Dream On [HS.AU]

Chapter Thirty Seven

Halle Henry

I headed downstairs to meet with my team, try and get back into the swing of things. I didn't do any work when I was at home, Harry made calls and whatever, but I did nothing so there's a lot of things I have to do now.

Mick was waiting in the office with flowers and a box of chocolates. It made me smile and when he hugged me, I felt relieved. Relieved that I wasn't totally alone here in Los Angeles because sometimes I think that it's easy to trick yourself into thinking you're alone, when in fact you're surrounded by people who care about you.

When I apologised for my lack of communication, Mick promised me it was okay and that he had me covered whilst I was away. He never arranged interviews or promotional events, because he wasn't sure how quickly I'd want to jump back into things.

We were then joined by a few other people, the ones who handle the business side of things, all the stuff I don't really understand yet. There were a lot of condolences which I did appreciate, it's just overwhelming. It was nice to hear people be so kind to me and so patient too, but some part of me still feels like nothing ever will be the same.

It's hard to go through something for the first time. It's scary. You don't know what to expect, you don't know what to feel or how long this dark period is supposed to last. Every day is different, I've realised that. One day I'll wake up unable to get out of bed and unable to feel anything. The next I feel like I can conquer the world and earn back every minute I spent heartbroken.

Yesterday, I travelled home and I'm still extremely jetlagged, but it was one of those days where I was so tired and yet I was so optimistic about moving back to LA. Today, I'm not feeling half od that optimism, and I did cry for the whole half hour I spent in thes shower, but I need to get my life back to normal, so here I am, jumping in at the deep end, because I'm afraid that if I don't I'll be sitting on the edge forever.

"Okay, well while you were away in London, we had a lot of time to arrange a few things which was definitely needed." Mick says, addressing the entire room. "We have a tour starting November first, all we need is the green light from Halle."

My heart dropped, and a smile crept onto my face. "What?"

"Across America, the UK and Ireland, a few dates in Europe with spaces for festivals and everything in between." Mick smiled, handing me his folder with a label stuck on it with 'Halle Henry 1978-79 Tour' on the front of it.

It's not for another three months, but that gives room for selling tickets, promoting the tour, the record and all of that stuff. I'm excited, touring might take my mind off things, right? I'll be so focused on performing for people and making my dad proud that hopefully the sadness occupies my mind 24/7.

I flick through Mick's folder, looking at his 'provisional dates and venues', all provisional until I give the go ahead. There are venues I never even dreamed of playing, and a show every second night. There's a page that says 'Setlist: to be confirmed' and another with potential opening acts. People like KC and the sunshine band. 

Then on the back of that page it just said 'Or no opening act and record play through?' scribbled down in Mick's handwriting. I actually like that idea, playing my record instead of an opening act because I don't have enough time to play every one of my songs...then again, opening Harry's shows changed my life, so I'd love it if I could do that for somebody.

"What'd you think?" Mick asked me, sitting back down on his seat.

"I like it." I smiled excitedly. "If I have an opening act, could we maybe do it so I have an American person opening American shows, someone from the UK doing the UK shows, and someone European doing those? I don't know...just a thought."