Part 5
1043 Words
FIVE
Violet took an inordinately long time reading through the auction description. So long that she made butterflies take flight in Flavia's tummy. What if this turned out to be a terrible mistake?
"Don't you think this is a bit extreme?" Violet said.
"No. It's justice. We both promised we'd wait. If he's going to throw that all away and pay some girl for s*x, then I'm going to do the opposite."
Violet frowned. "The opposite would be joining a convent, not a brothel. If you do this, it'll make you a p********e. A hooker."
"I'm a working woman already. So are you. We sell the services our bodies provide no matter what job we're doing. My fingers on the keyboard, my mouth to talk to clients, my – "
"Yeah, but you're not doing it n***d, are you?" Violet interrupted. "This is a lot more personal than booking people's flights. Some stranger will be touching you, inside you."
"Better than James, now I know where his d**k's been."
"Have you spoken to him yet?"
Flavia nodded. "I asked him about last weekend. Even though he told me last Sunday he had a hangover, now he's changed his story to how he left the pub crawl early with the flu. I know he's lying. And if he's lying to me about this, how many other things has he lied about? How many other girls has he slept with? I can't marry him, Vi. I can't marry a man I don't trust."
"So don't marry him. Break off the engagement, call off the wedding, and save yourself for someone else," Violet replied, popping a couple of nuts in her mouth.
"I don't want to save myself for anyone. The only reason I did was because his family's religious and that's what James wanted. A virgin bride, so that's what I intended to be. Now...screw him. Screw his whole family. Not literally, of course. If that hypocrite gets to have s*x while I have to stay chaste...to hell with that. I don't want to spend my wedding night in pain. Let some stranger have the dubious pleasure of deflowering me. A man I'll never have to see again." Flavia forced her breathing to slow. "I could just go out and screw the first man I meet in a pub. I could. But this way...it's a statement. It puts a number on just how much James is throwing away."
Violet made a derisive sound in her throat. "A price on your body, you mean. You're worth more than however many dollars you get offered for this...insanity, Flavia. I mean, how much do you expect anyone to pay for...what are you offering? One quick f**k?"
Flavia winced, but she steeled herself into acceptance. Violet was right. s*x with a stranger wasn't making love. It would be one quick f**k. Over and done with as quickly as possible, so as not to prolong her pain. "One night. One night with me in a five-star hotel. I'd walk in a virgin, and walk out...a woman." It actually sounded tempting when she put it like that.
"One night? How much do you expect to get for that? Even Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman only got $300."
Flavia was ready for this one. "I'd say prices have gone up since that movie came out. A model in Brazil auctioned her virginity. For one night, some guy paid $800,000."
Violet whistled. "That sort of money could set you up for life. You could buy a house and still not need to work for a decade. But she's a famous model, I guess, not a travel agent from York."
"They don't know that. All the info they have is that picture you took of me at Cottesloe Beach last summer. No name, no address, no face, no phone number...even a new email address that I only created today. No one will know who I am." Flavia straightened smugly. "I've thought of everything."
"For that price, what if he wants kinky stuff? Or what if he's some full-blown, s******c psycho who wants to chain you up in his basement?" Violet ventured.
"He'd need to provide a full police clearance. A national one. One that says he's never been charged or convicted for any offense anywhere in Australia. And I'm not going anywhere near his house, basement or no basement. Five-star hotel, remember? In Western Australia. We'd both sign confidentiality agreements and agree to have no contact after that night. Simple."
Violet bit her lip so hard it bled. "Please don't do it. This is crazy. You're crazy. It's five weeks before your wedding and you're getting cold feet. That's normal. You and James will work this out and –"
"We won't," Flavia interrupted, slamming her hands down on the desk. "But if by some miracle it was his identical twin, lost at birth, who was banging that girl on a table, and he can prove it, then I'll call off the auction. A click of a button and it'll disappear." As if to demonstrate, she clicked her mouse cursor on the LIST ITEM button. The screen blanked, refreshed and the countdown started. In ten days, she'd have a buyer for her body.
"NO!" Violet reached for the mouse, but Flavia closed the browser before her hand could make contact. Violet's eyes shimmered with tears. "What have you done?"
Flavia lifted her chin. "I've taken control of the situation. The ball's in James' court now. When he confesses to his c**k-up and explains to me what he was doing, I'll show him the auction. He'll see what a mess he's made, and then I'll tell him he'll have to explain to all our friends and relatives why the wedding's cancelled. I'll call off the auction, he can call off the wedding, the world will know him for the wanker he is, and we can all get on with our lives."
Violet burst out laughing. "You mean it's all a bluff? You don't intend to go through with the auction?"
Flavia cracked a smile for what felt like the first time in a week. "s**t, no. What if the guy who won was some wrinkly old man who couldn't get it up? I'd die of laughter. James has ten days to get his arse to my house so I can confront him in person."
Violet wiped away tears of what Flavia hoped was mirth. "I sure hope you know what you're doing. You keep an eye on that auction and don't let it finish, or you'll have one angry winning bidder on your hands."
Flavia nodded fervently. "Of course. I can't believe you thought I'd actually do it, Vi. I'd never sell myself. Not for any price."
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