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“Do what?” she replied, absently looking around us.
“Don’t pretend to be happy to see me when I fucked up. And get that fake fucking smile off your face. Your real smile is much better.”
She stared at me with daggers in her eyes, and I smirked. “I knew you were pissed.”
She turned away from me, and I began to panic. Only she elicited that feeling from me.
r /> “I’ve thought about you every day.” This time I was looking around for the pussy who said that. When I realized the pussy was me, I cleared my throat.
Her eyes burned with anger when she looked back at me. “How convenient for you to admit as much now,” she hissed as she leaned down toward the silent auction tables in front of us, pretending to inspect the items for bid, picking up the pen to make and offer here and there.
I cleared my throat again. “Actually, this is very inconvenient, my partners are here. Can I see you after this?”
She scoffed as she leaned in again, penning another offer.
“Nina, you won’t make friends by throwing your money away.”
“I’m trying, Devin, okay.” She looked around, keeping her voice low. “I’ve done everything I can think of. I’ve joined their fucking clubs, given my money, offered a free hand. I don’t know what else to do.” She was out of her element and completely unsure of herself. I hated it.
“Come,” I said, taking her politely by the arm. I brought her over to another client, knowing in the back of my mind it was a bad idea. Everyone knew my wife.
“Nina Scott, this is Victoria Stoddard. She is the chair of the Admiral’s Club. I don’t believe you told me you’ve met. Nina owns Scott Solutions.” Victoria looked at me assumingly, and I handed her more ammo. “Nina is with my firm. Please excuse me, ladies. I have to make a call.” I walked away quickly before Victoria could ask about my wife’s whereabouts. I considered leaving, but when I looked back from the bar, Victoria had already left her side. She probably smelled the fear on Nina, who was searching the crowd for me. When her eyes landed on mine, I saw the relief. I ordered a drink, and when I looked up, she was gone. The lights flashed, signaling the auction was beginning. I went inside, seeing her red dress to the right of me. I didn’t brave a glance. I was painfully aware of how far she was from me. I was playing a dangerous game. I didn’t give a fuck, though, because I wanted her.
“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, our first item…” I wasn’t paying attention as paddles flew up around me, the bidding getting more intense as the items dwindled down. I studied Nina, watching the emotion cross her face as she studied the goings-on. She wanted in so badly, she just wasn’t sure how to do it. Most of my life, I’d been wealthy. I never had to fight for a seat at the table. I didn’t know what it was like to feel like an outcast. Staring at her now, I knew it was painful.
Looking at her, I knew she didn’t belong.
She found me in the sea of faces, and I saw the resolve cross her face and knew that she would be bidding on the next item and that she would win.
“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, next we have an eighteenth-century rubbing board. This particular piece of history…” I looked down at the auction menu and cringed.
Oh, fuck.
I saw her paddle go up at the bid for ten-thousand and heard the snickers around her. She looked around at the faces of the people openly musing at her, and I saw her lips press into a firm line. She had something to prove and had no intention of backing down. I was thankful when Mark Thompson lifted his paddle at twenty thousand, but knew Nina had no intention of losing. The bidding went up to a surprising twenty-five thousand, and I had no choice.
“Twenty-six thousand to the man in the black tux.” A collective sea of black tuxedos laughed with the crowd, except for one woman who was openly glaring at me. I shook my head in a firm no, pleading with her not to bid further, but of course she did, making the useless, ancient artifact worth a false thirty-five thousand. I lowered my paddle at forty grand, giving up. Nina looked back at me with a smug smile as the gavel was smacked. I closed my eyes, my head shaking back and forth, and ran my hands through my hair.
“The lady really wanted that rubbing board, folks.” The crowd burst into laughter as Nina lowered her head at the attention.
I was suddenly angry with her, with her inexperience, and her inability to read a situation. I fucking hated the crowd laughing at her and wanted to go and yell at her for the embarrassment she’d just brought upon herself. When the auction was over, I joined her and pulled my checkbook from my pocket.
“Let me get this,” I said quietly as she looked up at me with a smile.
“I own it. I bid on it. I won.”
“Nina, please, just let me get this,” I said more sternly.
“I’ve got it, Devin. Surely you know I can afford it.” It took all the strength I had not to scream at her in line.
“Nina, I—”
“Forty thousand dollars won’t make up for it, Devin. You can’t buy yourself back into my good graces.” She leaned in further. “Or back into your bed.”
She took another step forward as the line moved, and the auctioneer smiled broadly. “Oh yes, the rubbing board.”
I leaned in and whispered so only she could hear, “Congrats, you are now the proud owner of the world’s oldest dildo.”
She froze and stilled her pen, her smile falling from her face. She looked up at me in question as I walked off and out into the parking lot. She deserved to be made to scrape the shit she’d stepped into off of her own foot. I couldn’t keep holding her hand. But damn it, I wanted to. I wanted to help her, but at the same time, I wanted to keep her separate from this world.
