Chapter 8 - Can't Do It

     The bus drops me off a block away from Scarlett’s Treasures at seven-thirty, so I have plenty of time to walk to the auction house and calm my nerves. I don’t know why I am so nervous. I have started new jobs plenty of times in my life. This one should be no different. Maybe it is the unknown part of it. Scarlett wasn’t clear on the phone what the job details are, so I would think anybody would be nervous in my position.

      The building comes into view. It looks a lot nicer than it did when I googled it. It looks like a really big warehouse except it’s made of brown stone. There doesn’t seem to be any windows in the front of the building, and there is no signage. There are quite a few cars in the parking lot, though, so that can be a good sign, I guess. I see one door at the front of the building, and there is a huge guy with a bald head standing by it, as though he is guarding it. When I walk up to the door, he literally puts his hand up to stop me. I look down at his hand that is pressed against my chest.

      “Uh, excuse me. Can you please remove your hand?” I ask in the nicest way possible.

      He doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that he is practically groping me. He even ignores my request. Raising his other hand, he brings a radio up to his mouth, “Miss Scarlett, there is a woman here by the name of…” he raises his brow at me in question.

      “Aria Kramer.” I respond, rolling my eyes.

      “Aria Kramer, who is trying to come inside.” He holds the radio closer to his ear, but when a woman’s voice comes over the speaker, “I’ll be there in a moment,” it is loud enough for anyone in a fifty-foot radius to hear. Baldy pulls it away from his ear quick, and I snicker. ‘Serves him right!’ I say to myself.

      The door opens a few minutes later and Scarlett materializes from the darkness within. She smiles at me and gives me an unexpected hug. “I’m so happy that you made it tonight! Come with me, sweetie, and I will show you around.” She takes my hand and pulls me through the door and into the darkness beyond.

      I mean it literally. Beyond the door it is pitch black until she opens another door. We step into a hallway with multiple doors. Black carpet covers the floor and helps make the purple walls pop. I’m thinking that these are strange colors for an auction house, but I guess I’m not the owner, so I shouldn’t judge. We don’t stop until we come to a wide doorway closed off by black curtains. 

      “This is where the auction block is, or stage as some people call it. This is where our treasures get auctioned off.” She pulls the curtain aside, giving a glimpse of what looks like a shiny black stage, with lights that are in the front, facing the back of the stage. I can hear talking on the other side of another curtain that is closing off the front of the stage. I am assuming that they are the buyers for tonight’s auction.

      “Um, so where are the items that are getting auctioned off kept?” I look around, “Is that what I’ll be doing tonight? Bringing the items to the stage?”

      Scarlett chuckles, “Oh dear, they are going to love you!” Taking hold of my hand once more, she pulls me back down the hallway, “We need to get you properly dressed before the auction starts. We don’t have much time.” I am pulled through one of the doors in the hallway and told to sit at the vanity. Scarlett tosses material at me, “This will be your attire for tonight.” She stands in front of me and places a hand on her hip, “Tell me Aria, are you a virgin?”

      Scarlett asks me just as I start to hold up the material that she gave me, and I stare at her in shock. “W-what does that have to do with anything?” 

      The woman stares in amusement at me, “So we know what to start the bidding off at, silly girl.”

      Confused, I ask another question, “What item are they bidding on and what does it have to do with whether or not I’m a virgin?”

      “Aria,” there is an annoyed tone to her voice now, “They are bidding on you. You are the treasure that will be standing on the auction block.” Her eyes roll as she explains all this to me, “Bidding for a virgin always starts at five hundred thousand dollars, and you stay with them for a month. Bidding for non-virgins starts at twenty-five thousand. The house gets twenty percent, and the rest goes into your bank account. Treasures always leave with the buyers the night of the auction.”

      My mouth is literally hanging open. I am trying to wrap my head around all of it as she’s explaining. When I don’t hear her talking anymore, I look at her, “So, you are telling me that I am supposed to walk out on that stage, and stand there in this,” I hold up two pieces of scrap material, “while men bid on who gets to take me home for a month?”

      Scarlett nods her head.

      “And we are expected to sleep with them?” I choke a bit on my own saliva trying to get the words out.

      “Sweetie, for the amount that they are paying, you are expected to do whatever they want. We vet all buyers to make sure there are no sickos who will hurt any of you. You really have nothing to worry about.” She grins, “Except falling in love with them. It happens sometimes.”

      I jump up out of my seat, “I’m sorry, Scarlett. I can’t sell my virginity!” I throw the material onto the vanity, “Selling myself would be so wrong on so many levels, and I’m not keen on letting a man that I don’t know do whatever he wants to me. Thanks for the opportunity, but no thanks.”

      “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. And to think, I thought I was helping you out.” She gives me a sad smile, “You can let yourself out. Oh, and feel free to talk to the other girls behind the doors before you leave. They all have been here before and can tell you what it’s like.” She starts walking away when she raises her voice, “Text me when you change your mind, Aria. I’ll be waiting.”

      I just stand here, dumbfounded. What the fuck just happened? Do women really sell themselves on an auction block? I can’t be here any longer. Just the thought of giving my virginity to a stranger gives me chills, and having to stay for a whole month? I guess if what Scarlett says is true, and the women come back for more, they wouldn’t have to work. That just sounds too much like prostitution. I cannot do it. I look back and forth between the stage door and the door to the outside. I don’t need long to decide, I turn and head toward the door that is going to take me home.