Page 7 of Sold to the Highest Bidder
"I'd like a dozen Timbits with a large ice cappuccino," Katherine called, gesturing towards the attendant at the back of the counter. Nazalie hadn't even noticed when she stood up from her chair. That's also one of Katherine's unique traits; she has always been fast. Nazalie often found it hard to keep up with her when they walked together. She often had to tell her to slow down. Katherine could also be boisterous when she put her mind to it. Their table was pretty far from the counter and Nazalie could hear her pretty clearly.
"What could you possibly need a dozen tidbits for?"
"I bought some for you too. I thought you might be hungry, if you're not, I’ll take the rest home to Charles, he loves these things."
She took a sip out of the oversized cup of coffee, nonchalantly tossed a tidbit into her mouth. "So, what do you want to talk about? You only meet here when you need to talk. Now, spill. What happened?"
Nazalie sighed, tugging at the ends of her sweater. She told Katherine everything, starting from her deal with Michael to sell the bakery in a month. Then she told her about the website; about her putting up her picture on it. Nazalie paused to gauge Katherine's reaction. Katherine's face was blank, purged of all emotions. It was tough to read her sometimes. They sat in silence for a while.
"So…" Nazalie murmured, trailing off.
"So, you're saying you put your picture on the website so that you can buy the bakery. Are you absolutely sure about this? Is this the right thing to do?"
Nazalie nodded, looking into her almost empty mug. "I'm starting to have second thoughts. I don't feel like I did the right thing. It feels dirty."
"Nazalie, people sell their bodies all the time. It's one of the oldest jobs out there. And you're doing it for a noble cause. I know how long you've wanted the bakery; it won't be right to let it slip out of your hands like this. Don't let popular social constructs cloud your judgment. It's your body, it shouldn't matter to anyone what you do with it. As long as you're both consenting adults, there shouldn't be a problem."
"Still, it feels wrong. I've always wanted to share it with someone special."
Katherine squeezed Nazalie's hand, smiling warmly," It's all up to you. If you don't feel comfortable with it, then don't do it. Withdraw your name from the bidding list if it will make you feel better. Anything is better than doing something that'll make you lose sleep."
Nazalie felt better about Katherine's take on the whole situation. It made her feel like she was at least doing the right thing to achieve her dreams. One day, she would look back at this and think of it as an uncomfortable experience.
"I guess so," Nazalie replied shrugging
"I'm proud of you, Nazalie. You're taking such a huge risk. It's something I could never do. For a person to bid on someone else's virginity, they must be losers or perverts. You're a bold woman. You've made a huge decision. Hopefully, it will all be worth it in the end."
"So, you're saying I shouldn't do it?"
"It’s up to you, Nazalie. I’m saying that..." Katherine began, putting a well-manicured hand on her chest. "I can't do it. In the meantime, I have to go to the washroom. I think ordering a large Ice cappuccino was a bad idea for my tiny bladder."
Kathrine stood up and rushed to the washroom. Nazalie let out a shaky breath. She was starting to feel better about the whole thing. She downed the rest of her now cold cup of cocoa. Katherine is right. Who knows what kind of creep could be looking at her profile? It was decided. She was going to take it down. Luckily, she still remembered her password from the site. Nazalie quickly pulled out her phone. It was a ridiculous idea in the first place. What was she thinking?
Nazalie logged onto the site using the café's Wi-Fi. It was the same as ever. The cover of your typical social media website.
Nazalie heard the ring of her notification tone and clicked on it to see what was going on. It was the site, sending her a notification that there had been a bidding war over her. The price had shot up. Nazalie's jaw dropped.
A bid of one million dollars was placed on her. A million dollars; that's a lot of money. Enough to stomach whatever weird fetishes the person might have. She would take the bid; it seemed like a dream to Nazalie. The whole situation was so unreal. It seemed too good to be true.Nazalie felt like if she waited too long, the offer would disappear. She clicked on the ACCEPT OFFER icon at the bottom of the screen and prayed for the first time in her life.
Joshua
"So…are you going to rip her clothes off when you see her? No introductions."
Jason was laughing so hard that he was causing a scene at the restaurant. It was one of these conservative places that took forever to book. After they had eaten, Joshua told Jason about him bidding on a beautiful woman. Jason had been teasing him ever since.
"So, Tarzan and Jane style?" Jason teased again, laughing even harder.
Joshua downed his scotch and waited patiently for Jason to finish. When Jason got like this, all you had to do was wait till he calmed down.
"Are you done?" Joshua finally asked, raising a brow. Jason burst into laughter again, hitting his thighs and stomping his feet. It was a sight. He could hear complaints from the table a few inches from theirs. Joshua wasn't afraid they'd get kicked out. It would reflect poorly on the owners if they kicked out two significant shareholders.
"Okay, I'm done."
Jason took a large gulp of water from his glass. All that laughter must have left him parched. Jason cleared his throat and spoke.
"I told you about the website so you could invest, not participate. And here I thought you were predictable. Why did you do it anyway?"
Jason lowered his voice down to a whisper, even though he had been laughing loudly only seconds ago.
