oOo
"I'm sorry," Edward muttered, leading her away from the group. "Don't think about it, it was just a silly remark."
"Was it?"
"These people… they're superficial. They know nothing about me. They –"
But before he could finish, he was accosted by a new set of admirers, who wanted to know everything about his works.
He introduced them to Bella, but it was clear that they were interested in the artist only, so after a few minutes, Bella made her excuses and wandered off to look for Alice, Jasper and Leah. She found them looking at the large canvas entitled "Midday Thames."
It was a melancholy painting of the grey river, red busses passing over Waterloo Bridge while, in the foreground, a young woman was walking her dog – a scruffy Jack Russell.
"Hey, there you guys are."
"Bella." Alice smiled. "Wow, his paintings are so beautiful. And look, how many of them already sold!"
"It's great," Bella agreed.
She could see Edward laugh at something a woman said to him. She felt ill at ease in these surroundings.
"What's going on?" Jasper asked. "You don't look too happy."
"Just some people Edward knows, saying he found a new muse in me." She shuddered.
"Is that bad?" Jasper smiled.
"No, I guess not. I just don't like to feel like a replacement for his dead wife."
"Ouch," Leah said, gritting her teeth.
"I'm sorry, Bella." Jasper placed his hand on her arm.
"No, I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to snap at you." She looked at her friends, who shared expressions of compassion. "I'm going to have a good time now." She nodded in confirmation. "Let's go and see his other works. I wonder where the one with me in it is."
That thought made her smile genuine, and together, they set off to find her painting.
Only, of course, they didn't.
Instead, hanging in a prominent place, was Edward's "Winter in Wales."
Bella swallowed. Could she have overlooked it?
"I don't understand," she murmured.
"Is there another room?" Alice asked.
"No. No just these two. That's odd."
"Do you think we overlooked it?" Leah's face was solemn.
Bella shook her head.
"Oh, look," Alice said. "Here comes the artist. He can give us information on the missing piece!"
Edward approached them with a smile, which fainted as he saw Bella's expression.
He greeted Alice, Jasper and Leah and took Bella's hand in his.
"Are you okay, love? My mum and dad are impatient to say hello."
"The painting," Bella said. "You didn't include it?"
"'The Meadow'?" He scratched his eyebrow. "No, actually I didn't. I wanted to tell you, but there was so much going on…"
"I wish you'd told me," she said. She could feel tears prick at her eyes. "I was telling my friends about it. I wanted to show it to them."
She bit her lip to stop the tears from falling.
"I'm sorry, darling." Edward sighed and gave her hand a squeeze. He looked uncomfortable.
Bella wanted to curl up in a corner and cry.
So she'd believed for a moment that she was special and beautiful? That he wanted to show her off?
Well, apparently, being his "new muse" only went so far.
Her disappointment was sharp and painful.
oOo
Are you hating Edward right now?