I had never considered myself drop-dead gorgeous, but I was good-looking. My blond hair was long and thick. My eyes weren’t anything special, a dull blue, but once upon a time they had been full of life. That was before my mother’s illness had taken a turn for the worse. I wasn’t perfect in the body department, but I wasn’t too fat or too skinny, and I had curves in what I always imagined were the right places. All in all, a good showing, I hoped.
One by one, the women were pulled out of the room. At first, I thought it meant they were being chosen over me, and I felt like the fat kid in gym class who was always the last one to be picked. But then they called my number and I made my way toward the same black door I had seen the others before me disappear through. Once I stepped inside, I was led to the center of the room. All around me there were smaller areas with glass walls. Each room was furnished with one dimly lit table lamp, a telephone, and a cushy red velvet chair. It was obvious that the only thing the occupants of the rooms had in common with each other was money—and lots of it.
The first room was occupied by a sheik with dark sunglasses, a long white headdress, and a business suit. Two of the women who had been in the hallway with me earlier were on either side of him, showering him with kisses while rubbing his crotch and chest. I averted my eyes in embarrassment, only to be faced with a man in another room.
This guy was huge, like big-as-a-house huge. He reminded me a lot of Jabba the Hutt. A picture of Princess Leia chained next to him flashed across my mind, and a shiver ran down my spine. I had never been one to imagine myself as Princess Leia as a child, and I most certainly wasn’t going to start now.
In the room next to him was a tiny guy with two huge bodyguards standing next to him. Their hands were crossed in front of them, and I imagined that was probably the closest they had ever come to being relaxed. The little guy had his legs crossed all dainty-like and was sipping on some fruity sort of drink with an umbrella sticking out of it. His white jacket hung casually over his shoulders like he was just too cool to actually put it on. I guessed the male variety was more his type. I couldn’t imagine he’d be that threatening. He was probably there to score some pretty young thing to keep up pretenses in the public eye while secretly sneaking someone in the back door, if you get my drift.
I looked toward the last room and sighed inwardly when I saw that the light was out. Apparently whoever had been in there had already made his selection and left, which didn’t give me much hope about the remaining assortment.
And then a small orange light flickered from the darkened room like the ember on the end of a recently puffed cigarette. I looked closer and could faintly make out the lines of a body sitting casually in the chair. The figure leaned forward a bit to readjust his position, granting me a better look at him, but not enough to be able to make anything out.
“Gentlemen,” Scott said with a clap of his hands as he came to stand behind me. “This is the lovely Delaine Talbot, item number sixty-nine on our list tonight. I believe you have all of her specs, but allow me to highlight some of her finer attributes.
“First and foremost, she has come to us of her own accord. Obviously, she’s spectacular to look at, which can make life infinitely easier for those of you who require a partner to attend social functions. She’s young, but not too young, so your friends and family will find it more believable that you have a traditional type of relationship, if that sort of thing is important to you. She’s educated and well-mannered, has all her teeth, and is in good health. And there’s no drug problem to be bothered with, which means no detox period to hold you back from what you really want to do with her … and to her.
“And probably the most valuable asset of all is that her innocence is still completely intact. This, my fine gentlemen, is a grade A virgin. Unsullied, untouched … pure as the fresh-fallen snow. Perfect to train, no? With that said, let’s start the bidding at one million dollars, and may the luckiest bastard win,” he finished with a huge fake smile. He turned to wink at me and then stepped off to the side.
The platform that I stood on in the middle of the room began to move, and although it wasn’t exactly on warp speed, it still caught me unawares, and I stumbled a little before I regained my balance. Around and around I went while the bidding process began. There were no audible sounds of voices, just the occasional buzz as the lights over the doors illuminated. I could see the men pick up the telephone beside them and speak into the receiver before their light lit up, so I assumed that was their method of placing bids.
I had no idea how high the bids were going. I just hoped that it ended with enough to pay for Faye’s surgery. After a while, the sheik and the tiny guy dropped out, leaving Jabba the Hutt and Mystery Man to battle it out. Sure, I had no idea what Mystery Man looked like, but he had to be better than drowning in a pool of Jabba the Hutt.
The bidding between the two of them began to slow down, and I was becoming increasingly dizzy from spinning around on the platform. In truth, I just wanted it to be over with so that I would know my fate and could get on with it. I was still secretly rooting for the mysterious stranger.
Jabba the Hutt’s light was the last to flash, and I knew the bid was back to Mystery Man, but he wasn’t answering. I started to panic when Scott came back into the room and stood next to me. He smiled at Jabba and then cast a questioning brow in Mystery Man’s direction. I knew it was obvious by the look in my eyes that I was pleading with him, and I had no clue whatsoever if it made a bit of difference to him one way or the other, but I had to try.