Brave Bold Belle (ft. Liam Payne)

Chapter 28 - Blurry

I realise something outrageous when Liam is gone, something that shouldn't happen, something that will only make things complicated, something I have to fight for everyone's sake, and it terrifies me.

I miss him.

I actually miss his presence, his voice, that cocky smile, and even bickering with him. We talk over the phone and it's nice, but I still miss him and I find myself constantly thinking of him, remembering the good times and forgetting the bad ones. And if I miss him, if I think of him more than I should, then that means that I probably fancy him and that's not allowed. That's not in the contract and I signed one! I'm not supposed to develop real feelings for him. It's been two months since we started all this scheme, I can't allow myself to fancy Liam. No matter what, this will end in four months and if I do have feelings for him, then I'll end up hurt. This is not just a relationship going wrong, this is just no relationship at all. It's a business transaction. I can't see him as something more than a job.

But it's so easy to forget it's a job when he sends me a book when he's not around. When he calls me before a show and asks me about my days and I wish him good luck. It's really hard to remember it's a job when he comes back and tells me he missed me, hugs me tightly, takes me somewhere nice to have fun, and finds any excuse to kiss me. I forget we are pretending when we are together and only remember this isn't real when I'm back home, when I regain my mind because it seems I lose it when he's around.

And the worst part is that he's not Prince Charming or anything. I know he's trying hard to be considerate and sometimes he goes overboard, and I'm still too bold and tell him things without a filter, which hurts him and of course makes him react and we end up fighting. He still acts like a real snob sometimes, forgetting not everyone works for him and that even if they do, he should still be grateful and kind. He's not the jerk I met two months ago, but he's not a perfect gentleman either. But I still miss him when he's not around.

At first I kept reminding Liam that all this was a job, now I don't even mention it in front of him and get carried away, but I do repeat the same mantra to myself all the time: this is a job, you can't fancy Liam Payne.

I should put distance between us, that's the best solution to finish this before it's even started, but I can't. That would mean breaking a contract and well, getting in some legal issues. So this contract is the reason why I have to stay by his side, even if the lines between real and pretence are getting blurrier by the day.

And Liam is definitely not helping at all! I thought he said he wanted an easy relationship, no strings attached but he is the one always reaching out for me, the one calling, sending notes with the books every week so I can feel him around even when he's not. It's almost as if is really trying to make this work but why would he do that? He is aware this is not real and our relationship—fake relationship—has an expiration date. Why would he make an effort when all what he wanted was an effortless relationship? He didn't want a real girlfriend; he wanted someone to be by his side without the whole feelings part and then say goodbye as easily as it started.

He's just confusing me further!

"Belle, are you okay?" Ariel asks me, bringing me back from the misty world of thoughts in which I was lost.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking of some situation I'm dealing with, but everything is fine," I tell the girl next to me.

Dad told me Simon wanted to see me so I've come to the label and I ran into Ariel, who was more than happy to see me, and because it's the same for me, I've stayed for the rest of the day. Simon just wanted to say how happy he was that they hired me to be with Liam because as I've been strict with him, he's been behaving better, almost as the old Liam, just more confident. Hence, the articles about him and the market researches have shown how his popularity has increased. Good publicity is always the best kind because it's easier to deal with and it doesn't give headaches to the CEO.