My One And Only

So I braved up myself and confidently walked towards them. The officers greeted me, the moment they saw me. Anna Maria stepped sideways giving me the central position.

“What do I owe you gentlemen giving me a surprise visit in the very morning??”

I asked, with a smile on my face but it fell off the moment I heard what they were here for.

“Good morning, ma’am. We are from the auction team. We are here to start the necessary processing for the upcoming auction which is to begin any hour from now…”

One of them said, the middle one very politely. I did not understand what kind of auction they were talking about.

Not that I had not attended auctions before. I had done it several times, the fundraising auctions were the popular ones.

But the thing was, things related to auctioning were mentioned a day or two earliest to me but I did not recall my dead parents mentioning it to me anytime recently.

“I m sorry but what kind of action?”

I could not help but question them, not caring to get those mocking eyes of ignorance later. I needed to be tough, I knew that.

“Auction of this mansion ma’am including every piece of antique and valued possession inside.”

The same person replied to me and I could not believe what he just said.

Auctioning off my house??? What the hell was even going on?? Where would I live if they sold this to someone else??

“There must be some kind of mistake, there is not going to be any auctioning here. ”

I announced to them, trying to impose a sense of authority in it just like my father.

“Ma’am sorry but if your father had not informed you about it. Since the Rutherford Corp bankruptcy, your father could not afford this place along with all the other properties he acquired, so he had signed it away for auction…”

He went on and on about how we had no penny left. So father had signed away all his properties in exchange for loans from the private banks but he could not lift up the bankruptcy off.

So all the delegates were here after his death to collect the possessions that my father had signed off to them unknown to my knowledge.

I was blown away when I recalled what my mother said when she was bidding me farewell. That how even after selling everything, they could not make it to the sum total of saving the company.

What I did not get was they would be selling even the mansion… our house?? Where would I live then from now on??

Did they not think about me at all while making that stupid and ignorant decision?? Were their life only revolved around the company??

“So ma’am if you cooperate with us, we could get this done sooner. We need to access every material of the mansion from dresses to watch to anything to note down their sum and worth.”

He said and waited for my approval to let them inside the house. Did I have a say in any of these?? Because my dead parents had already decided about it without thinking to share this important piece of information with me at all.

So I just stepped aside and let them in, all of them. One by one all of them came inside and started to access every piece of material inside the house, they spread across the living room, some of them went up, a few stayed back checking over the downstairs rooms.

I stood there by the door, Anna Maria by my side as we both eyed how those strangers in the black suit were rummaging through all our items making everything a mess.

Not in my wildest dreams, I thought would have to watch my own house getting ready to be auctioned.

Why would my parents do that?? Did they not think about me at all?? That if they would sell this place, where I grew up my whole life, where would I go to??

I was called upstairs in a few minutes after almost an hour into all these. I had to follow up, Anna Maria joined me too.

I was taken aback at what they had done to my room. It was an utter mess. My walk-in closet deteriorated, all my vintage and classic clothes, branded were dropped onto the floor as three women in suits to we’re counting the prices on them.

They were not thinking about auctioning my clothes right?? That would leave me with no clothes either.

“Wait, what the hell is going on here??”

I asked after I took in the sight of what they had done. They were not allowed to go through my personal stuff right??

“We are trying to estimate the price of all the dresses, ma’am. ”

One of them answered and it made me want to shut her up and kick her and her team of black suits out of my fucking house.

“But those are my personal stuff. You are not allowed to go through them just like that. ”

I reasoned but she shook her head in negative. What did that supposed to mean??

“Ma’am, everything that came up with the house, inside and outside including dresses, underwear, everything, your father had given up the rights on them. So we have all the right to go through your place.”

She explained to me in her polite, professional voice leaving me with nothing to say or speak.

My father had sold me out to the market… sold everything that we ever had… he owned alongside the bankrupt company.

The entire house was in chaos, black suit people everywhere, messing with the things that belonged to us but not anymore.

My mother’s paintings, all were gone… her jewelry collections, dresses, the vintage statues we bought through auctions.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

I stayed seated on one of those chairs by the side as they continued with their work. A big carry truck was parked outside as they took away all the materials we ever had leaving nothing behind but the plain walls and ceiling.