Page 6 of Cherry Auction

I guess I didn’t think about what the actual event would be like. I was a little more concerned with what comes after to really consider this part. All I can do is nod and keep my balance in the heels as I grasp the railing and climb the stairs.

Then I push through the curtain and step out onto the stage.

THREE

BROOKE

Immediately,I’m blinded by the stage lights.

Just like Moira said, they’re all pointed directly at me, and I can’t see a thing. I put my hand up to block the light, then take an uncertain step forward.

The smiling owner of the club, Caleb, suddenly appears out of the blinding halo.

Caleb leans in to whisper, “Quinn explained what’s going to happen, right? That I’m going to touch you to show you off? And ask some personal questions?”

I nod nervously. I’ve never been on a stage before. Well, that I can remember. The doctor said as I started going back out into the world, familiar things would start coming back to me, butnothing has in the two months since I woke up at the hospital. But every new experience could turn out to be one more clue.

“I need verbal consent,” Caleb whispers back.

“Yes,” I say nervously. “I consent.”

He grins and puts my arm lightly through his as he leads me forwards.

I suck in another breath as I clasp his arm. He helps steady me as we walk up to the microphone. I can only stare out at the murky room beyond the bright stage like a deer in headlights. Everything inside my chest goes tight as a guitar string. The lights are aimed towards me, so I can’t see what the men look like beyond shadowed outlines.

“Here,” Caleb says, lifting the microphone, “come stand right up here.”

I nod, feeling like a bobblehead, and go to stand where he says to.

Caleb lifts the microphone to his lips, holding out his arm towards me. “Here she is, our prize of the night. The beautiful virgin. So ripe and untouched. Do a slow little spin so our viewers can see all of you. Good, good, that’s a good girl. Now stand right there in the center and arch your back, gorgeous. Stick out those sweet little tits for our bidders.”

I do what he says, a little awkwardly at first. But I finally understand how arching my back makes my nipples point upwards. That’s funny. I wouldn’t have thought of that. Each thought feels disjointed from the previous one and the next.Everything’s happening so fast. It’s like my brain can’t keep up.

“Yes. Just like that,” Caleb says. “Now turn around and bend over. Touch the floor and give our gentlemen a peek at what they’re bidding on.”

Really feeling the lights on me now, I turn and start to bend.There’s no one out there, I try to tell myself.It’s just a dark, empty room.

“Spread your legs wider.”

Oh. I see what he means now. If I stand with my legs open, they can see my?—

I gasp a little in shock and shift my legs a little.There’s no one out there. Just a dark, empty room.

“Wider.”

I lift and really separate my legs, spreading them wider than my hips. I bite my bottom lip, feeling the coolness of the room on the warmth of my very exposed sex.

“Good girl,” Caleb says, his voice a little caressing. I inhale a little gasp at his praise. “Now touch the floor, if you can with those heels on. Let’s see how flexible you are.”

Immediately I’m obeying as if on reflex, even thoughIdon’t even know how flexible I am. I have noticed that I prefer it when people give me direction rather than asking me to make decisions. They were always asking me questions I didn’t know how to answer at the shelter. About what I wanted to do next. I felt so choked and panicked each time.But whenever anyonetoldme what to do, I immediately relaxed.

Even now, calmness settles over me as I reach down further and further until my fingertips, then my palms, rest on the floor. I feel the stretch in the back of my legs and my butt, but it’s a pleasant pull. The physical therapists had me do a lot of stretching in the hospital and I kept it up afterwards in the shelter.

Upside down, I look through my legs at the men watching me. My eyes are slowly adjusting to the darkness. I can just barely make out the shape of a few men’s faces—enough to tell that they aren’t gross old men or like Jabba the Hut in theStar Warsmovies I watched with Moira this week.

These men all have nice enough physiques, in various dark-colored suits. Like paper-doll cut-outs of each other. All their eyes are glued on me.

“Spread wider if you can, honey,” Caleb says into the microphone. “Really give them a look at your virgin pussy.”

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