💡🐇 Naughty Thoughts

꩜⚢⚤✓Girls' Poker Night Revenge Club

Jess's friends are looking out for her. They have to, because she always seems so cheerful and is completely oblivious to any signs that her husband, Matt, might be cheating on her. Alanis tells Jess that she's seen Matt with another woman, and Jess just laughs it off. She doesn't believe them.

They all think it's adorable that Jess is so naïve, but they think someone needs to get the evidence for her because they don't want somebody so sweet to be taken advantage of. But even when they get near unarguable proof of her husband's infidelity, she brushes it off by making excuses for him. Maybe it's just somebody who looks like him, she says. Or guys can't control themselves around a pretty woman, and it's not fair to blame him. It's hard to believe, and some of the other girls are really worrying about this. Especially Monique, who has never been able to admit that she has a crush on Jess (but will say that they need to get Matt out of her life because she deserves better), and Lucie, who would have tried to seduce Matt a long time ago if she didn't care so much about her friend's feelings (and when she tried hitting on him to get proof he said he wasn't interested; which just makes her mad).

Things come to a head when they're at Jess's house for their monthly girl poker night (which often includes more drinking and gossip than actual poker). She doesn't want to believe her husband is a liar. But when she's out of the room they find something almost hidden by the side of the sofa: a book called "Hypnotize Your Wife for Marital Harmony!!". They realise that Matt must have been using this, and that's why his wife will trust him no matter what he does. Mia, who didn't even know about the problems until tonight, tries to confront Jess and tell her about the book, but she brushes her off and won't even listen. So Alanis, Monique, Lucie, and Mia form the "Girls' Poker Night Revenge Club" to try and find more evidence, so they can force Matt to change his ways or somehow get Jess free of his control.

One of the early clues they find is an 'advanced distance learning course' folder he keeps in the car, which has the same logo and author as that book but doesn't have the title anywhere obvious. There's a note on it that says it's the advanced version of the book, and requires you to study the initial book first. Now the girls all know Matt is a bit lazy, and would much rather listen to an audiobook on the way to work rather than spend time reading, but they don't think he would ever have paid the $249.99 pricetag on the cover unless this really worked. They're convinced now that he's some kind of evil manipulator who has unlimited control over his wife. They try challenging him, but he tells them the CDs are for a business skills course, that he thinks will help him get into management at his company.

They steal the CDs, and attempt to figure out if there's anything on there that will help them, like a way to break his control, or just the weaknesses of whatever techniques he's using. Unfortunately, the text is so advanced that Mia can barely understand it, and she thinks it will take a lot of effort to learn enough to make sense out of the instructions. But that's effort they are willing to put in, if it helps their friend.

They do check the website for this book, and find that it is in fact available with alternate dust jackets (and box inserts for the CD sets) proclaiming it to be some kind of next-generation management training programme "in order to avoid suspicion from your loved ones"; but there's very little information about what the nine different books in the series are for, beyond the very simple description of the first one.

At the next poker night, Jess is the one to broach the subject, much to their surprise. She's found out that her husband's audiobook has been stolen from his car, possibly by one of his coworkers, and how annoyed Jess is that she's going to have to buy him another copy. When they try to dissuade her, saying that he doesn't deserve her help with stuff like that, she laughs and says that he would never work to improve himself if she didn't keep pushing him. Their large house and fashionable furniture are all because of her work, and she thinks that she can improve him so they can have more money. And he's so attentive to her needs that she thinks they'll have a great life.

The revenge club doesn't say anything, although Mia starts to feel bad; she says they should return the recordings because it's not fair to add extra stress for Jess. It's clear that they're not stopping him, they're only making it harder on her. But the others talk her out of it, and they carry on with trying to keep tabs on Matt and a surprising number of women (5 that they know of; all successful and popular in some way, but a little weird).

The following month, they think it's not worth hiding their investigation anymore. They tell Jess about the revenge club, and that Mia is sure she has understood the 'advanced' lessons well enough that she could break Matt's control if she can just look at the book. Then Jess tells them the truth. She bought the book to start with, and Matt has never known what it is. She's mastered the techniques in the book, and finds it just as effective for controlling her husband. She's been using the same tricks a little when the friends challenged her; which is why they always accepted her excuses after confronting her, only to realise much later that it doesn't make sense. But she never did anything too direct with them, like conversational hypnosis, because she doesn't want to upset her friends.

She asks who's been listening to the brainwashing CD, but they won't answer, so she proves her point by saying a trigger phrase. "Listen to me dear. It's too warm in here, you should take your clothes off." and Mia starts to strip; not understanding why her friends are so confused by this.

Jess has always been in control. Matt is a sensitive, caring, and hard-working guy but he has no ambition and is a bit of a doormat. And he's really good in bed, but has way too much sex drive for her. So she hit on the idea of hypnotising him and renting him out to other women; rich and successful women whose careers don't leave them enough flexibility to compromise in a relationship, or whose reputation would be harmed by any instability in their home lives. Being able to pay for a guy and get exactly the level of attention they want is great for these people.

Matt doesn't know what's going on. He gets urges he can't control, and although he enjoys himself he does feel a little guilty. Jess has said she doesn't mind, and he learned not to feel guilty, but sometimes he still feels bad so she makes him forget. Thats why sometimes he would be evasive when they challenged him, and sometimes claimed to know nothing at all.

Eventually they realise that this odd situation seems to be working out; and they've been benefiting as well from Jess's increased wealth when she hosts their little gatherings. So they agree to stop making waves. Maybe with a few little changes to the scheme.

Jess is happy to lend her husband to Lucie occasionally, when she's too tired to give him enough attention. Monique starts looking into the details a little more closely, just making sure that everything is really as ethical as Jess claims, and maybe she eventually admits her feelings. Mia reveals that the reason she refused to hand over the CDs to somebody else to try was because on some subconscious level (she didn't consciously realise she was being hypnotised) she enjoyed the feelings of helplessness; and she's happy for her friends to put her up for sale as well because the idea of being helpless turns her on. Maybe Monique ends up being her first client, just to get a better understanding of what it's really like. And Alanis is happy because she now has access to all the video clips of Matt's dates (used to make sure the clients stick to the rules); and she can teach herself video production skills and maybe that will lead to yet another stream of income...