The bit of food I ate at Jun’s boutique spins in my belly. Acid floods my mouth. Don’t throw up! That would definitely get me all kinds of attention, staring and judgment.
“Fifty!” Georgette says, her nose in the air, an ugly sneer on her lips.
The MC repeats the amount with a breathless excitement I can’t decide is faked or not, while the crowd starts to buzz. The redhead in front of me leans back in her chair, clearly done with the bidding.
Georgette laughs like a villain twirling his mustache and whips out her phone.
“Do we have fifty and five?” the MC asks.
My phone alerts me to an email. I glance at it, needing something—anything—to make me forget I’m being examined like an acne pimple when I’m supposed to be blending in like industrial carpet.
This is us tonight.
A picture pops up, and I almost yelp and drop my phone. It’s Georgette, naked, and the position of her legs leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. She definitely did the prep work that Jun recommended for me, and she’s pouring white syrup all over her face and a hairless travesty nobody should have to un-see.
I’m definitely going to get sick.
A text pops up. Nate. Don’t lose or embarrass me. Bid big!
So much palpable desperation and will in that single text.
I lift my head. The MC is ready to close the bidding. “Going once. Going twice—”
I take another nanosecond glance at the picture Georgette sent. I can’t let Nate costar in that show. And I really don’t want to have a bidding war with Georgette either and drag this out. That woman’s unhinged, and I hate the way the people are all looking at me.
Screw it. “Five hundred thousand dollars!” I yell out.
A stunned silence falls for a moment. I squeeze my eyes shut to block out everyone’s shocked gaze, because I just can’t deal right now.
Georgette is the first to recover. “You don’t have that kind of money!” she screams.
The MC fans herself. “Half a million dollars! Oh my goodness. Going once…”
Georgette points at me. “She’s an assistant! She doesn’t have that kind of money! It’s illegal for her to bid when she can’t pay!”
The MC looks at Georgette coolly. “If she doesn’t pay, then you win by default.”
“Make her show you her bank account now!” Georgette screams, spittle flying.
Nate leans over so he can speak into the MC’s mic. “Let’s not be crude. This isn’t that sort of event.” His tone is jovial enough, but I can sense the barest hint of steel underneath.
“No! I refuse! She has no business being here! She’s just a working girl!”
God, I hate her so much that I want to rip her fake lashes off and stab her eyeballs with them. Not because she’s being true to her condescending self, but because she’s putting a spotlight on me, and people are staring. My skin crawls, and I swear if she doesn’t stop, I’m going to run up there and puke on her!
Elizabeth’s assistant appears and taps Georgette’s shoulder, murmuring something. She turns around, then screams, “You can’t shut me up! I have the right to speak my mind—”
He hoists her over his shoulder like a sack of flour and carries her out of the ballroom. He looks bored, while she screams a single high note the entire time. It’s amazing that her vocal cords don’t snap.
“Well.” The MC smiles. “Now that the interruption’s over… Going twice…”
The floor stays quiet.
“… Sold!”
The MC raises her free arm with a flourish. Nate beams. Everyone else in the room is clapping, but they’re also staring at me.
Every drop of saliva in my mouth dries. Somehow I’m getting the feeling that maybe I shouldn’t have bid so high, even if it is Nate’s money.