Episode 20
Episode 20
Mr. Davenport
MADAM ALANA
I watched Maia accept Jade’s hand as she shakily took the steps down from the stage. I mouthed “Thank you” to Jade.
She nodded, wrapped an arm around Maia’s shoulders, and lead her to the signing room we’d chosen for her and her bidder. With my coolest, calmest, mask firmly in place, I smoothly turned around and approached the podium.
“That was exciting! I want to thank you all for being here tonight. This concludes the evening’s auction. Those of you interested in attending the next event in four months know how to reach me. Now, please, feel free to return to the meet-and-greet room where we have a complimentary beverage service and additional noshes to tantalize those eager palates. Until next time, merci ! Au revoir .” I smiled as the stage lighting dimmed and the lights over the audience brightened.
“How dare you talk about a woman like that!” I heard Rhodes holler from the middle of the room.
Christophe stood with his arms outstretched to separate Manny and Rhodes. “Now, now. It’s over. You won Maia’s hand, Rhodes. Calm down.”
“Only because I let him!” Manny blustered, wiping his hand over his balding head. He was laying it on far too thick and continuing his act well beyond what we’d agreed upon.
As the rest of my guests were straggling out of the room, I lifted my hands, fingers forward, and shooed them on like baby chicks. “Nothing to see here, please exit,” I called out, waiting until the last person left. “Gentlemen,” I called out as I approached.
“Alana!” Rhodes seethed, his face reddened in obvious anger. “This man needs to be kicked off your list of eligible bidders.” He pointed a jaunty, accusing finger in Manny’s direction. “You should have heard the things he said about Maia,” he snarled.
“Oh?” I fluttered my lashes and played along, wanting to hear why Rhodes felt the need to defend her honor.
Manny grinned in my direction. “It worked, didn’t it?” He stepped away from Christophe, lifted his hand to his forehead, and ripped off the wig he’d worn. “Ah, yaassssss. That damn thing was itching something fierce.” His beautiful black hair was slicked back beneath the wig. He shook his large belly with both hands. “Jesus, this damn thing is soooo heavy,” he griped.
“What the hell is going on?” Rhodes snapped, his lips twisted into a snarl as he watched his nemesis.
Manny unbuttoned his blazer and his dress shirt, then dropped both onto an empty chair. “I’m sweatin’ buckets in this thing!” he complained.
“You chose the costume, not me.” I shook my head and crossed my arms.
Manny removed the large belly and chest mold that was looped around his shoulders and shrugged it off. Then he stood in a white T-shirt and slacks, stretching and arching his back. An audible popping sound filled the room, and he groaned in relief.
Rhodes stood there, eyes wide, hands resting behind his neck. His mouth dropped open in an expression that could only be labeled as shock.
“Darling, how did Manny do?” I asked my Christophe.
He moved to my side, put his arm around my waist, and kissed my temple. “ Mon couer , Rhodes was ready to start a brawl right in the middle of the auction. He was so angry.”
“Nailed it!” Manny laughed, pumping one fist in the air while ripping off the bulging nose prosthetic that covered his much nicer, natural Romanesque one with the other hand.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You played me?” Rhodes gasped while his brows furrowed, anger and sadness marring his expression.
“I wouldn’t exactly call it that,” I responded gently, trying to be considerate of his currently volatile mood.
“So, this guy acted like a douche for what reason? To get people to up their bids?” He shook his head. “Unbelievable. I thought you ran a legit auction here,” he continued, taking the situation in an entirely different direction, one that was sordid and uncouth. A path I hadn’t even considered because I wasn’t normally the type to deceive. Alas, desperate times had called for desperate measures. If I hadn’t intervened, Rhodes wouldn’t have even considered bidding on a wife this evening. Something that I knew with my whole heart would do him a world of good.
“Darling, the intent was not to up the bidding price. It was to get you to bid in the first place. Maia already had a buyer who was willing to pay top dollar. I didn’t tell Manny to bid on her at all. Just to act as though he would.” I narrowed my gaze at Manny. “Bidding was not part of our agreement.”
Manny, a thirty-five-year-old method actor, slumped into a chair. “I got caught up in the whole thing. It was really exciting and when I knew I was making Mr. Drag Ass there upset, I had a feeling he wouldn’t take the plunge until I went all in. As actors, we have to know when to improvise.”
I closed my eyes and inhaled a breath, then slowly let it out, trying to calm my own ire.
“I apologize, Rhodes. The intent was not to raise the bids, nor was that part of my very explicit instructions,” I stated with severity in my tone while glaring at Manny. “The plan was only to get you to see what you might miss if you didn’t bid on Ms. Fields.”
“He called Maia a pint-sized whore!” Rhodes growled between clenched teeth.
I jolted back into my husband’s arms. “ Pardon moi ?” I focused my gaze on Manny.
“Improvisation, my friend. You weren’t responding to the sexy talk. But when I called her names, you got really hot around the collar. I knew you’d go for it then.” He smiled as though he’d done something positive and expected to be praised for it.
I sighed and went over to Rhodes, placing my hands on his arms and looking him directly in the eye. “I’m sorry I deceived you. Please understand my intent was to encourage you to bid on a woman you yourself said you couldn’t stop thinking about. If you’d like to terminate your bid, I will allow it because it was done under false pretenses. I’ll tell Maia she will have to come back to the auction in a few months.”
Rhodes snarled. “Fuck!” He put his hands behind his head again and started to pace. “I can’t imagine her going through this again. She looked so happy, and that smile.” He sucked in a quick breath. “Men would crawl across hot lava to see that smile every day. Fuck!” he cursed again. “I don’t know what to do, but…”
I tried to hold back my smile as he mentally and physically went back and forth between his own needs and his wants.
“Rhodes, it’s okay. I’ll talk to Maia. I can probably go into the meet and greet and get the other interested party to take over her bid right away. Maybe not for seven million, but I’m sure between him, Maia, and myself, we can come to an agreement that suits all involved.”
He suddenly snapped to attention. “The hell you will. I won her fair and square. No other man will touch a single hair on her stunning head,” he returned, his chest rising and falling along with his frustration.
“Yes, but technically it was under false pretenses, and I will not hold you to it based on deception. That’s not how I run my business.” I squinted over at Manny, who winced and looked away, now sullen.
“I-I…” He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t want to back out. Take me to her. Now,” he demanded in no uncertain terms.
“As you wish. Follow me,” I instructed. “Manny, wait here until I’m ready to deal with you.”
“I ain’t leaving until I get paid anyway.” He grinned happily, not realizing the massive errors he’d made with his deplorable judgement.
When we exited the room, I turned to Rhodes. “I am deeply sorry for what occurred. You are my family. I would never lie to you. I simply wanted to encourage you to consider the opportunity before you.” I swallowed against the fear that this could be another person in my life that I might lose due to someone else’s ignorance.
He reached out and cupped my shoulder. “Hey, I get it. Your heart was in the right place, and hell…” He looked down at his shoes. “Maybe it’s the nudge I needed. I don’t know. Things aren’t going well with Emily. Her mother could give a rat’s ass about her, and I’m so goddamned lonely,” he admitted, his shoulders dropping in what could only be defeat.
I pulled him into a hug, pressing my cheek to his chest. “I know you are. You’ve done everything you could for your daughter, Rhodes. Deep down, she knows that. She also knows you love her to distraction. But there comes a time when you have to put some of your own happiness on your priority list. It can’t all be Emily and work, intermingled with Portia’s antics. You deserve someone to come home to at the end of a hard workday. Someone to discuss the highs and lows of raising a teenager. Maia could be that for you, if you’re willing to take the risk.”
He sighed and shifted me out of his arms. “What if it’s like what happened with Portia?”
“Being unfaithful is against the contract,” I stated with conviction. “Maia will forfeit it all if she betrays you. And I promise that young woman needs this just as much as you. Maybe for different reasons, but I think over time you will see her reasons line up with yours.”
He chuckled and looped his arm around my shoulders. “Ever the romantic. You realize she’s in this for the money, right? Which is basically the same reason Portia took me for a ride.”
I shook my head. “Maia needs the money, yes, but I think she’ll surprise you. Get to know her. Take her out. Travel a bit with her. Introduce her to Emily.”
“Fuck! Emily is going to shit a brick. This is going to rock her world and not in a good way. Portia just told her yesterday that she wasn’t marrying Pablo. I can’t introduce her to yet another new person who’s going to change her life.”
I rolled my eyes. “Portia has more fiancés than I have expensive shoes, and, mon cher , I adore my wide variety of footwear,” I tutted.
He laughed out loud.
“Besides, you do not give that girl enough credit. She is not unaware of the coming and goings of her mother and the lack of interest she takes in her life. Emily may need you to start treating her like a young adult. Then maybe she’ll start acting like one.”
He rubbed at his jaw. “Maybe you’re right. Still, this is going to be a major blow. Her dad found a woman and is all of a sudden engaged? After eight years of not even bringing home a single girlfriend? Sure, I had some fun here and there, but nothing that would warrant an introduction to my daughter.”
The man had a point. Emily needed some time away from all of them. A little space to blossom, to find herself and mature. And I knew just the way to help make that happen.
“How about this? You were scheduled to come spend a couple weeks with us at the end of your Summer with Emily, oui ?”
“Yeah,” he grumbled.
“Since I’m done with the auction, we’ll take Emily for the next couple weeks. Give you the time you need to get to know Maia personally, then you can bring her to France and meet up with your daughter. And Christophe and I can help with the transition.”
“Really? You want to take Em for two weeks?” He gulped. “She can be a real handful.”
I waved my hand in the air. “Christophe would love nothing more than taking her to every museum and castle in the French countryside. And it would give me one-on-one time with her. You know I live to spend time with my niece.”
“I couldn’t ask that of you.” He worried his bottom lip with his teeth as he considered it.
“You’re not asking. I’m offering. She’s already at our apartment here. Meet up with your intended, sign the contract, take her out to dinner, and I’ll secure Maia a room at Joel’s resort. In the meantime, I’ll discuss the idea with Emily about her coming to France with us for a couple weeks. Then when you arrive later in the evening to pick Emily up, we’ll discuss it further.”
“If you’re sure,” he said while rubbing at his jaw. “Sounds like a plan.” He took a breath as I opened the door to the signing room.
Maia spun around to greet us, her eyes as wide as saucers when she saw her bidder for the first time.
“Oh my God, it’s you!” Her hand rose to cover her mouth as she blushed deeply.
“Yes, it is, sweetheart. And you can call me Rhodes, your fiancé, or Mr. Davenport.”