Rachael's Hypnotic Addiction

Rachael's Hypnotic Addiction

As she exited off the highway Rachel seemed lost in thought as she absent
mindedly exhaled a thick cloud of smoke towards the cracked window of her
car.  She couldn't figure it out. She had never smoked while in High school,
and neither any of her close friends or family smoked. She could never recall
particularly liking the taste and smell of cigarettes in her life, and in
fact she had previously found them disgusting. Yet she now felt completely
addicted, almost compelled to smoke heavily. Most strangely of all, she
didn't really feel any regret over her newfound enthusiasm for her enjoyment
of chain smoking even though she knew that socially this kind of heavy
smoking was frowned on. She had started smoking just six weeks ago, and
already she was puffing away nearly two packs per day. Yet in some back
corner of her mind she yearned to smoke more and more. She had some strange
compulsion to try and make it to smoking three packs per day, and to get her
consumption higher if possible and she was unable to determine where it came
from. She searched her mind over and over and simply couldn't come up with a
plausible explanation as to how it happened. While she definitely wondered
where it came from, it didn't seem to prevent her from taking pleasure in her
guilty habit. She could admit to herself that she was peculiarly satisfied by
her constant chain smoking and every cigarette brought a smile to her face,
yet she still wondered where this seemly spontaneous addiction came from. 

She pulled her car into the parking lot of the Olive Garden where she was
supposed to meet Paul for lunch. The smoke was wafting out of her car as she
slammed the door shut and waltzed upto the entrance to meet Paul. She
stumbled a little bit in her high heels as she got out of the car, trying to
balance her lit cigarette in one hand with her large handbag slung over her
other arm she was using to close the door. 

Paul smirked and found the sight quite amusing. He simply adored Rachel, at
least in many ways. Physically he found her quite attractive. She had a cute
figure with thin waist and supple rounded curves around her butt. She had
fair skin, striking long blonde curly hair, and penetrating green eyes that
flashed when she was angry, which seemed to be pretty regularly. Yet she
offset her aggressive outbursts with a charming and infectious smile. She was
rather short at 5'2 but she always wore some type of high heeled shoes even
when she was not at work, so she seemed slightly taller than she really was.
She was young at only 27, but was already in her 3rd year as an associate at
a large law firm in town. She had graduated college early and proceeded
directly to law school and then went directly to work for a large insurance
defense firm. She definitely had a fiery personality, aggressive and
competitive, and it fit her profession quite well. Her personality traits
made her somewhat argumentative and acidic at times, but at least she was
always interesting even if controversial. Of course, one of the better
benefits of her profession is that she always had plenty of money to spend
frivolously. Paul mused to himself mentally that given the way she'd been
chain smoking lately, she'd probably be spending a considerable amount of
that excess money buying enough cigarettes to feed her addiction. 

Rachel flicked her cigarette butt to the ground as she approached the door
which Paul opened for her as they went inside. 

"Table for two, smoking please" Rachel said to the hostess.

As they were seated, Rachel pulled out and lit another cigarette. 

"I tell you I can't explain it, I just have gotten completely addicted to
these things lately. I can't do anything in the morning until Ive smoked at
least three cigarettes, and everywhere I drive is just a steady stream of one
cigarette after the other. It's the strangest thing"  Rachel said as she
exhaled a long white plume from her mouth and nostrils. 

"Yeah, well you know a lot of people smoke, so I wouldn't think too much of
it. I certainly don't mind it, so if it you enjoy it then why worry about
it." mused Paul. 

"Well its bad for you know, cancer, emphysema, all manner of other lung
conditions. They don't put that surgeon general's warning on the side of
these things for nothing. I suppose its particularly risky for me, since I
had acute asthma growing up and its only been a few years since Ive had any
serious trouble." 

"Yeah, well lots of things are bad for you. Red Meat, driving too fast,
eating too much fast food. Etc. Plus, there are lots of jobs or activities
that are hazardous to health, construction work, being in the military, sky
diving, scuba diving, and so on. The world is full of danger, theres no
reason to live in constant paranoid about bad things that might happen,
especially when its off at some future date way down the road. " 

"Yeah I guess your right. Its just so strange, its like Ive
fallen in love with cigarettes and they have become this thing that I simply
cannot live without lately. I guess it just seems to have come out of
nowhere. You remember when we started dating three months ago I didn't smoke
at all and now I smoke like Im a chimney. I cant fathom where this addiction
has come from." Rachel spoke as she gently exhaled smoke through her poutty
lips.

"Well babe, don't sweat it. Listen, if you like it and enjoy it,
then that's enough reason to indulge yourself. You work hard, you should let
yourself enjoy at least one guilty pleasure. I mean, I have a known history
of family heart problems and alcoholism and a stressful job as a retail store
manager to boot, but I still enjoy my drinks and I eat practically nothing
but red meat." 

"Yeah, but you don't smoke heavily. You have a cigarette or two a
few times a day, but Id hardly consider you a regular smoker, much less a
chain smoker." Rachel said as she pulled another cigarette out of her pack of
Marlboro Red 100s and lit it off the cigarette she had just finished. 

"Yeah, I guess so. But perhaps that's just because Im stingy with
my lean pocketbook. You on the other hand have a good job that makes ample
money for you to be able to indulge your bad habit." 

"Yeah if I keep my job. This recent chain smoking seems like it
gets in the way of my work since I work in a non-smoking office. Im
constantly having to run outside to take smoke breaks to suck down a quick
two or three cigarettes before running back to my office. I seriously think
that it cuts down on my productivity and billable hours." 

" Well you work too hard anyway, so you shouldn't be so concerned
about it. Besides, you could always just leave that big firm you are at and
go into practice by yourself, then you could smoke all you want."

"Hmm.. I guess Id never really thought of that very seriously.
Going into practice for yourself is such a risky proposition, its often feast
or famine. And I don't have any known clients I can bring with me." 

"well, it's a thought. I mean, you can talk to some of your
smaller clients. Get listed in the phone book, etc. Few lawyers are truly
starving if  you know what I mean. Im sure you would find a way to make it
work." 

"Yeah, well if I keep smoking at this rate, I might have to
seriously consider that. I mean, I know this is going to sound weird, but its
like the number of cigarettes Ive been smoking has been going up
exponentially. Its like Im aiming to get to smoking three or more packs per
day. I can't explain it, its like it's a goal of mine."

"It's good to have goals" Paul said with a smirk. 

Their conversation turned to other issues and Rachel continued to
smoke one cigarette after the other, finishing a total of seven cigarettes
over the course of lunch. Afterwards in the parking lot, Rachel remembered
she had left her black pencil skirt at Paul's apartment the previous weekend
and wanted to pick it up for an evening function that she had that night. 

Paul said "well how about I loan you the key to my apartment and
you can pick it up whenever you need to. You can just leave the key under the
doormat when you leave. Does that sound like it will work?" 

"Yeah that sounds great. Hey, I just thought of something, since
you're a store manager at the CVS do you think you can get some cartons of
cigarettes for me at cost? Id pay you back, I just thought if it would cut my
cost some it might be a little extra money."

"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. I'll pick some up for you.
Marlboro Red 100s is the brand right?"

"You know it. Alright,  Ive got to get back to work, see you
later."

Rachel went back to work, chain smoking as she drove back to the
office. She dreaded having to go back to the strict non-smoking office
environment and was beginning to give serious thought to looking for a job
where she could smoke all she wanted to in her office.  She thought long
about it, and was disappointed because she couldn't think of a single office
where smoking was allowed. Then she recalled that old plaintiffs personal
injury attorney Mr. Sanders that she had met with for a deposition several
months ago. They had conducted the deposition at his private office, and
Rachel remembered being surprised to find his secretary smoking over a full
ashtray at her desk near the entry into his office suite. Moreover, she
remembered that Mr. Sanders smoked throughout the entirety of the three hour
deposition, so much so that he had to empty his ashtray several times during
the meeting. Rachel thought back about how at the time she thought the
smoking in the office was very retro, as if Mr. Sanders was a fossil a man
out of time who had not changed in accordance with the trends in non-smoking
policy in the workplace. Rachel looked through her purse while stopped at a
stop light, and dug up Mr. Sanders's business card. She decided she'd
definitely give it some thought. 

While at work after finishing a rough draft of a memo, Rachel
stepped out for one of her regular afternoon smoke breaks. On the way back
from the parking garage where the smokers had to go outside to enjoy their
cigarettes, she ran into a senior partner at the law firm, Mr. Warner in the
elevator. 

"Hello there little lady, where have you been?" asked Mr Warner
in a husky voice. 

"Oh, I uh, had to go out to my car to pick something up." Rachel
said meekly.

"You mean to take another smoke break?"

Blushing, Rachel sheepishly admitted "Uh, yeah, I guess I had a
cigarette break while I was in the garage." 

"Well, it was fairly obvious from the strong smell of smoke that
is clinging to your hair and clothes."

"Oh, sorry about that sir." 

"Yes, well its quite unbecoming for a young woman to be smoking
all the time. Its also not very professional in the modern legal world to be
having to cut out of the office for smoke breaks all the time.  Its also just
distasteful and disgusting." Mr Warner said, with quite the scowl on his
face. 

"Oh, Im so sorry. I had no idea that my smoking was causing such
a disruption-. I - I can try to stop smoking while on the job if I need to do
that. I have been working an extra few hours or so each day to meet the
billable hour requirements for 2nd year associates, but I certainly don't
want to be considered unprofessional."

"Well, Miss Alistar, Im not the only one of the partners who has
noticed your constant smoking. And Im not the first person to think it
reflected poorly on your professional demeanor. I just thought you should
know you probably need to quit smoking if you plan to have a future as a
partner at this firm little lady." 

"Right, Im so sorry sir. I will definitely do what I can to
remedy the situation." Rachel said, feeling rather shocked and quite nervous
as she got off the elevator and headed back to her cubicle her mind
frantically racing over her options.

 

Rachel decided she'd give Mr. Sanders a call and see about sending him a
resume and checking to see if he was interested in hiring a new associate.
After all, it couldn't hurt to check into it. She called Mr. Sanders and
after a brief conversation with him, he agreed to have a meeting and
interview, and seemed very positive about the prospect. He admitted on the
phone that he had more business than he could really handle, and that he had
been having to turn some potential clients away because the case load would
have been too much for him to handle alone. He also said he remembered who
she was, and that he had been impressed with her preparation work for the
deposition and that he would look forward to discussing employment
possibilities with her. Rachel was transferred to Mr Sanders secretary, Ms.
Raleigh, to schedule an appointment. Ms. Raleigh seemed to be very upbeat
about the prospect of having an extra person around the office to help out.
Before she got off the phone, Rachel had a sense of urgency to ask a
question. 

"Excuse me, I know this will sound strange so forgive me for being forward,
but I have a question about your office policy that I thought I should ask
before I come in for the interview."  Rachel said hesitantly.

"Sure girl, ask away."

"Do you um, allow smoking at the workplace. I seem to remember you allowing
some smoking there when I was there during a deposition several months ago, I
was just wondering if that was still your policy?"

"Oh yes, definitely. Mr. Sanders and I are both heavy smokers and have always
smoked at the workplace. Mr. Sanders is a staunch opponent of these workplace
anti-smoking laws, and he regularly takes employment discrimination cases
representing clients who were discriminated against for smoking in the
workplace."

"Oh, that's great news. Im a bit of a smoker myself and I work in a
non-smoking office and its been driving me nuts.  Besides Ive been thinking
about a smaller practice also. But theres no doubt I'd really love to be
allowed to smoke at work."

"Well, then you sound like you'll fit in here. We look forward to seeing you
next Monday morning for the interview." 

After  work Rachel drove over to Paul's apartment to pick up her
skirt and let herself in with Paul's key. While she was there, Rachel
realized she was out of cigarettes. She figured that Paul might have a pack
of cigarettes somewhere, she figured she'd just check a few drawers to see if
he had any. While looking through the drawers, Rachel found a curious item, a
pocket watch on a chain. She didn't think that she had seen it before, but it
seemed somehow familiar. The watch was an old Communist pocket watch had
Russian writing on it and had a red star on the back of the face cover. She
then felt an odd quiver come over her body and immediately reached for her
pack of cigarettes only to find them empty. She found herself shaky and
jittery and that somehow she had this intense need for a cigarette. Then,
there at the back of the drawer, she found a pack of Marlboro Red 100s half
empty and immediately lit one and inhaled the smoke deeply. She suddenly felt
calmer and satisfied, her craving being satisfied. She sat on the bed and
dragged deeply on the cigarette feeling relieved that she had found the
cigarettes. She stared at the bizarre post-communist relic in her hands and
wondered why it evoked such a strange feeling in her. She put the watch back
into the drawer and go ready to change her clothes.

As she slipped out of here business suit pants and into the pencil skirt she
slightly regretted not wearing nylons that day, because she had worn a new
pair of high heels and they had rubbed blisters on the back of her heels. She
was used to new shoes giving her blisters, especially since she rarely wore
nylons except when appearing before court, but these were the only pair of
shoes she had with her and she still had to go to the law firm evening
function tonight and would be standing in the heels all night. She decided
she needed to put some band-aids over the blisters so she started looking
around again in the bathroom cabinets. In the back of the bathroom cabinet
she found the band aids, but she also found a small well worn book on
hypnosis.  She was quite puzzled that Paul would have such a strange book, so
she took it with her over to the bed with her, as she sat down to put band
aids over her blistered heels. She snuffed out her spent cigarette butt and
reached for another out of the pack her mind puzzling over what this might
mean, and as she flicked the Zippo lighter it was like it set off a spark in
her mind. A moment of clarity, that reaching connection, of realization of
something that seemed implausible yet entirely obvious. 

Rachel wondered in her mind "Had she been hypnotized?" Surely not. That stuff
was all hype and didn't really work. But as she thought about it, pouring
over the events of the past month and a half since she had started smoking it
seemed to fit together in some weird way. Thinking about the timeline, she
realized that it was only a few weeks or maybe a month after she first
started dating Paul that she started smoking. The rapid onset of a chain
smoking habit was anything but subtle, and stood out her mind as a distinct
possibility. As she flipped through the book, she found the chapter on
"smoking cessation" highlighted down, with notes scribbled in the margins.
She also found the chapter on reversal hypnosis highlighted with similar
notes scribbled in the margins. This was it. This was the smoking gun. This
was the evidence that practically irrefutably linked her newfound habit to
Hypnosis, and to Paul. Her hands trembled and she lifted the cigarette to her
thinly drawn lips and took another anxious and deep drag on the cigarette,
exhaling in a quick burst and letting out a brief wracking cough.

At that moment, the front door to the apartment opened and Paul came in. 

"Hey babe, what are you still doing here? I thought you had that law firm
function to go to?" Paul said with a friendly smile on his face. 

"What the fuck is this Paul?" Rachel demanded holding up the book on hypnosis
while clutching her lit cigarette in one hand.

"Hmm.. well, Rach, it looks like a book on hypnosis." Paul said, with a
knowing smirk on his face.

"Thanks smart ass, I can see that. What about this watch huh?" Rachel said
brandishing the old Soviet pocket watch. 

"Oh, that old thing? That's a trinket my dad gave me from when he was in the
army stationed in West Berlin during the Cold War. Pretty neat isn't it? It's
a Soviet officers pocket watch." Paul still had that smirk on his face, but
his eyes looked as if they were dressed in false innocence. 

"Ok Paul. No bullshit. I have figured out you are up to something. This watch
made me feel strange when I looked at it, and I immediately felt an
overwhelming urge, even need to light a cigarette upon seeing it. And this
hypnosis book has the chapters on smoking cessation and hypnosis reversals
highlighted with notes in the margins. Im not an idiot you know, and I think
Ive figured out what you did." Rachel said, her green eyes gleaming fiercely
in the thin smokey haze that filled the small bedroom. 

"Really now. Whats that?" Paul said, with an inquisitive look on his face.

"I think you hypnotized me to become addicted to smoking, you fucking
bastard! And Now Im addicted!" Rachel screamed as she threw her lit cigarette
on the wooden floor in his bedroom and stamped it out angrily.

"Really? You think that hypnosis shit is real? Surely your keen legal mind
doesn't believe in some parlor tricks like that." 

"No Paul. It makes so much sense, it's the only plausible explanation. A
sudden development for a penchant for chain smoking, shortly after I met you.
And I never smoked at all before I met you. Hell, I would keep lighting one
cigarette after another like some robot even when smoking so much gave me
nicotine poisoning and made me sick when I first started smoking. That's not
normal Paul, its like that behavior was compelled by something deep in the
back of my mind-"

"And you think that I have something to do with your smoking? You must be
joking." Paul stared through Rachel as he spoke in a calm and low voice.

"This is such bullshit Paul, you know what you did." Rachel stared at Paul
with an intense anger and her voice wavered a little but it was still firm
and accusatory. Her hands were shaky as her fingers seemingly unconsciously
fumbled into her pack of cigarettes and drew another one. Before she knew
what she was doing, she had lit another following up with a double pump and a
long streaming exhale. This unconscious action seemed to only disgust her
more, and she again threw the lit cigarette onto the floor. She felt angry,
and betrayed. She was horrified at what she had become convinced must have
happened, and her heart fluttered with anger at her situation. She stared
into the smoldering cigarette on the floor, partially wanting to reach down
and pick it up, barely resisting the overwhelming urge as tears filled her
eyes. 

Paul walked over towards her and bent down to pick up the cigarette. He
handed her the cigarette, which she angrily took in her hand and inhaled a
deep drag, seemingly furious as she did so. 

"Rachel, I have a confession to make." Paul said, in his most sincere voice. 

"What Paul?" Rachel said, through teary eyes as she exhaling a long plume of
smoke through her mouth as she spoke. 

" I did hypnotize you. Ive always thought women who smoked, particularly
women who chain smoked were irresistibly sexy."

"Oh my God, I feel so betrayed. Im leaving." Rachel said, as she stood up,
intent on leaving the apartment. 

"Sit down woman. Listen, for you will only hear this confession once. Yes I
did it. I hypnotized you to become an unrepentant chain smoker. Im a dirty
man and a sinister man with nothing but my own self interest at heart. Worse,
you aren't the first Ive done this too. Worst of all, I don't feel the least
bit of remorse about it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"What?" Rachel said, alarmed and distraught.

 "I have been practicing these hypnosis techniques for eight years. I've
turned three of my ex-girlfriends into regular smokers over the past several
years, when they had previously never smoked at all. But with you, it took
effect like nothing Ive ever seen. With them, I could never get them to smoke
more than ½ a pack per day, occasionally up to one pack, but the hypnosis
always only seemed to last a few weeks. You were different, you were like a
programmable machine. You took straight to chain smoking almost immediately,
and until now you haven't shown the slighted signs of wavering in your new
found love and addiction. In fact, Ive been able to accelerate your rate of
consumption incredibly. .. Lets just say you've been exceptionally responsive
to the hypnosis." Paul said, with a dark and meddling look on his face. 

Rachel just stood there staring into the distance speechless.

"Moreover, I think Im pretty good at this hypnosis thing. And because you are
a particularly susceptible subject, Im fairly positive you will never break
this addiction and have become a lifetime smoker whether you like it or not.
You might as well let yourself enjoy it." Paul said his voice measured and
calculative.

"Oh my God Paul. You are a monster and a pervert. Im leaving you right now."
Rachel stood up again. 

"No my dear, I don't think you are. You see, I've already pre-empted this
possibility. One of your unique attributes as a person who is particularly
susceptible to hypnosis is that you can be programmable for all manner of
things. Watch this." Paul said with a smile and grabbed her arm roughly,
leaning forward to whisper a phrase into her ear, followed by a snap of his
fingers. 

Rachel slumped over, falling backwards onto the bed mattress. Dropping the
lit cigarette and the book to the floor. She was out cold. Paul thought to
himself  that the safety word had worked better than he could have imagined.
He decided it was time to reprogram Rachel. Not to get rid of her smoking
habit, or free her. But to wipe the recent events and the revelation from her
mind. This time he would take his time and be exhaustively through. Under his
smooth and soothing voice, Paul cleaned the events and from her mind, and
reinforced her incessant need to smoke constantly. He also reinforced a
strong sense of trust, unerring loyalty and budding love for Paul deep into
Rachel's psyche. Before he let her regain consciousness, he hid his book and
watch under a loose floorboard under the cabinet beneath the kitchen sink.
This way, Rachel wouldn't be stumbling across the evidence again anytime soon
causing another incident. The entire session lasted for nearly an hour and
thirty minutes, but when it was finished Paul was sure his test subject had
been prepared properly and he let her out of the hypnosis gently.

Rachel came too, and seemed confused about where she was. 

"You must have fallen asleep here afterwork when you stopped by to pick up
you skirt." Paul said, a warm smile filling his face. 

"Oh wow, I must have been more tired than I thought I barely remember even
coming here after work... Hey, did you get those cartons of cigarettes that I
had asked about? Im dying for a smoke" Rachel said groggily.

"Certainly, here they are." Paul offered the carton of Marlboro Red 100s to
Rachel, which she greedily opened and tore into a pack, lighting up a
cigarette immediately. 

"Paul, are you sure the new found chain smoking habit of mine doesn't bother
you too much? I just love it so much, Im sure I could never give it up."
Rachel asked eagerly and sincerely with a longing look in her eyes.

"It doesn't bother me at all Rachel. In fact, I have to admit, you look
rather sexy smoking that cigarette, sorta like one of those Femme Fatales
from the 1940s." Paul said, with an innocent grin on his face barely covering
his more sinister thoughts that lay beneath his statement. 

"Really? You think its sexy? That's great. This could be a pretty good deal
then I suppose. You bring me cigarettes and I get to smoke all I want, and
you think its sexy? That's hard to beat." Rachel said enthusiastically. 

"Yeah I reckon it is." Paul said with a slow nod "Say, don't you have to go
to that office evening social? You better hurry or you'll be late." 

"Oh, that thing? Yeah, on second thought I think I can skip that. Im planning
on leaving the firm, they are patriarchal bastards there and worse they wont
let me smoke at work. I think I can go to work for that Plaintiffs attorney
Mr Sanders, he lets his employees smoke in the office. In fact, I have an
interview next week and he sounded very positive on the phone." 

"That's great news, I know you seemed concerned at lunch about that. So, what
do you want to do on this fine evening then Miss Alistar?" 

"Hmmm-. Well Ive been thinking about combining my two favorite things:
smoking and sex. Im thinking about practicing my chain smoking while having
sex, what do you think? What if we just stayed in and had wild lavacious sex
all night? You think you can handle that cowboy?" Rachel said, with a sultry
and playful look in her bright green eyes.

"Yeah, I think I can handle that." Paul said as he cracked a wide smile.