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For Better or Worse

By JD Hurst

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Chapter One
We are Gathered Here…

Dorie stared at the big red lettering on the giant wall calendar that the staff of the Industrial Indy Hotel used to track events and shifts. She drew a deep breath as the words “Annual Charity Gala” came into focus on Saturday’s block. She had worked it the previous year as a bar tender and been appalled at what had unfolded before her eyes. This year, she had already traded her shift with her friend and fellow bartender, Anna, and laid out her plan to participate in the event with the rest of the restaurant staff. She could hardly believe that they were all on board with covering her tracks, but not surprised considering how Mama had touched each of their lives when they needed it most. Someone patted her shoulder as they passed by and Anna squeezed her hand, whispering “You can do this Dorie. Your mama needs you.” She drew another fortifying breath and squared her shoulders. Anna was right. She could do anything for Mama, even this. She fiddled with the folded paper in her pocket again, afraid that even that would get her fired from her coveted position as Lead Bartender at the most prestigious hotel in Indiana, possibly the entire Mid-West. The flyer in her pocket was not for public display and she had literally stolen it off of her supervisor’s cluttered desk the day before. She would register for the “auction” tonight when she got home from work. She wished she could do it now before she lost her nerve, but her feet carried her automatically to the sweeping bar that spanned the rooftop restaurant and she set to her nightly opening duties of ensuring that only the highest quality liquor was well stocked, and the craft beer drafts were cold and ready to be consumed by the wealthy elite of Indianapolis. Two more days at the job she loved. She would either be fired or…fired either way Saturday night turned out. If she were successful in not only going undetected by management, but in the auction as well, she would be fired for using her position to enter the auction instead of working at it. If she were discovered at the event, she would be fired for using her position to enter the auction instead of working at it. Bottom line, she would be fired at some point in the next few days. It was a hard pill to swallow, as she had never been fired from anything she had set her hand to. She had always been the most exemplary student and stellar employee. It was easy for her to be good at everything she did because success was ingrained in her, a part of her nature. She only knew failure in one area and that was part of the driving force behind her decision to sign up for Saturday’s Charity Auction. But only a small part. Mama was the real reason for everything she did, including this risky move she was already making.
Halfway through her busy Thursday night shift, her cell phone chimed in her pocket. When she got a chance, she checked it. Kristie!
“Your dress is ready, and I have to say, it’s gorgeous! You’re gonna bring down the house!” A fist pump emoji was accompanied by several variations of a smiley face and 100%. Dorie smiled. She was so lucky to have Kristie as a best friend. And even more lucky that her best friend was an accomplished fashion designer who happened to be stuck in a dead-end job making costumes for the local playhouse with a little time on her hands.
A twinge of guilt scored through Dorie. Everyone was in on the plan but Mama. Mama would never approve of or sign off on this harebrained scheme. She would be furious with Dorie and might actually refuse to participate. Dorie sucked in a nervous breath and hoped that Mama was asleep when she got home in the wee hours of the morning. She needed to submit her registration immediately and knew there was no way she could do it with Mama smiling sweetly at her over her coffee cup. If she could think of any other way to take care of her mother’s mounting medical bills, she would do it, but the cancer treatment costs were spiraling out of control and Dorie couldn’t keep up, even though she was well compensated for a bartender. Before Mama got sick, Dorie had been able to provide them a comfortable enough living that Mama had been able to quit two of her three jobs and go to part time at the florist shop that she liked. With chemo and radiation, Mama hadn’t been able to keep up with even part time work and had to quit. Dorie hadn’t minded, wanting her to focus on getting well, but they were now on the verge of bankruptcy and there was no end in sight for the medical bills. Dorie couldn’t pay the rent, buy groceries, and pay the insurmountable costs of the cancer treatments and the building superintendent, though he had been kind up to this point, would soon be forced to evict them for non-payment of the rent.
Dorie sighed. Hurry up Saturday. She had to get out from under this anvil hanging over her head. The stress was killing her, and she just needed to take a step in any direction, wherever that may lead.
Four hours later, Dorie dragged herself up the steps to their small apartment and quietly slid her key in the lock. ‘Please be asleep. Please be asleep.’ Her heart whispered as she slipped into the dark entry way. The wax warmer night light that Mama always left on for Dorie shone softly and the warm sugar cookie scent welcomed her home. The apartment was quiet, and she carefully clicked the deadbolt back in place, trying not to disturb the silence of sleep. She wanted to sprint to the aging desktop perched on the scarred desk in the corner of the living room but forced herself to tip-toe stealthily across the creaky floor and wait impatiently while the computer came to life. She pulled the now crumpled flier out of her pocket and carefully unfolded it. The website for the auction leapt off the page at Dorie and she imagined she smelled smoke as the address seemed to burn the paper in her hands. Her hands shook as she typed it in to the address bar on the computer screen. When the website landing page filled the monitor screen, she felt like a gong was going off in her chest though there was no sound to welcome her to the homepage. The auction information filled the screen:
9th Annual Charity Auction Registration and Rules:
Eligibility for Registration:
1. Registrant must be healthy and of sound mind (medical and mental health records required)
2. Registrant must sign Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
3. Registrant must sign contract, of own volition, without coercion from any source
4. Registrant must agree to 50% of auction proceeds paid to charity of registrant’s choice and 50% of auction proceeds to recipient of registrant’s choice without coercion from any source. Registrant will not receive any auction proceeds.
5. Registrant will present herself in a clean, fashionable, and socially acceptable manner. Registrant will conduct herself in a courteous and professional manner. Any registrant that cannot behave with restraint and respect will be immediately disqualified and removed from the auction as well as the event.
6. Registrant will agree to marry winning bidder within at minimum, 14 days of auction
Eligibility for Auction Bidders:
1. Bidder will be financially independent and remit a bidder’s fee of $1,000,000 to participate in the auction
2. Bidder will sign Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
3. Bidder will ensure that auctionee has legal representation and has a clear understanding of contract presented by bidder prior to both parties signing the contract
4. Bidder will agree to remit 50% of payment of auction proceeds to charity of auctionee’s choice and 50% of auction proceeds to recipient of auctionee’s choice.
5. Bidder agrees to become financially liable for the auctionee’s wellbeing for the duration of the contract signed by both parties.
6. Bidder agrees that contract will be null, and void should he be convicted of domestic abuse in a court of law and a contract termination fee of $10,000,000 will be rendered to the auctionee. Upon contract termination and receipt of the termination fee, the auctionee will be released from her obligations and returned to her former life.
Dorie drew a shaky breath as she began to painstakingly fill out the registration form on the charity auction website. She felt a little dirty and quite a bit ashamed as she went through the process of literally selling herself to a man, granting him ownership of her for the rest of her life or breach of contract, whichever came first. Panic gripped her like a viper. Her chest tightened and she fought against the threatening hyperventilation. Frantically, she looked around the apartment, hoping a better way would present itself. Her gaze landed on the framed photo that Kristie had taken of her and Mama at the lake last summer, their hair blowing in the stiff breeze and backlit by a setting sun. Back when Mama had hair. Dorie exhaled slowly, the panic draining away with the pent-up breath. Mama needed the cancer treatments. Dorie was the only one standing here who could find a way to pay for them. It was a shot in the dark anyway. God had sent spies into the Promised Land before Joshua led the Israelites in to claim the land. The spies had snuck in and been hidden by a prostitute. Could this be kind of the same situation? Granted, Dorie wasn’t trying to save an entire nation. Just one woman. And she certainly didn’t feel like she was acting on God’s direction. Exactly the opposite in fact. She had prayed. She had begged for rescue from their financial troubles, pleaded for healing for Mama. She had tried everything she could think of and so many more things that others had recommended, but she just couldn’t see the exit, the escape route. So, now, here she was, sneaking into her version of the Promised Land, hoping to lead Mama into restored health and hope. Holding her breath and hoping that this last resort that she had landed on, would somehow morph into the strong tower of the Lord and somehow, she and Mama would be safe there. She sighed. She had been quoting Proverbs 18:10 to herself for over a year now, desperately seeking comfort and hope. Maybe that was the real problem here. It felt like her prayers had landed on deaf ears and her hope had been snuffed out, the scriptures unable to assuage her fear and desperation. ‘Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me for not being strong enough, for taking matters into my own hands, for being unable to hear You if You’re trying to tell me something. Forgive me, please…’ The prayer faded into mist. She had tried to do things the right way. Tried and failed.
So, here they were, all vestiges of hope pinned on Saturday night. On her ability to lure a wealthy man in her direction. She shuddered. This felt so wrong, but she just couldn’t think of another way. Panic swept through her again. It wasn’t like she had a model figure. Most of the men who would be attending this event, were likely used to model types. Though she maintained the swimmer’s body that she had built in high school, there was no guarantee that any of the wealthy men at the auction would be interested in her. If she could just get one to feel sorry enough for her to offer to help with Mama’s medical needs, that would be more than she hoped for. If one of the men actually bid on her and won, she could always just go through the motions of marrying him and staying with him long enough to get Mama well, then she could forfeit her position with him and walk away. She loved bartending. She could always go back to that somewhere else. Ugh! She had seriously lost her mind.
How bad could it really be though? Her dating track record was Love= 10 Dorie= 0. She hadn’t even found one guy that she regretted losing. It had always been such a relief to get away from them in the end. She usually had an amazing sixth sense about people, knowing what kind of person they really were before they had a chance to drop any pretense of something else. Except for when it came to men that she dated. She’d been snowed, ten out of ten times. They had always started out great and she had always had to run the other direction to end it. From stalkers to abusers, there hadn’t been a single keeper. She really couldn’t wrap her mind around how bad she was at picking men. How was it possible to get a dangerous loser every time she went on a date? She had purposely chosen from a wide variety of suitors, trying to break the cycle of losing, but nothing had worked. In fact, she had given up on spending time with men, which had led her to this moment where she was determinedly clicking Submit at the bottom of the auction registration form. Surely, this event would be better at providing a mate for her than she was. And surely, this was a lifeboat, hopefully sent by God, and not the Titanic, sent to sink them all. She cringed at the thought.
She would face Mama’s wrath on Sunday, when Dorie had to tell her mother that she’d been fired. Dorie stifled a groan. She was pinning all hope, everything on Saturday night. If she was successful, she would be able to save her mother. If she was unsuccessful, she would be unemployed, and she and her mother would be crashing on Kristie’s couch until they could make their way through the waiting list for low-income housing. She couldn’t let herself think about what else might come with success on Saturday. She couldn’t think about the odds of her actually being happy in this strange arrangement were slim to none. She couldn’t let herself think about spending her life in a loveless marriage that would likely be more like a business arrangement at best. She couldn’t think about what would be required of her as a wife of a man who would participate in this auction. She had to stay focused on acquiring the means to help Mama through the cancer treatments without asking her to live in the car and eat at the local soup kitchen.

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