Highest Bidder

“I’m sorry,” I said again.

I could see that she was near tears and just as I reached out to her, she brushed me off, and disappeared into her office.

I turned to meet Martin’s concerned look. My heart felt heavy with remorse.

“It’s okay. She’ll be fine,” Martin assured me

I settled on the love seat in the rear of the boutique and brought out my books to study for the internship test I would be having the following day.

After a while, she came out. “What are you still doing here?”

I jumped up from the chair. “I’m studying. And waiting for you.”

“Oh, what are you studying for?”

“Internship test tomorrow.”

She frowned. “Haven’t you already secured one?”

My brain raced to recollect what lies I had invented about the situation. I was so bad at this. “Uh, ever since the funds got delayed, I've lost faith in them so I'm trying to find a new one.”

“Who helped with the boutique then?”

“Oh that. I got some short-term funding from the professor. He spoke directly with the landlord. That’s all sorted now,” I said quickly.

She nodded then looked at me and expressed her grave source of concern. “What boy were you with yesterday?”

“He’s from my … umm … class,” I said. “But he’s not my boyfriend, or anything. We just stayed late at his place to study together. “

“If you were at his place then why didn’t you charge your phone there?”

“I’m sorry. I was careless, I won’t do it again.”

With a sigh, she looked down at the catalogue she was holding and I knew then that I had been forgiven. “I'll be staying late again at his place … to study.”

“Why can’t you study at home?” she asked with a childlike trust in me.

I promised myself that this would be the last time I lied to her. I was going to tell her about Brent. I had to. I didn’t want her to find out from someone else. “I’ll fall asleep. This is an important test.”

“Fine,” she agreed. “Keep your phone on though.”

“Yes ma’am,” I responded and went forward to give her a hug.

“Freya?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you so much for what you have done. I don’t know what I would have done if your professor friend had not stepped in and helped.”

I smiled at her. “That’s all over now. Don’t worry about it anymore.”

I took myself off to a Starbucks and spread out my books to study. A few hours of studying and I was filled with restlessness. Perhaps I was just bored, but as the moments passed I found myself staring at my phone and checking for messages. I knew that we were not in the kind of relationship that warranted constant communication, but it would have been nice for him to send a short message to tell me that I was on his mind. He never stopped being in mine. At about five o’clock, I was just returning from a refill when I saw my phone beeping with a new message.

With my heart in my throat, I placed the glass down and grabbed my phone. It was Maddie.

When will you be home?

Disappointed, I answered her and pushing the phone away, returned to work. Five minutes later, my cellphone beeped again. Thinking it will be Maddie again, I glanced at it uninterestedly … and time stopped.

It was Brent.

Where are you?

I wanted to ignore it, just for a little bit, so I didn’t look so eager, but it was impossible. Within minutes, I had the phone in my hands and was drafting a reply.

At Starbucks at South Kensington. Studying for my test tomorrow.

His text came again. How long will you be there?

My fingers flew over the keyboard. Very late. I’ll take a cab home.

I don’t know what I expected but whatever it was, it wasn’t his reply. I’ll join you.

Freya

I had to rub my eyes to be sure I had read the message clearly. Two more hours passed and there was still no sign of him. I rested my head down on the table to cool my brain and when my eyes fluttered open a few minutes later, Brent Lucan was standing over me, a cup of coffee in his hand. I hadn’t even seen him come in.

“Hey.” His voice was breathy, almost soundless but I heard it all the way deep in my heart.

He was wearing a baseball cap on his head and the same dark attire he had had on that morning. He looked nothing like the powerful magnate the world was accustomed to, but every girl’s impossibly handsome crush from secondary school. That unattainable dream was right now beside me and staring into my eyes.

“What are you h-?” I tried to ask but my brain was fried. I turned away and tried to get my breathing under control.

“You’re exhausted,” he said. “Shouldn’t you head home to rest?”

“No,” I disagreed. “I have a bit more to go through.”

“Okay,” he said, and turning towards the computer he had opened in front of him, left me to my work. I couldn’t understand how he expected me to concentrate with him sitting so close beside me that I could feel his warmth. If I were honest, I didn’t want him anywhere else either, so I placed my headphones in my ears, turned the volume up, and tried my best to ignore him. A little while later, I felt him pull a bud from my ear and place it in his to hear what I was listening to.