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.
For a minute I forgot how to breathe and then almost immediately, anger flowed through every cell in my body as I sprang up from my chair.
'Fuck this shit, I'm out of here', I said and walked out of the room without even taking a second glance at the girl, who's name I didn't even bother to ask.
It's been almost a year and a half since that meeting happened and now it was happening again.
It wasn't because I didn't like Valentina or because there was anything wrong about her, it was the fact that she would have to go through all the torture that Nova had to go through.
What made me even more anxious was whether she shared a past similar to Nova's.
I held my head in my hands as I tried to gather myself up but it was useless.
Every single second that passed by seemed like pure torture to me. It was always me that the management picked. It was always me that they chose to shove into the spotlight whenever it came to solving messes and never had they allowed me to make my own choices.
It was always, 'Zayn, shave your beard' or 'Zayn, cut your hair', 'You cant wear that', 'You cant say that', 'You cant sound like that'.
My eyes filled up as the insults swam through my mind. This was not what I had signed up for, all I wanted was to sing, not become somebody's dog and obey every command that was sent my way.
The elevator doors opened and the lads came out along with Valentina.
'Hey', said Niall as he came up to me and I smiled at him faintly.
'Were they angry?', I asked.
Even though I didn't give a damn about what they said, there was a tiny part of me that feared the consequences of what was to come.
'At first, but then-', started Niall but my attention was quickly drawn towards Harry who had his arm around Valentina's waist.
'What the heck is Harry doing?', I asked stunned and Niall turned to look.
'Yeah, that was what I was trying to tell you', he said with a sigh.
I couldn't believe what he was doing! Didn't he know that this would never end with any good?!
'Have you gone mad?!', I exclaimed as I walked up to Harry who gave me a confused look.
'What?', he asked completely clueless.
'Can you not see that they're doing exactly what they did to Nova and I?!', I asked trying to contain myself.
'Yes, I can', he said calmly and I noticed that his arm never left her body and strangely, she looked at ease with him.
'Harry, please tell me that you know what your'e doing', I said pinching my nose in frustration.
'Go on Valentina, I'll come in a while', he said and she smiled at him before she walked towards the lads and she left without even looking back at me.
'What was that?', I asked.
'What was what?', he asked.
'The whole her being suddenly so comfortable with you?', I asked stunned.
'Are you jealous?, he asked.
'Harry, stop messing around', I said through my teeth.
I was loosing my patience with him and I was sure if he continued his game I would shove him against a wall.
'Harry, stop provoking him', said Louis as he came up to us.
'All I did was agree to take responsibility over a person who you just ungraciously left', he said calmly.
'What do you mean ungraciously left?!', I asked bewildered at his choice of words.
'You walked out on her, Zayn. You were the only person who she trusted and YOU left her as prey. She looked torn as she walked out and she almost ran out of the room crying, but i stopped her', he said furiously.
What?
She thought that I had walked out on her?
'Shit', I said under my breath and he scoffed.
'You know very well that I didn't mean to walk out on her', I said.
'Well that's what you did', he said.
'DAMMIT I DIDN'T WANT HER TO BE THE NEXT NOVA!', I yelled as I held him by his collar.
'Zayn! Let him go mate!', exclaimed Louis as he tried to pull me off of him.
'Well you should have said so instead of making her feel like nothing', he spat.
'I know exactly how she feels Harry and I've seen a part of what she's gone through! I would rather die than put her through the same torture again', I said with a fierce tone.
'That's where you went wrong Zayn. That will never happen to her again. As long as she's with me, she'll never be hurt again by management or by whoever hurt her', he said.
'You don't know what you've gotten yourself into Harry. This may seem easy, but it's fucking not!', I exclaimed.
'I know what I signed up for', he said and walked out of the building without another word.
I couldn't believe what had just happened and I shook my head in frustration.
'I screwed up again, didn't I?', I asked Louis wearily.
'You're just hurt Zayn, it's not your fault. It's nobody's fault', he said and lead me out of the lobby and into the crowd outside.
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