Page 26 of Love on Tour
Christine looked back to where Matt stood and pointed to him. “What do you think is going on over there?” she asked Austin.
“No idea. The crap that guy puts up with is ridiculous. I can’t keep up with it,” he said.
They finished eating and Austin left to take a shower.
Christine walked over to Matt. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“I just had to fire two people.”
“Why?”
“I’m hesitant to say anything, but they had pictures of you on their phones. I think they were the ones posting things about you.”
“Do they even know me? Why would they do that?”
“They said they’d seen other people do it and were just having fun,” he said. His lips thinned and he gave a huff.
“Fun? This is fun for people? What kind of low-life idiot considers this fun?”
“Let it out, Christine. Wish you’d said that to their faces.”
Christine paused and gave herself a moment to gather her wits. “Thank you for asking them to go. Maybe now it’ll stop. I just don’t understand why someone would do that to a complete stranger.”
“People suck. That’s why.”
“Good point. What’s next on our agenda?” Christine put her hand on Matt’s arm. It was solid, muscular. She was slow to let go.
“We wait. We rush, we wait, we rush, we wait. That’s life on tour. Three o’clock is the witching hour,” Matt said. “Then it’s balls to the wall.”
Christine nodded.
“Oh, sorry. Was that offensive?”
“Was what offensive?” Christine asked.
“The balls-to-the-wall comment. And now I’ve said it again,” Matt said.
“I’m not a prude,” Christine said, a bit put off.
“And now I’ve offended you by tryingnotto offend you. How am I doing in the ‘trying to impress Austin’s new friend’ department?”
She put her hand back on his forearm. “You’re doing just fine.”
MATT WAS RIGHT ABOUT THEtime crunch. First, Austin did a sound check, then a TV interview. At 4:15 p.m., he met with someone from the local newspaper, followed by a couple of bloggers. He had just enough time to grab dinner before his label rep brought the radio program director, Grover, onto the bus to hang out. Christine shook his hand but did her best to stay out of the way, slinking into the corner by the fridge. These were important people in an artist’s career.
“Dude, you need to leave early tonight. The last time I was in town, you nearly killed me. Not many people can drink me under the table, but you did,” Austin said.
Grover snorted. “Hell, my wife drank you under the table. How’d a guy like you get to be such a lightweight?”
“Whatever. You take drinking to Olympic-size levels,” Austin said, but his grin showed his affection for Grover.
“I’ll go easy on you tonight,” Grover said, giving Austin’s arm a light punch. “I’m loving the music you’re bringing. A lot of artists start to slack off after a hit or two, but you’re bringing your A-game every time. You have the makings of a superstar.”
“From your lips to God’s ears, my friend. Thanks for supporting my music. You were the leader on all three songs. And everyone knows you aren’t a pushover.”
“When it’s real, and it’s great, it deserves to be heard.”
“Crown Royal shot before you go?” Austin asked. “A toast to great music being played onstage and on the radio.”
