The Shoe's on the Other Foot Ch. 01

[Synopsis: Isabella and Sophie's relationship changes once a stage hypnotist hypnotizes Isabella. Contains foot fetish, lesdom, hypnosis and humiliation.]

"Introducing: the Queen of the Mind, the woman known for capturing the minds of millions and the greatest hypnotist in the country; Miss Mesmer!" The voice on the microphone boomed throughout the theater and an outpouring of applause and cheering followed.

A white spiral spotlight shone down onto the middle of the stage, projecting the spinning pattern onto the curtain. Then, the curtain pulled apart and revealed Miss Mesmer, glowing in the light. She wore a white corset with a black blazer overtop which gave her act a sexy, sleek yet professional air, but what accentuated her seductive looks was her smoke gray pantyhose and her elegant black leather Louboutin pumps that wore with poise. Isabella started to get a hunch why her girlfriend Sophie was such a big fan of Miss Mesmer and Isabella herself couldn't deny her attraction to this stunning woman.

But when Miss Mesmer began her show Isabella's lost interest. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" Miss Mesmer's words surrounded them, "Welcome to a night of wonder and intrigue! Welcome to a night of hypnosis! You may have heard of me before, I am Miss Mesmer, Queen of the Mind and tonight I'll be taking a few volunteers under a hypnotic trance and allowing the audience to see how your mind is as suggestable as your body is moveable. Is it science? Perhaps. Is it magic? Could be. This will be a night of wonder and spectacle, where the rules of reality hold no weight and where anything is possible..."

Almost every word that the hypnotist said, Isabella didn't believe. Unlike Sophie who checked her horoscope everyday, who valued zodiac signs and who regularly got Tarot readings, Isabella only believed what she saw and kept great skepticism for the mystical. Hypnosis fell into that category for her. She believed people may think they;re hypnotized and play along to avoid embarrassing themselves and the hypnotist, but for Isabella she and only she had control over her mind and no one could get her to do anything with just their words.

Besides their contrasting outlooks on life, they contrasted in other ways too. Appearance wise, they were opposites as Sophie was tall and golden blonde and Isabella was a somewhat short brunette with hair so dark it's almost black. Isabella rarely caught a tan and Sophie's skin always seemed to be kissed by the sun. Beyond looks, Sophie was athletic where Isabella was academic. Sophie was extroverted, Isabella introverted. In their relationship, Isabella wore the pants while Sophie was fluid; she was happy to do whatever Isabella wanted for the most part but on occasion -- like with them at Miss Mesmer's hypnosis show -- Sophie would put her foot down and insist they do what she wanted to do.

The show went underway and Miss Mesmer began her performance. It was filled with the typical trapping so of a hypnotist show: she had them fall into trance and got her subjects to act out some embarrassing scenes. Isabella felt nothing but second hand humiliation but beside her, Sophie looked to be enthralled in the hypnotists bits and schemes.

Then Miss Mesmer did something Isabella had never seen any hypnotist do at any other show; she asked the audience if there were any skeptics. Usually hypnotists liked to avoid doubters, Isabella always thought it was because they were afraid to be proven wrong. But Miss Mesmer asked the question and looked eager to find anyone who didn't fully believe her skills, and right beside Isabella was Sophie and her excited face. She nudged Isabella's arm but Isabella ignored her. Going onto the stage would be a nightmare for Isabella. She already didn't want to be there, let alone stand in the spotlight for the entire theater to see.

"Issy!" Sophie whispered, her nudges becoming more aggressive. "Issy, put up your hand."

"No." Isabella said it with sternness, she did not want this to go any further and she knew how insistent Sophie could be.

"Issy, put your hand up!" Sophie nudged her.

"Sophie, I don't want to be apart of a stupid hypnosis show." Isabella said but as soon as she spoke she realized her voice's volume spread to more than just Sophie. Miss Mesmer had caught the entire conversation, along with most of the audience.

"Oh, I think we found one!" Miss Mesmer looked right at Isabella who was still being poked by Sophie. Isabella's face went pale and she shook her head. Sophie on the other hand, nodded with eager anticipation. To Isabella's horror, a light shone down the right overtop of her, blinding her. When she closed, then opened her eyes it seemed like the entire theater was looking at her.

"You don't believe in hypnosis?" The hypnotist asked Isabella and the crowd waited for a response. Sophie responded before Isabella could find the words. "Nope! She's a complete doubter, she thinks it's all nonsense. I had to promise to give her a foot rub just to get her to come!"

The crowd loved that and responded with an outpouring of laughter. Miss Mesmer herself grinned with delight.

Isabella shot Sophie a look that said "What the fuck?!" Miss Mesmer frowned and turned back towards Isabella, "Is that right, dear? Kind of you to offer a foot rub, but my show is nonsense? Would you like to come up and we'll see for ourselves how nonsensical my hypnosis is."

Isabella shook her head profusely. She felt all the eyes in the theater. "Oh, no thank you. It's not... total nonsense. " She said but her voice barely convinced herself.

"I believe you called it a 'stupid hypnosis show?'" Miss Mesmer said to which the crowd laughed. Isabella felt her face go red. She tried to play it off, "No. Well yes, its just-"

"Don't worry dear, I'm not offended. I understand, from your point of view it is quite unbelievable. But, if you were in the shoes of one of my subjects you may not feel the same way." Miss Mesmer explained.

Among the eyes looking at her, none Isabella felt as much as Sophie's. Her girlfriend looked at her with eager anticipation, praying with her eyes that Isabella would go up on stage. Nothing would be worse, Isabella thought, than to go onto stage and no doubt be embarrassed under hypnosis.

But Isabella wasn't prepared for the chant that was rising amongst the audience. "Go on!" The people in the crowd cheered and Miss Mesmer had an expecting look at Isabella.

Isabella's body carried her out of her seat. Her legs were wobbly as they slipped passed the people sitting down. As Isabella turned into the path that would lead her onto the stage where hundreds of people would see her, she turned to get a fading look at Sophie who was visually ecstatic.

"Let's have a round of applause for our excellent volunteers!" Miss Mesmer said before a flock of claps erupted. Isabella felt a tinge of anger that she let herself get swayed by the peer pressure. She hated these cheap shows with their smoke and mirrors, and now she was a participant in it.

As she approached the stage, the lights that shone down all gathered on her, causing her to squint. Her mind felt fuzzy but the feeling passed. At first it blinded her, but when she could see she blinked and there was Miss Mesmer.

The older woman smiled, "What is your name, dear?"

"Isabella."

"Isabella. Cute name. And who are you with, Isabella? Who was that lively woman you sat beside?"

"That's Sophie. My girlfriend." Isabella squeaked out.

"Yeah, go Isabella!" Sophie cheered from the audience, getting laughs from the crowd. Isabella blushed.

Miss Mesmer smiled then turned back to her new subject. "So Isabella, you don't believe in hypnosis?"

"No." Isabella said. "I don't think it's real. I think people believe in it so in a way it exists, but more like a placebo than anything that requires skill. The only skill is convincing people that what you're doing is real, like a magician or an escape artist." She realized who she was talking to. Silence filled the air. "No offense. Or anything."

"None taken," Miss Mesmer laughed it off. "I'm glad you feel that way. Like I said it's normal to feel that way, but..." a metal coin drops in front of Isabella's face, held there by a string. The coin has a spiral pattern which immediately catches Isabella's eye. The coin swings slowly, Miss Mesmer continues "...you're here to show these lovely people how hypnosis can work on those who will have no sway under this so-called 'placebo'. Since you don't believe it, you won't be hypnotized, right? Or at least by your logic?"

"Right." Isabella looked away at the coin. For some reason, she expected that to be impossible. As if the hypnotist actually had some sway over her.

"You're correct about me being like a magician... convincing people." Miss Mesmer said. She still gently swung the coin from side to side but Isabella paid no attention to it, like in protest to her place in the show. Miss Mesmer continued. "For instance, you were hypnotized as soon as you stepped on that stage."

Isabella frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She said, her voice filled with egregious doubt.

Miss Mesmer smiled. "Really." She held up her hand right in front of Isabella's face and with a snap of her fingers, Isabella sank under hypnosis.

Isabella opened her eyes to the applause of the audience. She was once standing but now she sat on a chair in the middle of the stage. Miss Mesmer was to her right towering above her. "Thank you Isabella, you were a great subject!" She told the bewildered girl.

Isabella was lost for words. The crowd laughed. As Isabella collected herself more, she felt light on her feet and sure enough her shoes were placed beside her and her sock feet were free. "What happened?" Isabella asked Miss Mesmer.

Rather than answer Isabella, Miss Mesmer said "Submarine!"

All of a sudden Isabella felt an impulse to get her gas mask which happened to also be her shoe. She held the foot hole up to her nose and mouth and breathed in. She was assaulted with a foul smell, she only wore one pair of shoes for the most part and these were them. The theater loved it, laughter sounded throughout the crowd and Isabella wanted to curl up into a ball and hide.

Isabella was aware of how ridiculous it was for her to be sniffing her own shoes as if it was a gas mask, but to her horror she had no control. Her brain thought it was the right thing to do, so she sat in the middle of the stage inhaling the tainted foot air of her shoe. God, she hated the smell of feet. She cursed Sophie for dragging her here and she cursed Miss Mesmer for humiliating her on stage.

As her anger climbed to a boil, Miss Mesmer's hand appeared in front of her face and with another snap, Isabella was entranced.

The next time she woke up from her trance, she was back in her seat beside Sophie. She had both her shoes on and the audience was once again clapping for her. Once the applause died down and Miss Mesmer began concluding her show, Isabella leaned into Sophie's ear. Isabella was still hot with embarrassment. "What the hell happened? All of a sudden I was on stage and now I'm back here!"

"Just typical hypnosis stuff." Sophie explained. "She made you think you were a cat, then a ballerina, then the shoe snorkel thing."

"I can't believe she did that to me." Isabella stared into space, rewatching the humiliation unfold in her mind.

"And you didn't believe in it!" Sophie giggled. Isabella shot her a look. "Seriously Sophie, I feel so gross now."

Sophie said, "Oh. I'm sorry Issy. You're right, it's not funny"

"Can we just go?"

"Not yet, the show's almost over. Plus we need to stay a little bit longer because she invited us backstage."

Isabella dropped her jaw. "She did what?"

"While you were purring on stage, she invited you and I to her dressing room after the show." Sophie explained.

"Hell no, Sophie. Fuck that bitch." Isabella spat.

"What? She's super nice! C'mon, Issy. You know she's my favorite! You already did so much for me, but please at least let me go?"

Isabella gave way, "Fine. But I'm coming too. I would like to give that hack a piece of my mind."