Big Time Assistant | James Diamond

3.10; camping

In the midst of another quiet day in the studio, Gustavo enlisted Emily's help for the start of a song.

She stood behind the man who sat at his desk, randomly playing different notes after the short melody he created to find the next step.

The quiet ended as four boys marched in each baring a wide smile, carrying a massive backpack on each of their backs, looking like they're ready for the wilderness.

"Oh, no," Emily mumbled under her breath, leaning against the back shelves.

Gustavo sat straight, removing him fingers from the mini keyboard, narrowing his eyes at the boys, "No!"

The four boys groaned in annoyance, protesting.

"Look, we just need you to drive us to this really cool camping spot, 'cause my mom won't," Kendall pleaded.

"Hmm, hmm," the man pretended to think, Emily amusingly watching the guys fail to convince him for a ride, "No."

"Gustavo, we haven't been camping once since we moved from Minnesota," James told him.

"Kind of sounds like that's on you guys," Emily said.

"The call of the wild is calling!" Logan declared. "We manly men must answer that call," as the boy hummed in agreement with Logan, Emily found herself raising her eyebrows, amused they think of themselves as 'manly men.'

Although she didn't know the Minnesota side of them, the L.A. side made it impossible for her to believe they could survive a night in the wilderness.

"We need to sleep under the stars and see the sunrise to the sweet, sweet sounds of the loons," Carlos gushed, each guy holding their hand out dramatically envisioning the loons.

Frowning as she entered from behind them, "Uh, there are no loons in L.A.," Kelly told them, stepping around Kendall to drop some papers in front of Gustavo.

"Just bears," Gustavo warned, "And I don't want to cancel the next concert because you've been eaten by them."

"Oh, no, no, no, no. There are not gonna be any bears there," Carlos assured him.

Logan pulled out a map, "All we need is a ride to this campsite called Bear Gulch..." He winced.

Gustavo sighed, standing, "May I remind you, your contract clearly prohibits any dangerous activities like-"

"Sky-diving, candle making, and outdoor camping," Emily listed, recalling a few of the many restrictions. The guys groaned hearing 'camping' among the list.

"Gustavo, don't you remember what it was like to want to test your limits under the stars?" Kendall asked.

The man sighed, "I do. Okay if you really want to camp, I know of a cool spot that I will allow."

The cheering was short-lived. Gustavo's camping spot was a patch of grass carpet placed in the lobby of the studio with Ben the night guard standing over them. Kelly and Emily each stared blandly at Gustavo who snickered watching the guys get frustrated on the ground.

"Oh, yeah. I'm not camping here!" James sarcastically snapped at a musician who stepped over him to pass through.

"Can someone put water in this?" Carlos asked, holding up his water canteen.

"We're camping here!"

***

Gustavo sent Emily home with the guys to make sure they didn't run off into the mountains after packing up and abandoning Gustavo's homemade campsite.