Release the Stars (12 page)

“Glad you could join us, lovebirds,” Michelle said, making the other writers break out in cat calls and wolf whistles.

“You’re still up for the auction, aren’t you?” Liz asked as she let go of Charlie.

“Anything for my dear friend Liz,” Charlie said, and shot Liz a wink.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“For the life of me, I’m not missing a second of this lesbian auction,” Nick said. “Jason, hurry up! We’re late!”

Nick had lured Charlie into riding with them with the promise of not having to mind her alcohol intake, but he’d also instructed Charlie to arrive at least an hour before they had to leave so he could “correct her look.” Charlie had arrived a half hour early, downed the better part of a bottle of wine, and swatted Nick’s hands away whenever he made the slightest attempt to touch her. She knew far better than him what lesbians liked to see.

By the time they had to leave, and with a good amount of liquid courage in her system, she finally worked up the nerve to ask, “Have you seen Ava?”

“I see her on TV every week, darling,” Nick said absentmindedly, a clear deflection.

“How is she?”

“Jason!” Nick yelled. “Jesus. Queens and bathrooms. It’s a nightmare.” He stopped pacing and sat down next to Charlie on the sofa. “Do you really want to know? I mean, you’re not friends anymore. Maybe it’s better to stop talking about her.”

Charlie’s work days had grown much longer now that
Underground
had started shooting and she had welcomed the opportunity to bury herself in work and the excitement of filming a TV show with both hands. Being near the one and only Elisa Fox didn’t suck either. When she came home in the evening, she was too exhausted to even glance at her TV. Her YouTube binge watching had dramatically decreased as well. “Okay, Nickie, if you say so.”

“For some reason, she has started seeing Eric again. It must be her way to forget about you, which I have told her in no uncertain terms, but women can be so stubborn sometimes,” he blurted out. How long had he sat on this information, waiting for the right moment to share it?

The news still hit Charlie like a slap in the face. “She’s seeing Eric again?”

“Apparently he made some big love declaration. I don’t know too many details. Last time we spoke, she seemed kind of reluctant to address the topic.”

Jason finally emerged from the bathroom, every single hair on his head in the exact spot it was meant to be in. “I’m ready,” he exclaimed triumphantly, as though it were a major feat to only need an hour to groom himself.

“The car’s been waiting for hours.” Nick emphasized the word “hours,” not exaggerating at all, as usual.

“You look smashing, Charlie. I bet you’ll go for a million bucks.”

Charlie had been so busy with work and trying not to think about Ava, she hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the day of the singles’ auction creeping closer.

“Let’s go,” Nick said. “Lesbians don’t wait.”

* * *

When they arrived at the venue, the place was heaving. As though she’d been waiting, Liz pounced on Charlie as soon as she saw her, barely noticing Nick and Jason.

“There you are,” she said. To her credit, she didn’t tap her watch. Liz was co-organizer of the auction. “I know this was all in the e-mail I sent you last week, but you’ll need to come backstage at a quarter to nine exactly. You can be there sooner, but definitely not later, okay?”

“Who’s this policewoman, Charlie?” Nick asked.

It seemed to finally register with Liz that Charlie had brought Nick Kent.

“Oh my God,” she said, totally out of character. “I absolutely adore you.” Then she slapped Charlie in the arm. “Why haven’t you introduced us before? You know I love
Laughing Matters
.”

“Erm, Lizzie, you told me you had applied for a writer job on the show years ago. You never actually said you loved it.”

“Hi, I’m Nick’s husband.” Jason stepped forward, hand outstretched. “But I also go by Jason.”

Liz, Nick, and Jason exchanged some niceties, and Charlie took the opportunity to scan the room. She spotted Josie and a few other members of her softball team to the left of the stage. Britt caught sight of her and waved, Charlie waved back.

“I have to go now,” Liz said. “Please make sure Charlie does as she’s told,” she said to Nick and Jason. “And I do hope you’ll stay for the party after. All proceeds go to the youth homeless shelter.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Jason said, and patted her on the back. “You’re awesome for organizing this.”

“Check this.” Nick handed Charlie a flyer as Liz sped off. “You’re the top catch tonight, Charlotte.”

Charlie took the paper from him. Liz had sent it to her for approval a few days ago. It was likely that the poor woman had barely gotten any sleep, what with the show filming at a hectic schedule and putting this fundraiser together. Seeing the picture of herself printed out like that gave Charlie a strange sensation in her stomach. Now that she’d seen the flyer, it was as if all eyes were on her.

“No seats?” Nick pouted. “Lesbians really have no class.”

An amplified tap-tap-tap came through the speakers. Charlie took the opportunity to shove Nick playfully in the shoulder. Then a woman Charlie didn’t know took the stage and welcomed them all.

“I’ll get us some drinks,” Charlie offered. The presenter was still making introductions and giving details about the chosen charity. According to the flyer, ten women would be auctioned off tonight, and she was the last on the bill. She could either be nervous until it was her turn or drink away the knots coiling in her stomach. She chose the latter. She headed to the bar and purchased a bottle of red wine.

She said hello to Sarah and Tiff on the way back to the boys, then poured them generous portions.

“Take it easy, tiger,” Nick said. “You don’t want to fall off the stage. Think about your net worth for the next hour, please.”

Megan, the first woman under the hammer belonged to a team Charlie hadn’t played against yet, so she didn’t know her. She’d scrutinized Liz’s flyer and the only woman she’d been remotely tempted to make an offer on was Josie. It was probably a bad idea, but Charlie didn’t dismiss it entirely just yet.

The crowd roared, and bidding paddles were thrust into the air generously. Megan went for $550 and was introduced to her date under loud cheers from the audience.

Charlie waited until Josie had disappeared backstage to say a temporary goodbye to Nick and Jason and join her teammates closer to the action.

Her team cheered exuberantly when it was Josie’s turn. Sarah was the first to bid on her.

“Just to get the numbers up,” she whispered in Charlie’s ear.

Numbers soared for Josie and a quick-fire of bids brought the sum to $1900 in no time.

“Should I bid?” Charlie asked Sarah.

Sarah widened her eyes. “For real?”

“I feel like I owe her.”

While Charlie chatted with Sarah, two stubborn bidders pushed the amount higher and higher.

“Go for it,” Sarah shouted. “Anything goes today!”

Charlie checked out her competition. The woman who had just bid $2400 was tall, blonde, and so LA Charlie believed she should stay out of this fight. The other person was Asian-American like Josie, but she was much bulkier and wore her hair shaved close to her head.

“It’s now or never, Charlie.” Sarah prodded her arm.

The MC acknowledged Charlie’s raised hand and shouted, “We have a new contender in this race. That brings us to $3000, ladies and gentlemen.”

The Asian woman scanned the room and, when she saw Charlie, shot her a filthy glare. Someone had the hots for Josie.

The blonde counter-offered, again.

“Three thousand one hundred,” the MC said, her voice growing more high-pitched every time she screamed out a new amount. “Let’s set a record here, folks.”

Charlie raised her hand again. The blonde countered again, until they’d reached $3500, and Charlie’s opponent resigned from the bidding war. Their teammates whistled and yelled encouragement to Josie, while slapping Charlie on the back.

Charlie was still coming down from the adrenalin rush of bidding, and only snapped out of it when the MC called her to the stage, as she had done with all the previous winners.

“Someone has deep pockets,” the MC said. “We love that!”

“Some things have no price.” Charlie stood next to Josie awkwardly.

“I know you’re on the same team… literally and figuratively, so I won’t introduce you. Enjoy your date, ladies.”

Charlie and Josie left the stage together under loud applause.

“Seriously?” Josie asked as soon as they were backstage.

“Why not?” Charlie retorted. “I think we need a do-over. I know I screwed up last time.”

“You guys.” Liz headed in their direction, a big smile plastered on her face. “That was awesome!”

“We’ll see about that later,” Josie said.

“Oh, come on, this is for charity. Have some fun.” Liz poked Josie in the bicep with her elbow.

Charlie cocked her head and fluttered her eyelashes, hoping to win Josie over with some slapstick.

“Okay, fine. I surrender. I will go on a date with you again. No phones allowed,” Josie said.

“That’s the spirit!” Liz beamed. “The next one’s up. Charlie, no need for you to go back to the front now. It’s almost your turn. You can watch from the side of the stage if you want. Or you can chat some more with Josie, of course.”

“I’ll gladly stay here,” Charlie said. “I’m not entirely sure it’s safe for me to go back out there. Someone gave me the evil eye just before I outbid her.”

Josie lingered backstage with Charlie. “What happened to the woman who was texting you on our date?” she asked.

“She’s out of the picture.” It hurt for Charlie to say that, even though she smiled through it. “She’s straight so—”

“Charlie, you’re up!” Liz shouted.

“Good luck,” Josie said, and gave her a thumbs up.

Charlie walked onto the stage and could barely see because of the spotlight that bathed the front of the house in a bright white light, and her eyes needed a moment to adjust.

Through the crowd’s cheers, she could hear Nick’s voice. It wouldn’t surprise her if he bid just for laughs.

“Here we have Charlie Cross, ladies and ladies, and the five gents in the back!” the MC said. “Best get your check books out one last time.”

Charlie had downed enough wine to not want to sink through the floor with mortification, but she wasn’t feeling very natural and relaxed either.

“Do you need me to introduce the lovely Charlie or is that not required?” the MC asked the audience. They broke out in another cheer.

“Just get on with it,” a low voice shouted from the back. Her team, positioned to the left side of the stage, hollered.

“As you wish,” the MC said. “We can’t possibly let Charlie Cross go for less than a thousand dollars, so let’s start bidding at that price.”

“One thousand five hundred,” Nick shouted.

“Very well,” the MC said. “Thank you, sir.”

Charlie would die of embarrassment if no one bid higher than the gay friend she brought. It was nerve-wracking to be on display like that, like a piece of meat, being examined by hundreds of people.

To her relief, the bids kept coming. The league had advertised the auction well.

By the time the MC shouted “five thousand for the woman in red,” most of the bidders had dropped out. Charlie’s eyes had adjusted to the lights, and she was able to make out more and more of the faces in the audience.

“Does anyone bid more than five thousand,” the MC asked.

“Six!” a woman in the middle of the pack shouted. Charlie recognized her voice from earlier bids.

“Whoa!” the MC said. “This might be the winner right here!”

The crowd went silent with anticipation. Charlie’s gut clenched.

Then, as the MC drew a breath to declare the last bidder the winner, a voice came all the way from the back.

“Ten thousand,” the voice said. It was a voice Charlie would pick out of any crowd. She blinked a few times and shielded her eyes from the spotlight with her hand. All the way in the back, flanked by Nick and Jason, Ava stood with her hand raised defiantly—making a clear stand.

Charlie tried very hard to hold on to that feeling of pure joy that raced through her at the sight of Ava. For a fraction of a second, she felt like the luckiest girl on the planet.

“That definitely seals the deal,” the MC, now almost completely beside herself, screamed. “While we give Charlie and her generous bidder a big round of applause, may I ask that the lady in the back come to the stage, please?”

The crowd cheered, half of them craning their necks to see who had made such an outrageous bid on Charlie. Charlie could hear some muffled sounds of surprise coming from the audience.

Still in the jubilant grasp of an adrenalin rush, Charlie staved off any worries about Ava exposing herself like that, about having bid on Josie, about anything other than this moment of bliss she found herself in.

The crowd parted for Ava as she strode to the stage as though she were on the catwalk. She didn’t glance at anyone and kept her gaze solely focused on Charlie. Charlie’s heart slammed furiously against her ribcage. She wanted to skip the date altogether and just take Ava home.

There on the stage, Charlie was, at last, free of the fear that had paralyzed her for months.

Liz rushed to the front of the stage and gallantly offered Ava a hand as she climbed the steps. When Ava turned to them, the crowd went wild. Charlie didn’t dare look to her left where Josie stood.

“It’s Ava Castaneda, ladies!” the MC hollered. “How amazing is that?”

Ava gave the audience a quick wave then walked from the other side of the MC to Charlie. The smile on her face connected directly with Charlie’s soul. It was odd to have this realization in front of a bunch of strangers, her softball team, and under a scorching hot spotlight, but for Ava, Charlie would try. She would banish the fear, the insecurity, and the jealousy. She would let Ava in.

Ava leaned toward her and whispered, “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make you realize how serious I am about you.” She grabbed Charlie’s hand and squeezed. Charlie couldn’t remember a moment in her life when she’d been happier.