The man looked at Grace who nodded almost imperceptibly. The man raised his hand again.
‘I have four hundred dollars.’
‘Go to seven hundred on the next and they’re yours,’ whispered Grace out of the corner of her mouth.
The opposing bidder put their price up.
‘Five hundred,’ called Alan.
‘Seven hundred,’ called the man next to Grace.
Alan looked at the other bidder who shook his head.
Alan, desperate to get the bigger items sold, didn’t waste any time. ‘Sold,’ he said and the photographs were moved off the stage.
‘Wow,’ said the man to Grace.
‘Well done,’ she smiled at him.
‘Thanks to you,’ he said, laughing.
‘Can I buy you a coffee in return for my winning bid?’ he asked.
Grace paused and looked at her watch. ‘I have to go to work,’ she said ruefully. He seemed quite nice but she really didn’t know him. Birdie would never have approved.
‘Well, what’s your name?’ he asked playfully.
‘Grace.’
‘I’m Frank.’
‘Hi Frank.’ She held her slim hand out.
He took her hand in his and held it.’ Nice to meet you, Grace. Can I have your number?’
She was suddenly flustered and she wasn’t sure why. Men asked for her number all the time, arrogant city boys who assumed she would be a party girl like her sister.
‘Um … I’m not sure,’ she said awkwardly.
‘Well, I might need a hand hanging these in my apartment. Think of it as finishing your work,’ he said cajolingly.
Grace sighed, there was something so friendly about him, and easy. His apartment probably consisted of a bed-sit and the hard-earned photographs would be hung over the toilet, she thought. And then admonished herself. Don’t be a snob, Grace. She needed to stop being so uptight, as Violetta had been reminding her for most of her adult life.
‘You give me your number,’ she said. ‘And I’ll call you.’
‘No, you won’t,’ he said, and for a moment looked hurt.
Grace felt bad as Birdie’s face came into her head.Don’t judge, Grace, it’s not an attractive feature. Call the young man, he seems very nice, her mother’s voice said. And before Grace knew what she was doing she took the pen with bite marks in the end from him
‘Ok, here it is,’ she said, and wrote her cell phone number on his catalogue.
‘Great, I’m gonna call you,’ he said in a threatening voice.
‘Well, I might not answer,’ she said in the same voice he had used.
‘You will,’ he said without any arrogance.
And Grace walked away smiling for the first time in two weeks.
