Emily to the rescue... Again

"Uh, were the arms always like that?"

"No, they were at the head."

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! They noticed!" Barbara inwardly panicked, "The gigs up! Em is ruined and I'm out of a job!"

Emily bit her lip as she heard the buyers muttering with one another, trying to think about what to do. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head as she looked up and pretended to notice what everyone else saw.

"Hey! Who did that?!" Emily called out as she made her way up to the stage, praying that this would work. Turning to the buyers, she loudly stated, "I'm terribly sorry, everyone! Somebody must have repositioned the piece while we weren't looking. One of the components of my Hodgepodge Art is that the arms are made of a bendable material that's easy to pose. So, let me just..." The woman took Barbara's hands and placed them back into position, "The good news is, in a few days, the material were harden and stick in the right position."

"I love you like a sister, Em, but no one is that -"

"She's right!" The female art critic from before called out, "She told my associates and I that that was a drawback to her new art technique."

This seemed to calm the buyers and auctioneer down as the former talked amongst themselves, the buyers sounding a lot more interested in this "new art form".

"Wow. For a bunch of people who act like they’re smarter than everyone else, who knew the art world was full of morons?" Barbara thought to herself in shock.

The Auctioneer cleared her throat as she said, "If we are finished with this little Q&A, then it's time to get back to the bidding. Now then, do I hear 'twenty-five tho-'?"

"One million!" A representative from The Louvre suddenly shouted, causing the room to gasp at the woman. "That piece must belong in The Louvre!"

"O-one m-m-million...?" Emily asked in a shocked whisper.

"Ha!" A man from The Smithsonian suddenly called out, "The only way The Louvre is getting their hands on this piece is if it gets it on loan from The Smithsonian! Three and a half million!"

"Very well then." The Auctioneer said, "I heard 'Three and a half million'! Do I -"

"Ten million!" The woman from The Louvre shouted.

"Oh, yeah?!" The man from The Smithsonian challenged, turning to glare at the woman. "Fifty million dollars!"

"One hundred million!"

"Two hundred fifty million!"

"Three hundred eighty-two point six million!"

"Five hundred million!"

As the bidding war continued, Emily began to feel a little faint as the numbers went higher and higher. With an actual distraction keeping everyone's attention, Barbara blinked, unsure what to make of all this.

"Eight hundred thirty-six million dollars and fifty-two cents!" The Smithsonian challenged.

The French woman merely laughed before giving off a wicked smirk. "Here's my final bid: Three hundred ninety-nine billion dollars and ninety-nine cents. Can you top that?"

The entire auction room went silent, all heads (with the exception of Barbara's) turning to The Smithsonian Representative.