Tell John that you will be bringing your brother.

You decided that it'd be best to bring Matt along to the dinner. You didn't want to only be armed with a video. With that thought in mind, you give Matt a call and explain the situation to him.

"For real? This is some pretty serious shit, man." Matt stated. He was pretty overwhelmed with what you were doing.

"I know, but this guy's a complete fuck head. He deserves everything that's coming. You don't have to help me out, I understand." You reassure Matt.

"Fuck. Alright, yeah. I'll help you out. But if it doesn't turn out well, you're on your own." He said.

"Absolutely." You agreed.

You hung up the phone after hearing Matt agree with your plan.

The next couple days passed, and eventually it was Friday. You spent an hour thinking over every scenario in your head while Jessica got dressed and ready. She was wearing a deep V neck dress, and looked stunning.

You left the house at six in the afternoon and arrived to pick Matt up half an hour afterwards. You ran over the plan with him on the drive to John's house. Matt sat beside you in the passenger seat, and Jessica sat in the back.

"Alright, so I'm going to put him on the spot. I've decided it's the best way of doing it. He won't be prepared for any excuses, and he doesn't currently know that you're a hypnotist." You explained to Matt, who listened silently.

"I need you to make it convincing... Tell them that you'd like to show them how it works. Maybe demonstrate on Jessica first, then John, Sasha and their daughter. Let's use the same phrase." You spoke quickly as you neared the house. He nodded. Jessica was staring blankly out the window.

You slowly pulled up in John's driveway. He had a large house, much nicer than yours. It was getting dark outside, so you could clearly see the bright loungeroom light shine through the front window.

The three of you got out of the car and headed towards the front door. You knocked on the door and was promptly greeted by Sasha, who was smiling from ear to ear.

"Steve, hello! And you must be Jessica..." She greeted you both in turn with a kiss on the cheek. "Oh yes, John said you would be bringing your brother, too." She smiled at Matt.

"Hello, Matt." He introduced himself warmly. You caught the lingering gaze he gave Sasha when he spoke. "Thank you so much for extending this dinner to me."

"Oh, not at all!" Sasha said. "Please, come in." She ushered the three of you inside.

The house was equally as impressive from the inside, and looked just as big. The loungeroom was joined as a dining room. You saw the table all set up neatly, and could smell the food cooking in the kitchen.

"Oh, are we missing a seat?" You asked, when you counted all the seats at the table.

"Unfortunately Ashley couldn't join us tonight. She's at a friend's house studying for college." Sasha said.

"That's a shame." You said honestly.

As you marveled at the house, you almost didn't notice John step forward from the hallway. "Steve. Jessica. You look stunning." He gave you a warm handshake which was mismatched with his icy gaze. "And you must be Matt. Pleasure to meet you. Please, come into the loungeroom." He motioned with a hand, which the group followed into the large loungeroom. There were plenty of seats, so you were all quite comfortable.

"You have quite the house, John. I can't believe you hid it from me for so long." You grinned at him as you spoke. You could see the corner of his mouth twitch before he replied.

"Thanks." He said shortly. "So Matt, tell me about yourself. How come I haven't heard of you until just recently?" He then looked to Matt and turned the attention with the shifting of his body.

"Oh? You haven't been bragging about me? I'm hurt." Matt feigned a pained look at you then grinned. "Well, I'm not in town for very long... Just for work. Steve has invited me to stay at his house while I'm here." He explained to John.

"Yeah? What is it you do, then?" He asked. His tone was still very much on the edge of warm and icy.

"I'm a hypnotist, see. I tour different cities for performances." You thought you heard John scoff at Matt's explanation.

"Oh, how interesting!" Sasha chimed in. She had been in the kitchen until this point.

"Will you show us?" She asked, curiously. You almost laughed out loud from glee, but you caught the look of horror on John's face.

"Of course." Matt replied with a smile. "A live performance... I won't even charge!" He laughed to himself.

"How exciting!" Sasha exclaimed. "Can I be first?" She volunteered eagerly.

"I don't know about that Sasha..." John began to say. You could see the cogs in his brain slowly turning as he tried to devise a plan out of the situation, however you pushed the topic to stop him getting a chance.

"How about Jessica first, just so you can see it, hm? Otherwise you won't actually see." You smiled as you spoke.

"Oh! Of course, if you don't mind Jessica...?" Sasha asked.

"I don't mind. I've seen this before, so it's only fair." Your wife said with a smile.

Matt stood up and got the four of you to sit on the lounge next to one-another. He exhaled slowly and stood infront of Jessica.

"Okay, Jessica..." He spoke in a warm and soft voice. It echoed through the room, and you could even feel yourself become drowsy. "I want you to relax your shoulders and listen to my voice... Feel your chest rise and fall as you breathe and become completely relaxed... You're safe... You're listening to me and you're feeling safe..." You saw Jessica nod her head.

"Tell me if you feel safe." He asked.

"I feel safe." Your wife responded.

You caught the look on Sasha's face as her eyes lit up in amazement.

"Good, Jessica. You will stay quite for now, feeling safe. Okay?" He asked.

"Yes, okay. I feel safe." She replied.

Matt grinned as he looked at John and Sasha. Your boss's expression was quite the opposite than his wife.

"Okay John, your turn." Matt smiled kindly.

"You know, I think I'll pass." He said, crossing his arms.

"Come on, don't be a stick in the mud." Sasha scowled at him.

Matt gave you a strange look, then gazed back at John. "That's fine. It won't work if you're not voluntary." He said. You blinked. You hadn't thought of this. A very simple defense by John. You began to think of a way around this while Matt spoke.

"Hmph. Good. Go ahead Sasha." John spoke in quite the nasty tone. Sasha scowled at him again.

"Fine." She said as she closed her eyes and wiggled on the seat.

"Sasha, I want you to close your eyes and listen to my voice..." Matt began. John snorted as Matt spoke.

"John, shut up!" Sasha snapped. "He can't do it with you being like that."

"Yeah, fine, fine." He said.

"John, would you mind showing me around the house? I don't think Sasha will be able to relax with us waiting like this." You reasoned, a feeling of triumph washing over you as you watched John's face contort with annoyance.

"That's a good idea." Sasha said as she looked at him.

"H-hmph. Alright, fine. Follow me." He said as he stood up heavily and began to walk out without waiting. You gave Matt a nod in passing, and he grinned back at you in response.

John hurriedly showed you around his house, and you tried to stall him as long as you could by taking in every detail. Lastly, he showed you the backyard. He didn't say a word as you looked around with a smile. You managed to stall him for at least five minutes and knew you needed to keep him a little longer.

"John, one more thing..." You said to him as he turned to the door.

"What?" He asked bluntly.

"I wanted to give you this." You fished in your pocket and took out a USB. You held it towards him and waited for him to walk up and take it.

"...Is this it? Why are you giving me it?" He asked you suspiciously.

"I don't want to hold this against you. Let this be the start to our new friendship." You offered with a grin.

"Yeah bullshit, you have a copy at home." He said. It was true.

"It's possible, but you'll just have to trust me." You said.

"Whatever." He turned around and headed back inside. You followed him quickly and spoke the slightest bit too loud as you stepped inside the door.

"Thanks for showing me around John." You said.

You both walked into the loungeroom and saw that Matt had finished with the hypnosis. Your wife and Sasha were talking together politely. John looked back at you with an odd expression, then back at his wife.

"Let's eat, I'm hungry." He said.

The five of you ate and maintained a polite conversation, however John scoffed his food down quickly to hurry the group up. The meals were quickly finished, and before you knew it, John and Sasha were seeing you off.

You wanted to test whether it worked or not, so as you said farewell, you looked to Sasha and spoke casually.

"Hey Sasha, I just remembered... I just wanted to ask you something." You said.

You saw her blink as you said the phrase, and her bland gaze turned towards you. Thankfully John hadn't noticed.