Her Name Was Marty (Niall Horan)

xvi

The media had always fascinated me since my fall from grace. Perhaps because not only had one single part of society built me up, but it had just as quickly ripped me down and shred away every last part of pride and dignity I had. 

So forgive me if I was slghtly apprehensive to be judged by the world's media once again. Angela, my official manager gave me pep talks consistently, texting me every morning to remind me of my day's schedule (since I didn't yet have assistants or bodyguards provided), and she'd leave a quote at the end of the text for me to think about and reflect upon. 

Today's was: Don't let your strive for perfection stop you from enjoying brilliance. 

I had accomplished a lot in the month since signing contracts to both Angela with Q Records, and Frankie as my publicist. One whole song was written and Angela had set me up with meeting musicians to help me with writing the musical part of the song. Then there was the slow change of my image: Frankie had suggested subtle differences, so she'd ordered hundreds of pounds worth of clothes for me to start wearing out and about, and had invited a make up artist to show me how to change my make up routine. I'd also started exercising every morning, after 'soft' encouragement from Frankie. By that I mean that she practically forced me every morning until I had gotten myself into a routine. So far, I was enjoying my new healthy lifestyle, and could practically feel myself buzzing with optimism some days. 

Of course, none of that prepared me for the day that Q Records announced their new signing, me. 

I'm pretty sure that the media inploded right there and then. Despite pushing me down into a hole, I'd managed to pull myself up again, and no many can say that they were standing naked in front of the media for the second time for them to make snide remarks. Although this time I wasn't literally naked.

Q Records received both backlash and praise for what they'd done. 

On the same day, I had lessons on how to answer questions in interviews, as I would be having my first televised interview that evening. 

"Do we really have to talk about that?" I ask, referring to the sex tape, as Frankie had asked me a question about it. 

"Look, we could leave it for the next interview, or the interview after that. Sure, that would keep curiosity heightened for the public, but then you'll go on twitter tonight and all you will see are the questions that you want to avoid. You may as well answer them now once and for all, and then you'll never have to deal with them again if you don't want to." Frankie pauses, and her smirk shows that she knows she's convinced me to answer any questions she wants me too. "Now, answer the question."

"I do regret what I did." I answer, "But nothing in this world will be able to change my actions. Everyone makes mistakes. And I'm going to spend all the time that I can making sure I make it up to people, and to show them that I'm not defined by one mistake, but by all my actions after it." 

"That was actually very good." Frankie tells me, and it's the first compliment she's dished out to be as part of our interview training. "You've managed to impress me. Good job." 

* 

"Now I'm here with the first public interview of newly signed artist Marty Alexander." Eric Brookes reads from the teleprompter, and I can feel the gaze of the camerman on me, recording me for the entirety of the UK to watch. "Welcome Marty."

"Thank you for having me." I politely reply, smiling warmly at Eric. 

"It was our pleasure. Now, Marty, how does it feel to have been - as many of our viewers would believe- a second chance to show the world your music?" Eric asks, and I had expected it. After all, it had been the first question on Frankie's list of allowed topic areas. 

"I feel incredibly lucky. I never thought I'd get a chance like this again, and to receive one now, it feels like a dream come true." I answer, controlling my voice to answer the question slowly, and I try to control my nerves by squeezing my nails into my palm, rather than let it show by the shakiness of my voice. 

"So... you've been re-signed, what's next in the world of Marty?" He asks next, and once again, I control my breathing before answering.

"Well I'm taking it one day at a time. I'm slowly getting back into the groove of songwriting again, and from there it's just a case of getting songs ready, which hopefully will turn into an album."

"And then what? What would you like to do?"

"Travel around the world." I answer immediately. "I want to be able to go to countries where I can meet as many fans as possible, perform for them, and see some amazing sights."

"If you could go to one place in the world, which would it be?" Eric asks, completely disregaring the cards. Not that it mattered that he wasn't following the strict set of questions, they weren't doing any harm.

"I'd really like to visit the Colosseum in Rome. Or the Vatican City. Basically, I'd really love to discover Italy." I answer for him.

"Okay, going back to the 'tape'." Eric swerves the interview in a completely new direction. "Now, there's been a lot of speculation over who was featured in the tape... many want to know who he was to make him pay for leaking it in the first place. So... care to give us a name?" 

I could easily give him away. How would he like that? For me to destroy his life just as he had destroyed me. Say one name and all this would be over, I'd no longer be the slut they branded me as, but the unnamed male would have a name and a face and he'd face much worse persecution than I did. 

But what would that achieve? Not only would I be hurting someone else, acting just as bad as he did, but also I'd be dragging up something that I want to leave behind me.

"What's past has passed. I only want to focus on the future now. That means I'm not going to go digging in my past and dragging his name through the dirt."

"How... elegant." Eric answers, and his fake smile is my reward for maintaining my integrity. "So if you're focusing on the future for now, is there any relationships blooming in the land of Marty?" 

"Definitely not." I snort, "Right now, I'm focusing on me. That means no relationships for a while. I need to be able to cherish myself before I can cherish another."

"Well you heard it here first. That was Marty Alexander in her first televised interview. I've been Eric, thanks for watching." 

The stage manager somewhere shouts that we're off air, immediately Frankie is marching onto the set where my interview took place. 

"What the hell was that?" At once I'm about to apologise for not sticking to the answers I had devised with her, and dread floods through me, had I not done enough? Then I realise that Frankie's anger is not directed to me, but more to my interviewer. "Where in that list of questions did it say that you were allowed to question her about the sex tape?" Frankie angers, angrily pointing to her tablet which has the questions noted down. 

"Right there." He points to the first question, and Frankie responds sarcastically to him,

"Oh I'm so sorry. It must be my mistake, I thought I only said to lightly question how she could move past that point in her life... oh wait... I did." 

"I was giving the viewers what they wanted... and they want to know who the man in the tape is. I apologise for being curious."

"You better be sorry, because this is the last time one of my clients agrees to be interviewed by you. Next time we'll take the world exclusives to a more deserving 'news' professional." She turns to me now, "Well done Marty, now let's get the hell out of here before I sue someone."

- - - 

hiii everyone. 

sorry it took longer than a week to update... shit gets busy sometimes.

i promise niall is going to be back soon, after all, it's a story about Niall and Marty, i just need to set up a few things first...

hope you all enjoyed the chapter, please give it a vote and a comment

next update is hopefully next sunday.

byeeee