A Bid For Your Heart

"If I flunk my psychology midterm tomorrow then it's not going to matter who I meet tonight, because my parents are going to pull me out of school and force me to work for the family business," Camila argued as her roommate, Dinah Jane, attempted to pick out an outfit for her to wear to the open house at the student art gallery.

The event doubled as a fundraiser for the art program, so they would be accepting donations in the form of bids for a blind date with the artists based on viewing the section where their individual art was displayed. Dinah, who endured Camila's quips about being chronically single on the regular, had decided to put her foot down and dare her to do something about it. Unfortunately, the perfect event fell smack dab in the middle of an exam week and studying seemed like a much more practical use of time than playing the mating game.

"They're only taking bids for the first half hour. You'll be out to dinner before the hour's up. And you had to eat tonight anyway so...what's the difference?"

Camila self-consciously pulled down on the end of the dress Dinah last tossed at her to try on, feeling an opposition growing within her at the shortness of it. Either it was borrowed from somebody clearly much shorter than her or someone with the type of perfect legs it would be a sin not to show off. All it did for her was act as a reminder that she should have started using the free campus gym months ago.

"Why can't I wear something casual? It's not like an art student is going to show up to this thing in a suit and tie. That's too uptight for a creative type, right?"

"Your first impression of them is going to be their art. Their first impression of you is going to be how fabulous you look. You'll thank me when they can't keep their eyes up after seeing you in this dress," Dinah insisted.

Camila shook her head in protest.

"I'm not trying to seduce them on the first date, Di. If I was out there looking for a booty call then I could have had that months ago. I want there to be substance, a genuine connection. Otherwise what's the point?"

Dinah signed deeply at her roommate's predictable sappiness. She was a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic after all.

"Okay but alls I'm saying is like...if they happen to be in your psych class and invite you up to their room to compare notes then I'll personally beat you down if I hear about it and you didn't go," she threatened while working on fixing up Camila's hair.

Camila rolled her eyes.

"In the off chance we're taking the same test I'd expect to be invited into a study room, not their bed. Your suggestion sends the complete opposite message of what I need right now."

"What you need is to get laid. It would take the edge off some of that stress about your grades."

"Doubt it," Camila mumbled as she double checked her room key was in her purse so they could head out to the gallery.

-

It was twenty minutes into the event and Camila still hadn't placed a bid on any of the artists. Many of the bids were already set too high for her to match, let alone exceed, so that eliminated some of her choices from the get go. Dinah had run into Normani, a new friend from her dance class, halfway through, so she carried on to view the last few displays without her. They were five minutes away from bidding closing when she reached the next to last section. She noticed the bid was still fairly low and it would be within her budget to place one if she put it in last minute to avoid the risk of somebody trumping her.

Camila allowed her eyes to travel over the three sketches and two paintings, all representing various nature landscapes. It was clear the artist had an appreciation for scenery and a keen sense for detail. She found herself most enamored with their painting of a mountain scene. In her mind she was able to travel there and feel the chill of the higher elevation and it captured her attention so effectively that she almost missed the last call to write her bid down on the sheet beside it. In quick scribbles she wrote "$40.00" in the first column and "Camila Cabello" beside it in the second column. She handed the clipboard directly to the lady who was going around collecting the bid sheets and took a couple deep breaths as she waited impatiently for more information about how and where to meet her date.