Chapter 10: For Good Cause

Occasionally she’d send her this pitiful glances that seemed to say, “What are these losers doing here?” but the looks she was sending for her seemed to be on a personal level. One of the girls who had already become her friend, Jenny, pulled her aside. “Do you know Everly?” she asked her in a whisper. She shook her head, waiting for her to continue to talk. “She’s your husband’s ex-girlfriend. Actually, we all thought they’d get married. No wonder she’s sending you all these hateful glares, you stole her, man!” Jenny exclaimed dramatically with a slight glimmer in her eyes. She looked over at her and weighed her over. If worse came to worst, she thinks she could take her. She’d probably beat her to a pulp, she guesses. She smiled slightly at that thought. “You should be careful, though, she’s kinda a psycho,” Jenny whispered in a smaller voice. “Ladies, get ready, you’re about to go on stage.” They returned to the other girls, fixing each other’s hair and psyching themselves up. Her phone vibrated a bit, and she quickly got it out and checked. A message from Seth: “Where are you?” his message. “Hang on to your pants, you’re about to find out.” She quickly sent it then she heard the Emcee’s voice booming. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, for the last part of this auction, we bring you a surprise ...come on, ladies!” that was the cue to go on stage. Now that she was thinking about this, she saw such a thing happen in movies and books. Who knew it would ever happen to her? She smiled nervously and followed behind. “Presenting, these beautiful ladies are offering dance and date to the highest bidder, all for the dear orphans in the streets and orphanages. A round of applause, people!”  A short round of applause followed. She could feel the crowd’s excitement, and she was beginning to get a little scared. What if no one bid on her? For one, she couldn’t see Seth anywhere; at least she was sure he’d spare a couple of hundred for his wife. She could hear the Emcee talking in the distance, and the crowd’s excitement was also getting loud, but she just wasn’t there physically. When she finally returned to her senses, they’d gotten to the lady before her, Seth’s ex, Everly. “Let’s give a round of applause for the beautiful Everly Flint. Looking as beautiful as ever gracing our stage.” He paused, giving the crowd a minute to appreciate her beauty, then continued, “Let’s start the bidding at-” “75,000 dollars!” a guy in a gorgeous Milan suit shouted, cutting him off. From the surprised murmur that rose from the crowd, she knew that it was among the highest, if not the highest. “Okay!! Let’s start the bidding at 75,000 dollars, anyone to top Mr. Yang bid-“ “85,000 dollars!” someone else shouted from behind somewhere. Why did they have before her? Damn! She glanced at her discreetly and so her victorious smile as she threw her a glance that said, try and beat that bitch. “120,000 dollars!” the Milan guy shouted again. There was a prolonged silence with excited murmurs. “120,000 dollars!!! Going once…….twice…gone!!!” The Emcee declared. There was a loud round of applause that followed after and music to go with it. He escorted Everly to her date for the night, giving the crowd some time to settle down.  Just as the Emcee went back to the stage, Evonne caught Seth’s gaze way back in the crowd, some lady whispering in his ear as she occasionally threw a glance at Evonne's way. Hopefully, she was filling him in on what was going on and not flirting with him. As she continued surveying, she spotted Mary and Peter comfortably sipping on some wine. She presumed, on some table right in the middle. She waved at her lightly and flashed a smile. She smiled back nervously, then returned her gaze to the Emcee.  He sauntered back to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, the beautiful Evonne Largent-” “It’s Mrs. Cohen now, actually,” she whispered in his ear, trying to avoid looking at Seth. “Pardon my horrible manners,” he rushed out quickly into the mic, eyeing her ring. “I’m told she’s now Mrs. Evonne Cohen, which only makes her more alluring, don’t you think, men?” there were a couple of wolf whistles that followed and laughter. “Shall we then begin at 20,000 dollars, no, 40,000 dollars?” “50,000 dollars!” Her heart skipped a beat. This was getting more and more exciting. “75,000 dollars,” someone shouted. Her heart rate was rapidly increasing. “75,000 from Mr. Maxwell!” The Emcee hollered into his mic. “100,000!” an elderly voice shouted, and she traced it to Peter. She smiled gratefully at him. “150,000!” a familiar voice shouted as she looked around. She noticed Jayson smiling at her. He tipped his glass towards her, and she couldn’t help the color that got to her cheeks. This was so intense. “Wooo!! Things are getting hotter here, don’t you agree?” the Emcee said, fanning his face dramatically. “150,000 from Mr. Jayson!” “450,000 dollars.” Seth’s voice rang clearly through the hall. There was a moment of silence as it sank in. Even her mouth was wide open with shock. Holy shit!!! The Emcee cleared his throat, and she quickly snapped her mouth shut. “The husband has swooped in to take back what’s his!!! $450,000, would anyone bid higher? Going once!” dramatic pause, “Twice!” another dramatic pause. “Ding ding! ding!” music blasted through the hall as he led her to Seth, who’d magically appeared right before the stage. He reached up and hoisted her right down as color flooded her cheeks from the screams and whistles that erupted from the crowd. He gently placed her right in front of him and took Evonne’s hand, and led her to the table where Peter was at. Today, there was no word she could utter because her heart was running wild in her chest. If she weren’t careful, this man would be the cause of her death, no lie, but she had to admit, it would be a pretty sappy way to die. She looked across the table and saw Mary giving her a mischievous smile and a wink. She blushed softly and looked away, and returned back to the stage. “Didn’t you see anything you liked?” Seth suddenly whispered awfully close to her, his breath fanning her face, and she could swear she felt his lips on her ears, but that could just be her being hypersensitive. “The owner of this ball cornered me before I could get a look at any of the items on display.” “Sandy?” he asked. She nodded quickly, twisting her hands on her thighs. “I never knew you were this shy, though. It turns me on.”