Auctioned For Christmas.

Chapter 3

All their rooms were painted in a soft peach shade. Arty's room had royal blue curtains, royal blue silk bed covers and a small royal blue mat, the room was clearly a combination of white and royal blue.

Gwen's room was a mixture of white and light-grass-green, her curtains were the shade of green, her silk bed covers and the small mat too.

Kayla smiled brightly as her room was a combination of gold and white. Her bed was golden-silk, her mat: gold. Her curtains: gold.

Gwen and Arty pretended to be sad as they had gotten the ordinary rooms just because Kayla was getting married.

"Now run along girls, we have to present you in an hour at least. So bath, fix your hair, get dressed, do your make-up. I have some cooking and baking to supervise. There are phones in your rooms. Just pick it up and it goes through to me, if you need help I'll send a girl to help you out." She folded her arms as she gave them strict, stern glances.

All three girls marched to their destined rooms and prepared for the evening party.

Gwen, Arty and Kayla all showered in their borrowed rooms.

Gwen finished faster than the other girls because she always took great care with her make-up and her hair. Next to finish was Kayla, her curiosity made her leap to the clothing rack in the dressing room, she NEEDED to see what kind of clothing was lined up for her. Arty spent a full 20 minutes under the hot spray, making sure that all her problems and worries disappeared with the running water.

After the steaming hot shower, Arty ordered coffee to be brought upstairs. She retrieved her laptop from its case and opened it. There were two emails awaiting her: one form Lee, her bakery manager and a wonder-woman behind the stove. The other email was from Eddy, her friend and events-business manager.

Coffee arrived.

Arty thanked the girl and got back to her laptop. The first email from the bakery had a list of ingredients that were being bought. And recipes that would be used during her absence. She emailed back confirming everything and giving Lee the go-ahead.

The clock showed that only 30 minutes was left.

Arty returned her attention back to the screen and opened the remaining email, a smile appeared on her face as she noticed that he had kept the email as short and direct to the point as possible. The email announced what events they were to organize for the next couple of days. Arty gave the plans a thumbs up , also notifying Eddy that he should contact Lee about the catering. A glance on the clock notified her that she only had 20 minutes left.

Dashing for the bathroom, Arty reached for her hair-dryer and dried her gold locks. It took 3 minutes.

Heading to her make-up bag , she did her make-up, letting it remain as natural and light as possible, this included a light-red blusher, and hinted-eye-shadow. Topping her make-up with a red lips.

10 minutes left...

The dressing room door was left slightly ajar, opening it wider, Arty saw a 10 dresses lined-up. Raging from blue to white to red to all other colours in-between.

She stood there in pure amazement, minutes passed.

8 minutes left.

Heading to the exquisite collection, she took the first one that caught her eye: the royal blue, knee-length satin dress decorated with a nude-coloured belt.

4 minutes left.

Shopping around for shoes, Arty found Daffodil nude leather platform high heels. They were perfect. her manicure matched the nude colour.

2 minutes left.

Finding a brush in her hand bag she brushed her stubborn gold curly-locks letting them hang to their original height: her waist...

Seconds later Kayla knocked on her door.

"Hey sis? Arty? Come on we gotta go."

Gwen was clothed in a stylish black long evening gown which split lightly, revealing her long right leg, as she moved. Her gold hair framed her face making her seem very much younger than her original age.

Kayla appeared as young as an eighteen-year old teenager,her brown hair classified her as a young-brunette woman. Martha appeared and walked towards them, she moved fast and softly.

"Ladies, you are all to be presented as you walk down the stairs first, it will be the bride Mikayla then Gwendolyn and lastly Artemisia." She instructed the girls as she moved towards the stairs leading down.

The girls followed automatically forming a line according to their age and height. Kayla was infront, being the shortest, Gwen was a few inches shorter than Arty.

The wasn't a sound anywhere except the clicking their heels on the tiled floor. The corridor had been lined up with arty painting that must have been originals of wonderful famous artists. Soft lights were used to give the corridor an air of peace.

Kayla reached the stairs first. She smiled and half-whispered: "Everyone's waiting for us."

Shock sent shivers down Arty's spine. Risking a glance at the crowd below, she swallowed trying to moisten her dry throat. There were so many people down there, a hundred perhaps?

Gwen shot her a wink and mouthed the words: "Breathe, chin up, smile"

With those word she took her first step, disappearing slowly from Arty's sight. Arty couldn't hear a word that was being uttered, all she could hear was the beating of her heart. It was beating so loudly that she merely thought her eardrums would burst from the harsh frequency.

Gwen's words came back to her...

Breathe.

She took deep, calming breathes.

Chin up.

She set her chin on a determined level.

"I can do this!" She told herself

Smile.

She smiled and went towards the stairs, gripped the banister with her right hand. Eyes stared back up at her.

A huge basketball perched in her throat, she tried to swallow. Nothing. Searching the dozen pairs of eyes she caught Gwen's eyes. Fear evaporated. She swallowed. The lump in her throat disappeared.

Breathe.

Chin up.

Smile.

Concentrating on these words she just saw herself moving down the stairs, her heartbeat went back to normal.

"Ladies and gentleman, my dimpled-smiling niece: Artemisia Summerton." Uncle Alex's voice spoke loudly and clearly.