"Sit!" Stephen snapped at the two young men, not even looking at them as they entered. Louis opened his mouth to give a sassy retort to the effect that they weren't dogs but Liam placed a restraining hand on his arm and gave a quick shake of his head. This meeting was going to be bad enough without Louis antagonising Management. Stephen was bound to go ballistic when he saw that Niall and Harry were conspicuous by their absence. Liam was glad that Niall was going to be spared dealing with Stephen. He always took everything to heart and now was not the time to burden him with anything else. The boys exchanged glances then sat, waiting for Stephen to deign to notice them properly.
"So" Stephen suddenly said as he looked down his rather large nose at them " and where are Harry and Niall? I expressly ordered that you all came today. You have dropped yourselves in a whole heap of sh*t and now we have to do damage limitation. Have you any idea the effect of these rumours will have on sales? Niall has a great deal of explaining to do so why isn't he here?"
"Niall is resting" Liam said sharply "he does have quite a serious health issue and needs to look after himself. Harry is with him"
"That is not a good reason. When I say I want you all here, I mean it. May I remind you both , you are all still under contract and we make the rules" Stephen was red in the face, spitting with anger. Louis bit down hard on the inside of his cheek as he fought the urge to tell Stephen a few home truths. Liam felt the tension building in Louis and gently nudged him with his elbow, praying Louis would continue to hold his tongue. "As I said, we need to do damage limitation. Are the rumours true? Did Niall attempt suicide and was Zayn involved?"
"Zayn?" Liam tried to sound innocent "he's in the US. He's no longer part of the band so why would he be involved?" Liam hoped that turning it around so that he had become the questioner would draw Stephen away from the truth. They all owed Zayn too much to risk causing him any trouble
"I can check that" Stephen snapped but Liam shrugged in response. He knew that Zayn was safely back in the US by now . Management could check all they liked.
"You believe the sh*t the media puts out?. You ought to know that there is precious little truth in it so why haul us in here? You push out enough f.cking trash yourselves" Louis' voice dripped with acid. He was so done with dealing with Stephen.
"Here" Stephen pushed several sheets of paper towards Liam. "You are all to put out the following tweets.We've indicated which of you posts a particular tweet. You have an interview tomorrow and you'll all deny the suicide rumours. Your instructions about what to say are in the notes. Make sure you stick to them. And make sure Niall will be there or you will all pay for his absence. Don't test me., you'll lose".
There was a tap on the door and Samantha poked her head around the door. "I'm sorry, Sir, but Mr Cowell is here and insists on seeing you this instant. The door opened wider and Simon himself walked in, his face like thunder.
"Liam, Louis, please leave. I'll be speaking to you all later." Simon sounded calm and friendly enough as he spoke to the boys but then his tone changed as he addressed the older man sat behind the desk, making it clear he intended to be heard. "Stephen, you and I will speak now". Liam and Louis got up reluctantly and walked slowly to the door. Simon's sudden appearance did not bode well for the situation but which of them was going to have to face his wrath. Simon turned to them "Move it, boys and close the door behind you".
"What was that about?" Louis immediately wanted to know the moment they were alone.
"I have a feeling that the proverbial sh*t is about to hit the fan" was Liam's reply "only I don't know who is going to suffer...us or Management. Come on, let's go back to Nialls' . Uncle Si said he'd speak to us later and we better read through this rubbish we've been given. Personally, I think we should hold on to the tweets until we've heard what Simon wants to talk to us about. I just hope that whatever happens, neither Zayn nor Niall suffer as a result."
"I got a bad feeling about this, Li. I wish we knew who leaked that stuff to the papers. If we knew then maybe there'd be a way of killing the story". Liam shrugged.
"Let's go....I want to see how Ni is doing. I just wish.....................I got it!" Liam grinned in triumph. I know how to get an answer. Come on, we need to talk to Harry"