I was me. I did my very best. I joked and I coaxed to keep those bids coming in.
And it worked. It really worked.
I hit the higher end of the estimates time and again and kept people bidding well, and I was passionate about the pieces I was representing and enjoying myself right the way through.
It was halfway through the auction that I opted to take a serious look at Dad and move my stare on past him to Miles, and both of them were looking at me so proudly. Proud enough that it made my belly do one of those epic lurch drops from a big height. And I couldn’t help smiling right back at them both. I was on a high. A crazy high, fluttering with nerves and excitement all at once.
It was in the final few items on the agenda that the one item I was really nervous of came up, the biggest item on the list. An eighteenth century mahogany glazed bookcase bureau, in the manner of Chippendale, crowned with a broken pediment with a dental cornice.
I’d well and truly rehearsed this one.
It was one of my favourites. Something that deserved the very best expression of its worth, with a broad and optimistic three to five thousand pound estimate to live up to.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, and the room went into a hush. All eyes on me.
I made sure to keep myself calm as I described it in detail, being so thorough with its best assets.
“This truly is one of my favourite pieces,” I said to murmurs of agreement, “I hope it goes to a good home.”
I scanned the crowd before I started, and looked right on over at Miles, and he was nodding. Nodding and smiling. Cheering me on unspoken.
I needed that so much. I wanted that so much.
It was a risk to go for it, but I’d found enough confidence to trust my judgement. This room, this crowd. I was feeling it. Feeling it enough to go with my gut.
“Will someone start me at three thousand?” I asked, chancing a high start at the edge of the estimate. And it worked.
Three hands went up sharp. Three hands and a phone bid at the back of the room. And they kept coming. Three thousand to four thousand before two dropped out, and the other two were in the front row, well aware of each other’s presence. But I didn’t push too hard. My voice was happy and full of life and a little bit of cheekiness to keep those bidders smiling, and soon enough the bids were up to five thousand, and still both hands were in the air.
I could feel Miles staring at me. I could feel how proud he was for me as I kept on going.
Dad, too.
It was like being a girl on the school stage again knowing Mum and Dad would be clapping when I did my part, only this part was all me. This stage was all me and the ocean of amazing items deserving my best.
The bidding closed at seven thousand one hundred pounds. Jacqueline Glasper grinned over at me, so pleased when her bid came in top.
I had to stop myself leaping into the air and squealing my own excitement, keeping my voice steady through the final few listings until I was over and out.
My walk away from the podium was an easy one, but my route through to the main office was not. The bustle of clients kept interrupting me, so many hands on my arm telling me I’d make a fine auctioneer one day and well done for a great show.
I knew Dad and Miles would be heading over my way, stopped by as many people as I was, and I couldn’t wait to see them. Either of them. Knowing full well my heart was going to explode to have made this work on my first try.
I also knew Dad and Miles would be proud of me, but I didn’t expect the real warmth in their eyes as they joined me in front of my desk in the finance room. It was a lucky bonus that Erica was absolutely nowhere to be seen. I just hoped it stayed that way.
It was easy for Dad to pull me in for a hug and tell me what a good job I’d done, but Miles had to hover, his eyes burning mine as he told me well done. Still, I knew what he wanted to say. I knew he wanted to grab hold of me and squeeze me tight, just as I wanted to squeeze him right back. I knew he was proud of everything I’d learned from him, and how excited I’d really been to stand up there and give it my all.
But most of all I knew he loved me.