Niall’s view:
“Thank you boys, we’re glad to be doing business for you.” They all stacked folders away into leather briefcases.
“Thank you.” Simon shook hands with all of them.
“Thanks.” Liam followed Simon’s example.
“Glad to be doing this.” Louis shook their hands as well. It went down a line and I followed what everyone else was doing just to be cleared. By now my hazy head was gone and I just felt like crap.
“Liam, can I talk to you first?” Simon pulled him into another conference room. Their talk was brief and soon Liam was back at my side. Zayn went in and talked with Simon for quite some time then emerged from the room. Louis went but it lasted just about as short as Liam’s. Then it was me.
“Niall, what's going on with you?” Simon asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked sitting straight and talking proper.
“For starters you look nervous. Also, it's not like you to get this silent.” He pointed out. I slumped a little just to look more normal.
“I mean, I just have a lot going on right now and it's becoming a lot. I need some thinking time and space.” Distance always helped.
“Well I would prefer if you started to talk to someone.” He smiled a little. “I know how you can get anxiety and I don’t need another episode like the last one. I would much rather have you find something that takes your mind off of everything for a while.” Simon only cared. The first person that came to mind was her; I didn’t even know her, why would I think that?
“I'm sure I'll be fine.” Which wasn’t true, I could already feel everything becoming too much. He knows when things are wrong with one of us. He just knows.
“I'm serious Niall. If you don’t find a friend to talk to then I'm going to make you talk to a shrink.” He pressed harder.
“I'll talk to Liam.” I said and stood up from the hot seat.
“Niall you're not the only one that is having some issues so I need you to be ok. We can't have personal issues when we are making important business deals.” Simon cared, but sometimes you could tell it was also about business. This was one of the times he made it clearer which of the two it was.
“I'll get it together.” I said and left. He didn’t even bother talking to Harry because he wasn’t going to get much from him. We left the conference rooms and piled back into the car. Today was going to be one of those days where it's like a personal day because you do one to two hours of business deals then you're let loose. Harry went straight to his room and probably crashed. Louis and Zayn went to their room to get around for a double date. I went to my hotel room and put on some jogging clothes. I wasn’t about to talk to Liam about anything. I wanted to just pretend everything was fine. Somewhere deep down it was. I missed home but if I went back I would miss work, I knew that. I love the boys but sometimes I just wanted to kill them all, except Liam. I wanted to tell Liam how I felt but what's the point if he doesn’t understand?
“What are you doing today?” Liam came in.
“Well I want to jog and just be out alone.” I said slowly.
“Oh, well I'm free so do you want to get something to drink?” Liam asked and I gave him the weirdest look. “Like coffee.” He added.
“I'm fine; I would rather just take a jog, sweat it out, then shower. I mean it is three past noon.” I replied.
“Ok, I'll be here if you need anything.” He sat on his bed and turned on the TV.
“Ok. Oh hey can I use your iPod?” I asked stopping in front of him.
“Yeah it's in the bathroom.” He pointed with the remote. I grabbed it and plugged my headphones in while I walked down the stairs. I usually only exercised when I was in need of some major chill and stress relief time. Especially considering coming to Brazil right after the VMA’s in America. We only came here to sign contracts and then leave to go back to America for our show. Since we were in Brazil not many people knew us. Some of the very few that knew us would freak out and faint but that’s only two out of every twenty people, mostly girls. I jogged around the corner and past little shops. Seeing work out places was odd since I was just randomly jogging on the empty sidewalks. I continued to go around the block several times. This wasn’t clearing my head like I wanted it too. I was still busy, I still had stuff to do, I still had to talk to her, and I still had a show coming up. I was still too busy. I need something that will help me be numb for a while. Swimming, there was nowhere to go. Her, but I refuse to admit I like her, I don’t know her. If I got to know her then yeah I mean there is the possibility but for now I refuse to say I like her. I can't even remember how they said her name. It was really pretty. Bethany is too normal, and Brea would be too short. Her piano playing was perfect. She had a natural born skill; she must’ve started at a very young age. How did she know Justin? He said something about some sort of relation, but I didn’t remember what kind. I wondered who her family was.
“Hey, Nialler,” Someone in front of me yelled. I took out a headphone and looked around. “Niall!” they said again. It was Selena.
“Hey, what’s up Selena?” I smiled at her. She was just a friend but I know I'm going to get romantically linked to her by magazines.
“Why are you in brazil?” She asked.
“Well we headed out here to sign some contracts for a new show we’re judging. I guess that’s it.”
“You came all the way to Brazil to sign a piece of paper for something you're filming in America?” She had a valid point.
“I guess we did.” I shrug.
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere really, I’ve just been jogging around trying to clear my head.” I said walking beside her. We were back tracking where I jogged but I didn’t mind.
“So, since you're here and I'm here we should hang out.” She was hesitant but finished anyway.
“Yeah, maybe before I go to L.A. we could get coffee.” I smiled.
“Why don’t we do it now?” She proposed.
“Because I just jogged a bunch of miles and I need to shower.” I laughed like it was obvious.
“Well make sure you reach me before you leave.” She waved goodbye while she walked into a shop.
“I’ll be sure to do that.” I waved. I felt better; I mean she was nice but not my type. Actually even if she was my type Bieber would be out to get me, rain check on coffee with Selena. I walked back to the hotel and saw paps waiting for one of us. I had to be that one. They all swarmed me and I tried to push through them but I was starting to feel it sink in. Small spaces and flashes were all I could really get out of my situation.
“Niall, are you dating Selena?”
“How do you feel about your new show?”
“Can you give us insight on the other boys’ lives?”
“Did you get drunk with Harry too?”
“Why are you here and not in America?”
“Leave me alone!” I shouted and tried to keep pushing through. I made it to the doors and ran in. I wanted and needed to get away. Something was very wrong. I needed to go home. I need to get away. I went straight to my room and threw open the door. Liam sat up fast and looked at me.
“Niall,”
“Don’t say anything.” I said bitter. I opened up the bathroom door and stripped down to nothing and hopped in the shower. Tomorrow I'm leaving. Anything that needs to be done here will be done tomorrow.
“Niall,” Liam was outside the door.
“Come in.” I didn’t need to be a jerk to everyone because I'm having problems. I'm just getting nervous and I can't take it anymore.
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened. I just need some space and time to think. Tomorrow, I'm going home.”
“Niall you need to talk to Simon.”
“Liam, I know. I will clear it all. I just need a break.” I was hurting and no one saw it until now.
“I'll call Simon now.”
“Liam I can do it.” I snapped.
“I don’t think you should. You can shower and get packed. I'll take care of Simon and explain to the boys tomorrow. Which house are you going to?” He had a good point. We all have more than one home. We have where we grew up, mine being Ireland, and our house in L.A.
“I don’t know, maybe Ireland. I just need a break.” I whispered.
“Finish your shower. I'll work it out.” Liam was the only one that could take a slight notice in how hard things get for me. I showered and barely did anything once I was out. I just wanted to leave. I lay down on my bed and got out my phone to check twitter. Some pictures were posted of her and some other girl coming out of a gym. She looked as miserable as I was, I read on about where this picture was taken, L.A. I guess that answered my question about where to stay. Liam wasn’t in the room so I assumed he was telling Simon what was wrong. I just started dozing when Liam came back in.
“You have to go to the house in L.A. we’re shooting there and Simon would much rather have you close by so you can at least be prepared for the show in two weeks.”
“Two weeks?” I was hoping for time, not a lousy two weeks.
“We start recordings early and believe it or not you can actually rehearse a live event.” Liam tried to smile but it was a fail.
“Fine, I'll go there but I really can't have everyone around me. I need my space Liam.” I stressed that the most.
“Tomorrow you will be on a flight to America. You will get all the space you need. Just try and take care of yourself, don’t do anything like last time.” Liam knew when I was anxious I did dumb things.
“Sleep sounds good right now. I'll get up early and pack then head to the airport.” One of the stupid things I did when anxious was look for help in the wrong people, girls being a bigger problem. Even though I didn’t know her, my mind would drift back and forth between her and home, her and home. What was it about her that made me freeze in time?
“I'll help you wherever you want it.” He said and shut off the lamp turning the room dark. I closed my eyes and wasn’t ready for another day. When I fell asleep, I dreamt of only her. What is wrong with me?
Claire’s view:
“Claire you fell asleep out here.” Justin shook me. I looked up and still saw stars.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“It's six a.m. I made breakfast if you want some. I'm about to hit the studio.” Justin was sitting beside me.
“What studio?” I asked a little more awake.
“I'm going to record. If you want to play you could go a few blocks down to the right of here. There’s an actual studio for just playing musicians.” He smiled and rubbed my arm.
“Thanks.” I lifted myself up and slowly sulked to the patio door by his side.
“Jessica’s gone already; she went to hang out with some friends. The house is yours, if you go out set the code.” Justin smiled and left me alone.
“Great.” I grunted. I was alone again and I didn’t know what to do with my life. I did want to change my clothes though. I slipped on a pair of simple skinnies and a junky t-shirt. I ate the breakfast he had made, half burnt toast. He wasn’t a cook so I guess that was Jessica's job. I looked through my phone apps to make sure I wasn’t missing any new news. It was just the usual story about One Direction and Justin Bieber, with small ones about Austin Mahone’s McDonald’s commercial, which was boring in my opinion. I’m not a huge fangirl when it comes to celebrities. I don’t get star struck like most people do. Growing up to be a celebrity just teaches you how to act around them. Even when I was a baby I was held by Michael Jackson. I’ll admit that one gets me a little more excited than it should. I have a picture of it too. My dad gave it to me as a gift when I could appreciate it. Since it’s my day off I decided to hit up that studio and practice for nothing. It was more of a stress reliever for me, which is probably a good thing I do. If I get too much stress build up, I’ll have an anxiety attack, which trust me it’s not pretty. I should be going around and looking to see what I could do to make my playing well known. The walk to find the studio wasn’t hard but getting in was. Someone was in there that everyone wanted to see because there were girls screaming outside. I pushed through and got to the door and they recognized me as ‘the girl who knows Justin Timberlake’ and let me in. I walked to the front desk and a guy looked at me with a smile.
“I heard you were in L.A. so I knew it was only a matter of time you would stop by.” He smiled sincerely.
“Yeah, since this is my first studio thing, where do I go?” I shrugged.
“Well Brooklyn, we have a bunch of different places you can play piano at. Some are practice rooms, some are warm-up rooms.” He clicked on the computer.
“It’s Claire actually, and I don’t warm up.” I sounded cocky but I had no need.
“Well then you could use the large studio since you are famous.” He smiled and clicked away on the laptop.
“I’m not famous either, but sure, thanks… I guess.” I mumbled that last part under my breath and took the key. Justin didn’t tell me it would be like this. I walked a hallway and passed closed doors and open doors. I saw small studios and medium ones. Then I got to mine. The door was closed and I used the key to open it. When I walked in I was met by a large man. He was wearing black pants and a black shirt. He looked heavily built and ready to hurt people.
“Justin, a fan made it in.” Justin Bieber looked at me then sighed in relief before signaling to cut the people playing guitar and piano.
“No, she isn’t a fan, I know her. She was at the VMA’s.” Justin smiled at me and his body guard stepped back a bit, but not enough for comfort.
“I didn’t know you were in here. I’ll go somewhere else.” I turned to walk out, a little less then disinterested.
“No, wait. Could you play us some songs?” He asked looking at his musicians and dancers.
“Yeah, we would love to see what you can do.” The only girl in the room said. Everyone else agreed. I thought about it for a second before deciding yes, besides I did come here to play.
“What do you say?” Justin ushered me to the piano. One wall was completely mirrored for the dancers and everyone watched me.
“Ready?” I asked. I knew what song I was going to play, only because it’s what they were here to master. I started to play ‘As Long as You Love Me’ as loud as I could and they started to do their routine while I played in rhythm. I stayed motionless for a while, but lost control and started bopping to the music. I loved him singing and playing guitar, they were all really talented. The lead guitar and bass started playing by my side. I started to go on a simple tangent adding quicker notes and chords in-between. Justin kept going and some side dancers stopped to get water or dry their sweat. Soon it was Justin playing guitar and me on the piano, playing music together. He would rub his back on mine as he sang, like we were in front of an audience. I giggled like a little girl, we were sort of in front of an audience because by now everyone in the group that was a musician or dancer was out and watching.
“As long as you love me, we could be starvin’ we could be homeless we could be broke. As long as ya love me, I’ll be ya platinum I’ll be ya silver I’ll be ya gold.” I took a solo on that part. Justin stood back draw dropped
“That was amazing. Mini Mozart can sing and play!” He stopped out of breath. I stopped too and everyone clapped.
“Where did you learn to play?”
“That was awesome!” Everyone commented on Justin and I’s little duet.
“Well, I grew up around pianos because of my dad and uncle.” I shrugged and took the water that the bodyguard handed me. “Thank you.” I smiled and drank a little bit.
“You need to teach us that.” Some other pianist guy said.
“Hey, hey, give her a minute.” Justin had my back, but I wasn’t too tired. I play for hours at a time nonstop to strengthen my hands or learn something new so it wasn’t too tiring to play that fast and intensely to a three minute song.
“It’s ok.” I smiled.
“Who is your dad?” This question wasn’t one I wanted to get asked but I did set myself up for it by saying something about him.
“My dad was JC Chasez.” I smiled thinking about his tan skin and dark hair. The room fell silent. I assumed they knew about the stories and news so that’s why they were taken by surprise.
“Claire…” Justin said looking sympathetic.
“What?” I avoided the sympathy he was trying to give me because I didn’t want it.
“I’m so–”
“Don’t say it.” I interrupted him. His crew looked at him then at me.
“We didn’t know.”
“It’s not a big deal. I can’t change it and this is why I don’t want people to know. I’m trying to make a name for myself from him or his accident.” I knew this is what would happen when anyone knew about him. It’s easier to pretend.
“Well, then, what’s a better way for making your own name then going out with Justin Bieber and his crew for lunch?” Justin lightened the mood.
“I would love too, but I look pretty bad.” A couple of the musicians and dancers laughed.
“Look at us.” The only girl in the room said. They were all wearing t-shirts, shorts, and were sweaty.
“Ok, I’m in.” I caved. They all picked up their bags and things as Justin talked to someone on the phone. Soon after he hung up we all headed out to the hoard of girls I saw before. I followed Justin to make sure I didn’t go somewhere I wasn’t supposed to. He grabbed my hand/wrist and led me into the van. There were two vans so the group split even. Once we were in and everyone was accounted for we took off.
“It’s crazy, huh?” He laughed.
“How do you do it?” I asked, laughing back.
“Well, you better get used to it if you're going to be hangin’ with the big stars.” He winked. “After a while you just get used to it. Every time someone screams your name expect five thousand more to come running. Every time you take a picture at subway with someone expect fans to attack you on your way out. It’s the life you sign up for when you make a deal with the devil.” He was trying to psych me out.
“Yeah, even dancing behind Justin gets you noticed. I mean sometimes I just go out with my family and then bam people and paps are asking me about him.” The girl said.
“Well that’s a reason I want to be my own famous person. I want to be me and not have people asking me about someone else.” I smiled back at her.
“I’m Lucinda, but everyone calls me Lou.” She looked at her phone and typed away on it after announcing herself.
“I’m Jeff.” The guy crushed up next to me said and shook my hand. I was sitting in the middle row of the van and crushed in-between Justin and Jeff. The row behind us was Lucinda and two other guys that were busy having their own conversation to speak to us.
“Now really isn’t the time for this but when we get out could I get your number? I would love to be able to call you up for some song ideas and have you help write some back up music for my songs.” Justin said wrapping his arm around me to make the position bearable.
“Yeah, that would be great. I'm sure Justin would be glad I'm being kept busy.” I mumbled more for me.
“What are you talking about, Justin who?” Lucinda asked.
“Not Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake.” I looked back at her; she flipped out for a few minutes and then slowed her breathing to dead.
“You shouldn’t have mentioned that.” Justin whispered.
“Why?” I looked at him. He was inches from my face and yet I didn’t feel the least bit star struck.
“We may be Justin’s back up dancers but we all have our fan girl moments.” Jeff said to me.
“Who’s yours?” I was curious.
“I can never get over Usher. Sometimes Justin is rehearsing with us and Usher shows up for rehearsal and I go crazy. Usher may be used to it, but I most certainly am not.” Jeff laughed. He was blushing, probably because Justin was in the van with us.
“Justin do you have a person?” I asked.
“Michael Jackson.” He kept his answer short.
“He held me when I was a baby; I think he was 37 or 38 when it happened.” I said. Justin’s jaw dropped.
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, my dad knew him to an extent.” I smiled again at the mention of my dad.
“You just became my best friend.” Justin said as the van stopped. We were at a restaurant I had never heard of before. Everyone piled out and I followed with Justin following me. The paps took pictures of us as we entered the doors. I was excited to be hanging out with someone cool like him. I may have made an actual friend.

Notes