The Spa
Chapter 10.
“We have five hundred, do I hear six?” Ms. Hutchinson declared, in a commanding voice that didn’t seem to fit her petite frame. She waved her hand towards Mr. Devereaux, who had made the opening bid and who was now resting his hand on his maid.
A paddle went up in the back of the room. “Six, do I have seven?”
Mr. Devereaux turned to see who he was bidding against, finding it was an elderly gentleman, one he’d seen at these auctions before. Calm and confident, he raised his paddle.
“Seven, now eight.” The elderly man hesitated, clearly unsure how high he felt comfortable going, but still raised his paddle again.
“Eight hundred.” She glanced down at Mr. Devereaux, who didn’t so much as bat an eye as he cast another bid. “Nine hundred.”
Shaking his head, the elderly man dropped out. “Nine hundred, going once, going twice...sold to bidder number one!”
As the crowd applauded, Sofia turned to her employer with a grin. “Thank you!” she effused.
“Your reward for all your hard work and devotion to our family, Sofia—your own personal maid for the weekend. Now, let’s go finalize everything. I’ll have you ride back with the delivery driver, and you can start using your new maid as soon as it’s delivered. Sound good?”
“Yes, yes!” The server with the sandy-blonde hair was waiting to direct them back to the waiting area; as they walked, Sofia asked, “Are you sure Ms. Lucille won’t be upset if she finds out?”
“Trust me,” Mr. Devereaux chuckled. “You know what they say: ‘out of sight, out of mind’. And I can say with certainty that she’s completely relaxed this whole weekend. Nothing to worry about!”
Sandy led them to a room with two comfortable couches. “Please, have a seat.” She motioned to the large window on the far wall. “You can watch your purchase as they pack it up, if you like. Then we’ll have it delivered right to your door.” Her tone was monotone, yet professional.
Mr. Devereaux smiled, but didn’t take the seat offered. “Sofia is going to ride with the driver, if that’s okay. I’m going back; there are other items I’d like to bid on. I’ll settle up when the auction’s over.”
“Of course, sir,” Sandy replied, before addressing Sofia: “I’ll let them know you’ll be accompanying the driver. Someone will be in with some complimentary beverages while you watch and wait.”
“Thank you,” Sofia responded as she watched her boss walk away. “This is...so wonderful, really.” Standing at the window, she watched as two warehouse workers carefully packed L34 into a foam-filled shipping container. There were a number of visible air holes in the lid as the workers closed the container, a detail which escaped the excited housekeeper. “My very own maid! Oh if Ms. Lucille were here she would...oh enough about her, this is for me!”
Meanwhile, as Mr. Devereaux returned to the auction, the last maid unit had been purchased and was being rolled away. He took his seat as Raven approached with a fresh drink, a slight smile across her otherwise flaccid face. As he sipped his martini, his attention returned to the stage, where Ms. Hutchinson was preparing to start the bidding on the first pleasure unit.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s now the time most of you have been waiting for... the pleasure units! First up, D36.” As the curtain opened, and a lone spotlight shone down on the case, the audience ‘oooh’ed and ‘ahhh’ed—this was clearly the unit many of them had been waiting for. Two couples, sitting on either side of Mr. Devereaux, seemed to be especially excited: to his left sat the mixed-race couple, Jeremy and Jasmine, and to his right sat the lesbian couple, Alyssa and Robyn. Both ladies sported shoulder-length black hairdos and were petite, flat-chested, and slim—quite the opposite of the look of the unit they were interested in.
“We’ll begin the bidding at one thousand dollars.” Silence followed. As Mr. Devereaux glanced back and forth, he could see the nervousness both couples were experiencing. This was clearly the first auction either couple had attended, and they were struggling as much with their excitement as they were with their fear of losing.
“One thousand,” an older-sounding, male voice from the back finally spoke. As everyone turned, they saw the man that Mr. Devereaux had been conversing with earlier at the displays.
“Do I have eleven hundred?” Mr. Devereaux calmly raised his paddle. “Eleven hundred, now twelve?”
Alyssa, the older-looking of the two lesbians, raised her paddle slowly, her hand shaking. “Twelve hundred! Do I have thirteen?” Ms. Hutchinson asked.
Jasmine elbowed her husband hard in the ribs; Jeremy let out a groan as he raised his paddle. “Thirteen hundred!” There had been four bids already by four different bidders. “Now fourteen?”
The older gentleman who had started the bidding raised his paddle again. “Fourteen, do I have fifteen?” Another elbow from Jasmine, and Jeremy bid again. “Fifteen hundred!”
Jasmine and Robyn were now making eye contact as Robyn nudged Alyssa, who raised her paddle. “Sixteen, now seventeen?” Sitting in the middle of it all, Mr. Devereaux was unable to hide his amusement—he was practically invisible to his neighbors who were oblivious to everything outside of their bidding war with each other.
Jeremy raised his paddle to seventeen; Alyssa’s bid made it eighteen, and Jeremy took it to nineteen.
“Nineteen hundred, do I have two thousand?” Mr. Devereaux grinned as he raised his paddle. “Two thousand!” Ms. Hutchinson exclaimed, the amazement evident in her voice.
Jasmine and Robyn, staring each other down, were whispering into their partner’s ears, certainly telling them not to lose under any circumstances. Mr. Devereaux glanced back at the older gentleman, who just shrugged his shoulders as he raised his paddle once more.
“We have two thousand! Do I hear twenty-one hundred?” Jeremy raised his paddle again. Alyssa followed suit, and the two continued back and forth until...
“Three thousand! This is a new record for a unit at this auction!” There was applause from everyone in the crowd, save the two couples who were each hell-bent on winning. “Do I have thirty-one hundred?”
The older gentleman shook his head, dropping out. Mr. Devereaux, for the most part, was willing to let the two couples fight it out, but he needed to bid just often enough to remind them both he was still in it, so he raised his paddle once more.
“Thirty-one hundred!” The couples started their battle anew. “Thirty-two! Thirty-three! Thirty-four!” Both Jeremy and Alyssa were visibly sweating and trembling now; it was clear neither of them had planned on spending this much, but also clear they were afraid of disappointing their beloveds.
“Thirty-five! Thirty-six!” The rest of the crowd were watching in silent amazement. “Thirty-seven! Thirty-eight! Thirty-nine! Four thousand!” The crowd was on edge, watching the flurry of bidding, which soon passed the five thousand mark!
Ms. Hutchinson’s voice had been going higher and higher with each bid—she was almost as excited as the competing bidders at this point and the cry of numbers became a plea for the bidding war to continue.
“Do I have—I can’t believe I am saying this—SIX thousand!”
The remaining bidders glanced back and forth at each other. For a few seconds, nobody acted; then, finally, a single hand raised its paddle.
“Six thousand! Going once... going twice... ”
The room was dead silent, other than her voice.
“SOLD!”