The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“There’s like...nothing...but antique shops,” Carrie said to Julia, as she sized up Main Street. She took a pull on her freshly lit cigarette and pointed at a small patch of building that looked 20, rather than 50, years old. Smoke poured out in syllable-length puffs. “There is a CPA,” she thought. “It’s kinda sad. This was actually new at some time. Now it’s just all old and dingy and dead.”

“It’s always been like this,” Julia said, giving her friend a look. “Don’t start talking about ‘the good old days’ now.”

Carrie laughed. “I guess.” She yawned and scratched at a butt cheek through her thick plaid pajama pants, then shook her head. “I’m tired, man.”

“Then don’t stay up so late getting pwned in Free for All,” Julia said. She noticed Carrie’s bloodshot eyes, sunk into the middle of two dark circles. “And maybe don’t smoke first thing in the morning.”

“Okay, MOM,” Carrie replied, rolling her eyes.

“Hey, I’m just saying...”

“Your mom is just saying...” Julia said jokingly as she raised an eyebrow at Carrie, who just shrugged. “I’m high as well as tired.”

“Can we get this over with and get back to my place? I need a shower,” Julia said. She looked at Carrie’s matted, blonde hair and wrinkled her nose, saying, “You really need one.“

“Yeah.” Carrie pulled her ratty tank up to her nose, enough to show off her flawless, golden tummy. “Yeah.”

Julia looked up at the sign above the small building in front of them. Downtown Book Nook, it read. And on the window, in small text, Your Community Bookstore Since 1967!

Julia looked at Carrie and pointed, “Speaking of antiques...”

The store was incredibly narrow and long. There really wasn’t much in the way of visual flair. Other than a few miscellaneous promotional posters, the store was simply white-washed walls, bare exposed wood, dull blue carpet, and glass. Julia counted three narrow rows of shelves to the long lefthand wall, which had an open doorway to what looked like more shelves. At the end of an extensive counter, one shelf stretched toward the back of the store and hooked around the back corner, where it ended at a few steps leading into what appeared to be the back room.

Standing behind the cash register was a lanky, purple-haired, dark-skinned young woman that Carrie and Julia recognized from high school, Jessie Turner. She was shuffling through the books she was pulling from a large cardboard box onto the counter, grinning as she scanned the covers. Across from her was a pale 20-something neckbeard type, swaying his weight from foot to foot. He noticed Julia and Carrie enter, and pulled down his ill-fitting God of Doom tour shirt.

“These are...I don’t even know,” Jessie said. She chuckled as she admired what looked like an ancient magazine. “The 1959 Housewife’s Manual... ‘Turkey Made Right...’ ‘Do What He Wants You To Do...’ ‘How To Make His Shirts Shine...’ I don’t know whether I should think this adorable or disgusting.“

“Different time, I guess,” the man said.

“Something,” Jessie muttered as she shifted her attention to looking over the books and magazines she’d already pulled out of the box. “Okay, so I’m not gonna pull everything out right here, I just wanted to get a feel for them, right?” The man nodded. “I’ve got a price sheet for stuff from 1975 to now, but a lot of this stuff is obviously outside that. Ms. Karen is going to have to have a look, if you think there are actually valuable books in here.”

“Okay,” the man said. Jessie didn’t move. He frowned. “Is she not in?”

“Yeah!” Jessie replied. “She’s just out for lunch. She’ll be back in like...” Jessie looked at the clock. “Forty-five minutes?” The man’s head fell back in defeat. Jessie tried to console him, mentioning, “There’s a cafe like, two blocks over. You can get some lunch or a coffee. She’ll be back by the time you finish.”

“Uh, how about a hundred bucks?” the man offered. Jessie shook her head.

“Nah. I see a couple recent things, but honestly, those aren’t going to get much more than two or three dollars each, if that.” She shrugged. “Besides, I’m not allowed to approve purchases over fifty dollars.”

“Fifty then,” he said. “That’s gotta be less than a couple bucks a book.”

“Most of these books probably aren’t worth a couple cents a book, sir,” Jessie said. “If you think differently, Ms. Karen can look them over when she gets back.”

“Twenty five?” he asked.

Jessie looked over the books again. Her head wobbled back and forth. She picked up another book from the box and smiled as she looked at it. ”The Captured Woman... How perilous!” Jessie then noticed Julia and Carrie. She looked quickly back at the man, then at the books, then back to him. “Okay, I’ll take the chance.“

Jessie scribbled into a nearby binder, then tapped some keys on the register, and the drawer popped open. She withdrew a few bills and handed them to the man. He pocketed it, then made for the entrance, giving Carrie and Julia an uncomfortable glance as he brushed past.

Carrie immediately grabbed a book from the counter. Jessie watched her, smiling, then turned her attention to Julia.

“Hey, woman, how are you?” she asked. Julia smiled politely and shrugged.

“Nowhere. Classes in the fall, working for Mom and Dad pretty much the rest of the time,” she said. She nodded at Carrie. “Hanging out with this runaway today.”

Jessie gave Carrie an amused glance, obviously impressed at the blonde’s radical post-high school look. “She has gone wild, hasn’t she?” She raised her eyebrows, curious. “Are you still going to school out here?”

“Yeah... Just part-time though. I can’t afford my apartment and full time. I like my space.”

“Right!” Jessie sympathized. “I really want to get out of my folks’ place, but I’m doing SFA, full time.”

“That’s a drive,” Carrie contributed blankly. She was flipping through an old magazine. “You guys should try scholarships.”

“Some of us didn’t get showered with money for being valedictorian,” Julia joked.

“I didn’t get that much from the university,” Carrie countered. “I applied for about half of what I was getting before I left.” She flipped the magazine closed, then looked through the other books. “These are awesome.”

“I know, right?” Jessie said. “But Ms. Karen doesn’t keep this place running on awesomeness. I hope something in here is actually worth something.”

“Hey, even if this is worthless junk, I’ll give you guys a few dollars for some of these. Thinking about a wallpaper made of some of the magazine pages.” Her grin widened. “And I desperately want to put How to Please the Love of Your Life and The Feminist Temptation by H.M. Abendsen on my shelf. I need these books.“

“You can have them all on your shelf if Ms. Karen doesn’t like them,” Jessie said. She carefully collected the books back into the box, including Carrie’s pull. “Did you come to poach trade-ins?”

“No, I’m here for a job,” Carrie said. Julia tried not to let her jaw drop too far. “Trying to get out of my parents, but Starbucks isn’t giving me the hours.”

“You’ll have to talk to Ms. Karen. I’m definitely not in charge of that,” Jessie replied. She lifted the box onto a counter piled high with paperbacks. She coughed as a thin cloud of dust floated up from the box. “You can do my job. Well, mine and Robert’s, but...” She looked at her phone. “He’s running late today.”

“Trade-ins?” Julia asked. Jessie nodded.

“We get waayy more trade-ins than sales.” Her head wobbled side to side. “But most of these books can bring in two or three dollars apiece, and we get them for pennies on the dollar. Plus, the schools donate a lot to us.” Jessie sighed. “Lots of that gets thrown out. Who needs a hundred copies of Where the Red Fern Grows, you know?” She turned to the rear counter, booted up a clunky laptop, then opened a crowded spreadsheet. “You guys can hang out until Ms. Karen gets here if you want.” She placed her hands on either side of a section of books. “I’ve gotta get these logged.“

Julia looked at Carrie.

“I want food. I’m starving,” Carrie said.

“We’ll do that, and come back.”

“See you soon then!” Jessie shouted over her shoulder.

“Are you serious?” Julia asked outside, after Carrie lit another cigarette. “That’s why you wanted to come here?”

Carrie pulled a few times on her cigarette; her eyes drifted down to the asphalt. “No choice. I’m borrowing money to make rent this month,” Carrie said. “I was looking at it on my phone last night. Wanted to check it out.”

“Don’t you think you should’ve...” Julia waved at Carrie’s wardrobe. Carrie was annoyed.

“What? This place needs any help it can get. Seriously, they’re gonna be out of business like any day now. It’s dead in there.” She grinned. “Don’t worry, Mom.“

Julia held her hands up in surrender. “Whatever. You’re a crazy chick.”

“That’s what they all say.”

Across the street, a small hatchback parallel parked, and out climbed a young man with long, shiny black hair, a wispy Van Dyke, and a white button-down shirt. It was another familiar face to Julia, but this time she didn’t have a name. He’d gone to their high school though, she was sure of it. Was he an underclassman, perhaps? As he got closer, he obviously recognized them.

“Hello,” he said. His eyes lingered on Carrie, either out of attraction to her model’s looks or to count the piercings. “Carrie Mercado?”

“Si,” Carrie said. “But you have me at a loss, sir.”

“I’m Robert, Terri’s little brother. Bobby,” he said. Carrie broke out in a huge grin and stood to give him a hug.

“Oh, man, I didn’t even recognize you!” she said. Pulling back, she gave him a once over. “I don’t know how. You look like Male Terri. How is she?” Carrie looked at Julia, then back to him. “Is she still in town?”

“No, Lubbock,” he said. Julia nodded in agreement. “She’s well, I guess. We only see her on holidays. She texts, but only funny links and stuff. You know she never liked it here. I don’t think she wants to be reminded too much.”

“Yeah, I can relate.” Her exhaustion seemed to make itself even more apparent. “Anyway, text her I say hi.”

“From me too,” Julia said. Robert nodded, then looked at his cell phone.

“I’ve gotta get. I’m already late,” he said.

“It’s cool. Jessie said Ms. Martinez is on lunch,” Carrie assured him.

“Oh.” he said. He gave Carrie another look over, then asked them both, “Were you guys coming inside, or did you already, or what’s up?”

“We’ll definitely be back,” Carrie said. “I’ve got to talk to Ms. Martinez about a job. Need some extra cash.”

“Okay!” Robert exclaimed, breaking out in an excited grin. “That’d be awesome!”

Carrie grinned on an exhale. “Now I’m thinking maybe we can re-open Bobby and Carrie’s Detective Investigations. Make even more money on side, yeah?” Robert’s grinned withered, and his face reddened.

“No...I...” he stammered. Finally, he said, “I’ve got a ton to catch up on.” Robert looked Carrie up and down once more, gave Julia a weak smile, then practically ran inside. Carrie tossed her cigarette into the street.

“Okay. On that note, let’s get food,” she said. “Food, food, food. Something greasy and country as fuck.”

Julia pointed down the street. “We can do the cafe. They fit the bill from what I remember.” She frowned. “Poor Robert.”

“I was just teasing,” Carrie said, giggling and climbing to her feet. “The looking was making me feel all kinds of...awkward.” She continued as they walked. “I remember him being all about wrestling and ninjas. And that stupid hat he used to wear everywhere. Now he’s thinking about being inside me!” She giggled again, and pointed at each visible piercing and tattoo. “I don’t think he knew what to think of any of this though. If he’s still half the Jesus-lover he and his sister were in high school, then...I dunno. I suppose I know him about as well as he knows me at this point. I don’t think he’d even kissed a girl, the last time I saw him. He could be a fucking freak in the bed now.” She sighed, her smiled faltered; she recovered with another giggle. “Wait, why am I contemplating sex with Robert Fucking Reiss!?” Her laughter made Carrie smile. “Jesus Christ, let’s eat.”

Jessie rubbed her eyes, and pushed away from the laptop. She needed a break. She looked at the mountain of trade-ins, proud that they were all logged. Well, with the exception of the box, which stood on its own, separate from the other books. She stood, then reached down into the box to grab a handful of text. She made sure to grab a couple of the paperbacks, as well as a short stack of magazines.

Taking her seat again, Jessie tossed all but one of the magazines onto the shelf just beneath the counter, then studied one of her grabs, Pin-ups! Incredibly voluptuous for white girls. Big, teardrop titties pushed into ancient, industrial underwear, with hips to match. Forever having fun in the sun. Bouncing beach balls around. Frolicking. All-natural, inviting smiles. So much fun. So happy.

“What’s this?” Ms. Martinez asked softly, looking over some of the pulled out books. Jessie dropped the magazine in her hands, surprised. “Who brought these in?”

“Some albino guy,” Jessie replied. Her brain struggled for more words. Casually, she slipped the magazine under the counter, setting it on top of her purse. Finally, more words came. “Lots of these old things. Check out the titles.”

Luckily, Ms. Martinez was amused. She looked over the titles, smiling. “Maybe we can put them out in ‘Comedy’.” She raised an eyebrow. “Is there anything you recognized in here?” she asked. She was digging now. Jessie shook her head.

“No, not really,” she said. “I only put out $25 on it.”

“But who’s going to buy this nonsense, dear?” Ms. Martinez asked, deadpan. She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have gone above ten.”

“A girl I went to high school with was just in here a little while ago. She seemed interested,” Jessie said. Ms. Martinez still seemed skeptical. “I’ll buy this,” Jessie continued, pulling the magazine back out. She held it next to her smiling face. “Two dollars?”

Ms. Martinez considered the old thing, then nodded once. “Sure.” She sighed and started piling the books back in. “I’ll go through these again in a little bit. For now, your approved limit for trade-ins is $20. This wasn’t a good call, Jessie.”

Ms. Martinez lifted the box, then set it back down on the counter. “Robert! cough Can you come move this box into my office?”

“Yeah!” Robert shouted from the backroom. After a few moments, he came jogging up to the front. On the way, he tripped, and face-planted. He recovered, red-faced, then grabbed the box. Even Ms. Martinez had to stifle a laugh. She gave Jessie an amused glance, then followed him into the back. Jessie turned and processed the transaction, then flipped the magazine back open.

Robert set the box down in the corner of Ms. Martinez’s office, then peeked at her.

“Everything okay?” Robert asked sheepishly. Ms. Martinez nodded.

“Yes, Robert.” she said. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” he replied quickly. Not wanting to tempt fate, he retreated from the office, bumping hard against the doorframe on his way out. He cringed and clutched his bony shoulder.

After packing a few hardcovers into a box for recycling, he headed up front. Jessie was thumbing through one of the old magazines. Robert began to shuffle through the books, putting them in neat piles to move into the back.

“Did she say anything?” he asked. Jessie didn’t acknowledge him. “Jessie?” Still nothing. “Jessie!” She jumped, and grabbed her chest. She blinked at him, blankly.

“You…” she said softly. She glanced back down at the magazine, then shook her head. “What’s up?”

“Did Ms. Martinez say anything about...you know,” he pointed at the top of his wrist, indicating a nonexistent watch. Jessie shook her head.

“No. She was more mad at me for this.” She held up the magazine, then returned to flipping through pages, abruptly ending the conversation.

Robert picked up one of his piles; two books promptly fell from the top. He cursed quietly, and crouched, aiming to grab them. Naturally, the books in his hands fell over, making a bigger mess. Robert rubbed his eyes and cursed again. He looked at Jessie. She didn’t seem to notice. He collected the books back into a pile, then carefully stood back up.

“Thanks for the help,” he said over his shoulder. Jessie didn’t reply, so he turned. She was still reading the magazine. “Okey doke,” he said to himself before carrying the books into the back.

After organizing the books into place, he made his way back to Ms. Martinez’s office. She was working on her desktop computer now, scrolling through the ancient spreadsheet they called a catalog. Robert knocked, causing her to pause and look back at him before she returned to her work.

“Yes, Robert?” she asked, sounding a little annoyed.

“Uh, a friend...well, a friend of my sister...is coming in to talk to you about a job, and so I wanted to put in a good word. That’s all.”

“No reason, dear. We’re not hiring. If you want to tell her, so she doesn’t have to come in, go ahead. Or I’ll do it when she gets here.” Robert broke out in a sweat, his heart quickened. All he could think about was Carrie crying. Not the tattooed and pierced freak that had come back from Austin, but the goofy, metal-mouthed angel who used to come over to sing hymns with his older sister—the girl who didn’t only not make fun of him for playing with action figures even when he was a freshman, but who would play along with him. “Anything else?” Ms. Martinez asked, turning away from the computer. She stared at him over her dark-rimmed glasses.

“Well, uh, well...” Robert made himself imagine a smiling Carrie, her braces sparkling. “I could get more done back here if I didn’t have to work the front when Jessie’s not here.”

“Everything seems quite organized,” Ms. Martinez replied. “The front does look a little cluttered, but I’m sure if you hadn’t been late today, that might not be the case.” Robert blushed. Ms. Martinez sighed. “You’re doing a great job, Robert, despite the tardiness, and so is Jessie, despite her sometimes poor business decisions. But to put it frankly, because I know where you’re going with this, we just don’t have the budget to afford an extra hand. You know how close we cut it already.”

Carrie was crying again.

“Cut my hours then,” he blurted out.

Carrie was smiling.

“That’s absurd,” Ms. Martinez said.

“No, really, I don’t need them. I live with my parents. It’s just extra cash to...”

“I know that Robert, but I think it’s absurd for you to take a pay cut for a ‘friend of your sister.’ It’d be very irresponsible of me to let you do something so silly for a girl you have a crush on. If you don’t need the money now, save it for later.”

Not only was Carrie crying now, but so was little Robert.

“It’s not a crush!” Robert lied. “She just moved back to town, and she can’t find any work. She’s desperate. My sister wants me to help her out.” Ms. Martinez didn’t flinch. Robert gulped, and said, “They’re my hours.” He could hardly believe the words made it out.

To his relief and surprise, Ms. Martinez sighed, and pulled out a notepad. “How many hours are you wanting to give up?”

“Ten,” Robert answered, pulling the first number he could think of out of his head. That, of course, was just under a third of what he was getting; his car payments suddenly looked a lot rougher. But Carrie was beaming.

Ms. Martinez scribbled on her notepad, then turned back to her computer. She pulled up another spreadsheet on the ancient machine, typed and clicked, before going on, “With you cutting that much, I can give her about twenty hours, given that I actually take a couple days off.” She turned back around, giving him a stern look. “BUT this isn’t me saying yes. She still needs to talk to me. Today. Then I’ll think about it.”

“Of course!” Robert said. Carrie wasn’t smiling anymore, but only because her mouth was occupied with a piece of him now.

“And if you start hurting for money, I want you to remember this conversation. Don’t come crying to me, sir.” Ms. Martinez said. Robert nodded, and she finally smiled. “She better be cute.”

Despite being a couple pounds shy of a stick figure, Carrie didn’t seem to fill up. She ate the first two baskets of cornbread herself, slathered in the processed honey butter. Then, she ordered an extra couple of cups of gravy to dip her extra-large chicken fried steak and thick cut fries in. Then, she insisted on finishing with a piece of apple cobbler and vanilla ice cream.

Somewhere in their conversation, Carrie just stopped talking and simply scarfed food. Julia watched her friend’s spoon make slow, circular, gliding swirls in the melted ice cream; the blonde’s eyes started to slowly glaze over, as she stared, wide-eyed, beyond the bowl.

“Carrie,” Julia said. The blonde snapped to, and smiled. Julia laughed and whispered, “How high are you?”

“Dude, I’m sober at this point,” Carrie said. Adding to satisfy Julia’s disbelieving look, “Just daydreaming.”

“About what?” Julia asked.

Carrie shrugged. “Stuff.” She leaned her cheek on her fist, frowning slightly. “I hate being home.”

“You have been kinda mopey,” Julia asked. Carrie looked shocked.

“Have I? I’m sorry!” she said, sounding genuinely disappointed. She rubbed her lip ring pensively. “I don’t mean to say I hate this...like us, hanging out...it’s the best, but...I would never have come back here if I’d had a choice.”

“Wow,” was all Julia could muster. “I thought you were...I guess I don’t know what I thought. You still haven’t told me what happened.”

“Nothing happened,” Carrie said. She scooped up the thin remnants of ice cream from her plate, and sighed. “Nothing specific. I just started failing.” Carrie’s lips tightened, and she shrugged. “I flunked out.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Julia said. She reddened. “You’re not a dumb blonde.”

“Yeah, Carrie said. “I know that. “But I still flunked. That’s what happened. Not sure I can put my finger on something specific to tell you ‘what happened.’”

“How did you fail a single class?!” Julia asked, seeping in worry as much as frustration. “Sorry, not trying to be Mom.“

“Smart for a hillbilly, just a dumb blonde in the city,” Carrie said. Her teeth clenched. “I can give you a reason for each failure, but ultimately, my GPA was too low to stay in. So now I’m here.” She breathed out slowly, and briefly closed her eyes; her face relaxed. “Which is wonderful. I really love you, Julia. You’re the best part of being back here.” She glanced down. “Then again...” She pointed at the plate below her. “That pie may have overtaken you.” Carrie snickered.

Julia managed a smile. “We can’t make it Austin, but how about we try to make this place not so miserable for you? At least while you’re here.”

“This job would be a start,” Carrie said. “Every other fucking place drug tests out here.” She checked her phone, and waved for the waitress. “I think it’s been long enough now.”

After the waitress dropped the check on the table, Carrie looked it over, then gave Julia a toothy grin.

“What?” Julia asked.

“Um...I love you...do you think you have enough to cover this?” She batted her eyes.

“Are you serious?!” Before Julia could decide whether to be nervous that she might not have enough to cover them both, or angry at her friend for presuming so much, Carrie casually tossed two solid bills on the table and sprang to her feet.

“Nope!” Carrie shouted as she jogged towards the door. She literally cackled on her way out, drawing looks from around the restaurant. Julia quickly dipped her eyes toward the floor, grabbed her purse and shuffled out behind her.

Jessie hadn’t thought about the fact that she was stroking herself through her pants until she had worked herself up to the verge of cumming. Even once she realized what she was doing, at that point, all she could reason to do was get the job done, and keep quiet. Unfortunately, the counter wasn’t quite high enough to hide anything. Jessie’s cheek warmed, as she realized she’d been putting on a show already. To make matters worse, the door dinged and in walked Julia and Carrie once again.

“Hey,” she squeaked. Her thighs ground together. “Robert! Get Ms. Martinez! And come up here! I need to take a break!”

Robert emerged from the back, eyebrow raised. He looked at Julia and Carrie; his lips turned up in a slight smile. “Ms. Martinez is on her way.” He crossed his arms. “Since when do we get breaks?”

“Since I need to eat something before I pass out,” Jessie said. She looked down at the counter for her keys, and spotted the magazine, opened to an ad for an oven? Plump and Pretty! it said, above a Rockwell-esque drawing of a grinning wife proudly extracting hamburger patties from the oven. Jessie’s mouth watered, thinking about a nice, greasy drive-thru burger. On the opposite page was the continuing collage of curvy models. She squeezed her thighs together once more, flipped the magazine shut, slid it in her purse, and marched past Robert, Carrie, and Julia.

Outside, she scurried for her car, and flipped it into drive. She came before she made it to the first stop light.

“Jessie’s on break,” Robert told Ms. Martinez when she made it up front. She rolled her eyes, then noticed the shop’s guests.

“Hey, guys,” she said. Carrie grinned and offered a hand. They shook; the older woman very obviously noticed Carrie’s unfortunate wardrobe choices. “I take it that you are Ms. Mercado.”

“Carrie. Ms. Mercado was my father,” she said. Ms. Martinez obviously faked a half-smile, and shot Robert a look.

“Let’s talk,” the older woman said. She guided Carrie toward the back. Robert and Julia looked at each other.

“How was lunch?” he asked.

“Oh, it was good,” she replied. “Like lunch always seems to be. At least when someone asks, right?”

“Usually,” he said, after giving it a brief moment of thought. Carrie quickly returned to mind. “So I’m assuming Carrie’s settling in okay?”

Julia shrugged. “I guess so,” Julia replied. “She’s been back maybe two months. We’ve only hung out a few times though. Mostly just playing video games.”

“Oh cool. What do you guys play?”

“It depends,” Julia said. She looked around the store. “Where is the sci-fi section?”

“There.” Robert pointed. Julia followed his finger, then gave him a close-lipped smile.

“Thanks,” she said, before strolling off towards the section. Robert sighed, and looked around for something to do. He couldn’t really leave the front with Jessie out. Then, he noticed a thin layer of dust clinging to his arm. So Robert decided to dust.

As he was emptying one of the shelves below the counter to dust, he found two old, yellowed paperbacks, along with a couple magazines. He pulled them out for a better look; they were obviously part of the haul Jessie had brought in earlier.

Country Cookin’ said the title of the magazine atop the stack. The girl on the front was smiling, showing of an adorable pair of buckteeth, as she offered a steaming pie towards the reader. Freckles peppered her cheeks, and her red hair was tied up in a pair of pigtails; her checkered blue dress struggled to contain her over-ripe country curves. Below that was Spellbinding Serials, apparently an anthology, and Listen, which featured an article called ‘Why Feminism Won’t Last.’

Robert dropped the magazines and looked at the books, The Secret to Mastering Your Life by H.M. Abendsen and The Brain Drainer by...the same. He opened the former and flipped into the book, intrigued by the different chapter titles, such as ‘Get in Control. Mind Control.’, then zoomed in on a particular section:

...one needs to understand: Confidence begins with you. One must always strive to be more confident. One must always remember that a confident attitude is the right attitude. Think confident, be confident. Cultivate your confidence.

Robert raised an eyebrow and flipped back to page 1.

If you’re reading this, it’s because your life is falling apart and you don’t know quite what to do. Well, I have some good news for you: you can do something about it. You can do something because you are the root of the problem. Sorry to say, this is all your fault...

At some point, Jessie strolled in. Robert blinked. Time seemed to rush at him at once; he realized he was on page 23 already. Robert ignored the oddness, and looked at Jessie. She was keeping her eyes straight ahead or down, doing everything she could to not look at Robert, it seemed. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” she squeaked, giving him a quick, timid glance. “I’m back. You can do what you need to do.”

“Are you okay?” Robert asked.

Jessie nodded vigorously, and cracked a trembling smile. “Yeah. I’m wonderful.” She took a seat, and looked down at the magazines Robert had tossed down. Her eyes widened. “Oh, I forgot to throw those back in the box, didn’t I?” Her fingers traced over the image on the front of Listen—a doe-eyed ditz with an ear pressed to a glass pressed to the wall, her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. Jessie giggled. “That’s silly.“

Robert watched her for a moment, until she noticed he was watching her. She frowned and handed him the books. “Take those,” she said, back to staring straight ahead, down at the counter now.

The front door opened before Robert could ask whether she was okay again. It was Julia, with a small cup of coffee in her hand. She looked at the two.

“What’s up?” she asked. “Is Carrie done yet?”

“Uh...” Robert looked back at the backroom, then back to Julia. He shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’ll check.”

In the back, Robert found Ms. Martinez by herself in her office. She was apparently reading a book, one out of the box by the look of it. He lifted the text in his hand in indication of his destination, and entered. She looked up and blinked.

“Hey,” she said, smiling. Her voice was unexpectedly soft. However, her face hardened after a brief glance back down at the book in her hands. She closed it, then worked up a good, hard sneeze. Then another and another, back to back. “Excuse me.” She rubbed her eyes. “What can I help you with, Mr. Reiss?”

“Where’d Carrie go?”

“She went to the restroom.” Ms. Martinez briefly bit her lip. “It’s been a little while I think.” She looked back down at the book. “I didn’t think this would be so engrossing. I was really getting into it.” Her smile was back, just a little less friendly and delighted at the sight before her.

“Well?” Robert asked. Ms. Martinez stared at him, eventually cocking her head to the side, curious. “Is she doing well?”

“Yes.” Ms. Martinez straightened, then sneezed again. “Excuse me again. I’m not wowed or anything, but she’s doing well, given that she appears to have rolled out of bed and come here on a whim...” She sighed. “I think I can give her a few hours to start, see how she does.”

“Great!” Robert almost cheered. Ms. Martinez gave him a knowing, mischievous smile.

“You’re welcome.” She raised an eyebrow and turned her head slightly, giving him the eye. “Do you want to tell her?”

“Uh, yeah,” Robert said. “I think I can do that.” Robert beamed and spun to head for the restroom, to position himself outside in order to tell Carrie the good word, to see the grin on her face, his reward for a solid well done.

But of course, Carrie was standing right behind him, with a half-grin already on her face.

“What are you telling me?” she asked.

“You...uh...” The words wouldn’t come. In a brief moment of desperation, he looked to Ms. Martinez. She didn’t hesitate.

“Congratulations, I’m going to hire you,” she said. She gave Robert a brief, apologetic glance, then looked back to Carrie. “Let’s get some paperwork done, and get you on the schedule.”

Carrie gave Robert a surprise hug, then took a seat as he slipped away, back to the front. He found Julia alone, still working on her coffee as she scanned the shelf below Thrillers.

“Where’d Jessie go?” Robert asked. Julia looked at him, then the empty chair behind the counter. She shrugged.

“I don’t know. She just walked out front. I thought she was just getting some air,” Julia replied. Robert groaned and walked out the front door. The sidewalk was empty as ever, with no sign of Jessie in sight.

“Dammit,” he said, before stepping back inside. Julia’s eyebrows raised in curiosity. He shook his head. “I don’t see her outside.” He rubbed his temples, which were throbbing. From the bittersweet excitement with Carrie alone. Robert sighed, and crumpled with defeat. “Hopefully, she just forgot something in her car.”

Jessie’s bedroom had become a sauna bath of her own humidity. She could taste herself in the air. If it didn’t feel so good to just lay back and stroke her tender breasts, she might have been more concerned that she hadn’t done much else since leaving work. Her drive home was a blur of hazy, lusty fantasies.

Jessie lay on her bed now, her asshole and pussy each stuffed with a couple of toys; she rubbed her clit firmly, shaking with each push. She squeaked out another exhausted orgasm, then laid back and breathed in the steamy air. Eventually, she rolled over onto her side to pick her phone up from the floor, curious at the time. It was already dark...there were about ten missed calls from work. When did she leave work?!

She quickly sat up. She slowly scanned the floor with her eyes, as her brain stumbled back towards coherency. Pin-ups! laid not far away, across the top of her statistical mechanics textbook. The blonde bombshell on the cover stared at her, smiling and winking—she was very plump and pretty.

“Plump and pretty. Plump and pretty,” Jessie whispered to herself, imagining her body bending any fabric to its will. How beautiful and powerful she could be. How her figure would please...the photographer. Whoever that guy was. The big cheese. The boss. Her guy, maybe. It didn’t really matter, did it? Now where was she?