The Auction House – Part 2: Hammer Price
Workplace·EN·2 min read·Published 2026-11-07, updated 2026-11-07·Part 2 of 2
The season's big sale ended at eight.
The final lot went under the hammer, a mahogany desk to a collector from Zurich, to a roar of applause. The room emptied slowly: bidders shaking hands, dealers murmuring in corners, porters wheeling crates away. By nine, the great saleroom lay silent and dim, the chairs in untidy rows, the podium lit by a single lamp.
Harriet sat at the foot of it, shoes off, the gavel in her lap. Dev appeared with two glasses and a half-bottle of something fizzy.
"Prosecco," he said. "From the staff room. It is probably two years old."
"It's perfect."
He sat beside her on the step. They clinked glasses. The room smelled of beeswax and old paper and dust, of a hundred years of other people's belongings passing through.
"I've never sold anything like that vase," said Harriet.
"I've never carried anything so ugly."
"It's an excellent vase."
"It's a hideous vase."
"It made four thousand pounds."
"It made me the loser of a bet." He sipped. "I owe you a coffee."
"You gave me one."
"I owe you another."
"Dev."
"Can I ask you something?" he said.
"Yes."
"May I take you to dinner? Not as a porter. As a man who has watched you work for two years."
Her heart gave a startled, warm thump. "Yes. May I kiss you first?"
"Yes," said Dev, almost inaudibly. "And if you say stop, you must auction me."
"What would you fetch?"
"Probably twelve pounds."
"Then I'd bid higher."
She kissed him, quick and bright, then slow, a hand rising to his white-gloved shoulder. He kissed her back with a shy, reverent warmth, tasting of fizzy wine and coffee. The lamp glowed gold. A single piece of paper fluttered from the podium to the floor, and neither of them noticed.
When they parted, both of them were smiling.
"Green?" he asked.
"Green," said Harriet. "Very green."
The vase is now in the lobby, in a glass case. The label reads: Lot 42. Sold for £4,200. Worth every penny of the bet.
More workplace romance stories: The Late Shift · Night Shift · The Personal Trainer
You finished “The Auction House”
If you liked this one, these are the closest matches.
Workplace · 2 parts
The Stage Door
Imogen is the new understudy at a West End theatre. Theo, the stage door keeper, knows every secret in the building and offers to tell her nothing for a cup of tea.
Workplace · 2 parts
The Auctioneer
Philippa, an auctioneer, and Jonathan, her partner, play a private game in the empty saleroom. They agree the rules at the rostrum.
Workplace · 2 parts
The Control Tower
Niamh and Conor share the night shift at Dublin air traffic control. They have a rule: never discuss feelings on frequency. It lasts three weeks.
More stories you might like
Workplace · 2 parts
The Stage Door
Imogen is the new understudy at a West End theatre. Theo, the stage door keeper, knows every secret in the building and offers to tell her nothing for a cup of tea.
Workplace · 2 parts
The Auctioneer
Philippa, an auctioneer, and Jonathan, her partner, play a private game in the empty saleroom. They agree the rules at the rostrum.
Workplace · 2 parts
The Control Tower
Niamh and Conor share the night shift at Dublin air traffic control. They have a rule: never discuss feelings on frequency. It lasts three weeks.
Workplace · 2 parts
The City Archive
Isla starts as archivist in a Glasgow basement. Callum, the conservator, tells her the 1912 shipyard ledger is missing. By evening, they have found it somewhere odd.
Workplace · 2 parts
Backstage in Prague
Klára is stage manager of a Prague theatre, and lighting designer Tomáš keeps changing her cues. An hour before curtain, the leading lady's pistol goes missing.
Workplace · 2 parts
The Night Bakery
Greta starts a night job at a Vienna bakery where the head baker, Matthias, talks to nobody before the first loaf. By dawn, she has made him laugh.