ESCAPE

Chapter 10

ZAYN

We had been called by Management to discuss something very important. I being the early person I was, found myself running into the building so that I  wouldn't miss the meeting.

As I stood there, waiting for the elevators to open, I heard loud voices and I turned to find a tall blonde girl talking with a very pissed off tone with two other people who looked like they were trying to calm her down.

Almost suddenly they looked at me and her expression turned to fear and another mix of emotions as she saw me. I hoped that she wasn't some crazed fan who was about to pounce on me as she walked up to me, but instead of stopping and talking to me, she simply past by with a quick look and then disappeared into a room on the left.

Strange.

Who was she?

Well whoever she is, I'm pretty sure she wont have anything to do with me and so i made my way to the conference hall.

The lads were already seated there along with some people from the management.

'Nice of you to join us, Zayn', said Richard as I walked in and I gave him a wide smile as I sat down and fist bumped Louis who sat in the chair next to me.

'We were discussing something important', said Richard and I noticed my friends looked uneasy and pissed off as well.

'Is something wrong?', I asked.

'Well, like I was explaining to your band mates before, there's been some rumors about all of you being gay', said Richard bluntly.

'What?', I asked completely thrown off guard.

'You guys are constantly touching and hugging and even kissing each other these days', he said.

'Well we're friends! What do you expect us to do? Throw a punch whenever we see each other?', asked Louis.

'No, I expect you act proper', he said firmly.

'So what if they assume that we are gay? What has that to do with whatever we do?', asked Niall with a frown.

'It brings down the business', he replied as if it was so obvious.

'The fans care about the music as well, not just us. I don't believe a person's relationship status has anything to do with the quality of music that they make', said Harry in his serious tone.

'There are so many great artists who are gay, Elton John and now there's Adam Lambert! I see no problem in their careers', said Liam as he leaned forward.

'This is bullshit', I said finally, not being able to sit silent anymore.

'Language, Mr. Malik', he said sternly.

'No! Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of! It's a way of life! It's as normal as being straight! If people think that we're gay, let them! We know that we're straight and just because we don't have girlfriends yet doesn't mean that we hit on each other', I said furiously.

At that precise moment as if he had been waiting for me to say something like that, Richard leaned forward and told me, 'Not for long'.

'What do you mean, not for long?', asked Louis.

Almost immediately the doors opened and in came the girl who I had seen downstairs.

'Zayn, meet your girlfriend', said Richard.