THREE

 

ALICE

 

 

I knew the name calling was about to begin because we'd gone from heavingly busy at the bar to completely dead. All of a sudden there was no one in front of me. Everyone was back at their tables.

"What's going on?" I asked Rowena as she leaned back against the fridge behind her, ice cold bottle of water in her hand.

"It's half ten, the auction master is about to call out the names."

"How does this all work again?"

"Whichever women want to be auctioned off ask him to put their names in the hat. It's up to him if he does or not. Then he reads out the chosen names. Half an hour later, the auction begins. You sure you don't want to take part? You seem pretty curious."

"And have slavering married men choosing who gets to bed me while their wives watch? I'm good thanks."

"It's nothing like that. They are only bidding for your company for the evening."

"That's all? Nothing else?"

"Not necessarily. It's all negotiable but that's up to the people involved. We're all about freedom of choice in here. That woman over there, see the one with the candle wax being dripped onto her chest, she chose to let someone do that to her. No one gets forced to do anything, Alice."

The auction master's voice boomed through the sound system, making us both jump. "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tony La Mesma. Now it is time to learn the names of some of you."

"Ooh," Rowena said. "Here we go."

I leaned over the counter so I could see him on the stage. He was a man in his sixties wearing a ringmaster's red suit and tails. He even had a whip in his hand as if he planned to tame a pride of lions for an encore. "The first person to be auctioned off tonight is Jemima Edwins. Where is Jemima?"

At the back of the room, a hand went up. Everyone turned to see a stick thin waif standing and nodding to the auction master. "Up here for eleven, Jemima," the auction master said as she sat back down again.

Jemima was excitedly talking to the rest of her table as the auction master waved his hands for quiet. "The second name is Tamara Brundell. Where is Tamara?"

A shriek of excitement from over near the door as two hands waved excitedly. "Me!" she cried out, knocking over her drink as she got to her feet too fast. She was even thinner than Jemima, long blonde hair, elf-like features, shimmering silver dress. "Dig deep in your wallets, boys."

A murmur of laughter before the auction master spoke again. "The third name is a new one to me. Alice Lawson. Where's Alice Lawson?"

Time stood still. An ice age came and went. Everywhere people were looking about them, seeing who had been chosen. I heard Rowena's voice from far away shouting, "Over here," while pointing at me.

The whole room stared. I didn't move. I couldn't move.

"Eleven o'clock up here," the auction master said before turning back to the room. "That's all the names I have chosen for this auction. Gentlemen, have your bid tokens ready. I will see you at eleven." He spun round, marching off the stage while I remained fixed in place, unable to move.

When I finally managed to unfreeze my feet, Rowena was grinning at me. "You kept that quiet."

I frowned. "You did this, didn't you? You put my name in."

"I would love to say yes," Rowena said with a smile. "But I've been working with you all night, when would I have chance? And, would I really want to have to work the rest of the shift on my own? Joanne off sick and you being auctioned off while I serve drinks to the entire place on my own?"

"Then who put my name in?"

"You're sure you didn't do it?"

"I think I would have remembered. It's fine though. I just won't do it."

"I'm afraid you have to."

"What do you mean, I have to?"

"Your name was chosen. You have to take part."

"I really don't."

"Let me put it this way, you obey the rules of the club or you leave and don't come back."

"What? You'd fire me over this?"

"Your name was chosen, you take part, that's how it works. I'm sorry, Alice. Rules are rules."

"All right, just give me a minute to think."

I thought about losing my job, about the bills waiting to be paid, how long it might be before I found more work. Then I thought about standing on stage with all those people staring at me. It was only company for the evening. Nothing else. Then I felt eyes on me and I looked out to see him looking back at me. At once I wanted to do it.

I wanted him to bid on me. I could say I'd been forced into this, that I had no choice. It was this or lose my job. The truth was I wanted him and this might be my only shot, long shot as it was. If the handsome as hell guy in the suit happened to win a night with me, well those were just the breaks in this line of work.

The bar got busy again as soon as the naming was over, everyone wanting a look at the girl taking part in the auction, the one none of them had noticed before. I was working too hard to think which helped keep my nerves at bay and before I knew it, Rowena was tapping me on the shoulder. "Five to eleven, you better get up there. Here, drink this first."

I took the glass she held out, draining it in a single motion. The vodka burned its way down to my stomach as I looked out at the room. The other two in the auction were already standing on the stage, talking to each other. "Do I really have to do this?" I asked.

"You'll have the time of your life, trust me."

"That's what worries me."

Nonetheless, I undid my apron and folded it neatly, leaving it under the counter before lifting the hatch and heading through the tables towards the stage. Everyone watched me go, whispered words following me as I went.

"Who is she?"

"Just works here?"

"Rich?"

"I thought the rules didn't allow bar staff-"

"Nothing like the other two-"

"Could be interesting when-"

I ignored them all, keeping my eyes fixed on the stage. They were right though. I was nothing like the other two. They had immaculate hair and make up, expensive jewellery, personal trainer and personal chef made bodies, maybe a bit of surgery thrown in for good measure. What did I have? Shoes that had maybe three weeks of life left, my hair in an elastic band because I could never find a hairband, cherry liqueur splashed on my hand making it sticky. I was quite the catch.

It felt a bit like Christmas Eve. The run up to Christmas is always so exciting but by Boxing Day, there's always this sense of deflation, of nothing being as good as yesterday. That was what worried me the most. I might have the best time of my life, have a fortune spent on me, drive in the poshest car, sleep in the poshest house, or with the poshest man. But afterwards I'd be back in my poky drafty house with the bills still waiting to be paid and the memory of this. I worried that would make it all so much harder to bear.

Rules are rules, Rowena had said. It was this or go home.

I chose this.

I couldn't work out how to get up on the stage and had to resort to clambering up the side, pushing back against the table behind me. As I got to my feet, Jemima laughed and pointed to my left, "Try the steps next time bar girl."

Tamara laughed and I managed a thin smile while hoping they both fell down a hidden trapdoor, preferably into a pit of piranhas. Or a tank of tigers. Hang on, I was so nervous, I was choosing alliteration over accuracy.

The auction master stepped out before I had chance to say anything witty back to them, not that I'd thought of anything anyway. Tony waved the three of us over. "We will start with Jemima. Those who bid have submitted their tokens along with their offers. I am pleased to say that with a high bid of ten thousand, the winner is-"

"Hang on," I whispered to Tamara next to me. "What happened to auction part, you know, do I see ten thousand five hundred, all that stuff?"

"It's all done by sealed bid," she whispered back. "One bid per token, don't you know anything?"

Jemima was already heading off stage, joining the table of a corpulent grey haired man in his sixties who seemed far happier with the deal than she was. He was already trying to kiss her and she looked as if she was regretting ever submitting her name. Was that what was going to happen to me, an evening of trying to keep some perve's hands off me?

"Tamara received a number of very close bids but in the end the winner is-"

Tamara grinned as she saw who had chosen her, a man in the shadows at the back of the room. He stood up and she realised just how fake his toupee was, her smile fading as she marched off the stage like a woman heading for her own execution. Her winner was adjusting his hair back into place, grinning to reveal too many gaps between his few remaining teeth.

My heart sank. This wasn't the way Rowena had described it. What was my fate going to be?

My heart began to pound as the auction master called out my name. I felt my throat dry out and I had an overwhelming urge to cough. I managed to keep my mouth shut though as he said, "There were two very close bids for Alice."

A man stood up, already heading towards the stage.

"I'm afraid it wasn't you, Mr Fry," the auction master said.

The man stopped dead, the smile falling from his face. "What?"

"The winner of a night with Alice, bidding seventy-five thousand is Ethan Powers."

"It's a fix," Mr Fry replied.

"The amount is entirely at the discretion of the bidder. You know that, Mr Fry. Now where is Mr Powers?" I looked around the room but no one answered. "Where's Mr Powers?" the auction master asked again.

"Here," said a voice right in front of the stage.

I looked down, unable to believe what I was seeing. It was him. It was the man of my dreams. Captain Chiselled himself. He was holding out his hand and waiting for me to descend from the stage. I had to resist jumping into his arms. Was this really happening?

"You cheated, Ethan" Mr Fry was saying. "I'll get you for that."

Ethan ignored him, still smiling at my efforts to get down from the stage without looking too graceless. I failed, landing on all fours with a thud.

"Ready for an evening with me?" he asked, taking my hand in his and pulling me effortlessly upwards.

"Ready for a drink," I replied. "A very large drink."