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Start Ups Repeat

Bella resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Someone really needed to murder someone at the current moment. "Is there a specific method I should use for that or is any method I deem fine okay to use?" she asked him, forcing her tone to be neutral.

Marissa arrived at the expo, locking up her bike, through the tires so no one could steal any part of it, and then started looking for her partner.
 
"As long as it works... And please, nothing that would lead to a lawsuit." Melody piped up. She felt the need to save James from his own stupidity. After all, she was a woman. She could read the look in Bella's eyes.
 
"What exactly leads to lawsuits in security? I've never done it before so I just want to make sure I don't cause you trouble," she directed the last part at Melody, figuring the woman had it worse dealing with James all the time.
 
Robin sighed, knowing that he was going to get it later. However, he was already at the expo, there wasn't really anything he could do.

"Well, let's just enjoy it," he said to himself in an attempt to cheer himself up as he walked out of the boss, only to see the long line that had formed at the entrance. "Crap," he frowned.
 
James opened his mouth to reply, but Melody cut him off. "Excessive force I suppose." She replied. James smirked. "Which of course is what my boss was going to say." James got the message.

"Of course." James added.

"He's a real handful. It's why I get paid." Melody told Bella in a conspiring whisper. "Don't worry, he's mostly harmless. If I have to, I'll drag him out by his ear."
 
Lucy was in earshot of this conversion. She listened in, completely expressionless. It seemed as if Mr. Dalton's reviews were right; he was a dick.

"Filming starts in ten minutes," a man loudly announced to everyone. "Dalton, say a few things into the mic. For testing."

The expo had officially begun. People were allowed to roam as they pleased. However, various events, such as James' speech, would be held throughout the day. His was one of the first ones, to kick things off.
 
"I know his type. Doesn't make it any less annoying to deal with."

Marissa in her rush around bumped into Robin, dropping her pass, unknowingly to her in the process. She had heard that Bella had been directed towards James Dalton and thus she was headed that way.
 
Robin was wondering how he'd be able to go in, he hadn't accounted for such a long line forming. That's when Marissa collided with him, making him fall to the ground with a thud. The people around him seemed to be paying attention to what happened, even as Marissa headed off into the expo.

"What the hell was rhat," Robin frowned, only for his eyes to gaze downward. A mischivious grin crossed his face as he grabbed it and stood up, dusting himself off. He was just going in to give the pass back to the woman, they would understand.
 
Marissa finally found Bella, hanging on her friend. "Yes I know extremely late. Sorry. And yes it was because of an extremely cute guy but not as cute as this one. I'm Bella's partner Marissa Hayes. I look forward to working with you," she offered her hand with a flirty smile to James.

Bella merely looked at Melody and mouthed sorry. At least Marissa would provide a distraction for James.
 
Melody looked pained. However, she didn't comment. The look in her eyes however... It would say it all to Bella.

James meanwhile was beaming. He took her hand and gently kissed it. "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Hayes. I'm James." He said with a bright smile.

If looks could kill, the look that Melody was giving James would be fatal.
 
Tim watched the scene from the sound booth. "Hey, Romeo!" he exclaimed. "We need you to test one more time. Just to make sure."
 
Robin looked around, transfixed by everything as he made his ways through the expo's backstage. The pass had really come in handy, no one even batted an eye as he walked either. "Oh, I should tell Alex, but first..." he looked around in an attempt to find the one person he wanted to see, James Dalton.
 
"I know we run a difficult business, but is there no way we could make an exception?" Alex asked Hadyn, taking a glance at her schedule. "I have no appointments today, so it should be fine, N.."

"Fine. Just this once, though." Hadyn amended roughly, sliding a clipboard in the man's direction. "You still need to sign the consent form, though." As much as he didn't like it, his job was tending to the clientele, and despite the fact that this guy looked like a total asshole, the studio couldn't refuse anyone for something so superficial.

Alex raised a brow at him from behind her glasses, but said nothing else.
 
James was amused by this. "Two households, both alike in dignity. In fair Verona, where we lay our scene..." He spoke into the microphone.

Melody laughed at this, even if she didn't want to encourage his antics. She had to admit he could be quite clever.
 
The man sighed, pulling out a pen from his pocket to sign the document.

"That's good," Tim said, completely deadpan. "The mic is set."

A bit of time passed; James Dalton's talk was about to begin. A huge crowd had gathered, which wasn't very surprising. The expo attracted thousands of people each year for these talks, and for the hundreds of inventors who came to show off their stuff. James Dalton was a huge name. It was no wonder so many people would show up.

Lucy was behind the camera, ready to film when James came on stage. The crowd was quietly murmuring.

As for the expo itself, it was quite packed. A lot was going on, and it was an exciting time for everyone there.
 
James waited a few more moments to let the anticipation build. It wasn't his first time giving a talk like this. And then he appeared on stage, beaming with self-satisfied confidence. It didn't take him long to go into his routine. Even though he'd only written his remarks that morning, he sounded prepared, poised and confident.

He started by going through his youth, his first experiences with coding and engineering. Building a computer, hacking into his school's grading system to change his grades and nearly getting expelled, messing around with robotics. After he set the stage with those anecdotes about his younger self, he talked about building a startup out of his dorm room and the challenges that came with it. How he'd run through a ton of ideas before hitting on the right one, how he funded some of his attempts by selling fake IDs to freshmen... it would be a very effective rags to riches story if there was ever a moment where James Dalton had started from rags.

It was after he sold the company that his talk went from compelling and thought provoking to a bit... cliched. Because after he'd left his company, he'd done the typical speaking circuit with the usual charity work sprinkled in. "People ask me why I sold my share in the company and cashed out..." James was moving into the conclusion of his talk now. "I missed the days when I could actually write code, where I could tinker with a circuit... as CEO of a big company... Now that I'm on my own... I'm working on something special... Five years ago, I was changing the tech space and making a few people very, very rich... but if things go right, in five years, I'll have changed the world." James paused for a moment to let this settle in. "And that's my show for today. Thank you all for coming out and enjoy the expo." Another pause. "Oh and remember... if you can dream it, you can build it!"
 
Alana had taken her place when James Dalton began to speak. She knew her boss would eventually look into talking to him, so she was eager to at least take notes on him.

When he finished speaking, she smiled and began clapping. It was just what she expected. "Good shit," she said to herself.
 
Some guy in the back of the room stood up. "Get off stage, you clown!" he yelled. "You suck! Kiss my ass!"

Lucy remained behind the camera, trying her best to continue filming without trouble. After all, dealing with hecklers certainly was not her job.
 
Alana was near the man when he spoke. In fact, him standing up made her immediately turn to look at him. "Oi, sit the fu- oh no, Robert?" She immediately recognized the male as one of her coworkers. She grabbed his arm. "You assclown, sit the fuck down," she whispered angrily.
 
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