The Dazzling Lady's Harem - Deidre

"Which is?"

"Hypnosis," Ms. Walters said in a deadpan voice, suppressing a smile.

The serious tone changing to the seemingly fantastical nearly made Gerald want to pound his fists hard on his desk and toss important paperwork in the air, but he kept his composure by shooting the woman a seething look.

"So help me, if this is some sort of prank-"

"I assure you, Mr. Brandt, it's not a prank at all. The kind of hypnosis this Ursula is practicing should be taking seriously. And I am here to help you, so feel free to relax on that score."

The deadpan tone of her voice carried something with it, almost a calming after effect that got her point across with fewer words than most others would need.

"Why is she circling him? And why is he starting to take his clothes off?"

"I would be more concerned about the words being spoken to him, which may answer every question you have about what's unfolding. Ursula apparently has a special way with words."

"What is she saying?"

"If our efforts with lip reading and examining the scope of her work has been correct, it's to the effect of her words being worth listening to, speaking about the quality of her voice to enhance the importance of every word. Some of it is practically a mantra, where she keeps saying the same thing, like 'I want you...' and that's how she gets what she wants.

Gerald watched the screen raptly, never expecting to catch his subordinate in such a compromising sight, but the more Ms. Walters spoke, the more this Ursula kept his attention, eyes following the circle she walked around him over and over, wondering how this unassuming woman held power enough to alter loyalties with mere words.

"As you can see, she wants him totally vulnerable...totally exposed....she wants him paying attention to everything she's saying and doing. It's as if she wants all of him, so it's simpler and accurate to say that she wants him...all of his actions and thoughts in the center of her whirlwind."

The way her deadpan slipped into a tone of descriptive interest almost filled in the blanks for how this Ursula was supposed to sound in taking a person over, leaving Gerald simultaneously understanding and ignorant.

"She wants him...listening to every word. She wants him...absorbing every meaning...of every word. She wants him...feeling what the sound of her voice can do a relaxing body. She wants him...comfortable and quiet. She wants him...with arms too heavy to rise. She wants him...with legs too rooted to move. She wants him...with a torso with pleasure poured into his core, extending to every limb. She wants him...heading in merely a listening state, where pleasure is her voice flowing from his ears...to his mind...down the rest of him..."

Lost in the narration of the increasingly lewd display, the problem presented to him seemed less pervasive as only his understanding, and his reaction to the sight and sounds of feminine manipulation, grew.

"She wants him...to be wanted...to want more of what he wants...and to be happy to get it...lost in what he's found...caught in what's he's been gifted. She wants...his obedience...his surrender...his everything. She wants...and he obeys. That is how she wants him....that is how I want you...listen now, and slip into the ecstasy of pleasing me...wanting whatever I want of you..."

It didn't seem to matter that the footage repeatedly showed Ursula circling Eric on a loop, nor did it matter that Gerald peripherally resembled his subordinate as he silently became Ms. Walters.

"And for the record, I want you to refer to me as Dazzling, a Dazzling Lady..."

His lips trying to move, but something in him was confused about what was poised to leave them and signify a change that had washed over him.

"No need to be shy now...I want you to call me what I am...'a...Dazzling...Lady..."

"A...Dazzling..Lady," he breathed in a deep sigh.

"Very good. And while you're at it, I want you to feel better as you repeat the following...'A Dazzling Lady has me swayed. A Dazzling Lady must be obeyed.' Let those loose lips conform and shape your reality now. Go on, give Dazzling what she wants...

"A...Dazzling Lady has me swayed. A Dazzling Lady must be obeyed," began the monotonous litany that continued as glassy eyes barely remained focused on the tablet.

She smirked at her plan coming to fruition, using Ursula's domination from less than an hour ago, convincing him it was an ongoing occurrence that he needed to stop. A text sent back to Ursula had the apprentice arriving at Gerald's office five minutes later, Gerald's secretary knowing the leather clad hypnotist was an exception for entry, Ursula smiling her as she smiled at nothing.

"I knew this was going to work, but I still can't believe that worked; I think your ingenuity is a hypnotic trait unto itself," came the compliment that Dazzling basked in for a moment.

"Possibly, which makes being a hypnotist all the more fun. And the best is still probably to come."

"Any more underlings to get to before the real target?"

"Nope, Eric and Gerald are the direct link to Ms. junior heiress the 2nd place," they laughed. "But she could be the most challenging today," Dazzling added.

That statement threw Ursula for a loop, considering everything she'd heard and researched when it came to Deidre Avery. "Seriously? This air-headed poster child for vanity is going to be problematic?"

"It's the vanity I'm concerned with. Strange as it seems, an inflated-enough sense of vanity can make for a difficult subject."

"How? I always thought the self-absorbed is quite malleable when feeding their ego."

"While true, that means that they have an acute sensitivity to being appealed to, often analyzing exactly how and why their ass is being kissed all day. Add to that a level of egotism that is used to manipulating others, she could suss out what we want from her if we're careless."

"I...never thought of vain people like that,"

"We're not so different as hypnotists. Confidence feeds into a controlled sense of moderated vanity we have. More than one high-profiled target with ego to spare almost got me into trouble."

Ursula was tempted to ask who she could've meant, but declined and simply nodded, accepting of Dazzling's experience.

"And not that I'm not having fun, but someone wanted to get to a visibly public figure like this just for some tabloid controversy?"

"I'm sure there's big money in it somewhere, especially in our bank accounts. But I'm more concerned about who's paying."

The cryptic sentence made Ursula think for a moment, followed by a small wave of worry flowing down her spine.

"You think a connection to the Kalatravaasa is behind this?"

Dazzling gave her own small look of concern, not bothering to hide behind an unbothered facade.

"That is my fear, but honestly, the only real way to find out more about who's behind this is to take the job and get a direct, and indirect look at what's what."

"How do you mean 'indirect?'"

"Assuming the Kalatravaasa has designs on myself, so do I have designs on them, and an inside man to report back about their designs."

As she still engaged in club affairs, Ursula thought Dazzling referred to her, but the way she emphasized man put her off that idea, and brought a mental image that made her smile.

"An inside man I used to know intimately?"

"Someone we'd know diminutively now, I'd say.

***

Early enough in the day, the personnel was sparse enough at a Kalatravaasa repository that few would be around to guard anything or ask questions. With the secretive nature of the club hosting organization, few even knew there was a place where things were devised and executed from, complete with records. Harry being one of the top hypnotists in the organization, qualified as need-to-know, for all accounts had full access to all their records. After the public display of using a submissive to help capture a reputable hypnotist like Dazzling Lady, he was greeted by approving nods and smiles of admiration, totally ignorant of what happened backstage after his stage show.

Deep down, he knew he didn't belong there if they knew the truth, just like he knew he belonged to the women he was sure were his slaves. It was beyond turnabout being fair or being outsmarted and living with the consequences; Mistress Ursula and his Dazzling Lady made up the majority of his will, and it became hard to act under any circumstance without their direction, or approval which he sought and fought for. Even being nothing for them felt good and proper, but nothing like the high of serving his owners; such a state of existence ensured that he would complete his mission without fail.

It was in the secure records room, where paper files where kept and computers without terminals linked to any online port were kept, and where he expected to find what he was looking for. Opening the door to the room, the last thing he expected to find was Master Martin seated in a chair, as if waiting for him to appear.

"Master Martin," he both greeted and questioned.

"'Master' Harry," he greeted back, only questioning his station, toying with the ring on his hand that bounced light off rooms ambient lamps and into his eyes. Repeated golden flashes struck him over and over and over, until the light smoothed out the thoughts he'd had, and a light bulb lit somewhere under the surface of most of his thoughts.

"Are we awake now, Harry?"

"So to speak," the more conscious Harry shook his head.

"How goes your investigation for your mistresses?" the last word were spoken in pained irony.

"It would probably be going well without interruption, or even convincingly if their insipid control could be removed?" Harry almost pleaded, already sick of playing both sides with multiple people in his head.

"Your request matches your hypnotic skills right about now - barely worth consideration. Serving them convincingly is your punishment, as it was always going to be. You're just lucky someone considered you in an ample position to be useful, lest you be tossed aside and replaced."

"Not before I set things right," Harry almost sneered, forcing his brain to come up with images of faux owners on their knees, desperate to serve his whims as it should've been that night.

"You'll get your chance, if they are feeling generous."

Harry didn't bother again asking who "they" are, merely assuming he'd already asked and had the notion to ask excised from his head.

"And before our little mental health check-up concludes, anything of interest that about the ladies at-hand? Nothing new, besides them being not to be underestimated or left to grow in autonomy. I get constant reminders of how smart and ambitious they are. I wish they weren't the threat some feared they would be, but they are. The longer we have more Dazzlings out there, the more we lose more Ursulas and gain more problems."

"And it's our prerogative to let them assume they're the smartest in the room, that the moves they make won't lead them right into our hands."

"You talk like your on their level," Harry indirectly queried.

"The only authorities you should be concerned with is me, and the women you're running errands for. Don't forget that," Martin gave him a glare, which morphed into a smirk.

"Or better yet, forget."

Another flash of the ring, and loud finger snap, and Harry found himself standing in the empty room, lost in pleasure surging from thinking of Dazzling and Ursula. He shook himself to his task, looking up the connection they needed, needing to report what he could, or could not find.

***

Deidre Avery's gait through the lobby when annoyed or angered was truly known amongst the staff; they all knew never to approach or obstruct her in any way. Today, the younger sister living in the shadow of her celebritized sibling that everyone associated with the name Avery, seemed much more angered than normal; no one knew it stemmed from a call she'd received from Gerald Brandt about 'questionable ventures' he vaguely told her. Deidre was into so many, it was likely that he had a bone to pick about several of them. And since her father was still alive and sought Gerald's counsel with frequency, not listening to him meant humiliating restrictions that never seemed to get imposed upon Danielle.

Downers before fun weekends often put Deidre in foul moods, tapping her high-heeled shoe on the carpeted floor of the elevator so loud, she might as well have been stomping. She resorted to stomping, storming his way to his office, past the secretary that knew better to let her storm past, without hypnotic instruction.

The doors opened wide as she was ready to tear Gerald a new one, when she found a gorgeous suited brunette sitting in his seat, legs crossed over at the ankles, greeting the Avery daughter with a smile.

"Greetings and welcome, Deidre," Dazzling's words were inviting and haunting, the latter almost in a theatrical way.

The bottle-blonde heiress had to look around to make sure she'd forced her way into the right office, only to find Gerald, his dorky assistant, and a few others in the background. One of them was holding a camera, centered on Deidre and Dazzling behind the desk.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Cut, Cosette, wait a minute," a woman in a black leather jacket said, as the blank-looking woman lowered her phone which served as the camera.

"Hello Ms. Avery, I'm Ursula Victor, a director and creative the network sent over," the Scottish woman introduced herself.

"N-network?"

"Yes, the one you made several pitches to?"

Deidre vision cycled between Ursula and Gerald, the latter of whom seemed to be letting this happen.

"Did hell just freeze over, or-"

"Deidre," Gerald told her in a soft voice, as if afraid it would be captured by the audio. "There have been talks between the network and your father; they had a pitch to present to us; it's met our approval, and something they would like to move onto quickly, if you are interested."

The heat that left hell seemed to flow into her cheeks as the opportunity to finally have some media play of her own actually arrived. The setup looked weird, very found footage, but if she played along, even if this fell through, maybe one of her ideas could be resurrected and made real.

"I am interested," Deidre hid her true level of interest as best she could. "Is there a make-up artist on hand, or..."

"No, we're treating this totally off the cuff, like an impromptu pilot. Very unorthodox, but we think we can make it work. We'll film what we have, get the idea the green light, and work on all the other details post-proposal. For now though, let's re-run the scene where you step in and find yourself unsurprised, confronting the woman evil business woman."

"Ah, of course," the explanation set things correctly in her mind.

"I might also come into the scene to play around with a few possibilities. But the camera will be running regardless, so we we'll roll with whatever happens."

"Good, and what's the scene?"

"Heroine confronts evil mind-controllers."

Deidre tried not to show disdain from the corny concept, but she exited the room while closing the doors, but made her entrance again much more gracefully, leaning in to the almost schlocky heroine trope.

"Greetings and welcome, Deidre," Dazzling practically purred in her direction, surprising the heroine in how she could sound even more seductive than the first take.

"You won't get away with this, whoever you are."

"Me? I'm Dazzling," the hypnotist proclaimed while lowering her legs with the same grace Deidre would've used if their positions were reversed. "And that's exactly why I've already gotten away with this."

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Oh, and what do you have to say about it? Something about stopping me, or something about giving in? As you will find, noble Deidre, there is a difference between anything you have to say about it, and exactly what you have to say about it?"

"Oh yeah, and what's the difference you harlot?"

"Hypnotic harlot, if you please. But the difference posed in your mind is simple, the former says that you have a choice, and the latter says that a choice has been made for you, and your input is not needed, only your obedience."

"That won't happen."

"Won't it? How can you stop it when choices a former ability, and all that's ahead is the choices I make for you. And you haven't even heard the best part yet."

"Which is?" Exchange after exchange, Deidre wanted to look towards the camera to make sure that the embarrassing line delivery was actually what they were looking for. This Dazzling, whoever she was, respectfully leaned into it so hard, it almost came right around to convincing. The way she looked at her, the way she took half a step forward towards, her, circled, and gave her space, swarming her with lines she was supposed to respond to, surrounding her with a presence that was outdoing the command heroine she was supposed to be.

"The best part is part is, I know I don't have to force, to make you have to do anything; you will want to do it?"

"Huh," the reactive phrase naturally left her lips.

"That's right, it's merely a matter of desire. And oh, what you will desire in merely a matter of moments."

Knowing this was one long experimental take and that there would be other chances to set it right in her favor let her continue to lose herself in the scene. Immersing herself into all of it felt easier with Dazzling leading; she played a villainess well, almost too well. The depth of Dazzling's green eyes she was almost afraid to meet, peering into intense stares. Her lips were easy to follow, setting the scene tone with every line, their supple shape and red coloring making Deidre want to read every word carefully.

Not only was it magnetic, but it also tugged at memories of being the seductress, getting whatever she wanted with prettied lips and suggestive innuendo. But more than that, it reminded her of the kind of woman that took it deeper, a woman that almost made talking and seducing look...magical. Eavesdropping on her older sister like she often did for rumors or digging up dirt, she listened to her sister literally fall under some woman's spell. She'd never heard her, or any Avery sound so surrendered, or breathlessly happy about it.

"Give up yourself, give up everything," the voice uttered, and all the media deity considered a goddess by some was "yes Goddess."

Even from a listening distance, it was like the accented words could've caught her too. She got away as fast as she could, afraid she'd made a noise giving herself away. Since then, she'd been avoiding contact with her sister, and any of her entourage, but still spying and seeing how she could profit from the circumstances.

Feeling anything close to what made Danielle some kind of puppet woke Deidre up quickly from the scene. Feeling herself awaken from that level of immersion was scary

enough, shaking her head and literally pushing a confused Dazzling almost to the ground. Running at top speed in designer heels, she made it to the elevator and immediately got in it to ride it down to get security on the ground floor.

She didn't make it that far down before the elevator stopped suddenly, in-between floors. She tried her cellphone, but cell service within inside the car was non-existent. The elevator phone itself held nothing but a busy signal the moment Deidre picked it up.

"Fast getaway, princess. But maybe you should've taken the stairs," Dazzling's voice clearly spoke in the elevator speakers.

"There are no stairs on the executive level, bitch!" Deidre yelled, futily banging on the elevator buttons and walls.

"That sounds as dangerous whoever set things up to allow security to stop elevator calls and shut down cell reception, trapping people at will. Or as dangerous as