BXBX NOVEL Chapter 111: THE AUCTION!
Chapter 111: THE AUCTION!
At exactly eight o\'clock, the car driven by Hailee and Ramon arrived at a well- known hotel in town A. It was a luxurious hotel with decorations from the eighteenth century, giving off an artistic and luxurious feel at the same time.
As a gentleman, Ramon got out of the car first and opened the car door for Hailee, reaching out a hand to help her and smiled very sweetly, as if he was in love with the girl in the black dress, when several camera flashes were pointed at them.
Yeah, yeah… he was just putting an act.
Hailee grimaced, a little annoyed knowing that those smiles and loving gazes weren\'t quite as sincere as they seemed, but what could she do aside from keeping up?
Surprisingly, Ramon Tordoff was quite good to put an act.
She cracked a smile until her eyes curled like crescent moons, and took Ramon\'s hand while narrowing her eyes slightly as the flashes from the reporters\' cameras dazzled her.
"You did not tell me that there would be a lot of reporters at this place," Hailee whispered to Ramon, pressing herself closer to him, but a smile was still on her lips.
"You have to start getting used to this then," Ramon said in a low voice while walking slowly, to keep pace with Hailee who was wearing high heels high enough to keep herself from looking too short beside this man.
Hailee insisted on wearing high heels to accentuate her usual height, just to make her look a little towering if she has to face Giana.
You know, despite Ramon\'s reasoning that they were here just for this charity auction and meeting some colleagues that Ramon hadn\'t seen for a long time because he mostly would not attend events like this, Hailee felt like she had to look her best when she was attending a same event with your partner\'s ex presence too.
You know, a woman\'s competitive spirit will be summoned every time you are on a scoop show with a woman who has been in a relationship with your boyfriend.
Even now, they still haven\'t really ended their relationship, have they?
Therefore, Hailee became very defensive knowing Giana would be attending too.
And one of the things she learned is; You will feel more confident if you are taller than the other person, giving the impression of dominance.
And as long as Hailee remembered, (referring to their last meeting), Giana is quite tall for a normal woman, she is almost like a model and this annoyed Hailee very much.
It was strange and ridiculous indeed, but Hailee did not even want to lose in terms of height to that woman.
"The event should have started, right?" Hailee asked again, glancing at the watch that curled up nicely around her wrist.
Even with the heels that Hailee is wearing now, Ramon still has to bend a little to speak into her ears, overcoming the buzz around them.
Most of the reporters in the city came over to cover this prestigious auction, but when they saw the Ramon and Hailee couple, they suddenly turned into paparazzi for gossip magazines, because after all they were both currently very famous in society and no one expected that Ramon will come, even more so with Hailee.
This was a news that was very worthy of coverage.
Therefore, the atmosphere which was busy and controlled beforehand, suddenly became a little rowdy with the questions the reporters raised about Ramon and Hailee\'s relationship. It had absolutely nothing to do with this auction.
However, with tight security, they could efficiently control the situation as the couple then entered the event hall without experiencing significant disturbances.
"No problem, they are just starting their introductions now," Ramon said, glancing at his own watch. They weren\'t actually late, their timing was just right but Hailee always thought you had to come at least ten minutes early for an event.
"Oh," Hailee muttered and saw two people manning a large golden brown door, opening the door for them with a respectful greeting and a big smile.
And beyond that door, Hailee could see the overall fantastic decoration of the hall…
By the time they entered, the lighting in the room had been slightly dimmed and there was a young man who immediately recognized Ramon and led him to the seat that had been prepared for him, at the very front of the line.
Even in such darkness, Hailee could still see some of the decorations of the room and the stage ahead, which looked so amazingly impressive with the red drapes and some real tree decorations, that it resembled a small garden. Maybe that\'s the concept ...
A young woman was talking on the stage with the spotlight shining on her.
Seeing this, Hailee winced a little, maybe the cost of the entire auction event could reach several digits, which if donated would be very huge of help itself.
But, of course it was all worth it, if it were not for this kind of extraordinary publicity, how could people like Ramon and some other successful businessmen come to this event? And buy items that will be auctioned off at a price that is certainly extraordinarily expensive.
"Please…" the young man pointed out the two sofas at the very front and after making sure Ramon and Hailee did not need anything else, he left after saying a few \'obligatory sentences\'.
Hailee then pulled out a bottle of mineral water when she sat comfortably on her sofa. Apparently, the excessive attention she received earlier, made Hailee feel nervous.
"What will you buy from this auction?" Hailee asked as she tried to open her mineral water bottle, which seemed to take some extra effort.
"I don\'t know, there is nothing significant that I want," Ramon said, stretching out his hand and taking the mineral water bottle from Hailee\'s hand before opening it with utmost ease.
Once opened, he put the bottle back in Hailee\'s hands and took out his cell phone, checking the links that showcased the items for sale at tonight\'s auction.
Meanwhile, next to him, Hailee was smiling because of Ramon\'s swift gesture and enjoying the mineral water which felt much more soothing.
"Go through these, see if there is anything you like." Ramon gave his cellphone to Hailee and leaned back against the back of the sofa. Looking relaxed and not really paying attention to the course of the event, especially when the young woman on stage was still busy giving lip servicing words that weren\'t really appealing to Ramon.
Hailee then put down her water bottle and took out Ramon\'s cell phone, going through the items that were going to be sold tonight, which were almost either art or expensive jewelery.
"Did you donate anything to be auctioned this time?" Hailee asked, looking at the twenty items on the list.
"Yes, a painting from the middle ages," Ramon answered softly.
Since the list of items to be auctioned did not say who owned the item, Hailee was not sure which painting Ramon was referring to, because as far as she could see there were about five paintings on the list, but she didn\'t want to ask either.
"Are you seriously saying that I can choose anything from this list?" Hailee glanced at the initial prices which seemed very expensive and could skyrocket up to ten times as much if the bidders shown a lot of interest in an item.
"Yes," Ramon answered simply.
"Alright…" Hailee nodded her head, before looking through the list of items in the jewelry section and immediately found one that caught her eye.
It was just that, before Hailee could tell Ramon, the young woman on stage chose this moment to invite Giana onto the stage to start the auction.
This announcement, of course, caught Hailee\'s attention, as she immediately raised her head to see Ramon\'s ex walked in gracefully.
A solemn applause echoed throughout the room as a figure climbed onto the stage.
And Giana Smith appeared in her red dress and matching lipstick, which made her look charming and seductive.
Instinctively, Hailee turned to Ramon, to see if this man noticed Giana who appeared very spectacular in a low- neck dress that showed her upper body and large chest.
Hailee is annoyed that she doesn\'t have a big chest ...
Ugh!
And, of course, Ramon was fixing his attention on the stage, just like everyone else in this room, because that\'s not the point, alright? The Auctioneer would be the center of attention tonight, along with the items she would be auctioning.
However, what annoyed Hailee was the fact that Giana landed her gaze on Ramon and stared at him with a soft smile on her lips, for a few seconds, it was too long to be called normal and Hailee really did not like it.
Stop staring at my man! Hailee wanted to growl.
And while Giana still kept glancing occasionally at Ramon, even though she should have paid attention to the other people there, Hailee chose one such moment to lean over and whisper tenderly into Ramon\'s ear, catching the man\'s attention.
"I want this," Hailee then pointed to a tiara that she wanted from the start. "I want to use this on our wedding day."
Hailee then showed a photo of the tiara on Ramon\'s cellphone and the man took it, glanced at it before answering back briefly. "Okay."
"Really, is that okay?" Hailee asked, grimacing a little, but her eyes seemed to be asking Ramon to say if it was all right.
"Yes," said Ramon. "I told you, you can choose whatever you want."
Instantly Hailee\'s face brightened up and she smiled with a wide, contagious smile, which made Ramon smile along with her as his eyes softened.
Hailee looked very cute in that dress. Charming and elegant. If one could say, Ramon preferred dress styles that don\'t show much of her body, because this actually made a woman look more exclusive.
"Thank you." Hailee then leaned over to kiss Ramon\'s cheek, surprising the man with this gesture, but actually he did not mind at all. "Oops, my lipstick ..."
Hailee laughed with amusement when she saw her lipstick slightly sticking to Ramon\'s cheek and immediately wiped it off gently, with her thumb.
But, out of the corner of her eye, Hailee could see Giana witnessing all the events and her short speech was a little disturbed because she had forgotten the continuation of her sentence.
Feel it!
Hailee smiled inwardly in satisfaction.
Giana shouldn\'t have glanced at other people, especially men.
Previously, Hailee had allowed Theodore to be captured by Aileen, but Ramon was an entirely different case. He is the jackpot.
No way in hell Hailee would let her jackpot go away without a fight!