Brave Bold Belle (ft. Liam Payne)

Chapter 1 - The Deal

    I know my father wants to ask me something the moment I open the door for him. I love Dad and he’s a wonderful man, but I know him like I know myself. And it’s because of that that I know he is about to ask me something. The look in his eyes gives that away and the fact he brought with him chips, which are my weakness. He knows I love eating chips and these smell delicious.

I walk with him to the kitchen in silence. He has only said hi, nothing else; he’s just serving the chips so we can eat. This can’t be good if he’s making sure I’m eating something delicious first. He’s actually bribing me.

“Dad,” I speak when he puts the plate in front of me. “What do you have under your sleeve?” I look at him suspiciously and his faked innocence can’t fool me.

“What?” he says extending the vowel, which only makes me roll my eyes. As if that wasn’t suspicious!

I fold my arms and refuse to eat any of my chips until he speaks.

“It’s just a work thing. I know how much you love chips, so I decided to bring some to celebrate! It was a great day at work. Can’t I celebrate with my only daughter when a great opportunity comes?”

I arch my brows because I’m confused. Dad was so worried this morning when we said goodbye before each one went to work, I to the primary school where I teach, and him to the record label. He was worried because the last band he produced was a total failure.

He used to be so good with bands. Always making them successful, always knowing what the people wanted but since Mum passed way due to a cerebrovascular accident a few years ago, he hasn’t been the same. I know he’s still mourning her. I still am. It was so sudden. One day she was cooking and suddenly she just collapsed. I was in school so Dad was the only around and he has never given me much detail. Only that the ambulance arrived when it was too late. Mum died one minute after she collapsed. One of those crazy accidents that you can never imagine will happen to you, until it does. She was always healthy, until that day. My last memory of her is saying goodbye that morning when she dropped me at school and wished me a good day. I remember she calling my name because I had forgotten my lunch and when I ran to get it she told me loved me and I did the same. That’s my consolation, that our last moment together was something like that. I’m so grateful that my last memory of her wasn’t a fight but saying I love you.

Since Mum passed away, as I said, Dad hasn’t been the same. He hasn’t been the man I knew and I’ve done all I can to help him, and help myself, but it’s not easy when you’re so young. At the beginning, when Mum was alive, we had a pretty good situation. We weren’t exactly rich, but close. Once she died we lost almost everything because Dad couldn’t manage to make it. All the bands he was assigned to failed, causing more losses than profits. We had to sell the house, I had to change schools and Dad had to beg to keep his job. He worked for a better label but after three years of no success whatsoever, he was made redundant and had to look for another job. I was fifteen by then and looked for my first part time job. I helped as much as I could and he managed to keep this new job at a different label: Syco. God bless the soul of the person who helped him to get there. But still, we barely managed to make ends meet for many years. Now I’m twenty-one and I make more as a teacher than what I did when I was fifteen. We still live together because even after eight years, he still isn’t the same.

Syco is a great label, though, not as successful as the previous one, but they signed this great band three years ago and that has brought them loads of attention. It’s a boy band, One Direction, that has become so popular lately. They have a style quite peculiar, although they still have a very pop sound they sometimes explore other sounds, more indie and that’s being such a phenomenon. Everyone loves them, everywhere. I quite like their music and it’s thanks to them that Syco is now popular among bands. Many want to sign with them. They have other artists that are doing great in the UK, but none of them as popular as One Direction.