Louder Than Love || Chris Cornell

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Seattle Washington,
May 19, 1992

The day finally arrived for when Soundgarden was to head out with Guns N'Roses. I was a little nervous about my position as P.A since I am the one responsible for getting the guys to the airport on time. Their first show was tomorrow in Prague at the Strahov Stadium. I had already arranged for the hotel that we are all staying in and since Soundgarden is supporting Guns N'Roses, it was really easy to work with their manager in booking accommodations and travel. The only thing I really need to focus on is making sure all the interviews and any other media coverage is set up on time.... and of course, anything else the guys would need. Along with supporting Guns N' Roses, the guys are also doing a few festivals in between, so needless to say, this summer is going to be very, very busy.

"Chris... do you have everything?" I ask as I drag my last luggage bag to the front door.
"Yea..." He says sleepily as he walks down the stairs from the bedroom wearing sunglasses of all things. I turn and look at him wondering why the hell he is wearing sunglasses inside.

"What?" He says as he walks up to me.
"Sunglasses inside? don't you think that's weird?" I smirk at him.

"Babe it's 4 in the morning... my eyes are not wanting to open yet ok?" He explains as he sits down on the chair by the door to tie his Doc Martens and I giggle a little.

"Alright... so I have my planner, I've got all my bags ready... I feel like I'm forgetting something..." I say to myself as I turn around and check my bag for the third or fourth time.
"You have the schedule don't you?" He asks groggily as he throws his leather jacket on.

"Uh huh... the schedule is with my planner there... um... oh, did you ask Kevin to keep an eye on the house?" I ask as I turn and look up at Chris.
"Kevin?" Chris gives me a puzzled look behind his sunglasses.
"Our neighbor Kevin...? Did you ask him?" I say a little frantic furrowing my brow at him.

"Oh yea... yea I did... calm down babe... don't get all snappy," He retorts groggily though I don't blame him.  I shouldn't have said it like that.

"Sorry... I'm sorry....  I'm just nervous," I say as I slip my leather jacket on.
"Don't be... It'll be fine," He says as he flips his curls out of his face. He leans down and places a quick kiss on my lips. He pulls away and gives me the cutest sleepiest smile to calm me down and I smile back at him.  Then he picks up the rest of the bags and heads out to the front porch to wait for the cab to take us to the airport. I take one last look at our house and then I lock the door behind me. 

•••

We arrive at the airport and meet up with Kim, Matt and Ben. Ever since they found out I was their P.A, they have been super excited to have me along with them. Not that they weren't excited before but they were glad it was me and not just some random person they would have to get to know.

"Ok, I'm gonna get our tickets... you guys can just wait here," I say after we pass through customs.
"Here babe, I got it" Chris says as he takes my carry on bag from me. I give him a quick kiss on his temple, then head up to the reception to get our tickets.

As Chris and the guys take a seat in the waiting area I discuss the plane ticket options with the agent. Since most of the travel was covered under Guns N Roses management, the tickets were first class and all paid for already. As for the couple of festivals that the guys were playing in  between, those were paid for by A&M and Silver management  along with the tour bus that was set up for us. It's crazy how everything is so different from just a few years ago. I remember helping Chris with that shitty old van and trying to figure out everything just all on our own.

I grab our tickets and head back to the waiting area and see the guys just laughing and being weird.
"Fuck... I think the last time I saw 4 in the morning was when I hadn't gone to bed yet," Kim says puffing on a smoke as I walk up to them.
"I don't know about you but I'm just gonna sleep the whole fucking time," Ben says quietly as he leans back in the chair, his poofy bangs covering his eyes.