Harvey sat and took a sip of coffee while he waited for the others to get seated. They’d just finished a run through of their latest material and he was feeling good. It was awesome to be back to playing properly and the excitement amongst the band was high. They’d had a damn good session and there was no doubt HyperOctane was back in full form.
“I can’t wait for the new single to drop,” Rafe said as he took the seat next to him. “The initial response has been positive. The Melbourne crowd loved it.”
Sometimes they surprised concert goers with a sneak peek at upcoming songs. It was a great way to gauge initial reaction, treat the fans, and generate some hype.
Harvey nodded. “Yeah. The current album’s charting well too.”
Nigel looked up, obviously following the conversation. “All in all I’d say you boys are on track to hit some big goals this year so it’s boding well for the ARIAs.” Last year HyperOctane had taken out a number of key awards in the Australian Record Industry Association Awards including Best Song, Rock Album, and Highest Selling Single.
Gibbo and RG finally stopped chatting and joined them at the table. “Man, that’s awesome but wouldn’t it be cool to win a Grammy,” Gibbo said.
“You know it’s extraordinarily rare for an Australian to win a Grammy,” Nigel said.
“Yeah, but not impossible.”
Nigel laughed. “I’m glad you’re aiming high. But hey, I’ve got news that will go a long way to helping with HyperOctane’s overseas visibility. You’re all aware that HyperOctane’s been asked back to perform at Rocktoberfest—”
The boys all cheered, and Harvey definitely shared the excitement. Given he’d missed the whole tour last year, this trip was especially important to him.
“Anyway, as I was saying, you’ll be playing at Rocktoberfest on the Saturday afternoon, and the crowd should be awesome—bigger and better than the last performance. But I’ve also been liaising with Sheila from our US office and have teed up a couple of other gigs. Firstly, there’ll be an exclusive performance featuring HyperOctane, the Bad Boys, and Sikorski. It’s a private party at a club in LA, with special guests in attendance, aimed at getting more influential people across your music.”
“Sikorski will be there?” RG asked, voice flat.
Nigel nodded. “They are now part of the Richardson Enterprises stable, along with the Bad Boys, so it makes sense you’d all perform together.”
“Right,” RG said.
Harvey briefly wondered what was going through RG’s mind and made a mental note to ask him later. All Harvey knew was that the guys had met Van and the rest of Sikorski at Rocktoberfest. There’d been some plan to link Rafe and Van in the media for the publicity, especially given Van had been voted Most Eligible Rock Star but that had been nixed when Rafe officially declared that he’d fallen in love with Parker.
Nige continued. “We’ve also arranged another bigger performance this time. It’s a concert in Reno the week before the festival. I’ll send you some details including the line up once I have it, but Blinding Light will be performing.”
“I’m a huge fan so it’s fucking brilliant to be on the same bill as them,” Harvey said. “So just the two performances?”
“Three if you count the Rocktoberfest concert that’s obviously the main reason for the trip to the States. Plus a couple of interviews and maybe a radio station appearance. I’d say all up we’ll be gone a minimum of two weeks, maybe three if we add some time for getting over jetlag and a bit of sightseeing. Michelle will be making all the travel arrangements so let her know if you have any special requirements.”
Harvey nodded but there was no way he wanted to be away from Rav and Bo for two weeks, let alone any longer.Maybe they’d like to come.It’d be great to get away and combine business with pleasure. Bo would love the whole rock experience and seeing the band perform their various gigs, and Rav loved travelling, but would either of them be able to get the time off work? Probably easier for Bo given he was temping, but Rav had just taken the promotion. He turned to Rafe. “I’ll check with the guys, but it would be great to bring them along. Is Parker coming?” he asked. “If he is, he can hang with Bo and Rav when we’re out doing the publicity stuff, keep each other company, you know?”
“Sure. Good idea. So both RavandBo are travelling with you?” Rafe raised a brow.
Shit!What had Parker said to Rafe? They hadn’t asked himnotto say anything and to be honest he didn’t expect Parker to keep secrets from Rafe, but he hadn’t discussed with Rav and Bo when they’d share the news of their relationship. He looked around the table, taking in the questioning looks. But he was among friends, and he knew they’d be happy for them all.
“Listen, guys, I’ve something to tell you. You know Ravi and I have been seeing each other for a while now, well, in recent weeks we’ve been seeing Bo too. So it’s now the three of us.”
“You’re in a poly relationship?” RG asked.
“Yep. Me, Bo, and Rav.” Harvey smiled as he said their names.
RG shrugged. “Cool.”
“Hmm. I thought maybe there was something going on, though to be honest, I thought either you or Rav were having second thoughts given how close you both are to Bo, and you were going to break up,” Gibbo said. “So, it makes sense and I’m glad you’re all together.”
“The three of you are together?” Nigel echoed.
Harvey looked to Nigel noting the frown on his face. “Yes.”
“Damn. That makes things difficult.”
“What the fuck, Nige,” Harvey said, unable to keep the anger from his voice.
