Watching. Jeff Edwards

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      ‘Young lady, this is not Woolworths!’ said Doug Green, looking down at her from his rostrum.

      Jade blushed red, realising her mistake.

      Doug Green looked back up at the room. ‘Now what am I really offered on this beautiful item.’

      ‘Fifty!’ Came a call from the rear of the room.

      Doug Green looked in the direction of the bid. ‘We’ve got a room of bleeding comedians here today! Come on people! Proper bids please.’

      ‘One hundred!’

      ‘Finally, a bid of some consequence! Now, do I hear one hundred and fifty?’

      The bidding continued, and Jade slunk lower into her seat, totally embarrassed.

      A man’s voice behind her said, ‘I see you have an eye for a bargain.’

      Feeling as though she wanted to crawl, unseen, out of the room, Jade turned toward the man making the snide comment, and found herself looking into the smiling, blue eyes of Captain Robert Symes.

      He leaned forward in his chair. ‘Do you really want the vase?’

      Totally embarrassed by her experience, Jade simply nodded.

      ‘Just wait then. I’ll tell you when to bid.’

      The bidding continued, with the offers rising slowly to four hundred pounds.

      Doug Green continued, ‘I have four hundred pounds. Are there any more bids?’

      The room was silent. ‘Going once. Going twice.’

      Jade felt a tap on her shoulder.

      Still embarrassed, Jade did not know what to bid and called out, ‘Four hundred and two pounds.’

      The hall erupted in laughter.

      Doug Green turned toward the latest offer. ‘I see the young lady from Woolworths has graced us with another bid.’

      ‘Four hundred and ten,’ came a further bid.

      Doug Green called out, ‘Four hundred and ten. Going once. Going twice.’

      ‘Four hundred and twelve,’ came Jade’s bid, as a result of a further tap on her shoulder.

      ‘We have a further two pound increase from Woolworths.’

      The crowd laughed.

      ‘Four hundred and fifty.’

      Doug Green turned to Jade. ‘Do I hear four hundred and fifty-two?’

      Jade nodded. Blushing.

      ‘I’ve got four hundred and fifty-two from Woolworths.’

      ‘Five hundred!’

      ‘And two!’ called Jade, getting into the spirit of the game.

      There was silence, as the other bidder tried to make up his mind. The girl seemed to be determined, and he had a budget to stick to. He decided to try once more. ‘Five hundred and twenty.’

      ‘Five twenty-two!’ piped up Jade.

      The other bidder looked at Doug Green, and nodded in the negative. He had already overbid his budget by twenty pounds, and had no intention of entering a potentially disastrous bidding war. He was a professional, and there would always be another vase.

      Doug Green raised his gavel. ‘I have five hundred and twenty-two. Going once. Going twice. Sold to the lady from Woolworths.’ The gavel was brought down.

      Jade could hear her heart had been beating loudly, and she realised that she hadn’t taken a breath for some time. She slumped in her chair in relief.

      She looked at Robert Symes. ‘Thank you, but what do I do now?’

      Robert laughed. ‘I suggest you call to the cashiers, and pay the price, or start running.’

      ‘I’m so exhausted; I don’t think I can stand. Could you go to the cashier for me?’ she asked Rani.

      ‘I’ll go. Besides, I’m sure that you have plenty of things to discuss with your new friend,’ she said with a cheeky smile.

      Jade handed her a wad of notes, which Rani slipped quickly into her purse.

      Standing, she turned to Captain Symes. ‘Would you be good enough to look after my seat until I return?’

      ‘It will be my pleasure,’ smiled Robert Symes, as he took Rani’s place beside Jade.

      The auction continued around them as further lots were offered, and snapped up by willing bidders.

      ‘You could have gotten the vase a lot cheaper, you know.’

      ‘How?’

      ‘I find that if you make a substantial bid to start off, it scares away a lot of the amateurs, and the professionals won’t bid more than they’ve allowed for. They don’t want to buy something they can’t resell for a profit.’

      ‘Thank you. I’ll remember that. What are you looking for?’

      ‘I drop in whenever I can. There are a couple of items that interest me, but I will see how the bidding goes before I decide whether to enter the fray. There’s nothing here that I can’t do without.’

      Rani returned, and Robert Symes returned to his seat.

      ‘They’ll pack the vase for us to pick up after the auction,’ advised Rani, ‘How soon before the bed comes up?’

      ‘It might be a while. We’re only up to lot 356.’

      ‘Well, I’ve had enough of all this excitement. I’m going home to dive back into my books.’

      ‘Are you sure? I was hoping to go to the Golden Stag later.’

      ‘I might see you down there later. Perhaps your new friend might be interested in jazz.’

      ‘You never know. Perhaps I’ll ask him after the auction,’ grinned Jade.

      As soon as Rani left, Robert Symes moved to the seat beside Jade, where the pair engaged in polite small talk, while the lots continued to pass under the hammer.

      Robert broke off their conversation long enough to bid on a pair of matched shotguns, which attracted a lot of attention around the room. He stopped bidding at five hundred pounds, and the lot was finally knocked down at six hundred and fifty.

      ‘Overpriced,’ was Robert’s only comment on missing out.

      He was successful in his attempt to secure lot 395, a bamboo fishing rod, with reel and wicker creel. ‘A steal at the price,’ he commented. ‘By the way, what are СКАЧАТЬ