Cuffed by Will

XXI. War

One hour into the night, I was slightly buzzed and more than slightly, bored. I was happy that I didn't spot Jeremiah yet but my gut feeling said I shouldn't be relieved so soon. When a man came onto the stage and stood behind the podium, everyone quieted down and looked at him, anticipation and excitement buzzing in the air.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are now going to start our most anticipated event of the evening. I hope all of you are well stuffed and have your wallets open for the Blue Bell Organization." Everyone gave out a chuckle or two before he continued. "As you all know, the Blue Bell Organization aims to provide free education, along with basic necessities to the less fortunate children living in less developed countries. Therefore, I hope you will be kind and generous enough and I assure the young and old men out there waiting to start bidding that you'll get your money's worth." People hooted and clapped and the same woman I met earlier came to me. Ezra smiled, messaged for the timeout and she dragged me away while I looked at Ezra helplessly.

"I can't wait! Not only is this a fun opportunity, it's also for a good cause!" A woman giggled backstage.

"I know right. And I can't wait- oh my God, are you Clara Penn?" The second woman looked at me with bright eyes and little miss Work Attire left me alone after telling me to appear on stage when I was called.

"Uh... yeah. What exactly is going on?" The two women exchanged glances before looking at me excitedly.

"Aww, did Mr. Copper give in your name? He must totally have his eyes set on you." The taller woman of the two, wearing a sapphire blue gown said in an awe struck voice.

"He's totally waiting to bid on you!" The woman in black said and then they collectively sighed dreamily.

"And probably tell the whole world she's his!" Blue Girl said and they both jumped up and down excitedly and giggled.

"Uh... sorry?" I cut in and looked at them.

"Oh right, right. Uh... basically, the way we are earning for charity is that we are on auction."

"What?" I spluttered out and looked terribly horrified while Blue Girl laughed nervously.

"Stop it, Phoebe. She can't explain properly. Sorry, what she meant wasn't in the way you think but a simple dance and dinner.

"Oh." I stated and relaxed significantly. No wonder Ezra didn't tell me. I would have chopped his head off by now. A few minutes into the auction, Blue Girl and Phoebe left when their names were called and so did the other woman backstage. I realized I was last, which, in a way, made me happy.

"Your turn." Miss Work Attire said and I took a breath and mentally prepared myself before going onstage.

"And last but not least, we have the gorgeous Astraea Townsend." The auctioneer said and it took me a while to realize everything was anonymous so I felt even more relieved. Phew! But then, if two women could recognize who I was behind a mask, couldn't others? "Miss Townsend excels in linguistics. Her favourite languages are Mandarin and Dutch," I almost wanted to burst out laughing when he said Dutch. "Besides that, her hobbies include baking, dancing and soaring. We shall start the bidding at ten thousand dollars."

"Ten thousand, the young gentleman in the red bowtie." The auctioneer said and I could tell it was Ezra.

"Twenty thousand." Another man said and everyone's eyes turned to him. But the mask did nothing. I could clearly tell it was Jeremiah. Fuck, I'm so screwed. When I glanced at Ezra, I could see he was fuming behind his mask. Shit. Now would be the perfect timing for me to get hit by a meteorite.

"Thirty thousand." Ezra gritted out and Jeremiah smiled.

"Fifty." Jeremiah replied in utter amusement. The tension between the two brothers was clear. Everyone's eyes were on them.