RG hardly looked up from his phone where he was no doubt playing Minecraft. Gibbo pulled a notebook and pen from his bag and sat with his coffee and a blank page.
“Writing?” Parker asked.
“Just jotting down some random thoughts I had for some new lyrics.”
“Cool. Okay, I’ll be back in a minute. Just message if you need me.”
Parker slipped from the conference room into one of the smaller meeting rooms further down the corridor to call Harvey.
“Hello?” Harvey’s voice was muffled.
“Hey, Harvey. It’s Parker.”
“Wh—?”
Parker looked at the time.Oops.It was just after 7:00 a.m. back in Sydney. “Sorry, Harv, I should have paid more attention to the time difference.”
“’S’kay.” There was the sound of rustling, then another voice in the background. “Shh.”
Oh, sounds like Harvey’s love interest might be playing out.“Sorry, did I interrupt you?”
“It’s cool. Just give me a sec to sit up.” More rustling.
Parker’s heart went out to him. It must be difficult to manoeuvre himself with the casted arm.
“Okay, I’m good now. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing? How’s the arm?”
“No change since we last spoke. The cast doesn’t come off for weeks, so there’s nothing new to report.”
“How’s the pain?” Harvey had been trying to avoid taking excess medication, something Parker knew was a response to their mum. He was fearful of an addiction to opiates, something she had battled after a work-related back injury.
“It’s not too bad.”
“I—”
“I’m telling the truth, little brother. Nothing a couple of Panadol can’t handle. Now, tell me what’s going on over there.”
Parker sighed. “I wish you were here. I’ve got no idea what I’m doing.”
“You’re doing fine.”
“How do you know?” Parker paced the small room.
Harvey chuckled. “I’ve been talking to the guys and Nigel.”
Parker stopped in his tracks. “You’ve been checking up on me?”
“Not checking up, just making sure everything is okay. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you’re doing for me, for the band, and I want to make sure you’re all right.”
Parker dropped into a chair. “Jesus, Harvey, I’m having a nervous breakdown.”
“You arenothaving a breakdown. A bit of nerves is natural—”
“This isn’t a bit, Harvey. I need to get up on stage tonight, and I have no idea how I’m going to do it. I know I said I could do it, but I was speaking out of my arse. What was I thinking? I’m not you!”
“No, you’re not.” Harvey’s voice was calm, strong. “You’re you. And Parker? I have full confidence in you. You know the songs, hell, you’ve mastered every single one of them. You just need to believe in yourself.”
