The Date Auction

Chapter 16: Finding Your Heart

I spent most of the day wandering around in a funk. Yes, I had a date with Blaise, and yes, I was excited, but something told me this date would be our last. After all, he had no more reason to date plain, normal me anymore. I regretted that he ever won the date auction. If I'd never met him, I wouldn't be feeling this way.

I wanted to follow my heart, like Courtney did, but how could I follow it if the man I wanted to date didn't ask me out on more dates? And was Blaise the man I wanted to date? Or was it Jake? I was still so undecided on that matter.

Unfortunately, I had no shortage of the man I didn't like. Pence Vilehand had a paper route, he told me, and somehow I kept wandering where he needed to go, just ahead of him. Honestly, my luck these days was terrible. I tried to do the things that normally cheered me up. Some kids had chalked a hopscotch path on the sidewalk, but halfway down it I realized they'd marked two squares with the eye rune, making it impossible to complete. I pulled my walking mimosa out of my backpack, but I'd forgotten to refill it after the Grand Canyon. I tried thinking about genitals, but I was too distracted to keep it up all afternoon.

By the time evening arrived, I was convinced disaster was oncoming. I was tired down to my soul, and barely looking forward to the night. When Driversby smoothly pulled up the limo, it took me nearly five seconds to spring out the door.

"What's wrong, Madison?" Blaise asked, "As we all know, I can always tell when you're feeling bad."

"Tonight's going to be our last date." I said.

Blaise looked shocked. "Why is that?" he asked.

"Because we haven't already planned the next one."

He nodded in handsome agreement.

I couldn't stay upset around him! If tonight was our last night, I'd make the best of it.

"So, where are you taking us?" I asked.

"I know a place," he smirked, "But it's a surprise."

I bit my lip. How this boy liked teasing me!

I didn't know this part of town. It was pretty, with the kind of natural beauty people told me I have. To my tremendous surprise, we stopped somewhere that held no personal significance to me. Distantly, I heard a river bubbling by, and I could see a cave, filled with a simple table and pitcher of mimosas.

"Where... are we?" I asked.

"We're..." Blaise self-consciously scratched the back of his head, "this is actually where I grew up. I wasn't... I wasn't always rich. I'm a self-made rich person. I thought you deserved to know that."

"Oh, Blaise!" I said, "I'd never judge you for not having money in the past!"

He grinned, like the sun coming up above a sexy horizon. "I was so worried."

"So this was your home?" I asked.

"Yep. My parents raised the pack of us in this cave. We never had very much growing up, until I made so much money as an entrepreneur."

"I never knew! How'd you do it?" I wondered. Could this man be any more amazing?

"Investing." he said. "I can't believe you accept me for who I am. I'm so glad. Let's sit down for dinner."

Driversby brought out silver platters covered with my favorite sumptuous meals. I dug in.

"Did you ever play in the nearby river?" I asked.

Blaise stiffened. "I... was always scared of the river." he said. I laughed.

"I was!" he said, "my parents loved it, but weren't good swimmers."