One afternoon when Janie and Elizabeth were visiting Elsie, the girls talked Elsie into showing them some of her designs. The girls fell completely in love with Elsie’s clothes and they finally persuaded her to let them buy some of her dresses, including the ones they all are wearing tonight.
The production company had also sent Mabhe over when Elsie was ready, to check on her and to bring her a gift basket with all of her favorite things. Rachelle Lefevre had asked Mabhe to pick up some pieces that Elsie had chosen for her from her collection. The company assured her that when she’s ready to come back to work, the job would be waiting for her.
“You ready, El?” Janie asks her softly.
“Yeah, let’s do this,” Elsie says taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders.
The girls know their table is in front of the stage so they make their way through the steadily filling room. They’ll be sitting at Marco’s table with Elizabeth, he’s the host of the function, so everyone who passes on that stage will have no problem seeing them. Especially John.
The thought makes Elsie’s stomach flip-flop with nerves, as she takes her seat next to Elizabeth. Janie and Elizabeth have put Elsie between them, as more of an act of protection and comfort than anything else. This is Elsie’s first big night out since the attack, and even though the therapist and Elsie felt she was ready, no one, not even Elsie, knows how she’s going to react to being in a room full of people.
Elsie has kept herself locked up these past months, not going out in public, unable to work, and it was only recently that she started doing her own shopping and going out for walks alone. Tonight is a huge step for her.
“Hi! You made it before it started,” Elizabeth greets Elsie and Janie excitedly as they take their seats at the table with her.
“Of course we did, you’re the one who’s always late,” Janie tells her as she scans the room looking for familiar faces.
“Not anymore, huh, Lizzie girl, bet he’d give you a nice spanking,” Elsie teases Elizabeth.
“You got that right, and not the fun kind either,” Elizabeth says rolling her eyes.
“Alright, you two shut-up. I don’t need to hear about all of your kinky fuckery, Liz. It’s bad enough I have to go months without it, even with a boyfriend,” Janie grumbles.
“Yeah, well, I haven’t thought about it for months,” Elsie mumbles under her breath.
The two other women look at their friend compassionately. They each take one of her hands in a show of support.
“Maybe tonight’s gonna change all of that, Elsie, you’ve come so far so fast,” Elizabeth tells her.
“Yeah, Kiddo, you are an incredibly, strong woman. If you want John back, I know he’ll come back to you in a heartbeat,” Janie says squeezing Elsie’s hand.
“Alright, no water works tonight. Let’s just watch this meat show spectacle,” Elsie grunts out through the lump in her throat, fighting to keep the tears from falling.
The lights begin to dim and the crowd of women filling the room goes quiet, as everyone takes their seats.
The editor-in-chief of Wilma, a prominent local women’s magazine, takes the stage.
“Welcome,” her cheerful southern drawl pours out over the loudspeakers. “Thank you so much for joining us for the first annual Bid-A-Date charity auction, the proceeds going to…,”
Elsie’s eyes begin to search the dark for a familiar silhouette, a big, powerful, and dominatingly sexy form of a man. Her heart is racing and she’s starting to sweat despite the cold night air.
What if he never wants to talk to me again? Alarms begin to rise in her. No, I don’t care, even if he doesn’t want me, I know he’ll give me a chance to explain. He’s a good man.
Resigning herself to the very real possibility that John won’t want to have anything to do with her, Elsie tries to convince herself that if she can just explain, that will be enough for her. Which is total bullshit.
Can she take it if he rejects her? Does she want to find out?
Elsie starts to panic. She pushes her chair back from the table. Janie grabs her arm.
“It’s ok,” Janie whispers to her with a ghost of a smile on her face.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you the very debonair, very successful, and may I say very attractive, Mr. Marco Kastanopoulis?”
Elsie freezes as the lights go up.
There he is. John. Standing in line with the rest of the men up for auction tonight. Brian is right next to him. And Rico too.
Elsie can’t move. The whole world has been sucked in like a vacuum, only John is in her vision, the only thing she can see. And his eyes are on her too. Everything has stopped, no sound, no other movement, nothing except them.
There’s a flicker of something in his eyes. Is it hope? Relief? Desire? Anger?
Elsie’s hands are clutching the side of the table, her eyes are fixed on him like a deer mesmerized in bright headlights, and she lets go of the deep breath she’s been holding.
God, he’s so beautiful, so perfect, so much leaner, not thinner but more chiseled. He looks more solid than he did before too, is that even possible?
“…everyone will have an opportunity to bid on a date with these lucky gentlemen,” Marco explains, as his voice fills the room.
He begins to introduce the men, each in their respective uniforms and official attire. John and Brian are in their military fatigue pants and their government-issued green t-shirts with combat boots. They’re both sexy as sin, but John, John has Elsie’s heart. It’s gripped firmly in his hand, and it’s up to him now whether he’s going to crush it, then throw it on the floor, and step on it, mashing it in the ground with the bottom of
