Read Online Yours Truly by Kirsty Greenwood - Free Book Online

the problem. I can’t be anything but honest. I’ve been… ” I can already tell how weird this is going to sound . “ … I've been hypnotised. Somebody has cast a spell over me. Taken over my mind. I’m sorry, I am trying get it sorted out and then I’ll be back to normal. I promise! ”
    Out in the shop I can hear Meg’s voice demanding to see me, and Marie snapping at her to wait.
    Stone bites his fist and shakes his head sadly.
    “ It’s always the quiet ones. It always gets to them. ”
    “ What does? ”
    “ The lure of hard drugs. ”
    Suddenly he envelops me in a hug. What is it with this morning? We’ve never spoken and now there is physical contact?
    I pull back and try once again to explain that I’m not on drugs, but Stone is having none of it. I’m between a rock and a hard place. Try to get the owner of my workplace to believe that I am under some kind of creepy mind control, or let him think I’m a drug addict. Either one could get me fired. And I need this job… I have to make an executive decision. Stone is clearly far more sympathetic to the idea that I've been using drugs. And so...
    “ Yes, ” I event ually say. “ It’s so hard. This… squalid life of drugs. Please don’t sack me. I’ll get help! ”
    It seems to work because Stone pats me kindly on the shoulder, and with tears in his eyes, tells me to take some time off. Go to rehab, whatever, he’ll pay. My job will be waiting for me.
    Wow. What a nice guy.
    He’s right. Not about the drugs thing obviously, but about the time off. I simply cannot be in work while this is happening. Better to take a little time off than get fired altogether.
    “ Thank you, ” I say. “ Thank you so much. ”
    Stone clamps his mouth shut, does a kind thumbs up and lumbers back off into the shop.
     
     
    After whipping my apron off I run out from behind the counter (avoiding all eye contact with Marie, who I’m sure I can hear growling) grab hold of Meg’s hand and drag her out into the bustle of Piccadilly. Without a word I quickly march us over towards the oak benches by the fountains and try my best to explain to her what I think is going on.
    I tell her everything that has happened since this morning, and apart from a few gasps and ill-concealed giggles , Meg has listened with an unlikely calmness.
    When I’m finished she takes hold of my hand, looks searc hingly into my eyes and says:
    “ Are you still pissed? ”
    “ No! ” I yell, frustrated. “ Please believe me. No one bloody believes me. ” I cross my arms and resist the urge to stamp my foot.
    “ Calm down, ” Meg says sternly, surprised by my yelling, which we both know is completely out of character for me. “ Let me get this straight. You think that last night when Brian tried to hypnotise me, he ended up hypnotising you instead? ”
    “ Yes! ”
    “ And that as a result of that hypnosis you have no control over what you say. That you can’t help but speak the truth, and only the truth, even if it’s subconscious? ”
    “ Yes! It just blurts on out. It’s terrible. Awful! ”
    “ But... Brian was a complete fake. Everybody in the pub saw that. He didn't manage to hypnotise me, so how would he have hypnotised you. Without even trying! ”
    I shrug. “ I’m not sure he was a fake. I don't know. Maybe I’m extra persuadable. I have a weak mind. Plus, I found this card in my bag. ” I hand over The Amazing Brian business card. “ I don’t even know where it came from. ”
    Meg examines the card, frowning, before glancing suspiciously from side to side as if trying to find a hidden camera or a psychiatrist or something.
    “ Okay. ” I huff. “ I’ll prove it to you. I'll prove that this really is happening to me. I know. I’ll try to tell you a lie, but I won’t be able to. I’ll tell you a lie about something easy… I don’t know, my age. ”
    Meg obliges me and waits patiently.
    I take a deep breath and prepare to tell the lie. “ Okay. Here goes…