Chapter 46

Athena nodded once more while Leo chuckled, damn, why is it that whenever he was near Athena and Sean, he use to have enough fun that would last him till when he would meet them again? He sat back and relaxed on his chair, waiting for the machine to come up, oh he just can t wait.
As they waited, Sean and Leo bid on three different items which they have no mind of taking home and just concluded to let them have their items back and just make the payments. Finally, the time Leo has been waiting for arrived and he couldn t keep the smile off his lips, he glanced at Frank who was happy and ready to start his bidding and shook his head softly, if only he knows what was coming for him. Not only the fact that Athena would be bidding with five dollars extra but also the embarrassment Frank would sustained during the process, he almost felt sorry for the poor boy.
The auctioneer began, "and right now, we have the Malcolm Schick s legendary sewing machine, the man who knows how to work the needles back then and personally invented the machine himself. A lot of designers are interested in this item but only the best shall leave with it. The bid begins from one hundred thousand dollars; can I hear one hundred and five thousand?"
"One hundred and five thousand," Someone shouted behind Athena and she turned to see Augustus who smiled to her, she returned the smile and faced her front again. Her heart was thudding in her chest, she has never done this before, she could almost feel fear rising in her, what if at the end Sean abandons her to pay the amount herself? Where would she get that from? She glanced at him and he winked at her with a smile, she heaved a deep sigh, no, Sean would never do that to her, even if he doesn t want her and is not attracted to her, he would never put her to shame, she advised herself.
The auctioneer continued, "can I hear one hundred and seven?"
Another person shouted and raised her card and it ended up being another designer, it continued to one hundred and fifty thousand and it was then that Frank made a bid, he took it to two hundred thousand and everyone wowed, so much for just a machine? A lot of bidders gave up, why spend so much for an old machine? They thought.
"Two hundred and ten thousand," Augustus raised his card.
"Two hundred and twenty thousand," Shouted another bidder.
"Two hundred and thirty thousand," Frank said and turned to smirk at Augustus but his eyes met Athena s, she smiled to him and he was surprised to receive the smile. He turned back to his front why wondering if she had finally decided to come back to him, his happiness knew no bound and when Augustus bid two thousand and forty five thousand; he smiled and bid, two hundred and fifty thousand.
He turned to gloat at Augustus but Augustus smiled and urged him on, a gentle way of withdrawing his bid. Frank was so happy and he couldn t wait for the gavel to sound, he knew the bid had left a giant hole in his account but that doesn t matter, he would recover it once Fashionista opens sales for his red sea. Esperanza s fans that were already preordering the dress are enough to replace the amount he spent and still add a whole lot extra.
The auctioneer started, "can I hear Two hundred and fifty five thousand?" He waited and no one said anything, "Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, going once, going twice and…"
"Two hundred and fifty thousand, five dollars," a sweet voice suddenly said and everyone was shocked, what kind of a bid is that? They all thought as they looked around to see who was making the bid. Everyone was surprised to see the same card Sean has been using to bid but this time it was in the hand of a very beautiful woman who looked like the goddess of the night with her sparkling dress and enchanting face. The most shocking thing was how Sean sat beside her protectively with his arm hanging on her chair behind her back and his beautiful hazel eyes swimming around the room, silently telling anyone to dare question her.
The auctioneer was in a difficult position, he didn t know what to do and he can t end the bid because the bid was five dollars higher, it was embarrassing to even think about it, he had never been in this position before. He gulped and glanced at Athena but he saw Sean looking at him as if asking, 'yes, what is it? Didn t she make a bid? He looked away immediately and cleared his throat, "can I hear two hundred and fifty one thousand?" He decided to bring it a little down and just wish no one would make the bid so that Athena would win the machine and stop the ridiculous bid.
Frank was still in shock as he stared at Athena who has not even glance his way, he cleared his throat and bid, "two hundred and sixty thousand."
"Two hundred and sixty thousand, five dollars," Athena said again.
Every one gasped again, what is going on? She can t just be making a bid with five dollars extra right? It can t be that she doesn t have the money, right? They mean she can call out two hundred thousand; obviously she was just doing that to annoy Frank.
And Frank was really annoyed, he raised his card and bid, "two hundred and seventy thousand."
"Two hundred and seventy thousand, five dollars."
"Two hundred and eighty thousand."
"Two hundred and eighty thousand, five dollars."
"Two hundred and ninety thousand."
"Two hundred and ninety thousand, five dollars."
"Three hundred thousand dollars."
"Three hundred thousand, five dollars."
With time, people were already tired of the ridiculous bid, while everyone was groaning and couldn t wait for one of them to give up, Leo was trying his best not to laugh out loud and wishing for it to continue.
Frank was fed up, the more he was bidding, the more hole was being dug in his account, he has to end this and there was no way he would pay three hundred thousand dollars for that machine. An idea struck him and he smiled, since Athena wants to play, fine, he would give her a good game, he turned to her and smiled before rising his card, "one million dollars."
Everyone gasped, even the vendor was surprised as well as the auctioneer, one million dollars for that rickety old thing? As if on cue, everyone turned to look at Athena, all waiting to know what she would do.
Athena wanted to raise her card and continue but Sean placed his hand on hers to hold her down, she looked at him in surprise and he smiled, "it s a trap," he whispered and she looked at Frank immediately to see that he was watching her, also there was urgency on his face, she looked back at Sean and he winked.
Everyone waited for her to call out her bid with the same five dollars extra but they waited and nothing came, Frank was almost peeing on his pants, it was taking all the strength for him not to jump up and scream at Athena to make her stupid bid but when he looked back at her, he discovered that her, Sean, Leo and Gloria were staring at him and it was only then did he realize that he had fallen into his own pit.
The auctioneer s voice rang loud in the extremely quiet room, "can I hear one million and ten thousand?" But no one said anything, he looked at Athena again but there was no sign of her raising her card, he gulped and started feeling bad for Frank, obviously, he just dug a pit for himself. It wasn t only him that was thinking that, every other person in the room, including the reporters were thinking the same. They finally realized that Athena had been building a trap for him all along and he fell head first into it.
"One million dollars going once, going twice and sold to Mr. Frank Jones," and then the gavel sounded, it was a loud bang that sounded in everyone s heart, everyone except Leo and Sean. Even Athena felt bad for Frank. Everyone s thought was where would he get such amount and all for an old machine?
Esperanza glared at him, "you should know better not to compete with Sean," was all she said to him before looking at Athena and smiled, the bitch knows how to play, she thought and shook her head. It took a whole minute before the auctioneer brought out the next item to be auctioned but everyone knew that Frank s predicament is something no one would love to experience.