"Easy for you to say... Your heart has never been broken, your pride has never been stolen. Not yet." - Foo Fighters

THREE

July '13

 “Are you really asking me to do that?” Sylvia complained at her phone while lying on the hotel bed, her sobs finally becoming weaker.

“First: You have to, we already have this scheduled. Second: It’s not for me, it’s for you. Third: It’s been four days and you haven’t left that bed!”

There was a silence in the air, Simon could only listen to the deep breathing on the other line. Even though there was nothing else he could do to make the girl feel a little better, he kept on trying. “Listen, Sylvia, I know it’s been difficult for you and-”.

“Shut the fuck up, you don’t know anything about what happened and what I’m going through.” Sylvia broke his words, screaming, as to try and avoid anything he would say about the break up. It was too much for her to handle in that moment; she would beg the world to stop the overprotection and just let her be by herself for a while. Simon, her friends, her family, her crew, and even Sean’s friends were trying to help her with her broken heart, but all Sylvia really wanted was the whole universe to forget about her existence and let her be by her own. She was sick and tired of the everything’s is gonna be alright talk.

“Just leave me alone. I don’t want to do this Simon.” It was his turn to be silent. She soon realized the unfairness in her tone while talking to him; he was the one trying to lift her mood after everything and Simon definitely didn’t deserve to see her that miserable. “Sorry for yelling. I’m just confused with everything. I- I don’t need your compassion, I just-” She trailed off.

“It’s ok, I shouldn’t be bothering you. I’m sorry, I really am.  If you don’t want to go the award ceremony, you don’t have to; I’m not pushing you,” he sighed. Simon wasn’t even sure what could be said to make her feel better, but he needed to let her know he would work hard to be there for her.

Sylvia returned the sigh once she realized the sorrowful tone in his speech, and it devastated her.

“Just think about how every little part of your personal life can affect your career right now. I’m not telling you to relieve everything and put your personal issues behind, but you have to manage it as the professional we want you to be. Anyway, we’re not having this conversation through this line.”

“Sorry Simon,” she said, slamming her face on the pillow. She would blame herself to death for treating him like this. It was Simon; the only one who really had the opportunity to know her relationship with Sean and he had to deal with all her feelings for breaking up with him. “I- I’m feeling so miserable, so hopeless about everything.“

“I know how you feel, but you-“

“My pride, Simon,” Sylvia cries were still drenched in her own tears. “Sean stole my pride and I don’t think I’ll have it back any time soon. How can I move on without it?” Maybe for the first time she felt a little relieved for blurting out everything that had been aching in her heart so much. Getting rid of it and releasing all the pain she was keeping just for herself was a beginning and she knew Simon would be the one who would be there for her if she needed.

“I’ve never expected you to walk in his shoes, Sylvia. You always were, and still are, on your own, even though he helped you through the last months.”

She knew Simon was right. He was just so right. Even though everything seemed to be much easier when Sean was by her side, living by her own was something she had to learn from that moment on; especially in that one, when reality hit her hard and she realized that maybe there was no person in this world she could rely on.

“I’m really sorry for crying out loud Simon, I really am.” Her body suddenly became lighter after opening up a little to Simon. “You don’t deserve to see me this broken, lonely and miserable.”

“What I do deserve is to see you recovered, loved, and happy about yourself. You have a bright future that is just ahead of you. Just promise me you’ll think about what I said before. We still have our airline tickets for the flight next week. If you make up your mind, just let me know and I’ll arrange your driver and everything else, ok?”

“Thanks dad.” She gave him a shy laugh. “Thanks for taking care of everything.”

“And one last thing; it’s been one month already. Recover yourself from this shit and get ready for the show. It’s your time to shine, girl.” He hung up the phone and Sylvia kept thinking of the boss’ words.

He was right. It didn't happen yesterday, but that was the time for her to unscramble the pieces of her broken heart and at least pretend everything would be better. She wished it would be that easy, but only a broken heart knew how to live in this situation when the other half of your life was gone. How did she let things get this far? Putting her own life in his hands wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but it was comforting to have someone like Sean who always treated her right and opened all the doors to let her shine.  

Sylvia couldn’t believe everything that had happened; it was just unacceptable to see him go so easily. Maybe it was all the rumors, maybe he got tired of her childish ways, maybe he didn’t really love her anymore. Many reasons could make him leave her, but looking for a right answer for everything that happened would never make her feel better; that was definitely the time to move on. Running towards his ex wife wasn’t the best thing he could do, but she just had to face the harsh reality he wasn’t there anymore. Sylvia didn’t even want to know if that relationship was working; she was just trying to close her eyes from everything about him. Somehow, even though she knew what she needed to do, it was hard to take the simplest step away from that broken and hopeless relationship. The one mistake Sylvia made was believing that having Sean in her life would really make her stronger and more mature. But, there she was sobbing in her own misery for realizing people hurt; and the one who hurt her the most was that person she once trusted her life to.

Then there was Simon; he was this person made of stone everyone knew, and the thought of making him sad, destroyed her. She knew her pain was contagious, taking in consideration the mess of her relationship and everyone involved. Simon and Sean got on really well together and it was obvious Simon was frustrated with everything that happened. And so Sylvia knew she owed her life to both Sean and Simon for having the great opportunity of following her dreams. If there was a way to make up her relationship with Simon, she would definitely go for it. Listening to his advice and trying to live after all of the shit she had been through was a start.

Just do it, Sylvia.

From that day after, Sylvia spent her days digesting all the information about the last two months; well, she tried to. Until this point, she just screwed up everything and turned her back on everyone who cared. If dealing with the past was that painful, the only thing she was really wishing was to look ahead to the future. That was what her inner voice kept telling her and suddenly it became her motto, a motto that she would easily glue on her forehead as a reminder of how fucked everything would be if she would ever lost herself again overthinking about that broken relationship. Simon could never be more objective and right, and Sylvia finally admitted that. Showing him she was working hard to recover could be the beginning of a new life, and the Teen Choice Awards was a great opportunity to show up and say everything was fine.

“I was just waiting for you to call me! Hi Sylvia, how are you feeling, dear?” She could definitely imagine Simon’s cocky smile on the other side of the line. And yes, he could be the guy to look to his own phone every few minutes, just to check if there were any messages from the girl deciding to go.

“Ok, let’s do this; you won. We’re going,” she sighed and couldn't help herself from smiling. Damn Simon, he had just won another battle against her.

“You’ve just made my day!” His eminent excitement was evident in his voice. “But how are you feeling? Any better?”

“Yes, I am!” Sylvia tried her best to show some confidence in her voice. “My friends came over for holiday and we spent some time together. Maybe a little bit of everything was about them missing and they brought me back to the bright side of life”. She smiled at the phone and let a little relaxing breath escape. It felt good to get rid of most of the thoughts that had been chasing her since the split, that was the first time that she could finally rebuild her own life and go through it, alone.

“I couldn’t be happier with the news. That’s what you deserve, Sylvia. Enjoy your moment, you’re shining! But I gotta tell you, your pain has made your songs even more touching.” The grin from Simon’s expression after stating this was totally visible in Sylvia’s mind. It was still Simon, he could never control himself of teasing her any time he could.

“Really? Did you listen to it?” She got excited with his joy.

“I can’t tell you that, but I’m still looking for a good year for you and also for some surprises.”

“Just tell-.”

“Surprise, Sylvia, surprise!” He cut her as a chuckle sounded from the other side and his tone broke her heart. She wouldn’t get anything from the stone man before the time was right.

“Fine. When do I see you?” She gave up on convincing him; maybe a little alcohol at Teen’s Choice Award would be enough for hom to blurt some words about the ‘surprise’.

“Saturday; five more days and you’ll be able to hug and kiss your favourite boss.”

She laughed, imagining the moment they would meet again. Getting close to him made her feel really special about what they were working on and missing one of her favourite people on earth was just a part of the process of getting close. The stone man was definitely working hard on getting on well with people, especially with Sylvia, his new sweetheart as people would like to say.

“What about the lads? Are they coming?” The slight possibility of meeting them again lighted her mood as she remembered the great time they had together at The Brits.

“1D? Of course! They’re gonna win all of the awards they are nominated for.”

“So humble, Simon, I’m shocked.” Her laughter dominated the room and she couldn’t control herself of remembering Simon’s not-no-humble grin on his face. And that was how she realized how she missed him around her.

“Besides, they will be able to lift your spirits up! I’m pretty sure of it.”

“I would say they’re already lifted, but I bet they can work on that. Right now I am kind of sad about not having a huge chocolate fudge muffin in front of me.” The sound from her stomach reminded her she didn’t have anything to eat after she woke up. Maybe it was time to treat herself right and show the world the bright side of the life she was chasing; and obviously have the delicious muffin she was thinking about.

“Don’t get fat, I’m gonna get you a stretchy and shiny outfit for Teen’s Choice.”

“You jerk!” She laughed, “See ya-“ and Simon cut her off right before she could even hung up the phone.

“Get yourself ready, there’s something telling me Teen’s Choice Awards will be remarkable.” She couldn’t even reply to that as his voice faded in the way.

Finally Sylvia got a real excitement. She kept thinking about what her future would hold. Could she handle a successful career for so many years on contract? For that moment, she just wanted her music to be heard and she wanted to see it with her own eyes.

 [A/N]

 Hey all! What's up?!

Keep in mind: I first give the fact, then I'll explain then (or not lol). First of all, thanks for spending your lovely time with me and my book, it seriously means the world to me! This and the previously couple chapters are supossed to give you a background for the whole story; I promise 1D will be back on the next chapter and THEY WILL NOT LEAVE ANY TIME SOON! Remember we may have 6 great characters ahead :) The next chapter is one of my favorite EVER and that's all I'll say by now lol.

How is it so far?! Is there anything you're missing about Sylvia?! The comments are wide open for your thoughts about the story and anything you would like to tell me!

And don't forget to VOTE and to show me some love :) And please, listen to this song, it's one of my favorite tunes of my favorite band EVER).

see ya! cheers xx