Be My Valentine

A Valentine's Day Auction - Cecily Anne Winters

Chapter 1

Anna:

“A, what a beautiful day!” Anna exclaimed after putting down her belongings on the platform and looking around, smiling. She had missed this town dearly, situated picturesquely at the bottom of a gentle hill. Now that she was done with her studies, she was a major step closer to reaching her goal of opening her own pediatrist practice. She even knew exactly where it would be located and had spent many days dreaming about the interior…

Not caring what others would think about her, she excitedly twirled around herself. It would be her dream come true, and just thinking about it made her so happy, she thought her heart would burst.

Inhaling the fresh air deeply, her eyes widened. Was this really—?

“Brice!” For a second, Anna froze. Although she had hoped she would see him soon, she had expected her parents to meet her at the station. Seeing him here already… her heart beat so loud she was afraid he would hear it.

He waved at her and that was all the encouragement she needed.

“Brice! It’s really you! O, it’s so good to see you!”

Squealing with joy, she dropped her handbag and ran towards her best friend and secret long-time crush. It was really him! He had come to fetch her! Maybe he felt something for her too?

Brice:

“Anna! Finally!” An equally excited Brice opened his arms to catch her when she jumped at him. “I thought this day would never come!” Twirling her around high, he looked at the laughing beauty in his arms. She was radiant, and for a second he couldn’t believe she was back.

When she decided to temporarily move abroad, he had nearly begged her to stay. Yet, he had known it wouldn’t be fair to her so instead, he had smiled and supported her every step of her way. Hoping with everything he had that she would come back to him.

For as long as he could remember, he had been in love with her, but there had never been a good time to confess. Until it had been too late…

But she was back. She was here. His Anna was finally with him again.

He sat her back down, deliberately sliding her a bit too close along his body. Her sweet blush nearly made him chuckle, but instead he asked her: “Did you have a nice trip?”

They stood so close to each other that her fair waves tickled his nose when she nodded. He mock-sneezed, then took the opportunity to tousle her hair.

Ducking away quickly before she could retaliate, he grabbed her hand: “Come on, beautiful. We should fetch your things before someone gets a wrong idea.”

Chapter 2

Anna:

It was wonderful to be back home. The weather was much nicer and the food… o, how she had missed her mom’s home-cooked goodies! Nothing better than grabbing a few slices of home-made apple pie before heading out to meet her friends. They had so much to catch up on!

Of course, being the social butterfly she was, she had made a ton of new friends while away. But none of them was as close to her heart as those she had had since preschool - Brice, Malcolm and Lucy. All of them had been trouble makers, but they were widely liked. Probably because of their great manners, Anna thought.

Heading along the main road and taking a sharp turn before the bookstore brought her credulity to their favorite café. It was another sunny and warm day, so she searched the tables outside.

“Anna!” Lucy leaped up and ran towards her, hugging her tightly. “I missed you! You’ve been gone forever!” Another big squeeze, then she started to cry.

“Don’t worry, luv’, I’m back for good!” Taking her friend’s arm, she carefully led her back to where the others were waiting.

Lucy had always been their drama queen. So Anna didn’t even bat an eyelash at her tears. She had expected as much. Gently rubbing Lucy’s arm, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss Malcolm on his cheek.

“How come I have to nearly break my neck to properly greet you? Did you forget to stop growing, Mal?” She teased him.

Malcolm was a good sport, though: “You little brat, haven’t changed at all I see. Still cheeky as always.”

The waitress appeared, and they ordered their usual.

Anna wanted to sit down, when Brice chimed in: “Don’t I get a hello at least? I understand if you don’t want to kiss me again…” he wiggled suggestively with his eyebrows, and they all giggled good-naturedly. Obediently, she stepped closer and - punched him.

“Ouch! That was mean!” He made puppy eyes at her, rubbing his arm where she had hit him.

“I just jumped you at the station, Bricey-boy! Guess I thought that would last you a while. But if you’re needy…”

Everybody laughed, while she stepped even closer. She had been afraid of seeing him again so soon, when she still didn’t know how to broach the subject of them. Which was partly why she hadn’t greeted him before because frankly, all the lonely time in the world wouldn’t be enough to prepare her for the reality of him:

His sandy-brown hair, that was always tousled.

The way his dark eyes were glued to her, whenever she was near.

His body, which had starred in all the wet dreams she had ever had.

For a moment, she could do nothing but stare at Brice.

Then, she mentally kicked herself in the bum. This was Brice, for crying out loud. Even if he didn’t want her the way she wanted him, she’d never get a chance with him if she didn’t finally tell him how she felt.

So, she moved up close to him, took a deep breath and put her hands on his bulging biceps. Moving up on her tiptoes, she laid a delicate kiss on the corner of his mouth, not-so-accidentally brushing his lips when turning her head to give him a second kiss on the other side. Tugging at his arms so he bent down a bit, she huskily whispered into his ear:

“Satisfied? Or do you want… more?”

Smiling like the cat who caught the fish, she returned to her seat.

“Awe, it’s so good to see all of you again! I’m so happy to be back!” She bent forward. “Tell me, what’s new? What did I miss? Any good gossip?”

Brice:

She hadn’t changed at all, was all he could think while she greeted Lucy and Malcolm. He was grateful for that. It had been one of his biggest fears that she would return completely different to the wonderful person he had known all his life.

Yet, at the same time, her outward appearance was distinctly different to what it had been when she left. Where she had mostly been a gangly teen when she left, her body had filled out nicely with just the right amount of curves to make him feel constricted in his jeans all of a sudden. She was glorious in her happiness, and that didn’t help his situation.

As inconspicuous as possible, he took a deep breath to calm himself and re-arranged his seating to gain a semblance of relief. His need to touch her again was overwhelming.

Unfortunately, nothing she did or said hinted at that she felt similar for him. When she didn’t even greet him properly, his heart constricted in pain. Had he been waiting for her in vain? Had she maybe fallen in love abroad, without telling him about it?

He gathered his courage to complain: “Don’t I get a hello at least? I understand if you don’t want to kiss me again…” throwing in a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows for good measure. When she stepped into his space, he thought she might kiss him like she’d done with Mal. So when Anna punched his arm instead, he was genuinely surprised.

“Ouch! That was mean!” He exclaimed in his whiny voice, trying to make her feel guilty.

Instead, she mocked him, just to finally, finally, greet him in the best freaking possible way.

His lips still tingled from where hers had brushed his. He still felt burnt from where her hands had touched his arms. The suggestive tone of her whispered words still rang in his ear. His mind still reeled from the promise that was hidden within her words.

All of a sudden he was nervous. Was he misreading her intentions? Or did she really imply what he thought she did? Did she really reciprocate his feelings or was she just playing him?

He couldn’t stop thinking about her husky question if he wanted more - yes, a hundred times yes! How could she even think anything else?

With all the thinking he did afterwards, he was unusually quiet. Lucy, who had calmed down enough to realize that something was off, wanted to know:

“Brice, honey, was Anna’s greeting too much for you? Did she render you mute?”

“No, I bet he’s still trying to up her game and thinking about a way to make it up to her! We all know how competitive Brice is!” Malcolm threw in, grinning.

“Competitive?” It was Anna’s turn to nab him now. “Are we talking about the same Brice? The one who decided to ‘forget’ his swim gear repeatedly at home so he didn’t have to compete in the swimming competitions at school? The one who overslept every time the scouts competed for something? That Brice?”

Her sculpted eyebrow rose higher with every question she posed, looking inquisitively between Mal and him. His mouth quirked.

“I might have changed a bit in the time you weren’t around,” he conceded. It was true, he had been completely non-competition while growing up. But that was only because none of these things had really interested him.

The waitress chose this moment to ask if they wanted everything else. Seeing as they all had to get back to their lives, they payed and were about to leave when Lucy grabbed Anna’s arm enthusiastically.

“By the way, Anna, have you heard about this year’s Valentine’s Day’s Auction already?”

Chapter 3

Anna:

“I’m still laughing thinking about it! Yes! You should’ve seen their faces! It was hilarious!” Anna had put Emily on loudspeaker and recounted the end of the meeting at the café while trying to figure out what to wear for the auction.

“Can you imagine, the guys had ‘completely forgotten mentioning it. O, and by the way, we need to run. See you!’ I mean, did they really think I wouldn’t hear about it? It is THE talk in town.” Listening to Emily’s reply, she wrinkled her nose.

“Em, I need your help. I have two outfits prepared but I can’t decide what to wear! You know, I want to look classy but… not too much.” Nodding to herself, she described what she had intended.

“Black is too hard? Hmm, yes, I see. So rather light blue? But…”

When she arrived at the city hall, she was impressed. The whole building was decorated with pink hearts and glitter, lots and lots of it. Everywhere she went, heart-shaped balloons flew around. The seats were wrapped in gauzy, pinkish cloth and on each one a little sign had been placed. It consisted of two meshed, pink hearts, with a bold, black ‘MINE’ sprayed across the front. Anna assumed, these would be raised to indicate interest.

Chuckling to herself about Brice and Mal being participants, she looked for Lucy who had promised to hold a seat for her. Thus, Anna found herself placed in the middle of the first row.

“Lucy, I’m impressed. You must have been incredibly early to get these seats, considering that every female of the town seems to be here.” The woman in question smiled mysteriously.

“I have my ways, honey. You know, I couldn’t let this opportunity slide. The committee has persuaded the twenty most eligible bachelors between eighteen and a hundred to be auctioned off today! Isn’t that fantastic?”

The girls squealed excitedly.

“I’ve heard even Mr. Burns accepted the invitation. He seems to be one of the top bachelors available, even though he must be what - eighty-two?”

Before Lucy could answer, the head of the auction committee, Mrs. Jensen, took her place at the raised platform ahead of them and harrumphed.

“Attention, ladies! Welcome to this year’s Valentine’s Day’s Auction! I have the pleasure to present to you the best sought-after bachelors of the city! Can I get some applause for these studs?”

Claps and cheers erupted throughout the room, and even whistling could be heard when all of the participants paraded across the stage. Once they had left again, she continued:

“The rules are simple: each of our lovely bachelors has a starting price to be announced with their name. You can raise prices in steps of one hundred euros. The highest bidder will get twenty four hours together with her auctioned date. What do you say?”

A whole twenty four hours! Anna was stunned. This was better than she had imagined! Mrs. Jensen smiled, satisfied with the mayhem her words elicited.

“Now, pull out your credit cards, ladies! The auction sum has to be paid right away at the desk over there. You’ll get a symbolic key to unlock your price and can leave directly with your date.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Use your time wisely, ladies!”

Turning around, she pointed towards the stage and exclaimed: “Let’s start with the youngest one on offer tonight: Mike Henderson! Did you know he recently opened his own garage? At the age of twenty he’s already making a name for himself with the exemplary services he’s offering!”

A suggestive wiggling of eyebrows accompanied Mrs. Jensen’s words, and the whole room hooted with laughter.

“The starting price for this handsome chap is at five hundred euros! Come on, ladies! Up with your auction tags!”

Brice:

Standing behind the curtains, off to the side of the stage, he was torn between cursing the day he was born and wondering if Anna might bid for him. He clearly remembered Mrs. Jensen’s call around Christmas, begging him to participate ‘for the greater cause’. Although he’d been thoroughly tempted, he couldn’t decline. Yes, the whole idea was goofy, and he felt thoroughly ridiculous waiting here. But Mrs. Jensen had assured him that all proceeds would go to a charity in the end. That’s what had convinced him, and that’s what would tie him over even if he had to spend a whole day with an ugly hag afterwards.

Longingly, he gazed at Anna, whom he had a prime position to watch thanks to Lucy. It had been a spur of the moment decision for him to ask her to choose the front row for their seating. She had viewed him knowingly and agreed to his plea.

They both seemed to enjoy themselves immensely, whispering and laughing together while he became strangely excited the less men were left to be paraded around.

He also observed the others’ antics and had to hold in his laugh on more than one occasion. Some of them were prancing around like god’s gift to women. Others clearly didn’t know what to do with the spotlight shining on them so brightly. All the ladies loved it though, and a lot of them generously opened their purses. Brice was seriously impressed with the amounts they were handled at.

Despite everything going on, it was Anna who drew his gaze the most. Her dress complimented her fair hair and emphasized the lovely curve of her neckline. He found himself licking his suddenly dry lips, wondering how her body would look without it. In their long friendship he had never really seen her without cloths - what kind of underwear did she hide beneath? How would her skin feel to his touch? Would she be as satiny all over as her lips let on with that teasing almost-kiss?

Malcolm rudely interrupted his thoughts:

“Look, man! The old geezer is putting on a great show. Who would have thought he still had it in him? He’s a sensation with them!”

It was true. Mr. Burns was way into his eighties, but he had kept a juvenile mindset and was still very much agile. He danced across the stage to show off. The ladies - especially the ones of similar age - were eager to snatch him, so the bids skyrocketed until , Mrs. Olsen bought him for an obscene amount of money. She even stood on her chair, wobbly throwing up her arms in a triumphant gesture to show the world that she had outbid everybody else.

Brice chuckled. Lucky for Mrs. Olsen, her daughter helped her to prevent any injury. Who knew these elderly, frail people had left so much juice?

Meanwhile, Lucy and Anna still hadn’t so much as raised their labels. He briefly wondered if they even planned to bid or if they just came to enjoy the show?

Once Malcolm appeared on stage, he understood though. Lucy and Dorothy - who was around fifteen years their senior - matched each others’ prices until finally, Lucy had to quit. Still, who would’ve thought she was interested in Malcolm?

Then it was Brice’s time to shine. He marched to the center of the stage, put on his most seductive smile, and waited for what was to come.

When he saw Anna’s tag coming up for the first time this evening, he felt a world of doubt falling off his shoulders. Even if she was outbid, he swore he’d buy her a bouquet of her favorite flowers - white roses and lavender - and ask her out properly.

Chapter 4

Anna:

She wanted to comfort Lucy, but Brice appeared on stage. He was the last participant to bid on, and dang, how mighty fine he looked in that grey suit!

Unfortunately for her, it seemed that a lot of other women were interested too. Still, she had some money saved and was willing to go to two thousand euros. Anna raised her tag again, shouting “fifteen hundred!” when the lights went out and the fire alarm rang.

For a second, it was quiet. Then, the obnoxious smell of smoke wound its way inside the room.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please calmly leave the room using the fire exits!” Mrs. Jensen sternly declared. But it was already too late. In the pitch black-room, panic rose like a wave. Anna heard cries and shouts all around her, people desperately trying to reach the exits that were dimly illuminated by ghastly light.

She turned to Lucy, shouting: “Let’s take the nearest exit!”

The ground in front of her shook, as somebody jumped in front of them.

“No! The fire is on this side. Use your mobiles’ flashlights to go to the other side! I’ll follow as soon as I can!”

Brice:

This was a freaking nightmare.

From the stage he could see the fire raging outside. It seemed to be to his right, so he tried to tell people to use the other exits. Yet, above the noise and in the darkness, it was useless.

He leaped in front of where he remembered Anna and Lucy to be. His heart thudded loudly when he heard her shouting to take the nearest exit.

“No! The fire is on this side. Use your mobiles’ flashlights to go over there! I’ll follow as soon as I can!”

Shoving Anna the other way to ensure they did as he said, he used his flashlight to search for people who needed help. He knew it would take time for the fire brigade to arrive, but as long as there was no imminent danger towards his health, he’d get people outside.

Concentrating on his task, he trusted them to get out. They needed to be safe. He still hadn’t told Anna that he loved her.

Epilogue

It was close to midnight when Brice emerged from the chaos that had ensued. The fire brigade was still working on containing the fire, and ambulances had set up a makeshift treatment center for everybody in need.

Anna waited on a bench in front of the building, shivering a little despite the blanket she was given. Lucy had left a long time ago. When Brice appeared, she jumped up and ran towards him.

“Brice!” She threw her arms around him as tightly as she could.

“Anna! What are you still doing here?” He returned her embrace.

“I love you, Brice! I had to make sure you were alright!”

Looking up at his grimy face, she saw his mouth slowly turn into a smile. He lowered his head and carefully captured her lips in a tender, loving kiss that she returned equally fondly.

“I love you too, Anna. Let’s go home.”

Author Pen name: Cecily Anne Winters

The Mer King (In.kitt)

Author groups/websites/pages:

- Tik.T.ok: cecilyawinters

- Fac.e.book: Cecily Anne Winters - Author | Vienna | Facebook

- In.kitt: CA Winters's Profile - Inkitt