Page 2 of Sold to the Highest Bidder
"Oh…" Candice whispered, swirling her teacup thoughtfully. "Then…technically, it's not illegal. As long as they both give their consent, I don't see anything wrong with it." She ended, shrugging.
"I can't believe you said that right now. Emily's my little niece! I carried her in my arms when she was born."
"And now, she's old enough to make her own decisions."
"She's nineteen, nineteen!"
"If I knew about that app or whatever in my day, I might have sold mine. Maybe I'd own a few houses and cars right now."
"I obviously can't talk to you, right now," Annie blurted, picking up her large brown tote bag and hurrying towards the door.
"Annie, wait. I'm sorry! I am only telling you the truth." Candice called after her, picking up her bag and leaving too.
Apart from the sounds of Michael – the owner of the bakery and head baker working in the kitchen, the bakery was mostly quiet. Nazalie watched the ticking clock and pondered the information she had heard. It baffled her that such a site even existed. It actually made sense, she suddenly realized. It's not like it's a crime or anything, as long as both parties are of legal age, like Candice said. The idea of people selling their virginity might seem repulsive, but there was nothing wrong with it. It was the social stigma that made most people rethink it.
Nazalie frowned as she shook her head. She could never sell her virginity. Most people found it hard to believe that twenty-five-year-old virgins existed, but they did. Not like it was a competition or anything, but Nazalie couldn't pinpoint why she hadn't lost it yet. Between schoolwork and taking several jobs to work off her student loan, Nazalie never had the time for love. Dating back to her high school years, she had always promised herself that she would give it to someone special. Katherine always teased her about being a sucker for romance, but she didn't give a hoot. She couldn’t imagine giving it away to a random stranger. The idea scared and kind of fascinated her at the same time.
Nazalie shook her head and watched the women cross the street. They seemed to still be in a heated argument. Annie was rightfully appalled, but as long as the girl was happy and she had no issues with what she did, who cares?
At that point, a customer walked in and placed an order. The bakery seemed to be picking up; that made her happy. It was going to be hers soon anyway. Nazalie smiled politely at the customers and laughed with the regulars. The idea of a woman selling her virginity still lingered at the back of her mind. It was such a ridiculous notion that in this day and age, people sold their virginity and that there was an app specifically made for this purpose was totally bonkers.
Still, the idea made Nazalie wonder from time to time.
What would it be like to even consider such a thing? Won't one feel like one was being sold to the highest bidder?
"Nazalie?"
Michael's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. He was standing at the entrance of the kitchen, holding a plate of freshly-baked chocolate croissants, and they smelt amazing. The whole kitchen smelt amazing. It still lingered in the air as he closed the kitchen door.
"Thank you," he mumbled, smiling as she took them from him and placed them in the display counter. His smile always appeared to make him look younger. Michael was a blonde-haired, sixty-one-year-old man who loved to bake. His bakery was one of the most popular in town. Nazalie was employed to work at the cashier stand when she was twenty-two years old. She took charge of all the money related problems. Nazalie was shocked to hear that Michael was going to sell the shop so that he could retire. Only then did she notice how old he was. He had always been a jovial and energetic man. It was easy to forget his age most times. After he told her that he was retiring, she started to notice that he was indeed getting old. His hair had more grey strands than blonde. He walked much slower these days. Even though he was still a pretty energetic man, those that knew him could tell that Michael’s physical health was declining.
"Have there been any recent offers?" Nazalie asked, putting a stool in front of him so that he could sit. He needed to rest more often these days.
"A man came on Monday after you left to see your mum. He was asking a lot of questions. I think he was looking to buy."
"Oh… are you going to sell it to him?"
"If he comes up with the money, yes."
"What about me, Michael?"
"As soon as you come up with the money, I'll sell it to you. Now if you would excuse me, I have some cupcakes to bake."
With that, he went back into the kitchen, disappearing behind the kitchen door. Nazalie felt her shoulders sag; she needed to come up with the money soon.
???
Joshua
Joshua caught himself running his hands through his hair in frustration several times during the day. It was twelve-thirty, and he was already tired. He ran a successful advertising company, which meant they got a lot of clients every day. Today, in particular, was a bit too crowded. Joshua didn't have a single minute of peace and quiet to himself since he resumed work. The cool breeze from the air conditioning suddenly seemed stifling. He brought his hand up to loosen his tie and put it back down. It was still work hours; it would be highly unethical to speak to his clients and staff with a loosened tie. It would be setting a bad example.
"… that is exactly what we want."
Joshua looked up at the couple sitting in front of him. The Georges. They ran one of the many successful maple syrup companies. He had done their previous advert a year ago; they had come to change it. He hadn't been listening to them.
He tried not to show his weariness as he nodded thoughtfully, hearing but not listening. Joshua looked around him to see that some of the others took notes. Good. He would ask for them later.
Joshua wasn't thinking about anything in particular; he wasn't concentrating on the meeting. He needed to get his shit together before his subordinates noticed that he wasn't on his A-game today. Luckily for him, they always dropped a document summarizing what they wanted him to do. It would have been easy to collect the minutes from one of the others, but this was more convenient. Smiling, he shook their hands and received the file from them. Old fashioned, they preferred hard copy. Unlike his other clients, they didn't use emails.
