Pink Ribbon (Liam Payne)

Chapter 25

"I've made my decision." My heart was pounding so hard I was aware of how fast my blood was racing. My mouth felt as if I was forced to swallow sandpaper and then tried eating a cat with its claws out. My throat closed up as Mr. Star sat up in his chair in amusement. This seemed like a good idea an hour ago.

"Well. If you came all this year to try to renegotiate or deny my offer, you wouldn't have come. But seeing as this is something I would need your full participation on, you may say whatever you chose. Just be brief," he warned.

I took a deep breath. Focus on the positive. Focus on the positive. "I agree to your terms," I said quickly and rushed.

"Harris. I have no time to figure out what you mean by that. Please just say what you have decided. I have a meeting here in five minutes." He stood up and walked to the ornament he played with on Tuesday.

Placing and replacing it in his hands, I noticed the fear and familiarity I felt towards him and his cold eyes had not faded. In fact, the feelings grew stronger. I swallowed down my nausea before clarifying, "I agree to your agreement. I will stop seeing Liam. It's probably for the best anyways." I was saying the last part for my own benefit. This was such an amazing opportunity; Liam would understand. That is if I can talk to him again and assuming he would want to talk to me again.

Mr. Star straightened his back with a hint of a grin on his lips. He slid a paper across the desk that I saw to be a contract. "Read it over tonight. Have it back tomorrow. Signed. If you're a minor, you need parent's permission. Meanwhile we need to give you a make over. I can't advertise you if you look and dress like that."

I self-consciously looked down to my clothes. A simple black dress. "What's wrong with the way I dress? I like it."

"You need more help than I thought if you actually like that. Megan!" he called. He sat back in his chair, and I suddenly felt very exposed. I looked down at the ground in my shame. A little girl rushed in, and I looked up to see the Megan who helped with the music video standing there.

"Megan!" I screamed hugging her. I don't care if she was dating Luke, or the fact I haven't talked to her since the beginning of summer. A familiar face was always nice. Not the creepy familiar Mr. Star gave off. 

She quickly dispatched from me and stared at the ground. "Who are you? I'm Megan! I'm a make-up artist and a stylist." Her eyes were trained on the floor, and I knew she remembered me, but something was holding her back. I agreed to play her little game for the meantime. 

"Oh! I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else. I'm Sophia," I say still unsure of why she would hide the fact we know each other a secret. She looked up to give me a thankful smile, and my suspicions are confirmed.

"No problem at all, Sophia!" she stated before turning to Mr. Star. "I will give her her make over and be back either early tomorrow or noon tomorrow. She's going to need to undergo a full transformation. If that's okay with you of course." She added, and I was starting to get confused about a lot of things.

Why is Megan hiding the fact we know each other? I started asking myself the real questions. Why do I have to have no contact with Liam at all? Why did I even agree in the first place? I reasoned with myself before about agreeing to his terms. I just hated how nothing was happening naturally. My stomach dropped, and I regretting agreeing to the bargain. I still haven't signed the contract, so maybe I could rethink the options I have with myself. However, this opportunity was too great to pass up so easily. My head hurt with the thoughts whipping around my head.

Megan was pulling my arm out of the room, and I realized I zoned out again. Before I could ask what had happening, we were in the elevator alone, and she answered my question probably guessing I had blanked out. "Sophia!" She hugged me with pure energy and excitement. She unlatched me from her grip before grabbing my shoulders in a serious way. Her expression of glee softened. "Why?"

I giggled nervously. "What do you mean?"

She walked out of the elevator and towards what I assumed is her car quickly leaving me to awkwardly walk jog to keep up with her. Once we were in her car, she looked over at me with the same serious expression she had in the elevator. "Why agree to his terms? Leave Liam forever? I can't let you do this!" Before I could understand what she was talking about, she grabbed my contract out of my grip, and she maneuvered her hands, so she could with the slightest of ease, tear it into shreds. And my chances of ever having my dream job. I snatched it from her hands and gave her the best questioning face I could make.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded for her to answer.

"I can't let you throw away Liam! Give it to me! It's for your own good!" She said lunging for the paperwork. I leaned as far away as I could from her. It was kind of comedic in a way, but I pushed that to the back of my mind as I fought for possession of the unharmed papers.So far I was doing okay at keeping it in my hands.

"Megan! Megan! Calm down! Can we at least talk about this for a minute before you start ripping up my papers?" I plead. She sat back in the driver's seat, and I took a deep breath out. Finally, I thought.

"Sophia. Give me those papers. You don't want to sign with him. Not like this. I can't say much without crossing myself, but please. Give me those papers," she spoke slowly as if to try to convince a three year old to eat their veggies. 

"Why should I not be signed to STAR agency? Name one reason!" I crossed my arms like a three year old refusing to believe the mom's bait. To be completely honest with myself, I am still wishy washy about signing with STAR. I don't know what's worth what. I know only I can decide that, but I didn't want the choice solely on my shoulders. If something goes wrong, I can't blame anyone but myself.

I can tell she wasn't expecting a chance to explain herself. She fumbled a few times over her words before starting again. "For starters, the terms are stupid! Why go under these terms? You shouldn't have to accept stupid catches in order for everyone to see how talented you are! Which brings me to my next point! It doesn't show how actually talented you are. Third, you should research the company and Mr. Star before anything. Fourth, and certainly not the last, --"

"You have 30 seconds," I warned her.

"Okay! If you won't rip up those papers for yourself, then do it for Liam!" Before I could interrupt, she continued, "I've been a neutral the whole time, and even from the music video, I've seen something between you two. I know it was early on, but I saw a spark. I don't even know how to describe it! How do you think he will feel when you avoid him at all costs? This is all going to come out sooner or later, and by then, it will be too late for you two to mend anything!... And with the pictures and everything that came out about you two, you could see you were happier and happier every picture. Luke can't do that for you. When you started dating Luke, I was beyond baffled, but --"

"So this is what this is all about? I dated Luke! Big deal! Just because your boyfriend prefers me over you doesn't mean you can try to take away this great opportunity from me! I should have known better than to trust you!" I felt betrayed and stupid for ever thinking that she was trying to protect me from myself.

She got out of her car and leaned in to scold me. I have never seen her more torn. "Don't come to me when everything blows up in your face!"

Great.

She was trying to make me feel worse about myself.

I made my way to my car and just sat there thinking about everything. Maybe that's my problem. I over think too much. Grabbing a pen from a compartment in my car, I signed every space that required my signature. Looking at the unread contract, I saw a newly wet spot on the corner of the paperwork, and I realized I was crying. When did I become so emotional and moody?

I took a deep breath before driving out of the parking lot. I needed to clear my head from the thoughts that have consumed me for what seemed like weeks. 

A/N

SIX HUNDRED READS!!!!!!!! HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN HOW AMAZING THIS IS FOR ME!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I NEVER EXPECTED TO GET THIS FAR, SO THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR GIVING ME THIS OPPORTUNITY!!!!!!

I KNOW I HAVE THESE A/N A LOT RECENTLY, AND THE ARE ALL SAYING THANK YOU OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BUT HONESTLY I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT ELSE TO SAY!!!! 

THANK YOU FOR BEING SO AMAZING!!!!!!

~MORGAN