Punch-Drunk Love

I hoisted my backpack of essentials higher onto my shoulders, as I walked through the brisk air to the venue. The band was on its first tour, and we were currently stopped in Salt Lake City for the first show. I was responsible for merch the whole tour, and I couldn’t be happier.

Dylan, their tour manager for this tour, was finishing checking in as I approached the doors. He handed me my wristband, that somehow read 21+, and smirked telling me where to set up. I grinned, and set my backpack behind the high counter before walking back outside.

“Need help with anything babe?” Brian asked as I opened the trailer.

“Wanna help me carry in the tubs?” I asked starting to pull them out.

He agreed, and it only took us one trip to carry everything in. We had four new t-shirt designs, their home recorded EP, posters and rubber bracelets. All of the ‘sample’ items were already secured to the metal folding stands, so I just had to make sure they stayed up.

I taped the poster to the counter, as well as the EP and bracelets. I fished my binder out of my backpack, and started taking an initial inventory of everything we had since it had arrived right before we left the day before. I counted all of the shirts, and separated them by size and design.

Across the venue’s lobby, Brian and Jess were currently being interviewed by a local webcast. They both stood awkwardly, and I couldn’t help but to laugh under my breath. I finished up the inventory and placed the binder on the counter while closing it.

“Sadie! Wave to the camera,” I heard Jess yell from her spot across the lobby.

I looked up, confused and waved, causing the both of them to laugh at me. Brian sent me a wink and a kiss, and went back to the interview. I laughed at their antics, and shook my head while grabbing my Macbook from my backpack. I checked my myspace once I was connected to the WiFi, and responded to all of the necessary people. I saw Miranda’s status update, and couldn’t help but to frown. It read I miss you </3, and while it wasn’t that sad to most, I felt my heart ache for her.

John and her and become absolutely smitten with each other in the 2 months they had been a couple. It was adorable to see them together, because it was like they were made for each other. Seeing them tell each other goodbye, was hard even though I wasn’t going to be without my boyfriend for a month. John acted super upbeat while everyone was around, but inside I could tell that he missed her just as much.

“Wanna get some lunch?” John asked appearing out of nowhere.

“Yeah, just let me find my wallet,” I said fishing around in the backpack.

I found it, and stuffed it into my hoodie pocket, before following John down the street and into the local chipotle. We ordered our food, and found a booth towards the back all without any conversation.

“I can’t take this! Where’s my hyper active little Johnny?” I said putting my fork down.

“I just miss her,” he said shrugging.

“She misses you too,” I said smiling at him, “We have a show in Arizona in about 3 weeks, and then a week of tour left after that. And when we get home, she’ll be waiting with open arms.”

“I know, but I’m worried she’ll find someone better,” he said still sounding down, “I’m just that hyperactive weird kid that’s in a band.”

“John Christopher Gomez don’t you dare,” I said pointing my finger at him, “You’re cute, funny and an all around catch. Don’t let those negative thoughts into your head ever again, got it?”

“Yes mom,” he said with a laugh, “Thanks for coming to lunch with me, I knew I could talk to you about this stuff.”

“That’s what sisters are for,” I said with a laugh, “You know I’ll always be here to talk buddy.”

As we stood up to throw our trash away, he scooped me into a hug and thanked me again. We walked back to the venue, actually talking, and were interrupted by his phone blaring a random ringtone. I could tell it was Miranda, just by the way his face lit up. I told him to tell her hi for me, and walked into the venue looking for someone familiar. Brian was sitting at the merch table, typing away on his macbook, and I swiftly walked up to him.

“I love you,” I said wrapping my arms around him, and placing a kiss on his cheek.

“Well that was random,” he said with a laugh, “But I love you too. What caused this burst in affection?”

“Hearing John talk about missing Miranda made me realize how lucky I am,” I said wrapping my arms around his neck, “You just make me happy.”

He planted a soft kiss on my lips, and I smiled into it, as leaned into his chest. I stayed in this position, nodding off for a while, before Brian startled me by standing up.

“Doors are in 5,” he said kissing me again, “I have to go backstage and warm up. I’ll hang out with you here after the set.”

“Break a leg,” I said hugging him, and carefully rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

Just as he was walking towards the backstage door, John walked in with a huge smile on his face. He smiled at me, and bounced back to the green room to warm up for the show. I smiled, glad he was back to normal, and took my position behind the counter next to the other openers merch girl.

A few fans bought stuff right away, gushing how glad they were that the band was here before disappearing into the pit. A few were even nice enough to leave a few dollars in my tip jar. Once everyone that was in line had entered the venue, I could hear the intro song play. I smiled, and turned just enough so I was able to watch them. I moved around a little bit, and tapped my toes, with a smile on my face. I was surprised to see that quite a few kids knew the words to the songs they had up on their myspaces.

“We are the Summer Set from Phoenix, Arizona! Thank you for being so amazing,” Brian said into the mic as the guitars faded on the final song, “Go visit Sadie at merch where you can get a t-shirt or EP as well as some other cool stuff! We’ll be hanging out there shortly.”

The crowd cheered for them, and the house music started playing again. I smiled at the crowds reaction, and turned away while they started to clear the stage. A few stragglers came to the merch table, and I actually ended up selling quite a few shirts and EP’s.

The boys and Jess walked into the lobby no more than 5 minutes later, and were all talked to by fans immediately. They all had huge smiles on their face as fans asked for autographs and pictures. I was busy doing a quick tally, and didn’t notice the girl standing in front of me until she cleared her throat.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry,” I said closing the notebook, “How can I help you?”

“Can I have the EP and a poster please?” she said fishing for money, “Also, I was curious as to why you and those two have matching dogtag necklaces.”

“I’ve known them since I was 9, and we got them a few years ago when we were at the mall,” I said handing over her stuff, “I’m essentially their only sister.”

“That’s awesome. I thought you guys were actually siblings, because you look like the one with the white-glasses on,” she said motioning to John.

“You’re the tenth person to tell me that in the last few months,” I said laughing, “Before they started playing shows, no one told us that.”

She just laughed with me, before heading back into the pit with her friends as the next band took the stage. I conned John and Josh into having merch duty, and grabbed Brian’s hand dragging him to the bar. We had been told that we got five free drinks, and I wasn’t about to let them go to waste.

“Do John and I really look alike?” I asked Brian after we had received our drinks.

“You guys have dark hair and similar shaped eyes,” he said examining my face, “And you’re both really skinny. But otherwise, not really. What made you ask that?”

“Your guys’ fans think me and him are related a lot,” I said sipping on my rum and coke, “I had never heard that before I started doing merch for you guys. It’s weird.”

“You’re way prettier than John,” he said laughing and kissing my temple, “But did you like the show?”

“As always?” I said kicking my legs back and forth, “And now I’m glad I get to spend time with you guys!”

“Let’s finish these drinks up, and get another one and we’ll let John and Josh take a break,” Brian said earning a nod of approval from me.

We downed our drinks fairly quickly, and ordered a second round before walking hand in hand back to the merch table. John and Josh were excited to be free to do whatever, and informed us that they were probably going to shower. We nodded and began our wait to sell merch.

I mindlessly sipped on my drink, and watched as Brian nodded his head along to the band playing on stage. He still had my hand held in his, I smiled as he tapped the beat with his fingers against the back of it.

“Do you wanna go shower? We can take over theses duties,” Stephen said approaching with a drink of his own.

“Yeah, we’re done showering,” Dylan said standing to the side of him, “I think Jess is finishing up too.”

“I’ll definitely shower,” I said hopping off the stool, “What about you Brian?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty gross,” he said following suit.

“No monkey business, kids,” Stephen said in a fake serious tone.

“Sure thing dad,” I said sarcastically before heading out to the van.

I grabbed a pair of yoga pants, a hoodie and a tank-top from my bag, as well as my bag of toiletries, before walking back into the venue and navigating into the shower rooms. As I was entering the women’s room, Jess was leaving. I took a quick shower, enjoying the warmth of the water, before stepping out and drying myself with the white towel the venue provided.

I slid on my new clothes, and dried my hair, before pulling it up and walking out of the bathroom. Brian was texting someone on his phone, and slid it into his pocket as I walked out.

“I love you without makeup,” he said as we went out the back door to the van.

“That makes one of us,” I said shivering at the gust of wind.

We placed our bags back into the trailer, and I went back into the venue, ready to sell merch to the kids as the show was ending.

=====

“You guys sold a lot more than originally projected,” I said closing my binder as we drove along the high way, “We’ll have to pick up a second set of stuff in Arizona I imagine.”

“That’s great,” Josh said smiling from the driver seat, “I was surprised at how many fans were at this show.”

“Me too, and the new ones we made,” Jess said from the passenger seat.

“What time do I need to take over driving duties?” Brian piped up from his spot beside me on the last bench.

“I’d say in about 5 hours you can start your shift,” Josh said switching lanes to pass a slow car, “So take a nap and sleep off those drinks.”

Brian told him to just wake him up whenever, and I slid the binder into my backpack. Brian shifted so he laying on his side with his back pressed to the back of the seat, and fluffed my pillow up a little. I laid on my side in the space he left for me, facing him, and draped my microfleece blanket over the two of us.

“I love you, Sadie,” he said giving me a passionate kiss.

“I love you too, Brian,” I said closing my eyes, “Wake me up when it’s your shift and I’ll keep you company.”

“Okay babe, goodnight.”

I told him goodnight, before snuggling into him and allowing him to tighten his arms around my torso. His warm breath washed over my forehead and scalp as I was lulled to sleep by his heartbeat, with a small smile gracing my lips.