ANISHA'S POV
He took me to the country's best hotel. I am sure I must have looked very scared, because I was anxious. Uncomfortable is the word. It was my fist time to go to the place, and although I had heard a lot about its beauty, I realised that the place was way more beautiful than I thought. We were led into a room set with six large tables, and the room was dim. Soft music played at a low volume. Five of the tables were already occupied. The five were set in an arch, leaving a huge space in the centre, on which the empty table stood. Dylan led me by the hand to that centre table, and I sat down nervously. Why the center table?
I did not look at the people who were occupying the other tables, I was very tense. I kept telling myself, relax Anisha, relax. The waiters brought us the complementary meal, and I nibbled on the food slowly, failing to settle in. I was on the edge.
"Good evening doctor de Milo, it's good to have you back at The Red Raindrop Hotel. Good evening ma'am," the waiter greeted us politely. The menu came, and I read it randomly. My eyes were landing on various items as I flipped through the six pages of the booklet, and I failed to find what I could call familiar. What was I going to choose? My stomach tightened but I managed to maintain a smile. Dylan was talking to me so I kept responding, nodding my head and talking to him.
"I'll have the lobster stuffed rigatoni, with twenty-four karat gold flake sprinkles." I heard Dylan say, and I tensed up.
Yes; I was struggling not to feel out of place, but I was losing the battle. I wanted to say may I have the same, but I braved up and spoke with confidence, "I'll have the wagyu beef strips with saffron rice." I prayed deep in my heart that the waiter was not going to ask any funny questions like, do you want it on a bed of what not; or do you want it with a side of this and that, seasoned with blah blah blah…. Thankfully he just took our orders and left.
The food was very nice, I started to feel relaxed since Dylan was talking to me. We had a good time, he spoke about a lot of things, especially about his work.
A small bell rang, and I looked up to see a man dressed in a shiny gold suit ringing the bell which he held in his hands.
"Good evening ladies and gentleman, and welcome to The Red Raindrop Hotel; the best of the best in Lakeworld; a place in a class of its own, without any competition. Thank you for choosing us tonight. It is time for the side table auction…"
There was a low round of applause from the tables around us, and I saw Dylan clapping too, so I quickly brought my hands together and clapped softly.
"Our waiters and waitresses will serve our complimentary wines and juices while the auction goes on," someone said. He also was dressed in a gold suit as well, but it was of a darker shade.
The auctioneer proceeded, "first we have this beautiful painting. It is more than one hundred and twenty years old. This painting has been preserved over the years. As you can see the signature on it; this is a masterpiece, the only one of its kind in the whole world. Selling at one million dollars, anyone?"
What!! One million? The painting was beautiful alright, but I had never dreamt that anyone would buy a painting for that much money. I was on the edge yet again; my stomach tightened up and I heard the sound of a button ringing. Someone had pressed a button. OK! A female voice from the table next to us called out, "I will add five hundred thousand to that."
"One and a half million! Any other offer?" the man looked around.
"Two million," someone else said, after beeping his button.
"I have two million, any other offer?" the auctioneer looked eagerly.
The woman from the table next to us claimed the piece again, "three million!"
The man seemed to not want to give up on the piece. He offered four million. Probably not wanting to be challenged anymore, the woman next to us offered seven million dollars. Oh my word! I could not imagine what I could do with seven million dollars! If I had that much money; there was no way on earth I was going to spend it on a vintage painting. I imagined myself with seven million dollars; and I started budgeting it in my mind. I budgeted; calculated and re-calculated.
"Do you want the painting?" Dylan asked me.
Startled, I came back to reality and said, "huh?...umm, no. It's too expensive."
"I can bid for you. I saw you looking at it so intently."
"No thanks," I looked down.
I bet while I was busy doing my calculations of the seven million dollar budget, it appeared to Dylan as if I was staring at the painting in admiration.
"Fifteen million dollars, sold!" the man called out. Oh! They were still bidding? I looked at the woman next to our table; she was smiling happily.
"The second item we have tonight is this gem; an antique. A gold rimmed mirror which was used by the first ever president and first lady of Lakeworld. It is two hundred years old.
The bidding went on, and the mirror, which to me did not look very beautiful, ended up selling for twenty million dollars.
I was enjoying watching everything.
"If you want anything, please just tell me, and we will bid for it."
"Ok,' I nodded, although in my heart I was telling myself that there was no way I was going to ask for anything. The items were just too expensive. When the man announced ancient musical instruments, the ones used from over three hundred thousand years ago, I immediately knew that Dylan was going to be interested.
It was a set of three, selling as a complete set. There was a Jiahu flute, made from the red-Crown Crane wing bones. It was an extremely neat flute sitting on a clear crystal stand. I had seen it in books before, but I had not thought that it would be that eye catching in reality. The second item in the collection was a litho phone made out of resonant rocks. The litho phone was small, one for display rather than for playing. It was very beautiful,. The sterling silver Tutankhamun's Trumpet was the last item, and it caught my eye. It was beautiful. But among all of them, the bone flute was the one that I fell in love with the most.
"Do you like them? We'll get them!" Dylan whispered.
"No Dylan please, no! It's too expensive, and besides, I might not use them. I mean, you have already bought me the modern versions of these same instruments, please Dylan…"
"Shh," Dylan brought a finger to his lips and smiled at me. "I want to buy them for you. If you won't use them, then just decorate your music room with them."
And he pressed his button. Someone had bid two million, Dylan took it up to three million. A third bidder added half a million to that; and the first bidder came back in with five million. My man pressed the button. Oh no! I wanted him to stop immediately. I nervously tapped his arm and tried to talk him out of it.
"They belong to you, Anisha. Let me get them for you," he ignored me and made his bid at seven million. Not to be outdone, the fist bidder announced ten million, and Dylan put it at fifteen million. Oh no; that was too much! Dylan, please just stop! I fidgeted in my chair and looked around. Although the room was dim, I could see that no one else was uneasy. Everyone was relaxed, drinking their wines and drinks in perfect peace. I was the only one who was edgy and failing to control my anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. Slowly I slid back into my chair and prayed that the other two bidders would just stop, and let Dylan buy the instruments before the price got too high.
Twenty million! The second bidder raised it higher, and the first bidder announced thirty million. Before Dylan could say anything, the second bidder came in with fifty million, and the first bidder gave up.
The auctioneer called out, "Fifty million, any other offers? Fifty million for this ancient, immaculate, marvelous set of musical instruments. If you miss it today, you won't ever find it in any other place! Any music lovers in the house? Fifty million, is it a deal?"
"Eighty million," Dylan chimed in.
"Eighty million, do we sell at eighty million? Any other offers?" the auctioneer was eagerly selling the product.
"Eighty-two million" the second bidder fought for the instruments.
"Eighty-two million, do we have any other offers?"
"Two hundred million!" Dylan announced.
"Two hundred million, any other higher offers? Two hundred million! Anyone? The set of musical instruments sold at two hundred million!"
I leaned in to Dylan, "why did you bid such a high amount?" I could not help but ask.
"I wanted to get rid of the other bidder. He kept competing with me, so I had to get rid of him."
"Thank you," I whispered, feeling bad.
Why was I feeling bad? Because I felt it was too much. It was too much for him to spend that much money on me. The auction went on until the man pronounced;
"And the last item I have tonight, is a piece of jewellery. I can't even place a price on this one. It is too nice. This twenty-four karat gold ring carries the world's most precious stone; a pure Jadeite. Gravity 3.43, with a perfect refractive index. The fracture is splintery, it belongs in the Pyroxene group. Its crystal system is Monoclinic. It is quite a gem we have here. One to die for! How shall we price this one? I cannot place a value on it. Ummm, I see we have junior doctor de Milo in the house. May I have the honour sir, of having you helping us out with a price for this one?"
The man walked down from the stage, came straight to our table and handed over to the young doctor the most beautiful jewellery box I had ever seen.
"From the eye of a multibillionaire, what can be the price of this one, doctor Dylan de Milo?" he smiled at Dylan.