*Wesley's POV*
"Would you like to renew the contract?" Asked Simon. Her bright blue eyes narrowed, as she shook her head, grabbing her handbag. "No disrespect to you, Mr.Cowell, I'm very thankful that you've given me this oppurtunity but I'm more than glad it's over." She huffed, getting up and shaking his hand. "Well, I'm more than happy that you've tried to help this young man's image, and that you can finally afford to go to college. Have a nice day, darling." She speed walked, almost ran out the door, her long black hair just escaping when the door closed.
"This is the fifth girl in half a year, Wesley. And this one only accepted because the only thing keeping her from going to med school was tuition that she couldn't pay. How do you think this makes you look? The fact that the highest number of monthly contract renewals was two, that just ended?" Simon rolled his eyes, and loosened his tie.
"I'm honestly not quite sure why the girls get more backlash for having stable relationships than you boys do for stunts like these-absolute rubbish, if you ask me. But let me tell you, you are catching up. Even those who toured with you can't find anything nice to say about you anymore."
Swivelling in his chair, he clicked a button on a remote, and the projector started playing various video clips. The first one was of a swarm of paps surrounding my brother in some city I couldn't recognize.
"Keaton, what's the plan since the tour's ended?"
"Well, I've spent a lot of time with my family, and now I'm just using this time off to really explore the world and travel. The future's kinda fuzzy right now." He moved to a bench and sat down, putting his sunglasses on to block the flashes.
"Speaking of family, how's Wesley doing?" I looked over at Simon, who looked quite excited to hear Keaton's reaction.
Keaton snorted quite loudly, and laughed for a little bit. "That's a really good question, actually. Um, I'm just letting him figure out what he wants, and let him do what he wants. He's alright, I guess. I'm focusing on the positive." I cringed, and Simon clicked another button. It switched to an Army of Crisis interview at Warped.
"Yeah, even though Quinn's the mother hen on tour and at events dealing with the boring stuff, we're like her overprotective older brothers, if that makes sense." Jasper flicked his newly dyed fringe out of his face, waving at someone behind the camera, probably fans considering the screams in the background.
"How were you guys duing the whole Wesley Stromberg situation?" Oh, god.
"Who?"
They all laughed for a little while, then sobered up. "We're kidding, we know who he is. That's not really something we talk about in interviews since it's really nobody's business what happened between those two. Next question, please?" Said Milo calmly, with his left eye slightly twitching. The rest of the boys snickered at his obvious irritation.
Simon paused the video. "Oh, just you wait. They get progressively better. Two more videos to go, Wesley." Clicking another button, it was a podcast, with a picture of the Janoskians in a radio station.
"Oh my god, not them. They're ruthless and don't care about what anyone thinks of them, which means they'll call me out. Please don't make me watch this." Simon shrugged. "I warned you that they'd get worse."
"Welcome back to the Roz and Mocha show, it's 8:22 here in Toronto, if you're just tuning in, the Janoskians are in the studio with us this whole morning, and the current topic of discussion is relationships. Now, Jai, you've had some experience with high profile relationships-what's one of the difficult things about having that kind of spotlight?"
"Well, it's been quite a while since I'd had those relationships, I've kept it rather lowkey after around 2014, so I'll speak from the experience of a friend. One main thing is that you're never really alone, chances are that there's someone with a long lens across the street or a phone camera out metres away. There's also social media, if one person posts that you're on a date, there's a good chance that hundreds will show up to that date, and thousands will know your whereabouts. And that can really change the atmosphere."
"But if you can deal with the situation appropriately, it's fine." Added Daniel. "Fans can be rather rude sometimes, but sometimes, you'll have to talk them away. We're still people. If you don't recall asking those 200 girls to third-wheel, then they really shouldn't be there, and they should know that."
"It's hard to walk away from someone you love, even when they'll throw you under the bus and you know it since everybody is trying to be an expert about your relationship. Also, some guys need to stop covering up the fact that they're jerks. Your ex making eye contact with a guy dosen't mean you can imply she cheated. That's sick, and the true mark of a butthurt fool." The boys started laughing, and Beau chimed in as well.
"I'll close up this discussion before it turns into complete trash talk-but moral of the story, don't hit the blunt more than you hit up the local florist to get your girlfriend a bouquet."
Simon clicked onto the last video, and I recognized it immediately. It was an interview of Quinn's from only a few days ago. I'd watched most of it, until I fell asleep at my desk and missed the rest.
"Describe your life in 6 words."
"These questions have gotten quite thought provoking...I'm not that great at being clever on the spot. My 6 words are Moving Onto Bigger And Better Things. "
When I walked into this meeting, I was in no way expecting this much shade.
"There's a lot of music coming your way, with the boys of AOC in the studio these past few days for writing sessions for the new album, and I'm producing Drew's new album. Two great records. Also working on some solo stuff on the side." There was a massive reaction from the studio audience, making her jump in her seat. "Wait, did I forget to tell you guys? OOPS. Well, you know now!" On the screen behind her, where was a picture of her roller her eyes with the band having a pencil sword fight in the background, a screenshot from a recent YouTube cover, and picture of herself and Drew. She had headphones on, and was staring intently at a screen. He looked at her like she was the most precious thing on earth.
"Last question: Can you confirm or deny a relationship with Drew Chadwick, or rumours about your breakup with Wesley Stromberg?"
Her mood immediately darkened. "Well, there have been too many rumours about Wesley and I's barely existent relationship, so I don't know which ones you'd like me to confirm or deny. All I can say is that you should never let yourself be dependent on any one person in this world except for yourself. After a breakup, the best thing to do is just hang out with your friends, put on some red lipstick, buy yourself some killer heels since you have nobody to impress but yourself." The audience clapped and cheered as if she didn't just completely swerve the question about Drew.
Filled with rage that was probably fueled with angst, I grabbed the first thing my hand could reach, and whipped it at the screen. Simon turned the projector off. "Was it really nessecary to throw a stapler at the screen?"
"Was it really nessecary to show me all of that? What's the point? To make me feel shitty about myself? I beat myself up every day about that night on the tour bus, and how I messed up the best thing that never happened to me. I hate the fact that I couldn't stand up to my own fans."
"Since you just confessed all of that, yes. It was nessecary. You've finally stopped repressing what you really think about the situation. I've called you here to ask you if you're going to go after her, or if you'll stop interfering with her general well-being. I'm asking you not as Simon Cowell, but as someone who's been almost a father figure to you all, but is completely done with your antics." He paused for a moment, debating if he wanted to continue or not.
"Either make up, or stop ruining her life."
