“Hey, Izumi.” Karan grinned at her from across the snack table. “Did I ever tell you I know hypnosis?”
“I think I’d remember if you ever said something like that.” she winked playfully, “See, I would have lost all respect for you, since hypnosis is bullshit.”
Izumi had been hiding in the break room, avoiding two groups of coworkers at the office holiday party. Kisa was trying to gather people for a Christmas-themed trivia game, and Jisa was drunkenly recruiting people to go caroling, of all things.
Karan didn’t know it, but his timing was perfect. He might be a bit of a dork, but bantering with him was far more entertaining than trivia.
“Hey, come on,” he protested, laughing off her good-natured ribbing. “I’m serious. I took a course and everything. Even got a certificate!”
“A certificate! Well, that changes everything. How much did that cost you?”
“Well,” he hesitated, picking up a cookie, “you can’t really put a price on a life-changing ability like this.”
“Ooh, it was a lot, huh?” She sucked air between her teeth, playing it up. “That’s too bad, buddy.”
They paused for a moment as a few coworkers came in to grab drinks. One of them warned Izumi that Kisa was looking for her.
“I’m telling you,” Karan said confidently after the others left, “this is the real deal.”
“And I’m telling you, you got scammed.” She grinned and sipped her eggnog.
“Izumi,” he said with sudden seriousness. “I’ll bet you a hundred bucks I can hypnotize you.”
She eyed him over the rim of her cup. He wasn’t kidding! She’d thought he was just goofing around, but maybe he really did get scammed? Now she actually felt a little bad for him.
On the other hand, a hundred bucks…
“Come on,” he said, seeing her consider it. “What do you have to lose? You think hypnosis is bullshit, right? It should be easy money.”
“I dunno. How does this work? Are you gonna try to hypnotize me here in the break room? Make me think I’m a chicken or something?”
“No, no, all this Christmas music is too distracting. We should go somewhere quieter. And don’t worry about the chicken thing, hypnosis can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
The approaching sound of drunken singing made up her mind.
“Alright, quick, before Jisa finds us. Let’s go to an empty office so I can win this bet, and you can contribute to my shoe fund.”
A few minutes later, having successfully evaded the carolers, Izumi shut the door behind her. The office had a nice view of the city, and a miniature Christmas tree with twinkling lights on the windowsill. Karan pulled out the desk chair for her.
She sat down carefully, adjusting the hem of her dress, and tried not to smirk as Karan got into character. He rolled up his sleeves and produced a shiny copper coin hung from a chain. Standing seriously before her, he set the coin swinging like a pendulum. She played along, following it with her eyes.
“Now, I want you to focus on the coin. Watch it swing back and forth.” He spoke in a low voice, clearly reciting a memorized script. “Back and forth. You are becoming relaxed. Back and forth.”
She didn’t feel any different. Maybe a little warm. A bit distracted by a raucous group of people coming down the hall. Something crashed, and they all laughed loudly. “Don’t worry about that noise,” he improvised. “Just focus on the coin.”
Izumi tried not to laugh. This was going to be the easiest money she’d ever made. She wondered how long he’d keep trying before admitting defeat.
“Whew, it’s warm in here,” he murmured, undoing a button on his shirt with one hand while continuing to swing the coin with the other. “Back and forth. You should be feeling very relaxed now.”
She shifted uncomfortably in the chair. He was right, this office was quite warm. She slipped her cardigan off, hanging it over the back of the chair, trying to keep her eyes on the coin.
“Your focus is entirely on the coin. Back and forth. Relaxed. Calm.” He wiped his forehead nervously. “No thoughts, no concerns, no hesitations, just, um,” he trailed off as he fumbled with another shirt button. “Sorry, can you help me out? This is tricky with one hand.”
Rolling her eyes, she reached up to finish unbuttoning his shirt. He continued to swing the coin in front of her face. Did he really think this was working? She helped him pull his arm from one sleeve, then he moved the coin to his other hand, and let her pull the other sleeve off. Carelessly, he tossed his shirt onto the desk, standing before her in an undershirt. Without stopping the coin’s movement, he fanned himself with his other hand.
“Back and forth. Your relaxation is growing with every passing moment. Back and forth.”
She felt a trickle of sweat roll down her back and bit her lip in annoyance. Despite his continued intonation, she did not feel relaxed. She crossed, then uncrossed her legs. If he took much longer, she was going to sweat through her dress.
“I’m sorry, it’s so warm in here!” He grinned sheepishly. “It doesn’t, um, normally take this long. I’m sure the heat is making it hard to concentrate. Just try to focus on the coin.”
This was ridiculous. She wondered if he’d picked this office on purpose, to trick her into giving up and losing the bet. That wasn’t going to happen. He’d never let her hear the end of it. She had to stick it out. But if he took much longer, she was going to end up sweaty and disheveled.
