money

"When the bidding commences," said the auctioneer, "raise your paddles. I will call upon you as I see fit. Once the expected bidding exceeds your personal spending limit, simply lower your paddle."

"I want to bid!" said Kat. "What can I bid?"

"Bid your tits," said Jan sarcastically. "You love them. Everyone loves them."

Kat turned back to her. "Can I do that?" She looked at Damien. "Can I do that? How does bidding work?"

Damien smiled and shrugged. "There's no real rulebook. You offer a bid. If the auctioneer accepts it, then that's it -- you win. You exchange your bid for the prize."

"I can't bid my tits, Jan. So, nice try." Kat scowled, disappointed with the notion that she didn't have any chance of winning the auction.

Wyatt noticed Kayla staring at the elf. Kayla was smiling a bit, and seemed lost in thought. "I'm just entranced by ... all of this," he said quietly.

"You want an elf?" Terrence asked, skeptical of Wyatt.

Wyatt shrugged. "I've never thought about it before. Who's ever considered buying an elf before?"

"I have," said Kayla, not looking back.

Wyatt and Terrence were quiet.

"I've thought about it," Kayla continued. "I mean, it's just fantasy, right? I play games, read books, write ... you know."

"You write?" said Jan.

Kayla blushed. "I ... have written. Stories. Fiction."

"Is it erotic?" asked Kat as a joke.

Kayla's cheeks turned even redder, and she looked away from her sister.

"It is!" said Kat. "Is it? Is it really? Tell us, tell us! Oh my god, if you're, like, actually, like ... sexually interesting, that would be amazing."

Wyatt glared at Kat. She was being obnoxious and Kayla didn't deserve that.

"Shut up, Kat," Kayla said. She snapped her head around and looked at the group. "Fine. Whatever, it doesn't need to be a secret. I write fantasy fiction. Some of it is kind of, you know, adult."

Kat laughed. "I love this! Oh my god, I love this. I want to read some!"

Wyatt interrupted. "It's about elves?"

"Some of it," said Kayla. She looked back at Lexi. "And seeing this one here, I'm just ... it's amazing." She stared, and tilted her head a bit. "I mean, she's just like one of the characters I had created. She even has a similar name. Mine was ... Luna."

Wyatt couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew he had to win this elf for Kayla. He had no idea how he was going to do it, but he knew he had to.

"All right, all right!" said the auctioneer. "It's time for the bidding. When I count to three, paddles up! And you must keep your paddle up until either the current bid exceeds your own -- in your estimation of your bid's value, of course -- or until I call upon you." He surveyed the room, relishing in the recognition that all eyes were on him. "One, two, three!"

Fifty or so paddles went into the air. Kat had hers up. So did Wyatt. None of the rest of the group of friends was participating, but they were very interested in how this was going to play out.

"Gentleman to my right, what's your bid?"

A middle-aged man lowered his paddle and said, "I'm CEO of a large international corporation. Two months of my salary -- which is about $200,000."

The auctioneer chuckled. "Pass!" A handful of paddles went down, people who felt their bids weren't valued any higher than the first man's financial offering. "Onto the next bid. You, young lady in the back."

A woman in a greed dress stood up, waving her paddle. "Straight up, no strings, one million dollars."

"Pass! Money can only go so far!" Many more paddles dropped.

Terrence asked Damien, "I get it, they're all rich -- but if the guy's not looking for money, what does he want?"