The Coffee Shop Pt. 04

"He's clean," Andy reported about ten minutes later. (As I said, Andy did a thorough body search.) I turned around and faced the two of them.

"Good. I guess that means we can talk freely. Now would one of you please be kind enough to tell me exactly what this is all about?" I asked them both as I gestured at them to sit down. By this time Todd was once again wearing his elegant shoes.

"Oh, please let me," Todd tittered. It was clear that he was going to enjoy telling me this business, whatever it was. Now I was really starting to feel uncomfortable, and more than just a bit annoyed too. Todd was enjoying this just a little too much. He sat down in the chair that he had been occupying when I first met him. Andy walked around the far end of the sofa and sat down. I sat down next to Andy, and gently took hold of his right hand with my left hand. I gave Andy's hand a good strong squeeze in a silent gesture of support. Andy squeezed back. Todd already knew that Andy and I were involved, so there was no point in hiding how we felt about each other. Frankly holding Andy's hand made me feel better. Not a lot, but some.

"The client that I represent, would like Andy to develop a slight case of amnesia regarding a specific event that Andy was involved with," Todd began speaking, not even trying to hide the glee in his voice. "The case comes up to trial in a couple of weeks. If Constable Anderson cooperates then these photographs will not appear in the local newspaper, nor will they be sent to the shift commander of the local RCMP detachment. That's the deal."

"Ah, I see," I said solemnly. "What about me?"

"My client has no interest in you," Todd said disdainfully. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's ironic, actually. The plan was to merely acquire compromising photographs of Constable Anderson with a woman, but this is so much better." Todd grinned at me evilly as he looked me right in the eyes.

"Stand up, open your fly, sit down and do not remember doing so," I thought at Todd, as I launched my powers at his mind, using a very low power level. The command failed to penetrate his mind. It bounced off the surface of his mind like an elastic band hitting a wall. Todd didn't even blink. "Shit!" I thought to myself. "Todd's gifted and he has a shield up. God damn it!" There was no indication that he'd even felt my probe of his shield, though. I was mildly surprised. I doubled the power level and launched the command a second time, all within only a second or two. Again the command failed to penetrate into Todd's mind. This time however, I felt my command gnaw at the edge of his shield as the energy of my attack slid off of his shield.

The smile on Todd's face faded and look of pain crossed his face. He placed the tips of his fingers of either hand on the side of his head. Slowly he started to massage his temples with small round motions of his finger tips. Clearly he'd felt that probe of his shield.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I guess so. I just felt a sudden sharp pain in my head," Todd said as he continued to rub his temples.

"A headache?" I prompted him.

"No, not really. It was more like something was trying to drill inside of my skull," Todd said as he winced again.

"Maybe a drink would help," I said to Todd. "I know I could use one. How about you get a tall glass of orange juice on the rocks for each of us, okay Andy?" I asked him as I turned my head and looked at him.

"Yeah, sure," Andy said surly, and shot me a dark look. A drink of any kind, was clearly the last thing that he wanted. He stood up grudgingly and headed off to the kitchen. I sat back in the sofa and closed my eyes. I thought about my two attempts to super hypnotize Todd. They had both failed. Clearly he had some type of shield, but it didn't appear to be very strong. Todd also did not appear to be gifted after all. If he had been gifted he would have recognized my mental attack, for what it was. My second attack had been deflected, but not before it had dug into his shield a bit. I could probably have broken through Todd's shield since I was exerting only a small fraction of my powers, but it would have been painful for him. I might not like the guy, but that wasn't a reason to hurt him. So far he'd only threatened Andy and me, but he hadn't actually done anything other that show us those photographs. I decided to use the subtle approach. I gathered up my powers and began to quickly build up a compulsion field around Todd. The field carried one command, "It feels natural and nice to go along with what Paul says."

"Here's the juice," Andy announced coolly, a few minutes later. I opened my eyes to see that Andy had returned with a tray and three tall glasses of orange juice on ice. By that time I had the compulsion field firmly entrenched about Todd. I did not need to keep pouring power into it. I picked up one of the glasses and took a small sip.

"Thank you Andy," I said as I turned to him. "That's tastes very good." I slowly turned my head took at Todd. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes," He said as he picked the glass nearest him and took a sip. Replacing the glass on the tray he sat back in the chair and looked at Andy. The silence in the room made me uncomfortable. Finally after about a minute, Todd spoke to Andy. "So what is your decision?"

Andy looked at Todd and the anger on Andy's face flared up again. Andy turned to look at me and profound sadness replaced the anger in a heartbeat. I saw Andy swallow as he opened his mouth to speak. Whatever the words were that he wanted to speak, they would not come. Andy looked at me, with an expression of utter helplessness and pain etched plainly on his face. The expression on his face grew more profound with each passing minute.

"Ooo, caught between a rock and hard place are we?" Todd snickered, as he studied Andy's face. "I just love this! A big strong RCMP constable, who's a closet queer, can't make up his mind. This IS rich!"

My face suddenly became hot as the blood surged into it. I blushed at Todd's words. They hurt. For a half a heartbeat I was tempted to crash through Todd's shield and super hypnotize him right then and there, regardless of the pain he'd feel. The man clearly had little compassion or empathy for anyone else. A quick second thought made me realize that I'd be lowering myself to his level. I can't think of anything worse than lowering yourself to the level of a lawyer. Why even snakes get more respect!

"And his boyfriend is all hot and bothered by it!" Todd chortled. "This is just too good to be true!' Todd broke up into a fit of laughter while Andy and I sat there suffering in silence. Any retort that we could have offered would only have fueled Todd's laughter. I left Todd to enjoy himself. As much as I wanted to walk over there and smack him, it wouldn't help matters. Besides I had something far more subtle and satisfying in mind. I just had to think of the right way to lead Todd into my own little trap.

I picked up my glass of orange juice and drained it. I gulped down the cold satisfying liquid, leaving only the three large ice cubes in the glass. I leaned forward and held the glass in both hands using only the tips of my fingers. This provided me with a clear unobstructed view of the contents of the glass. The glass was at about chest level. I began gazing intently on the ice cubes as if they were the most important thing in world to me. I stared and waited. Todd's laughter had finally died off by this time.

"What are you doing, Paul?" Andy asked me after a minute of silence.

"Thinking," I said to him. "You've got a decision to make. Whatever you decide, I'll stand behind you."

"Thanks for putting me in the hot seat, Paul!" Andy snapped at me. He wasn't happy with me, at least not right now. I forgave him his anger and annoyance with me. After all I couldn't tell him what I was up to, otherwise it might not work. On second thought it would work, but it would be a bit more difficult to pull off and much less subtle.

"Have you ever really looked at ice cubes, Todd?" I asked the man as I looked up at him, with a bland expression on my face. (Considering how I felt about him at the time, keeping a bland expression on my face was an acting job worthy of an Oscar.) "I've always been fascinated by the way they catch and reflect the light."

"No, I can't say as I've given them much thought," Todd said as he looked back at me, slightly taken aback at the abrupt change in the direction of the conversation. Todd was sitting in the chair with his right leg crossed over his left leg at the knee. His hands were clasped together, held on top and just in front of his right knee. It did not strike me as a particularly comfortable position. From what I could tell, his jacket was still done up. I could only surmise that after Andy had searched him, Todd had done his suit jacket back up. The man had style, you had to give him that.

"While Andy's thinking over your proposal, why not take the time and look at them. I think you'll find it interesting," I said to him.

"Why should I bother?" He asked me in a bored voice, but still he looked over in my direction, and flicked his eye briefly at the ice cubes in the glass I was holding.

"It will help to pass the time," I informed him. "Andy has much to think about, and I think it only fair that you give him a few minutes to carefully consider his options."

"Oh, all right," Todd said with a sigh. "I suppose it will help pass the time, but I think I'd rather watch television." Todd shifted his position and turned his head to look directly at the ice cubes in my glass, the disinterest plain upon his face.

"It's amazing that simple frozen water can look so beautiful and be so refreshing at the same time," I said as I modulated the pitch of my voice to a smooth even tone. "I'll bet you've never realized before that ice can be so smooth, clear and bright all at the same time. It doesn't take long to see the complexity of something that is so simple." (Unless you have spent the last few minutes standing upside down with your head in a bucket of piranha, dear reader, you have probably come to the conclusion that with those few sentences I was starting the hypnotic induction of Todd.)

"Generally the more intelligent the person the quicker they are to see what I mean," I said to Todd as I appealed to his vanity. (Over the years I've come to realize that everyone likes to think that they are just a bit smarter than somebody else, which is why this suggestion seems to be accepted so easily.) "It becomes even easier to see especially when the ice cubes move about a bit," I commented in a smooth soothing tone of voice, as I spun the glass about just a tad.

"The way that the light seems to move in and around the surface and the edges of each cube is what always makes me sigh with pleasure," I spoke softly but clearly enough for Todd to hear me. A second or so later I let out a soft sigh. "The odd thing is that after looking that the ice cubes for a while I start to feel more relaxed and calm then when I started. I'm sure you know what I mean, Todd," I said keeping the tone of my voice smooth and soft.

"Yeah, I suppose that could happen," Todd agreed in a slightly softer tone of voice, that still carried overtones of boredom. The lack of interest on his face was still apparent. His eyes however, betrayed him. They were looking at the ice cubes with slightly more than a pittance of interest.

"It seems that the more I look at the ice cubes and how they reflect the light, the more relaxed I feel," I said as I slowly looked away from the ice cubes in my glass and searched out Todd's face. I indulged myself in a brief and small smile when I beheld the sight of Todd looking solidly at the glass in my hand. "It not only feels relaxing to keep on looking at the ice cubes, but also natural somehow," I continued without missing a beat. "So easy somehow, so natural, and so good to keep looking at the ice cubes and almost seeming to loose oneself in them." As I spoke I moved the glass slightly to the left, and then back to the right. Todd's eyes tracked the glass like radar dishes.

"The mind is an amazing thing," I said keeping my tones smooth and flowing, being sure not to try and rush the induction. I let out another soft sigh. "When a person succeeds in focusing their mind on something, it seems to become easier. So much so, that the person often lets out a small sigh of satisfaction, without even realizing it." I let out another soft sigh.

"I doubt it," Todd dissented, as he sighed softly. I wasn't sure if he was consciously fighting my suggestions, or if they were just taking time to penetrate that thick skull, and shield of his. In any case, I was committed to attempting this, so there was no point in stopping now.

"It's so simple and easy to keep on looking at the ice cubes. It's actually enjoyable, because the more that you look at the cubes the better you feel and the better you feel, the more you look at the cubes." This was the tricky part, switching from using the word 'I', to the word 'you'. I studied Todd carefully as I spoke to him, looking for any sign that he might be fighting or rejecting the suggestions I was giving him. The compulsion field was still in effect, so the command it contained, which urged Todd to go along with what I said, would provide a strong counter to any resistance or unease that he might feel. At least I hoped that it would.

"Why would anyone want to look at ice cubes?" Todd asked as he wrenched those cool gray eyes of his away from the ice cubes and looked me square in the eyes. Genuine puzzlement had replaced the look of disinterest that had clouded his face earlier. He blinked his eyes at me a few times as he continued to look at me, looking a bit lost and confused.

Quickly I thrust out a blunted mental probe at his shield. I wasn't trying to penetrate it only to get a feel for his shield to see if it had changed at all. I was hard pressed not to smile at what I my probe revealed. Todd's shield was still present, but it was noticeably weaker and softer. Even my blunted probe was able to press into his shield like pressing your finger into a sheet of plastic wrap. It gives in a bit, but does not allow you to break through.

While I doing these mental gymnastics Todd's eyes had drifted away from mine and began to look about the room as if searching for something. He quickly spied the ice cubes in the glass, and his gaze latched onto them like a baby clamping its mouth on its mother's breast. Todd let out a soft sigh a second or two later and the expression of puzzlement started to fade from his face.

"When you can sense that feeling of relaxation start to grow just a little bit as you keep your eyes on the bright clear shiny ice cubes, you find a small sight of contentment escaping from your lips," I said smoothly as I continued my patter, completely ignoring Todd's question. "It's an easy and pleasant way to pass the time, to just keep looking at the ice cubes and so you keep on looking at them. Enjoying yourself more and more with each passing minute."

The last few shreds of puzzlement melted away from Todd's face as the meaning of my suggestions started to penetrate his mind. The compulsion field amplified the strength of the suggestions making them more potent.

"The satisfaction you feel, when you look at the ice cubes seems to grow with each blink of your eyes and with each breath that you take," I said suavely. "And it seems with each sigh, and with each blink of your eyes, the feeling of relaxation grows just a bit stronger. And it feels so good, so nice, so peaceful, that you just keep on looking, staring at the ice cubes. For now, for right now, the ice cubes and how they make you feel, is that you want to think about. Such thoughts are pleasing and satisfying to you, so you go ahead and think about them, and nothing else."

Todd sighed a few times, and his eyes blinked at he continued to stare at the ice cubes in the glass. I was pretty sure that he had take the bait, hook line and sinker. Still, I had learned over the years that slow and sure was the best way to insure success, no matter how well or quickly the subject seemed to respond.

"Soon and very soon indeed, when you start to feel just a bit more relaxed you'll notice a change in your breathing," I prompted him, letting the silky tones of my voice wash over his ears. "So when you feel your breathing become deep and rhythmic, really pleasant, you just go ahead and nod your head once as you eyes remain fixed and focused on the ice cubes."

"Ice cubes," Todd muttered, almost to himself as he let out another sigh, somewhat louder this time. A few moments later his head nodded once, ever so slightly.

"For it seems with each word that I speak and with each breath that you take, you can sense and feel the relaxation growing and becoming stronger. More profound, more desirable, more enjoyable," I encouraged him. "Each and every time, when you feel that happening, that relaxation growing and becoming stronger, you can't help but sigh with delight and nod your head in agreement. It is so easy to do. You can't seem to help yourself. The harder you try not to sigh or to nod your head, the stronger the urge becomes to sigh and nod. Nod and sigh. Sigh and nod. And to let go even more with each sigh and nod."

Todd's face wrinkled in puzzlement for a moment as the last of my suggestions started to sink into his mind. But the confusion melted away as the first deep sigh escaped his lips. His head nodded once, then twice and then twice more. In less than a minute Todd was sighing and nodding his head every few seconds, and his eyes had taken on a slightly glazed look. His face meanwhile had become slack and relaxed. Clearly he was well on to his way in to a hypnotic trance, but that wasn't enough for me. "Looking at the ice cubes, and not thinking of anything else, because thinking about the ice cubes and how relaxing and comforting it is to look at them is all that you can think of," I prompted him. "It is all that you want or desire to do right now."

"Lookatthe.ice.cubes," Todd said thickly. "Yessonice..sopeaceful."

"The more relaxed you feel, the easier it is becomes to speak and to respond," I said to him. "Even now, as you listen to the soothing smooth silky tones of my voice, you can feel the words that I speak help you to relax more and more, can't you, Todd?" I asked him.

"Yes, your voice, so soothing," he agreed speaking much more clearly that he was a moment before. "I like the sound of your voice." Todd let out a deep sigh and a smile flickered on his lips for a moment before he snuffed it out.

"I'm glad that you like the sound of my voice," I said to him. "For it seems that with each word that I utter and with each breath that you take, you can sense and feel yourself going down deeper and deeper into this wonderful state of relaxation. A state where you don't have any worries, concerns or cares. You can just let yourself go, and drift on down deeper and deeper. For the deeper you go the better you feel, and the better you feel the deeper you go. Always going deeper, always feeling better."

"Deeper, oh yes, deeper," Todd agreed, as he nodded his head a few times and sighed deeply. His face had become completely blank, and his eyes had a far away look to them as if he were gazing off into the distance. His body had not moved an inch though. He was still sitting forward with his right leg crossed over his left at the knee and his hands clasped together over his right knee. He wasn't relaxing enough to let go of that position. Either that, or since I had not told him to sit back in the chair like a rag doll, he wasn't going to do that.

"So continue to gaze at the ice cubes and feel yourself going even deeper, feeling even more relaxed and comfortable as your eyes fill with the sight of the ice cubes," I said to him as I got ready for the next phase.