𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒕.
Selena's POV
The sound of the clocks ticking and my fingers tapping against the marble-material table is the only sound that is heard, along with one of the men of the management sighing every few minutes due to Harry being late. I tried to call in sick for this meeting but Aleen insisted, being mad at me as well. I didn't get much of a lecture from her and my mom, just some silent treatment. That'll most likely change after this meeting is over—if it's ever over. These things could last a lifetime sometimes.
My straightened hair is starting to stick to me due to the sweat that's developing from how nervous I am right now, nervous to what they're going to say to us and what's they're going to do. It's not like they can actually keep us from seeing each other and talking to each other, that'd be crazy...Well, then again, 'crazy' is the epitome of management.
The door opens and Harry gives us all a half smile, seating himself next to me. When I scoot myself closer to him out of habit, they all narrow their eyes at us but don't say anything about it.
"I assume we all know why we are all here today, correct?" One of the men say—who I believe goes by the name of Joel, "Ms. Gomez and Mr. Styles have completely disregarded our requirement of the two not being seen together." They all look at us with disappointment. I want to scream. Why are they treating us like we're five years old?
"With all due respect, I don't like being told what to do," Harry speaks first. I look at him and then back at management. "If I want to be with Selena and if Selena wants to be with me, I think we have a right to our own decisions. This hasn't put much negativity on us anyway so I don't see the problem."
I smile and grab his hand from under the table. I inhale a deep breath and add, "When I signed up to be in the industry, this isn't what I signed up for. I want to be able to be with whoever I want without you guys 'forbidding' it." I roll my eyes at the ridiculous word.
Mom and Aleen eye me with warning but I ignore them, raising my eyebrow at the men of Modest! Management. They all look each other with clenched jaws and pursed lips, clearly still pissed. They don't look like they're leaning towards agreeing with me and Harry. I know it's a shot in the dark to even try with them, they're determined to control our lives and make sure we look perfect—even if sometimes the decisions they make, they're doing the complete opposite.
The other man, Neil, finally chooses to speak. He leans over the table, "We aren't going to give in to your poor fight. You two disobeyed our request to stay away from each other because we do not need the media seeing that. Obviously you two don't care and aren't serious about your jobs—"
"That's not true—" I start but was cut off by the woman, Tracy.
"You are signed to our management, which means you do what you are told to do. You may not like it, but it's your job." She says with a snarky look on her face. I find myself wishing I could yank her dirty blonde hair out of that ridiculously tight bun.
"No, that's not our job," Harry raises his voice. Simon attempts to tell him to lower it, only to be ignored. "Our job is writing and singing songs that we enjoy and let our fans hear them. Our job is to do what we enjoy and put out albums and singles and movies and feel good about it because that's what we love to do. Not be controlled by you mother fu—"
"Harry..." Simon cuts him off.
I can tell Harry was starting to heat up, his jaw clenched hard and his nostrils flared. I was too, but I try to remember that all I want is to be with him without having to hide it. Erupting in a huge argument won't help anything. I give his hand a gentle squeeze and he rubs the top of my hand with his thumb. His body relaxes but his face says otherwise.
Harry is a gentle soul and that's one of the many things I like about him, but I can tell he wants to destroy these men. I've only ever seen Harry angry once and that was with management so I know that they definitely can get a rise out of him and he doesn't like that.
"Here's how it's going to be," Joel speaks, clapping his hands together, "The requirement of you two not being together or being seen together is still on. We've just added one more thing to that."
"And that is?" Aleen questions.
The anxiety I was getting while I waited for them to answer was nearly pushing me to the brink, watching them all look at each other and whisper things to one another. They finally look at us again. Neil is the one who speaks first.
"Harry and Selena will be assigned a PR Stunt Relationship with other people in the industry," He reveals. "One that doesn't put your careers in danger—much like what you've chosen for yourselves recently. Harry will be seen with model Kendall Jenner, whom he has had previous stunts with and Selena will be seen out with Samuel Krost."
Our eyes widen, both of us immediately letting out the word: what. I stand up from my chair so fast you could hear it screeching the floor. I feel my mom grab my arm but I yank it away.
I know Harry has had some experience with this sort of thing, PR Stunts, but I haven't done these at all. Aleen has done all she can to protect me from these, knowing that having a relationship with someone is important to me and I wouldn't want to have a fake one with someone I don't know.
"There's absolutely no way that I'm doing this. Find another solution." My temperature is now at it's highest and now it's Harry's turn to calm me down by holding my hand and giving it a squeeze.
"Fight it all you want, Ms. Gomez, but it's happening. Krost and Jenner have already been informed." Tracey sneers. "Granted, they weren't very fond with the request as well but regardless, this is happening."
"No!" I shout, "I'm not going to be torn away from someone I actually like and be forced to go public with someone I don't even know!"
"Selena..." Aleen warns.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Gomez." Tracey yells over me, standing up as well. "But there's nothing you or Mr. Styles can do about it. Deal with it."
"No, hell no!" I scoff, "I'm not going to deal with it. How about you deal with this—I'm not going to go out with Samuel Krost to satisfy you fucking morons." I spit out, my anger burning up.
Joel stands up with me and Tracey, "You do that and you're going to be wishing you hadn't." He threatens me.
Harry gets up and stands closer to me, "Don't threaten her, you got it?"
My heart warms up from his protectiveness but nothing could distract me from the amount of anger I feel right now. First they forbid me to be with someone that for the first time in forever, made me happy. Then they go and tell me that I'm going to be dating some stranger and Harry is going to be dating someone else as well? It's all fucking absurd.
"You are coming out with a new album and Mr. Styles, you'll be starting tour," They say to us. "Dating someone other than each other is the perfect way to get more attention to your music and to make more money off it. It's perfect publicity. Understand that."
"I don't care about the money or publicity," I bitterly chuckle. "I make music because I enjoy it. If I cared about what people thought and the publicity—I would have ended my career a long time ago. But I don't, I'm doing this for me. I couldn't give two fucks about the money or the attention."
They look at me with silence, probably not soaking what I just said into their thick skulls but it had to be said anyway. These people think I care about all that so they make this idiotic promo that has nothing to do with my album. They are the ones who care about all that, not me.
"You may not think you need it but you do, Ms. Gomez." Neil tells me and turns his eyes to Harry. "And Styles, One Direction is going to need it the most. Have you talked to Zayn lately?" We furrow our eyebrows. He says that as if he means something.
"What do you mean?" Harry questions.
"You'll see."
I scoff and grab my keys from off the table, looking at them with disgust. I start to walk towards the door when I feel someone grip onto my arm and pull me back, causing me to yelp at the tense grip.
"No, you can't leave yet-"
Harry reaches over and pushes Joel back. "Don't. Don't touch her." His voice is quiet but you can hear the anger in his tone.
I grab onto his arm and pull him towards me, lacing my fingers with his. He glares at all of them before shifting his eyes towards me. His anger was seething and I would be scared if I didn't understand why he was so angry. I give him a weak smile.
We walk down the hall of the Modest! Management building—hearing Simon, Aleen, and my mom apologize to the management and bid them a goodbye. I can't believe my mom is even taking their side on this since she's always been the one to protect from them.
When I hear the cameras clicking from outside, I quickly unlace my fingers from Harry's, causing him to frown. He walks behind me as we both push open the doors to reveal the dozen of paparazzis yelling our names and snapping our pictures. They start to eat up the fact that me and Harry are being seen with each other again. They know the media will love this.
"Harry! Selena! Look this way!"
"I thought you were all just friends?"
"Selena, how does Taylor feel about this? Or Justin?"
"Selena, how do you feel about what everyone has been saying about your weight?"
Harry helps me in the car and gives me a swift hug, I nuzzle my face into the crook of his neck. The paparazzi were loving this, snapping every glimpse of it but right now, I don't care. Whether I like it or not, this may be the last time I could hug him and a hug from him was definitely something I needed after today.
When I pull away, I almost give him a kiss, but decide against it. Instead I give him a smile and walk away. I slam the car door shut and laid my head back, closing my eyes. I knew the meeting was going to be bad but I never thought it would be this bad. Up until today I thought that the situation couldn't ever get worse but they made sure to remind us that it could. I'm not even shocked or sad at this point. All I feel is pure defeat. I feel defeated.
The headphones in my ears block out any other noise that can be heard, How To Save A Life by The Fray playing. I feel a knot in my throat that I refuse to let get to me, not wanting to shed another tear since that's all I've ever been doing for the longest time. I feel my eyeballs stinging but I just take a breath and try my best to not give into the emotions.
Just as the sixth song in my playlist ends, I feel my headphones gets pulled out of my ears. I look at my mother to see her and Aleen giving me a look. "We obviously need to talk about today. So let's talk."
"I'm tired," I reply quietly.
Aleen sighs. "Selena-"
"I said I'm tired, alright?" I snap, rolling my eyes. I get out of the car that has now parked in front of my home, hearing my mom and Aleen follow behind me. Can't they go back to their own houses for tonight?
When I walk into my house, I go straight upstairs and lock my bedroom door to avoid my mother and Aleen.
As soon as the door closes, I let out a long, and shaky breath. All I could feel is the pit in my stomach grow, making it harder and harder for me to hold back from crying. I groaned, picking up a picture frame and throwing it against my wall. My anger is burning up and it's mixing up with sadness, blending up a smoothie of different emotions.
This isn't fair. After a long time of being unhappy, I finally found someone who gave me happiness again and what happens? They get teared from my arms. With the little time Harry and I have spent together, I felt like I might actually have more than just feelings for him. I think I might actually love him—he was the one who shed light in my darkness.
But none of that matters. No matter what I feel for Harry or what he feels for me, we're never going to be together the way we want and we can't hide from it anymore. Hiding our relationship became ultimately impossible so the best thing to do is just to let go, even though that's literally the last thing I want to do.
I open the drawer in my nightstand and grab the picture that I tucked in there a while back. My heart swells. I remember that day like it was yesterday, and it hurts to think that I might never see a day like this again. I crawl into my bed and clutch the picture to my chest, breathing slowly.
"Please...don't leave me." I whisper, a single tear trickling down my cheek.
—
A/N:
next chapter will have a big time leap so be ready for that.
xx harlenaspassion 💌