Thank you! Text when you’re outside and I’ll meet you.
I tuck my phone away and resume working, and a few minutes later, Jordan lets me know he’s here.
“Thank you so much for this!” I rush around the crowd to get to him.
“No problem. This is my friend, Josh,” Jordan says as they follow me around the venue to the back door.
“Nice to meet you, Josh, thanks so much for coming.”
“Of course. What a cool job. How did you land this?” Josh asks.
My smile is effortless, thinking how far I’ve come with the guys. “Honestly, it was pure luck. The lead guitarist had a thing for my friend, and the rest is history, I guess.”
“Oh, wow, so you like, know them, know them,” Jordan says.
I laugh. “I suppose.”Although, I know one a lot better than the others.
I introduce them to Emily and divvy up the tasks. The guys are much taller, so I put them to work hanging up all the flags and shirts, while Emily and I lay patches, stickers, and buttons on the table.
“Twenty minutes until the doors open, how’s it going?” I peer up from the iPad and spot Calvin standing on the other side of the table, making no move to help.
“It’s going,” I snip, annoyed. “We’ll be ready.”
He nods, and then his eyes float behind me. “Who are those guys?”
“Those are my friends, Jordan and Josh. They have a meet and greet with the band after, don’t let them forget.” Since I’m not going to be able to step away anytime soon, I’m going to have to leave it to him to remind them.
“Did you clear it with them like I asked?”
“Yes.”
Sort of. I only cleared it with Liam, but he doesn’t need to know that.
When the doors open, all hell breaks loose like I predicted. People rush straight to us. Jordan and Josh thankfully stay until TripleKill comes out, and for all their help, I let them choose a shirt on me.
Once the line dies down, I slip backstage and take a few shots of the venue and the guys as they get ready, then post them on their socials. I still have no idea if Calvin told themthey sold out tonight. I don’t want to interrupt their routines, so I’ll talk to them after. I quietly dip out.
I’m forced to listen from the front, but it sounds like everything’s going smoothly with no hiccups or missed lyrics. Once the night finally wraps up, I head back to the greenroom to make sure the guys hang around for the meet and greet.
“Fabulous job guys,” I say. Liam is the only one who acknowledges me with his cute, dimpled smile. “I have two fans outside waiting to meet you when you’re ready.” That gets their attention. I glance back at Liam, who winces.
“Sorry, Ellie, I forgot to tell them.”
“It’s fine. It won’t take long, but I need you to do this. These guys helped run the merch table today and without their help, I would’ve been dying out there.”
“Of course, we’ll do it,” Penn says, and they all agree.
“Where’d you find these dudes?” Travis asks, sliding next to me. I step back, and he frowns. “Still pissed at me?”
“No. I just need to grab them. Their names are Jordan and Josh, by the way,” I say loud enough for all the guys to hear. I walk out the door, but Travis follows, grabbing my arm.
“Wait, I want to talk to you.”
I tug my arm free and continue down the hall. “Later,” I call over my shoulder with absolutely no plans of following through. I’ve managed to avoid talking to him about anything other than work for almost two weeks. I think I can keep it up the rest of this tour.
Maybe.
30
