A Difference in Opinion
1132 Words
“Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am the director of the Bellaham Museum of Arts, Rhea Jones and I want to welcome you to our 113th Annual Exhibition. I want to thank the press for showing up for this year’s exhibition. I hope you’ll write nothing but excellent things in your reports. I look forward to seeing them” she smiled. Anyone who heard that would think she was being cordial but it was a thinly veiled threat. She knew those who had been invited as press. If they dated to write anything amiss, they might just disappear.
“The separation is just a formality and a staff member would come to assist you and show you around the exhibition floor so you can take appropriate pictures. Thank you once again for coming.”
It wasn’t a press conference so they weren’t allowed to ask her questions so they could only politely clap. If they were not on their best behavior in the museum, they would immediately be kicked out.
The siblings turned to leave and Bella heaved a sigh of relief. Before she could relish in her relief, a pair of expensive shoes entered her periphery. She slowly looked up to see the smiling face of Melvin Jones and the less impressed face of his sister. She froze, unable to think of what to do next.
“Hello, Miss Everett.”
“M-Mr Jones.”
“I never expected to see you here. Guess your organization isn’t as small as I expected, eh?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“This is my sister, Rhea, the one I talked about.”
“You talked about me?”
“Of course. You’re so beautiful and talented, I wanted to show you off.”
“Hmph! Hello, Rhea Jones. A pleasure to meet you.”
“B-Bella Everett. It’s my pleasure to meet you, Miss Rhea.”
“Bella, huh? Which organization do you work for?”
“S Magazine.”
“And that one is part of your staff?” Rhea pointed to Wallace, who tripped her earlier. Bella turned around and saw everyone looking at her with some form of a surprise in their eyes, both the press and the guests of the exhibition. The pressure on her became much heavier as she nodded.
“He’s one of our writers. We are so sorry for what happened earlier…….”
“Wait, he’s the one who bumped into you?” Melvin cut in.
“Yes,” Rhea scowled. From there on out, Bella could no longer hear what the siblings were saying but the scowl on her face turned into a pout and finally, a beautiful smile, one that was even more blinding than Peyton’s.
“After the exhibition, I want to entertain Miss Everett in my office. I’ll send a staff member to you once we’re done.”
“Y-Yes” she stuttered and Melvin gave her a tiny smirk. The two turned around and left. Almost immediately, her colleagues bounced on her.
“Were my eyes deceiving me or did THE RHEA JONES just talk to you?!!”
“Um Dana, I think you missed the part where THE MELVIN JONES called her by name. It’s not a coincidence. SPILL. THE. TEA” Claudia pinched her arm.
“Okay ladies, calm yourself. This is Bella’s private business and we need to protect her from the vultures that want information from her. Bella will tell you ONLY if she wants to. Right now, we’re in the middle of work so chop, chop, get to work, ladies” Peyton intervened, pulling them off her.
“Peyton! You’re no fun” they complained yet they listened to him.
“I’ll keep them under control, Bella. Don’t worry, you don’t have to explain anything to anyone about your private life.”
“Mr. Bard……you’re so nice to me.”
“Of course. You’re my favorite editor. Now, Wallace, we need to talk about your coordination. It has gotten terrible. Are you eating properly?”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the exhibition hall, the siblings were going head to head with each other. Melvin never thought the day would come that he would have to defend someone he just met to his sister but even in his disbelief, he continued pushing through.
“I don’t like her.”
“Why?”
“I don’t like her eyes and I don’t like her hair, I don’t like the fact that she’s touched me before, I don’t like the fact that you’re even speaking to her.”
“You sound very irrational right now.”
“You’re the irrational one! Is there anyone who doesn’t know about your preferred type?! Suddenly there’s a woman you’re interested in and she has blonde hair and green eyes! Melvin, what the hell is wrong with you?”
“You’re the ones who keep asking me to settle down. If I’m going to do it, I might as well do it properly.”
“I knew you were stupid but I didn’t know it was this bad. What if she’s just after your money?!”
“That’s not a problem. I have lots of it. There’s no person in this world who doesn’t need money, including us. You can’t judge people based on that.”
“You know if she’s just after your money, she’s not going to care if anything happens to you. Dump this girl, Melvin.”
“You’re going to have to give me a better reason. I’m starting to like her.”
“She’s with the press! What are you going to do if she steals some of your secrets and airs them out?!”
“If she’s in love with me, she won’t do it. Problem solved.”
“I swear, you have the world’s biggest ego. That’s why Nina dumped you.”
Melvin went silent, his cheerful demeanor quickly replaced with a gloomy one. He stopped walking with her and turned away. Because they were surrounded by people and she was in the middle of work, she couldn’t call out to him like she wanted. She silently cursed herself, forcing a smile on as she continued.
Saying that name was taboo around Melvin. She knew it was the reason why Melvin preferred Blondes with green eyes, the reason why her little brother hadn’t opened his heart to anyone in years. The fact that he was finally with someone was supposed to be a good thing but Rhea couldn’t get rid of the nagging suspicion in her gut.
Rhea thought the girl looked nice enough so she would try to get to know her. If she was judged to not be good enough for Melvin, Rhea would send her away, just like she sent the others away.
- Writer
