by West, Jade
“She’s been lying to us,” he told me. “She told us she was out at her friend Holly’s last night and she wasn’t. She must have been out with that stupid idiot Stephen Jones.”
Holy fuck, I felt the guilt.
“What makes you think it was Stephen Jones?” I asked, genuinely curious.
He shrugged. “Who else would it be? She hasn’t been anywhere else but this place. He’s the one who’s been interested.”
I hated myself for lying to him any more than I already had, but it was necessary, for all of us. Especially Stephen Jones.
“I think some of the women from the office might have been out last night,” I said. “I’m not sure it would have been Stephen she was out with. Maybe it was one of them.”
“She lied!” he shouted. “She must have had something worth lying about!”
I kept quiet and he sighed at me.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m not meaning to aim this at you. I know you’ve been taking good care of her. I’m just worried. She’s still just a girl, and she clearly has no idea how she should be acting.”
There was so much of me that wanted to counter his argument, but this really didn’t seem like the right time, or my right place.
“I’ll be sure to keep Stephen at a distance from her,” I told him, because that wasn’t a lie in the slightest.
“Good,” he said. “I’ll be seriously appreciating it. I’ll be keeping one hell of a closer eye on her from now on.” He paused, and the redness in his cheeks faded a touch. “She told me she’s leading the auction on Friday.”
I smiled a hearty smile. “Yes. She is.”
“Are you sure she’s ready?”
I nodded a hearty nod. “She’s very ready. I’m looking forward to seeing how well she does.”
He managed a smile of his own, even though his eyes were clearly still raging. “I’ll have to head over to watch her,” he told me. “I haven’t seen her on stage since she was in high school in the school pantomime.”
I laughed. “Yes, I remember.”
He laughed right back. “Of course, yes. You got dragged along to plenty of them too. She really is lucky to have an extra uncle at her call.”
I battled to keep my smile steady, so tempted to tear this whole charade down in one motion and tell him what the hell was truly going on here. Consequences be fucked.
But I couldn’t.
Not with Faith so vulnerable in the coming months and her future at university. It would be one huge shit storm she’d struggle so hard to contend with.
And so would Colin and Diane.
“Thanks for giving her that opportunity,” he said. “It’s a great experience you’re giving her here. It means a lot to her. And to me and Diane.”
Once again I felt so fucking sick for the betrayal.
“It’s my pleasure,” I told him. “She really is a very talented woman.”
I made sure to emphasise the word woman, but he seemed oblivious, his eyes following Erica’s approach to the office through the window.
“Please do keep Stephen Jones away from my daughter,” he said, and I nodded.
I figured that would be all for this morning, but he held back with his hand on the door handle, pulling it open in time for Erica’s approach. She stepped on in and he turned to face us both as she arrived at my desk.
“I’ll ask the both of you while you’re both here,” he said. “Saturday night at our place. Both of you for an evening meal. How about it? It’s been too long.”
Erica was quick on the uptake, giving a perfect, can’t wait before I’d even begun to formulate an answer.
Both of them stared at me, awaiting the obvious, and I had no clear out, so found myself shrugging.
“Of course,” I said. “I’d love to join you.”
Once upon a time it would have been the most natural thing in the world, but right now I felt like the biggest cunt on the planet.
“Great,” Colin said, before leaving. “Can’t wait to see you both.”
I made sure not to dwell on it or discuss it too much with Erica. Just shelved it to my to do list and carried on with business.
Faith came on through with the Friday auction listings mid-morning, and winced substantially as she sat down to go through them with me. I managed a smirk and so did she, the tension alive enough to crackle between us. It was just before she left to resume work at her desk that I pulled her in closer and told her about her dad’s visit, and she sighed as she digested the implications.
“We’ll have to be so careful now,” she said. “I don’t even have Holly as an excuse anymore.”
“We will indeed,” I agreed, so tempted to suggest we go all fucking in and have done with it, but she was already shrugging, frustrated.
“They were so upset with me this morning,” she told me. “I felt so shit for lying, but I have to. There’s no way they would accept it. Not in a million years.”
I agreed with that, so kept quiet, biting down my own urges to claim so much more.
“We’ll be careful,” I said finally, and she nodded.
“Good job I’m so sore, it’d take a while for me to be ready for another go anyway,” she said with a grin.
I grinned right back along with her. “Let’s hope you are ready and waiting so we can enjoy ourselves as soon as we next get a shot.”
I gave her ass a cheeky little slap on her way out and she left with a giggle that stopped dead in her throat as Erica walked on through.
The scowl I shot across at that bitch spoke volumes, and she forced out a smile at Faith as she passed on by.
Good fucking job she did.
She struggled to keep her cool as I calmly told her that Faith would be leading Friday’s auction. She played at being reasonable about it, but her jaw was clenched tight under her smile and I knew full well she was hating every second.
“Are you sure you want to trust the business’s prime weekly income to a girl who is still learning the absolute basics?” she asked, with a little more than a hint of a sneer.
I was pleased to smile right over at her with a very strong nod.
“Yes, Erica. I’m certain I want to trust my business’s prime weekly income to Faith. I’m sure she’ll do me very proud. Us all very proud.”
“How lovely for little princess perfect,” she said. “I’ll be looking forward to seeing how marvellously she does.”
I laughed to myself as she dropped her paperwork and left me to my work. There was no way Faith wasn’t going to do me proud. She’d truly succeed to the best of her ability and thoroughly enjoy herself doing so, and I couldn’t wait to fully appreciate her in action at that podium.
But, in the meantime, I had plenty of training and support to give her to ensure she could truly let her talent shine.
No time like the present.
I picked up my phone and called her right back on through.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Faith
It was a slow week, but a good one. My ass and pussy may have been sore as hell – which was a nice reminder of where Miles had been – and my parents might have been acting constantly like I was a bad teenager who should be grounded, and Erica may have been scowling at me every chance she could get while burying it under the worst false smile imaginable, but yeah, it was a good week.
I may not have been able to dash over to Miles at his place every night of the week, but I was using the time super well. I was doing my research to back up everything he was teaching me through the days about auctioneering, and how to lead one of my own for the first time. I was watching educational videos, and studying the ever-growing item listings, and being sure to know what the estimates were by heart.
I did everything I could, and Miles did everything he could to help me. He was a great teacher, enthusiastic and patient, and I like to think I was a great student, enthusiastic and committed.
And so it came.
Friday.
My very first attempt at the ro
le of my dreams, in front of the man of my dreams along with it.
I was so nervous as the afternoon auction crept closer. My palms were clammy and my heart was giving an erratic little beat, and my face felt weird with the edgy smile I had plastered on me all through the morning, but I was good. Scared but good. And excited. Very excited.
“Not long now!” Rachel said, holding crossed fingers up for good luck as she walked on by from the warehouse. I held my crossed fingers right back up in response.
But this wasn’t about luck. Not even close. This was about showing that I could really do this. Really feel the flow of the auction room. Really capture people and get those bids coming strong.
I could do this. Sure I could.
My last-minute trip to the bathroom saw me staring at myself pretty hard in the mirror. I took deep breaths and gave myself a solid mantra of you got this, and promised myself this day had been a long time coming but would be everything I ever thought it would be.
That still didn’t stop me feeling like a quivering wreck as the clients started pouring in to the auction room and Miles appeared in the office doorway.
He had the most encouraging smile on his face, which was great and was just what I needed.
“Time for the action,” he said, and his hand was such a support, held tight to my lower back as he led me on through to the gathered crowd.
The gathered crowd including my dad.
I saw him there in the front row at the last minute, and did a double take just to make sure it was really him. He hadn’t told me he was coming, giving me short answers and radio silence through most of the week out of disappointment, and it only made my heart kick up another notch – another pair of eyes watching me that I really didn’t want to disappoint.
Miles raised a hand and nodded his support before disappearing off to the sidelines, not all that far away from my dad, and I took very careful steps up to the podium, well aware of the chatter in the room dying down.
It was everything I’d imagined it would be. A whole mass of stares fixed hard on me standing there. A whole wall of people I had to engage with and drive on to bid harder.
And there she was. Erica. Heading right on through at the last minute and positioning herself right in the centre of the crowd at the back. It was on purpose, just like everything bitchy she ever did, lining herself up to be a prime distraction and shunt me from my flow.
Her eyes were catty and her sneer was vile, and she was so desperately out to trip me up. To ruin my big moment and make me look like a stupid little girl who couldn’t achieve shit in this place.
But I wouldn’t let her. Not for anything.
This was my time to shine.
I cast one final glance at the item listings on the sheet in front of me, and cleared my throat, making sure the little microphone at the top of the podium was working.
Stephen approached from the warehouse door, ready to lift the smaller items for display as I called out the item numbers, and I shot him a smile, nodding that I was ready to roll.
And I was ready to roll.
Everything I’d ever planned through watching a zillion hours straight of auction programs had led right to this moment. I only hoped I’d been right the whole time to plan to do it my way. Because that’s what I was going to do. Do it my way. Be me. Totally me.
Be me and do this well.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” I spoke into the mike. It was a relief to already know so many of them from weeks of telephone calls on reception, and queries I’d made so many times through different departments. I knew so many of them by their first names. I knew their bidding history from checking out their client files and slipping their paperwork into their folders in the filing room. “I’m so pleased to be here for my first ever auction. I just hope you’ll stick with me if I mess this up. Don’t judge me too hard, please.”
The laughter was warm, and so was mine.
I daren’t look at Miles or my dad, too worried it would knock me off kilter. Instead I took another deep breath and called attention to the first item.
“Lot one,” I said, and Stephen held up the vase. “We have here a nineteenth century Chinese Canton ivory baluster base, beautifully carved in high relief throughout. The neck is a succession of beasts amongst clouds with a lotus leaf design below.” I paused. “What a truly gorgeous item, everyone.”
It was a gorgeous item, too. Something that definitely deserved to reach its estimate of six hundred to eight hundred pounds.
It was my time to shine and make that happen.
“Will someone start me at four hundred?” I asked, and my heart did a leap as several hands went straight up in the crowd.
Most auctioneers I’d ever seen did the usual fast rhythm of presenting the values, zooming through the flow without letting up for even a second. But I’d never wanted to be like that. I’d always thought there was another way.
I could feel the surprise as I kept my cool and engaged with people as myself throughout the bidding, laughing that the vase was such a stunner that she deserved the very best from the crowd, and the clients laughed along with me, the room buzzing.
Mr Richmond won the bid, coming in at a strong seven hundred and hitting right in the middle of the estimate, which was a really good outcome. Enough to make me smile bright.
Enough to make both Miles and my dad smile bright too, as I dared to shoot a glance in their direction.
So on I went. Through the Victorian cast iron garden bench, and the Regency parcel gilt metal jardinière stands. Through the Georgian lowboy chest of drawers and the French wingback armchair.
I was me. I did my very best. I joked and I coaxed to keep those bids coming in.
And it worked. It really worked.
I hit the higher end of the estimates time and again and kept people bidding well, and I was passionate about the pieces I was representing and enjoying myself right the way through.
It was halfway through the auction that I opted to take a serious look at Dad and move my stare on past him to Miles, and both of them were looking at me so proudly. Proud enough that it made my belly do one of those epic lurch drops from a big height. And I couldn’t help smiling right back at them both. I was on a high. A crazy high, fluttering with nerves and excitement all at once.
It was in the final few items on the agenda that the one item I was really nervous of came up, the biggest item on the list. An eighteenth century mahogany glazed bookcase bureau, in the manner of Chippendale, crowned with a broken pediment with a dental cornice.
I’d well and truly rehearsed this one.
It was one of my favourites. Something that deserved the very best expression of its worth, with a broad and optimistic three to five thousand pound estimate to live up to.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, and the room went into a hush. All eyes on me.
I made sure to keep myself calm as I described it in detail, being so thorough with its best assets.
“This truly is one of my favourite pieces,” I said to murmurs of agreement, “I hope it goes to a good home.”
I scanned the crowd before I started, and looked right on over at Miles, and he was nodding. Nodding and smiling. Cheering me on unspoken.
I needed that so much. I wanted that so much.
It was a risk to go for it, but I’d found enough confidence to trust my judgement. This room, this crowd. I was feeling it. Feeling it enough to go with my gut.
“Will someone start me at three thousand?” I asked, chancing a high start at the edge of the estimate. And it worked.
Three hands went up sharp. Three hands and a phone bid at the back of the room. And they kept coming. Three thousand to four thousand before two dropped out, and the other two were in the front row, well aware of each other’s presence. But I didn’t push too hard. My voice was happy and full of life and a little bit of cheekiness to keep those bidders smiling, and soon enough the bids were up to five thousand, and still both hands were in the air.
/> I could feel Miles staring at me. I could feel how proud he was for me as I kept on going.
Dad, too.
It was like being a girl on the school stage again knowing Mum and Dad would be clapping when I did my part, only this part was all me. This stage was all me and the ocean of amazing items deserving my best.
The bidding closed at seven thousand one hundred pounds. Jacqueline Glasper grinned over at me, so pleased when her bid came in top.
I had to stop myself leaping into the air and squealing my own excitement, keeping my voice steady through the final few listings until I was over and out.
My walk away from the podium was an easy one, but my route through to the main office was not. The bustle of clients kept interrupting me, so many hands on my arm telling me I’d make a fine auctioneer one day and well done for a great show.
I knew Dad and Miles would be heading over my way, stopped by as many people as I was, and I couldn’t wait to see them. Either of them. Knowing full well my heart was going to explode to have made this work on my first try.
I also knew Dad and Miles would be proud of me, but I didn’t expect the real warmth in their eyes as they joined me in front of my desk in the finance room. It was a lucky bonus that Erica was absolutely nowhere to be seen. I just hoped it stayed that way.
It was easy for Dad to pull me in for a hug and tell me what a good job I’d done, but Miles had to hover, his eyes burning mine as he told me well done. Still, I knew what he wanted to say. I knew he wanted to grab hold of me and squeeze me tight, just as I wanted to squeeze him right back. I knew he was proud of everything I’d learned from him, and how excited I’d really been to stand up there and give it my all.
But most of all I knew he loved me.
I could see it. I could feel it. I could sense it right through the room. Sense it right between us, in every breath.
He loved me.
Just as I loved him.
It was the most powerful thing to be feeling in that moment, and I struggled to keep myself together enough to talk Dad through the items I’d done particularly well on.
I was truly desperate to find a way to sneak out that evening and spend a night with Miles. I’d been desperate all week, needing an escape plan, and I only hoped a celebration with Holly would be enough of a believable alibi to chance another night out. But I didn’t get the chance. Dad was already keen to make plans of his own.
