Page 2 of Hypnotized By Love

Thehimin question was Timothy Grainger, a man I barely knew. He had come in as a potential client, but during our initial interview, there was something off about him. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was, but I told him I didn’t think we would be a good professional fit and gave him the names of three other hypnotherapists that I’d recommend. As I was walking him out, he asked me on a date. I politely told him I wasn’t interested and thanked him for coming in, sent him on his way, and naively thought that was it.

Timothy didn’t let it drop, though. He continued to stop by and wanted to speak to me. He called a few times but didn’t leave a voice mail. I considered contacting the police, worried that things might escalate. But then he just stopped showing up, stopped calling.

I was so glad that it was over.

But my relief had been premature, because instead of harassing me in person, he moved to doing it online. He started leaving negative reviews of my business. He seemed to be creating a new account every day, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Then to make matters worse, he decided to hit me where it would hurt most. He contacted the Florida Board of Professional Hypnotists and filed a formal complaint against me, alleging that I was the one who had harassed him. He said that I had asked him on a date and made him uncomfortable. And I didn’t have any evidence to the contrary—he’d never sent a text or left a message. It was my word against his, and the Board had to err on the side of caution, given all the negativity surrounding our jobs.

Camila had been the one to remind me that our profession was already so constantly maligned that the Board members wanted to be seen as if they were treating the accusation seriously.

And I was the one who had to pay for his lies.

The one good thing I had going for me was that an online client I’d worked with, a young woman named Ginger, turned out to be a social media influencer and told her millions of followers that I’d helped with her anxiety after half a dozen sessions. I’d had so many people sign up for online sessions that it made the annoying thing Timothy had done mostly fade into the background.

Until today, when I’d been forced to deal with it again.

Bridget was still on her rant about it, drawing my attention back to her. “Bad things should happen to him. I hope all the protruding parts of his body wither up and fall off! I feel like we should be doing something. Egging his house, at least. Keying his car. Something.”

The last thing I needed was to be arrested for vandalism. “Unfortunately, people don’t always get the comeuppance they deserve right away. I do believe that he’ll get his, though.”

She crossed her arms and shook her head. “That doesn’t seem like enough. Karma’s not reliable enough for me.”

I needed her to de-escalate. “It’s over. I just want to move past it and think about something else. I don’t want him to have this much control over me and my thoughts.”

“Which I support, but I went online and gave you so many stars that people are going to have to pledge allegiance to them.”

“You’ve never been a client,” I reminded her.

“So? Neither was Timothy and he’s lying every day, and I can lie for your benefit. Plus, everyone lies online. See also: all of social media.” Bridget repositioned her purse on the table, and her Chihuahua, Lulabelle, shook while staring me down. Bridget cooed at her. She took her dog with her everywhere, including on her dates. I knew that dog had seen some things. It was probably why she always seemed so nervous.

“We should talk about something else.” I didn’t want to give Timothy any more words or headspace. He didn’t deserve them.

“Savannah’s right. And since we’re changing the subject,” Sierra said while nodding at me, “do you want to hear about the compound fracture that came in this morning? I’d never seen a bone sticking that far up out of the—”

I gagged slightly and hurried to ask, “How are things going with Joseph?” Joseph was the guy my sister had been dating for the last few weeks.

She grimaced slightly. “Not well. Things have just been ... off when we’re together. Like, we had dinner last night and he told me I wasn’t allowed to eat carbs in front of him, since he’s gluten-free, and he threw away my pasta.”

He threw away her food? I internally screamed for a second.

“Allowed?” I repeated. “You told him he doesn’t get to dictate what you eat, right?”

“Unacceptable,” Bridget chimed in. “Get out now.”

I didn’t normally go straight to recommending ending things, but nobody got to tell my sister what she could and could not eat. Especially given the disordered eating issues she still had. She’d worked so hard to overcome those thoughts and impulses, and that jerk Joseph knew about them.

Trying to keep my cool, I said, “I know you don’t like breaking up with people, but there will be bread and men with nice personalities who treat you kindly waiting for you on the other side. If you want, I’ll pretend to be you and break up with him.”

“That’s okay. I can do it myself,” she said with a wave of her hand. My offer had been a hundred percent serious. People could never tell us apart, and we had spent years switching places. We still managed to trick our dad on a regular basis, even though our hair was completely different lengths.

So I’d happily call up Joseph and tell him where he could stick his gluten. “You are a much better person than me. I’ve always admiredhow easygoing and even keeled you are. I would have stabbed him by now.”

“You would have,” she agreed. “I guess I could tell him that we’ve grown apart. That we’re not as close as we were.”

“Right. He grew into someone controlling and self-centered, and you grew into a person who doesn’t care for that. I can see where that would make you not as close as you used to be.” I clamped my lips together so that I wouldn’t say more. Sierra could be stubborn, and I didn’t want to inadvertently add anything that might push her back into his wheatless arms.

So I turned toward Bridget. “And how are things going for you? Any new men we should know about?”

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