Travelling River

Five

{Juniper}

"First show of the tour tomorrow, and everything is already going wrong." I mumble to myself. I want to be angry, I am angry, but not with anyone. I know better than anyone that making mistakes is human, my manager couldn't have prevented this, neither could the venue. Everything is just such a mess after the pandemic, we all have to adjust to the 'normal' again, and it's proving to be harder than expected.

We flew in yesterday, it wasn't a long flight from Bristleton to Raster, but it sure was difficult getting all the equipment on the plane. From here on we would take a tour bus through the rest of the continent, but since Bristleton was on an island, the first stop had to be arrived by plane. In moments like this a private jet would've been quite nice, I thought to myself. I apparently had a smirk on my face while thinking that, because Hazel had made fun of me, saying things like "Thinking of your future lover again, Juney?" I wasn't very good with comebacks, or jokes in general, even though my audience generally seemed to disagree, always laughing at whatever came out off my mouth. Stages, audiences, fans, being famous, all of it was such a weird concept, I generally tried avoiding giving it too much thought. When I didn't answer Hazel, she poked me in my side "Hello-o" she said in a sing-songy voice. Hazel was one of my closest friends, and she happened to be a musician as well. Convenient, but mostly just incredibly fun. Hazel had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen, they appeared to be made of moss, with all sorts of green tints and spots of brown. The speckles of brown spread out across her face as little freckles seemed to be painted on her pale skin. Her hair was bright orange, crinkled up, the same way her eyes would crinkle up when she smiled. It nearly reached her bum, and always danced around her face and back carelessly. It was the same carelessness Hazel seemed to view the world with, not that she didn't care for things, it just appeared that Hazel had never had a single worry before. The innocence and the pure joy she spread was truly the best thing you could be surrounded with.

Around noon we arrived in the hotel, all our equipment was dropped off at the venue and the tour bus wouldn't arrive until after the show. Which meant that for now we could enjoy the luxury of a hotel, something we wouldn't get a lot of on tour. I had just sat down on the bed, when I heard a knock on my door. It was Bobby, my manager. I was surprised to see him, but I let him into my room. His hands were folded behind his back and his face seemed stuck in a worried mask. Not that Bobby was always smiling, quite the opposite actually, he often seemed angry and irritated. Most of that was just a facade, "It's how you get things done, kid." Bobby had once said to her. I didn't quite agree with that, something about wanting to believe that kindness and honesty will get you furthest in life. But, there was no denying that Bobby got things done, and therefore was quite the good manager. Bobby was pacing, that was new, and did he seem.. nervous? "Can I help you, Bobby?" He looked up, a bit startled. Now I started getting nervous, something was definitely off about this surprise visit. "They made a mistake at the venue" he started. I wanted to speak, but he continued. "Nothing to dramatic, but they can't do the meet&greet, something about it not being allowed with the new rules for venues after the pandemic and whatnot. We have just sent out an email to all fans with meet&greet tickets for tomorrow." I was stunned, not a word came out of me. "I know this is a lot, and a disappointment, but I have it handled, I immediately checked with all the other venues, and there shouldn't be any problems there." "Oh. Okay." I managed to get out. And then Bobby left, not another word.

Slowly the anger did begin to creep up on me though. Why hadn't Bobby discussed this with me before sending out that email, why didn't the venue check up on the rules before this. I let out a deep sigh, acceptance, it's all I can do now. I decide to take a shower and go down to the lobby for dinner.