Too Much To Ask |NH|

Chapter Nine

After taking a shower and getting dressed, Niall grabbed his keys and left for the day. He had a meeting with the London offices of his record label. They had been understanding, at first, but he knew they wanted him to finish up his album but he had been struggling. Writing had always been therapeutic for him, but he was having trouble getting his thoughts together. Every time he sat down to write, he found that he couldn't.

"Niall, we have several songs we could choose from to complete the final touches on this album and get it out," some woman he had never seen in his life said to him as she sat across the conference room table.

"Who are you, again?" He asked.

She gave him a look before saying, "I'm the one who is responsible for getting this done. I know you've had a hard time, as of late, but we need some sort of answer. We need to see some progress being made."

Her condescending manner of speaking to him combined with his overall mood, made him even less receptive to what he was being told. "Look, I've already discussed this with several people. I'm having some issues with writing. And we aren't going to slap some half-assed songs out simply because you want it out in time for some deadline. I like doing this right and I'm not putting anything out until it's right."

"We all want you to do this right, Niall. We all just want to know what you've been doing?"

Niall looked at this woman. He was tired of this crap. She didn't know him. She didn't know what he was going through. Frustrated, he snapped, "Well, excuse me, your highness. Excuse me for not knowing that the last seven and a half months of my life were going to be this way. Excuse me for not being able to predict my entire world crashing down on me. Forgive me for not seeing it sooner. Forgive me for not being able to tell my heart to move on fast enough for you!"

"Niall," his friend Ben said, "Can I speak with you for a moment? Privately?"

They walked out into the hallway. "Who the fuck does she think she is? Bitch," Niall said, not even trying to hide his irritation.

"Don't worry about her. She's only doing what she's been told to do. The label wants an album from you. It's been nearly three years since your last one."

"You think I don't know that?"

"I know you know that. And I know you're going through a hard time right now, but you've got to give them something."

"I'm not releasing a crap album simply because they don't give a shit about me. And I don't have to give them anything, especially if they do, indeed, know I'm going through a hard time." Niall started to walk off but he had gotten so heated that he couldn't let it go. Turning back to Ben, he spat out, "You know what, fuck them. Fuck this shit. I don't need to be coerced into finishing an album that I started when I was happy; when my life was going in the direction I wanted it to go in. Do you know how many times I've sat down and tried to listen to what I already have done? Too many to count but I can't do it. Every single time I do, I end up in this black pit of darkness. I enter the goddamn black hole that I just managed to claw my way out of!"

Ben looked at him, as if he had both lost his damn mind and with the type of sympathy he was tired of getting. "Niall, I don't want to rush you. And you won't put out a crap album. And they do care. They just need a little reassurance. I mean, just schedule some studio time or something. I don't care if you actually do anything in there or not. You just need to show them that you're doing something."

"I'm trying! You think I want to be sitting around like this? I wish I could write. I wish I could get everything I'm feeling out. But, I can't! Every time I try, I end up lost in the memories of a life I once had." Niall took a breath, trying to calm himself down.