, but I wasn't worried about it. I turned my attention back Doug, who was also looking at me with a puzzled expression.

"Is he one of your regulars too?" He whispered to me.

"Yes, I did hypnotize him, if that is what you are asking, Doug," I replied. "If you want to know more, you'll have to ask him about it." I left it at that. Doug looked at me, for a second and then got back to describing which might be better for me, a tailor made tuxedo, or one off the rack.

I must say that I had a fun time picking out the tuxedo, and trying on several different styles in the process. The material was of a high quality, and it felt nice and looked great. My final choice consisted of a standard black tuxedo with a single breasted jacket and black cummerbund. The white shirt I picked out was a simple yet elegant affair without any frills. The only splash of color was the pair of plain gold cuff links for the shirt. The bow tie was black and simple. Both Doug and John thought that my choice was very smart, but I valued Phil's opinion more, since I knew him much better than I did these other two men. He smiled at me, and gave me the 'okay' sign with his hand. I walked over to Phil, who was still in his tuxedo, and ask him how I looked.

"You should be on the top of a wedding cake," he said to me with a smile. "You look great and you'll fit right in at the awards dinner."

"You don't look so bad yourself," I said to him. "Seems like John did a good job on your tuxedo."

"That he did," Paul agreed. "Now you know why I recommended him."

"If you two hot studs are finished with this meeting of the mutual admiration society," John interrupted us with a smile. "It's time to deal with some unpleasant matters, such as the bills. If you wouldn't mind heading back to the changing rooms, Doug and I will start totaling up your bills."

Boy, there is nothing like mentioning the bill to bring me back to earth. I had found the sight of Phil in that tuxedo of his to be very exciting, but John was right. There were less pleasant matters to attend to. Once I was out of the tuxedo and back into my suit & tie, I chatted with Doug for a bit while Phil's bill was totaled up, and his tuxedo was taken to the back. I learned to my surprise that the bill for my tuxedo would be due only after the final fitting, and once I was satisfied with the final fit. It wasn't the same experience I'd had when I'd bought a suit. John and I agreed to meet at his shop for the final fitting at 6 PM, on Friday evening.

"If you have a few minutes, Paul, I'd like to talk to you about something before you go," John said to me as I waited for Phil to come out of the changing room.

"Well, I hope it won't take long," I said cautiously. Actually, I had nothing to fear, since I could always use my powers on John and his other assistant, and as for Doug he was already mine. All I needed to do, was to use his trigger phrase. Still, I was curious about what John wanted to talk to me about. I had a pretty good idea what it was, though.

Phil showed up then and asked if I was ready to go.

"Yes, but John wants to talk to me first," I said to him. "Are you in a rush to leave?"

"Yes, I am," Phil replied sheepishly. "The wife and I are due at a friend's place in about a hour and I'll just have time to get ready if I leave now."

"Go ahead, Phil," I told him. "I'll catch a cab home. I'm sure I'll be fine here with John and Doug. I'll see you at work tomorrow."

"Okay, then," Phil said with relief. "See you at work tomorrow morning. Bye."

"Bye, Phil," I said to him as he walked out the door. "Now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about John?"

"Come over here first, please," John said to me as lead me over to a remote area of the store away from where Doug was working. "It's kind of difficult to talk about and I guess it is none of my business...."

"But....." I prompted him.

"I asked Phil what you 'did' to him to get him to stop fidgeting earlier, and he said that you hypnotized him," John said. "Is that true? Did you hypnotize Phil?"

"Yes, it's true," I told John. "I did hypnotize Phil. He was a bit stressed out from work and couldn't seem to relax for the fitting. I guess he had a few things on his mind."

"How did you do it? Can you hypnotize other people? How long does it take? Can you hypnotize Doug over there? What's required? How much control do you have?" John started to flood me with questions, and the alarm bells in my head started to go off. This was more than just idle curiosity. I was pretty sure, without having scanned John to confirm it, that he had something very specific in mind.

"Do you have time to talk about this now, John?" I asked him, avoiding his questions. "You seem to be very interested hypnosis. Why is that? I like to talk about it, but I could go on for hours."

"Well, I don't know much about it, and after I saw what you with Phil, I'm really curious," John said.

"You have something specific in mind, don't you, John?" I asked him.

"Well, yes," John reluctantly admitted. He was nervous and not sure just how much he could trust me.

"What is it?" I prompted him. "I don't have all night, you know." That got him going.

"It's my other assistant Bob Filmore," John began. "You haven't met him yet. He's in the back counting stock. He's a nice kid but he gets kind of nervous around the customers. He's high strung or something like that and to be blunt, he's starting to become more trouble than he's worth."

"Okay," I said sounding confused. "I don't see what that has to do with me or how I can help." Actually I had a better idea now of where John was going with this, but I wasn't going to jump to any conclusions. "What exactly are you getting at, John?"

"I guess what I want to know is if hypnosis could help him to relax around the customers and to be more self confident," John said. "I don't want to have to fire Bob, but he just isn't working out. He seemed such a natural salesman when I hired him." John sighed, and looked at me.

"You want me to hypnotize him tonight?" I asked.

"Well, if you think you can do it, and if you think it would help," John said doubtfully.

"I can do it easily enough, but I won't without his consent and agreement." I told John.

"You couldn't just sort of 'surprise' him with it?" John asked.

"Yes, I could, but I choose not to." I said flatly. John looked at me quietly.

"I don't think Bob would knowingly let you hypnotize him, though," John said. "I guess this was a bad idea."

"Don't sell the guy short, John," I said. "Why not ask him to come out here and let me talk to him about it? You might be surprised as to what he will decide if the idea is presented properly. What has he got to lose?"

"I guess it is worth a try," John said. "I'll get him. Please wait here." With that John turned and headed into the back room. He returned only moments later with a youngish man following him. John introduced us and while I shook hands with Bob Filmore, I looked him straight in the eye and sent him the mental commands, "You trust me, Bob. You want to do as I suggest. You want me to help you . You like the idea of me using hypnosis to help you, Bob." Only afterwards did I really notice what he looked like.

Bob Filmore was a hunk. He was six feet tall, and had a wonderful body, from what I could see of it in clothes he was wearing. He was slim and trim. He didn't have any outstanding physical characteristics. He wasn't heavily muscled. He was just average, but it was combination of his looks and his clothes that caused me to sit up and take notice of him.

Clean shaven except for a full mustache, that added an air of maturity, Bob was good-looking. His hair was jet black curly and short. Eyes of ebony and teeth like ivory were a stark contrast but added to his appearance. His jaw was firm and square which gave a slightly rugged overall look to his appearance, and that contrasted sharply with the air of innocence and boyish charm that he seemed to project. A natural salesman. I could see why John was loath to lose someone with such a talent. With just little coaching and time, Bob would be able to sell deep freezes to Eskimos. (Okay, so that's an old and corny line. It was true though.)

On this could-have-been-a-male-fashion-model of a body was hung a two piece double breasted burgundy suit with a pale blue shirt and a deep wine colored tie. A quick glance down showed that Bob was wearing black shoes. The suit looked like it had been tailored especially to fit Bob's body, and it accented all of his best features. (Okay, not ALL of them. The jacket was buttoned closed so I could not see Bob's crotch. Sigh.) Still he was a walking advertisement for just how good a guy could look while wearing the clothes from this store. Bob blinked a few times as the mental commands I gave him took hold. He smiled at me, nervously and shifted his weight from one foot to the other as I spoke to him. John was correct. Bob was very nervous around customers and that wasn't going to help him much.

"Well Bob, John here tells me that he considers you to be a natural salesman with a lot of potential," I began.

"Yeah, he's said the same thing to me, too," Bob agreed. The man just could not stand still. He was very nervous for some reason.

"Well, John asked me to talk to you about this because he thinks I might be able to help you," I continued. "He doesn't want to lose you, but he hasn't seen any improvement in the situation and he's not sure how much longer he can wait."

"Yes, I know all that, but what can you do about it?" Bob asked me.

"With your consent, I can help you to relax more and feel more comfortable around strange people that you've never met," I said to him. "I won't lie to you or try and trick you. The tool I use to accomplish this is hypnosis. Are you willing to give it a try?"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Bob replied quickly. Then he paused for a second or two and looked at me. I could almost see my mental commands taking effect. "I don't believe in that stuff, but just out of curiosity, how would you go about it?"

"Well, first I'd ask you to sit down in a chair, if there was one around," I said as I looked about for a chair. "Then I'd start to explain to you exactly what hypnosis is and what can and can't be done with it before starting anything. Finally, if you agreed at that point I'd start the induction. At your choice the induction could be done in private or with Doug and John watching."

"I'd prefer to watch if you don't mind, Paul," John interrupted. "I want to be sure that everything is on the up and up." John smiled at me to take the sting out of his words.

"Of course," I agreed with him. "I understand. That is not at all an uncommon request. The decision though is still Bob's. So do you want to try?"

"I think it will be a big waste of time, but go ahead and make your pitch," Bob said with little enthusiasm. Some chairs were brought from the back room and Bob, John, Doug and I sat down. I had Bob seated across from me. Doug was seated to the left of Bob, and John to the right of Bob a small distance away. They would be able to see what was going on, but would not be crowding Bob or myself. Once Bob was seated and comfortable I asked him to look me in the eyes and confirm that he wanted to try this. When he made eye contact with me, I commanded him, "Go along with what I say, Bob. You can't help but feel the suggestions take effect as I speak them. It will not upset or concern you or even surprise you. You'll just feel yourself unable to do anything but to go along with my suggestions as the hypnosis takes hold of your mind and body." Out loud I talked with Bob and did the usual introduction and explanation of hypnosis to put he at ease and to bore him. When I saw him stifle a yawn, I brought out my pen from my shirt pocket and held it up in front of Bob, with the tip up in the air.

"Bob, I would like you to try looking at the tip of this pen. Just at the shiny part where the pen's writing tip emerges," I said to him.

"Okay, so now what?" Bob asked as he looked at the pen tip and then glanced back at me.

"It's not necessary to acknowledged everything that I say to you, Bob," I said to him, my voice a smooth mellow tone. "Please just try and concentrate on what I'm saying and on what I am asking you to do. So for right now just try and look at the pen tip and focus your eyes on it. When you have that focus just nod your head a couple of times." Bob looked at me and then slowly shifted his eyes to gaze upon my pen. After a few seconds he nodded his head a couple of times.

"There, that was easy enough," I encouraged him. "Just try and keep your eyes focused on the pen tip and soon you'll become aware of how shiny and bright it is as the light reflects off of it. Just keep looking at the pen tip and listen to my voice. Don't think of anything else. Just let your eyes become fixed and focused on the tip of the pen." I waited a few seconds to let those suggestions take hold before continuing.

"Soon and very soon indeed, you'll find that it starts to become easier and easier to keep looking at the pen tip. When you feel that happen you just nod your head, and keep looking. Focusing on the pen tip and on my voice now. Eyes on the pen tip and ears hearing only my voice. All the background sounds and noises fading away now, as you keep looking at the pen tip. And soon and very soon indeed you'll feel the need and desire to take a deep breath and then let it all out. A long slow deep breath, that you let out easily and slowly." Bob nodded his head a few times and I saw his chest rise slowly as he took a very deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

"Feeling even better with each breath that you take and with each word that I utter," I said to him. "Finding it easier and easier to look at the pen tip and to follow along with my voice. The tension and worries of the day leaving your mind and body with each deep breath that you take and exhale. When you start to feel your body beginning to relax, you just nod your head and continue to stare at the pen tip, your eyes following it easily now. Tracking it like radar. It seems to become easier to do with each breath that you take and with each word that I utter. When you feel yourself starting to relax just a tiny bit, you nod your head and just let go. When you feel a change in your breathing you just slip down a bit deeper into relaxation and just continue to let go. Eyes fixed and focused on the pen tip. Following it easily now, just as you follow my voice as it leads you down deeper and deeper." Bob's face was becoming slack and relaxed as the hypnosis took hold of him. I move the pen to the left, then to the right and then back to the center. His eyes and head tracked it exactly. He was already well into the first stages of hypnosis, and it had been only a few minutes. I glanced at his body and notice that his arms were hanging limply in his lap and his legs had spread wide apart as his body become more relaxed with each suggestion I made to him.

"When you feel yourself slipping down deeper and deeper, you just continue to nod your head. Feeling yourself heading down deep in your mind to a very special place. A place that is for you, warm and comfortable, safe and secure. A place where you can let yourself go even deeper into hypnosis because it just feels so good. And the deeper you go the better you feel, and the better you feel the deeper you go. Always feeling better always going deeper. When you feel yourself going deeper, you just nod your head. But no matter how deep you go, you cannot slip, slide or fall out of the chair that you are sitting on. It is just so comfortable sitting there that all you want to do is to keep going deeper with each word that I utter and with each breath that you take."

Bob was nodding his head a lot now. So much so that he was having a bit of trouble keeping his eyes open and focused on the pen. His eyes were blinking a lot and as I looked closer I could see tears starting to form in the corners. His body looked as limp as a wet noodle, but he was sitting firmly in the chair, although he was slouched down a bit. I decided to get a better view and to test Bob's responsiveness.

"Slipping down even deeper now," I said to him. "Feeling just a bit warm so you unbutton your jacket and push it open, and when you do, you slip down ten times deeper than you are now." The reaction was immediate.. Bob's hand fairly flew to his suit jacket and undid the buttons. He pushed the jacket open, providing me with a lovely view of his crotch and the front of his body. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, nodding his head all the while. His arms hung limply at his sides now and his shoulders slumped down. He was an excellent subject. It was too bad that we were not alone, as I could think of a few things I'd like to see him do.

"It's becoming so difficult to keep your eyes open, and your head is just so heavy," I said to Bob. "All you'd like to do is to close your eyes and let your head nod forward and just let go completely, now. Nod your head when you feel that is true." Bob' nodded his head several times as he continued to struggle with keeping his eyes open and looking at the pen tip. "Just let it happen when you hear my fingers snap," I said to him. "Just feel yourself letting go, your eyes closing, your head nodding forward to your chest, and feeling yourself letting go completely as you slip down into a very, very deep sleep. When you want me to snap my fingers, just touch your right finger to your nose." At this point I don't think Bob was capable of any sort of resistance. The poor man was on edge when I'd started the hypnosis and the release into relaxation was too powerful for him to resist. In a smooth fluid motion Bob brought his right finger up and touched his nose. He held it there as his eyes continued to look at the pen tip. I snapped my fingers.

Bob's eyes closed and his head dropped forward. His right arm fell limply to his side, and his entire body shuddered briefly with the sudden release of tension and stress. I looked at him sitting there slouched in the chair and saw as small faint smile on his lips. I smiled to myself, knowing that he was probably feeling pretty good right now. I put my pen back into my pocket.

"How do you feel, Bob?" I asked him.

"Wonderful. So relaxed. So calm. So at peace," he replied in a soft voice.

"You do realize that you are now hypnotized, don't you? What do you think of this now?"

"I think it is wonderful. I want to stay here for a while. It just feels so nice.," Bob replied.

I gave Bob some standard suggestion that would make it easier for him to deal with new customers. All I did was tell him that anytime he felt nervous he had merely to think of a certain word, and he would feel himself becoming more relaxed and more confident. What I really wanted to do, though, was get my hands on that hot body of his, but we weren't exactly alone. Maybe John and Doug would agree to a little harmless fun with Bob. Nothing naughty or embarrassing, just something fun. John and Doug had kept quiet the entire time of Bob's induction and I was thankful for that since it made things so much easier for me. In fact, I'd nearly forgotten they were even there.