“Oh my god!!!!!” let out a cry of frustration. She simply didn’t have the energy any more.

She looked around at the manuscript laying across the studio floor. It was hopeless and it wasn’t working. was SonyBMG’s latest signing but even though she had received constant praise from Simon Cowell, she was under pressure from them to write quirkier songs for her American Showcase. This showcase decided whether would be signed to Sony’s American label, RCA and of course she was nervous.

“Why can’t I do this??” She sighed to herself. The longer she stared at the piano keys, the harder it was for her. She didn’t have trouble any other time, but now that she is almost forced to write, the words weren’t flowing.

Head under water
And they tell me to breathe easy for a while
The breathing gets harder, even I know that
You made room for me but it's too soon to see
If I'm happy in your hands

She leant on the piano and rested her head on her arms. She was so close to giving up.

“Hey short stuff, hows it going?”

She turned and lifted her head slightly as she heard the familiar voice.

“Short stuff? I’m five foot eight” She giggled

“Yes but you’re still shorter than me” He smirked “How is the writing going?”

gave him a look that suggested ‘Don’t Ask’ “I’m so annoyed, ”

“At what?”

“Myself, the record company, I don’t know, thing’s just aren’t happening for me”

“Ahhh, the show case is soon aint it?”

“Don’t remind me” She stood up and walked around the studio, picking up the pages she had discarded.

“See these?? This is what I’ve been trying to work with for three weeks” almost thrust the pages at

He read through them briefly, chewing on his lip as he did so. The lyrics weren’t bad at all, but he could see what she meant.

“I’m totally hopeless” She frowned sitting next to him

“You’re not hopeless” He laughed putting his arm around her shoulder

“I am, they asked me to write a quirky little love song and I haven’t come up with anything worthy”

I'm unusually hard to hold on to
Blank stares at blank pages
No easy way to say this
You mean well, but you make this hard on me

“, sometimes when you’re under pressure it’s hard to function properly, no matter how talented you are. You’re an amazing songwriter babe but you’re letting the tension get to you”

She blushed “Thanks but I certainly don’t feel like an amazing song writer”

“, stop being so negative, that is what’s stopping you from writing. You’re focusing on thinking you won’t do it in time”

He stood up and held out his hand for her to take “Come on, take my hand”

“Why?” She was confused

“Because I’m going to help you” He leant down and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet in the process.

The mere thought of holding his hand caused her to break into a sweat, she didn’t know how she would cope if he held on to it.

had taken her to Malibu beach. Both Westlife and were doing a mini tour of America. Although Westlife had already done this, Simon thought his new found celebrity status there could help them get publicity.

paid for their ice creams and they sat down on a bench overlooking the beach.

“Tell me what’s on your mind”

She sighed “Everything, I don’t know where to start”

“Just tell me, we have all the time in the world” He smiled softly at her

“I can’t seem to write, any other time it’s fine but for the past few weeks, ever since Simon told me I had to write newer material to suit the market, I haven’t been able to produce a thing. Nearly every single song in the world is about love. I’m so upset with myself. I love writing yet nothing is flowing. I know you told me not to be negative but I can’t help it” She frowned and dropped her head

I'm not gonna write you a love song
'cause you asked for it
'cause you need one, you see

I'm not gonna write you a love song
'cause you tell me it's
Make or break in this
If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better
Reason to write you a love song today

“What about life experiences?” suggested

“Like what though? I’m not that exciting believe me”

“Babe, you’re so bloody hard on yourself. Look, have you ever had your heart broken?”

“Yes” The thought of what she went through hurt her but she had moved on.

“Then write about it” He shrugged

“I can’t, I don’t to bring all that up again and besides I can’t exactly sing ‘die bastard die’ can i??”

roared lauging “No, I’m sure the American public wouldn’t appreciate it but I certainly would”

“Ha ha funny” She nudged him slightly

“Seriously sometimes that kind of emotion helps but if you can’t write about that, then write how you’re feeling now”

“Pissed off?”

“Yeh, although maybe you’ll need a thesaurus to word it differently” smirked at her

“I’m annoyed with the record company for forcing me to write these bloody non existent songs. They think it’s easy to do this kind of thing”

I learned the hard way
That they all say things you want to hear
And my heavy heart sinks deep down under you and
Your twisted words,
Your help just hurts
You are not what I thought you were
Hello to high and dry
Convinced me to please you
Made me think that I need this too
I'm trying to let you hear me as I am

“, I know you can do this and I have every faith in you” He then pulled out a little notepad and pen from his jacket pocket.

“What’s this for?” She raised her eye brows

“I want you to write all your thoughts down, not as lyrics but everything you have been feeling lately. I’m going to head back to the hotel but I think it would be best for you to stay here and relax” Without giving her a chance to respond, he kissed her on the cheek and then walked towards the hotel

She must have stared at the blank page for a few seconds but as she absorbed what he told her, she began to write down all her frustrations…………

Two days later…..

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Great Britain’s latest export. Please welcome to Miss to the stage”

The crowd gave her a warm welcome as she walked onto the stage. Sitting down behind the piano, she took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone.

“Hello everyone, I really appreciate you coming to see me. I didn’t expect a lot of people to be honest” She laughed lightly “I need to be honest with you though, up until a few days ago I had nothing to offer you…”

“What’s she talking about?” Simon whispered to as he stood next to him

“Simon, just hear what she has to say, alright?” He motioned his head back towards where was sitting.

“I felt like I had ran out of inspiration. I wanted to impress you all so much but when I sat down at the piano, nothing happened. It hurt because I’m so passionate about music and my song writing. But one day instead of trying to write the perfect song, someone told me just to write my thoughts and feelings down and just to generally empty my head of all the negative thoughts. He told me just to forget about this night for a few minutes and concentrate on getting back to my normal self, rather than the song writer that I am. Then it all fell into place. I felt creative. I didn’t know what I was going to write, I didn’t try to really but it just came out and well….i hope you like it”

Promise me that you'll leave the light on
To help me see with daylight, my guide, gone
'cause I believe there's a way you can love me
Because I say
I won't write you a love song
'cause you asked for it
'cause you need one, you see
“I'm not gonna write you a love song
'cause you tell me it's make or break in this
Is that why you wanted a love song
'cause you asked for it
'cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'cause you tell me it's make or break in this
If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If your heart is nowhere in it
I don't want it for a minute
Babe, I'll walk the seven seas when I believe that
There's a reason to
Write you a love song today”

smiled as she finished off the last line. He was so proud of her. He knew she could do it, she just needed to unwind and forget about what the record company wanted her to do.

She almost jumped into his arms once she had come off stage.

“ thank you so much” She pulled back and looked into his eyes

“It’s not a problem” He stared into her eyes and found it hard to pull away. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted.

“, sweetheart, you’ve done us proud” Simon kissed her on the cheek

“ I’m sorry but I need to steal her from you for a few seconds. , follow me and I’ll introduce you to some of the RCA staff” Simon walked and just as started to follow, grabbed her hand

“Can we talk later?” He asked, hoping she would get the hint

“Definitely” She winked, pulling away slowly, letting him know the effect that the small gesture had on her…..


© lyrics taken from Sara Bareilles ‘Love Song’


THE END



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