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My greeter exhaled dramatically and turned on his heel. Dante and I followed him through the throng of tourists snapping photos in front of the theater. We hurried past the marble statues in the gold foyer where other limo drivers gathered to wait, then passed the stained-glass ceiling and the signs that read, EVENTO PRIVADO. We pushed through the carved gilded doors into a darkened theater.
Teatro Colón was a mesmerizing spectacle of intricate bal
conies surrounding long sweeping arcs of plush red velvet seats. A dozen front rows were filled with restless bidders who’d been waiting for us. Thankfully, we weren’t the last to arrive. Just before taking my seat, a tall blonde in a tailored blue business suit scrambled down the stairs, taking the last seat at the remote agents’ table in front of a bank of telephones. Matilda had told me there’d be some buyers calling in from around the world, the phones manned by their local bankers.
Be cool, Dauphine. You’re just here to sign some papers. I nervously patted my chignon, relieved I’d chosen kitten heels with the snug dress. My designated seat on the aisle of the last row was the best vantage point from which to watch the bidding before me. I leaned back to take in the sepia-stained frescos that circled a chandelier as big as the sun.
I eyed the buyers, mostly women. Money from the sale of the painting would fund S.E.C.R.E.T.’s rather unorthodox pursuits, as Matilda had explained. She didn’t want it coming from people or groups that might pry too far into S.E.C.R.E.T.’s true mandate, or whose values didn’t dovetail with our own.
Dante stood vigil to my right, like a handsome guard dog.
“It’s … lindísima,” I said, regarding the venue.
“Yes. It’s spectacular,” he whispered, leaning towards me. “It’s been completely restored over the last few years. That dress is spectacular too, by the way.”
So he spoke English! And with an American accent—no—a Southern accent! That was the final alarm bell.
“Who are you? Where are you from?”
A sweet smile crossed his lips just as a hammer hit a gavel and a curtain rose on Red Rage, gorgeously lit and perched on a matte black stand, its modernist style in stark contrast to the lush concert hall. Oohs and ahhs filled the room, and vigorous applause seemed to be Dante’s cue to take a seat high in the empty part of the theater behind me.
The auctioneer took the stage and greeted the guests. After a brief preamble about the painting’s history, he called on the room to acknowledge a representative sent to authenticate the transfer of ownership.
“Please welcome Señorita Mason, who accompanied Red Rage all the way from New Orleans on behalf of its anonymous owner.”
I felt the blood drain out of my face. Without standing, I floated a hand in the air and quickly dropped it back down, sinking with it.
“We wish you great luck today, Señorita Mason. The auction will be in English. Headphones have been provided for translation. Let us begin.”
Whack. Bidding opened at 2.3 million dollars American. Matilda hoped to double that. The auctioneer began navigating a forest of arms from both sides of the aisle. He was responding so quickly, he looked like he was doing a breaststroke. Anonymous telephone bids were also flooding in, and the blonde who had arrived later than me sat at the end of a bank of phones, her leg bouncing nervously.
“Do I hear two point four million? Two point four? Now two point six it is. That’s two point six from the back. Three million over here. I hear three million up front …”
My head whipped back and forth to keep up with the fast climb.
“We have four million, four point two, we have four point two. Four point eight and now five, ladies and gentleman …”
At that price, a few of the bidders’ representatives hung up their phones. By six million, half the room had stilled as I sat upright, literally on the edge of my seat. At seven million, most everyone else in the theater dropped out. But two remained: a stout woman in thick glasses competing against a particularly enthusiastic phone bidder, represented by the blonde, whose arm remained in the air, her finger registering “yes” to every uptick in the price.
“Now at eight point five … eight point five, and we have nine. That is nine million over here on the phone! Nine million two …”
Holy hell! It’s going to ten million. That’ll finance a lot of fantasies. I craned my neck to look for my driver, who was no longer shadowing me. Maybe he had joined the other drivers in the lobby.
“Ten million dollars, we are at ten. Ten point four, that is ten million, four hundred thousand …”
Left, right, right, left, the two remaining bidders each spurned the other on, the blonde on the phone never losing her cool, the woman in glasses becoming increasingly agitated. My heart played along, spiking with every raised hand. This was way more exciting than sports!
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are at eleven million and one hundred thousand dollars. Do I hear eleven two? We have … eleven two,” said the auctioneer, pointing his hammer at the bespectacled woman whose arm was becoming heavier and heavier. The blonde’s remained steadily aloft.
“Eleven three? Yes, we have eleven three on the phone. Will we get eleven four?”
The pause weighed on the room. All heads now turned to face the woman in the thick black glasses. Maybe because she wasn’t some disembodied voice on the phone, I suddenly wanted her to win. But alas, the blonde’s arm spiked calmly at the last price.
“We have eleven point four from anonymous bidder number eight up front … eleven point four … do we have eleven five?”
The woman in the glasses lifted a tentative hand.
“We have eleven five—”
