Set Fire to the Rain

Tuesday was one of the busiest days I had at work in a really long time. With the big news in town being that 30 Seconds To Mars was not only celebrating what would actually be their 311th show, but that it was done in 2 years for a single album cycle. That’s simply unheard of. You have to be fucking nuts to be on the road for that long. If you think about it, they have literally been around the world nearly 3 times and to almost every country they could reach. Imagine never having a chance to spend time at home and if you do it’s not more than a week or two if they were lucky, and that’s simply a guess on my part. I mean shit; they even did the video for ‘Beautiful Lie’ in the Arctic Circle. Jared always jokes that he was able to play for penguins! Uhuh! The guys are looking exhausted and way too thin if you ask me. I am really happy that they will be taking time off, slowing down and actually having a chance to enjoy life a little.

They deserve it more than anyone. These men have literally worked their asses off. I know that they are super excited about the award. It’s something that they grew up admiring and seeing that they are going to be a part of it, is a bigger deal than even they are willing to admit. This morning I know they had to stop and do an interview over at MTV Studios across town, making their way over to VH1 to do yet another interview, with a few magazine and radio interviews scheduled in between. By midafternoon the boys would end up at Fuse to finish up the final round of interviews. We had one of our most popular interviewers to talk with them and it was a huge deal to make sure that this was perfect. I had to admit that I was a nervous ball of energy the whole day. I wanted this night for them to be nothing more than absolutely amazing. They deserved at least that. I wasn’t allowed to be in the room with them for the interview, we were never allowed to go on the main floor when the crew was producing, but I had asked my manager, Claire if I would be able to stand in the control booth and watch from there for a short period of time. I wanted to be there to support Shannon and the rest of the guys on such a special day, and thankfully after she okayed it with Mr. Grant, I was given approval to watch for 10 minutes. It wasn’t much, but at least Shannon would see me there.

Right now, on our end, people were basically running around like their heads had been cut off. Upper management was going fucking crazy and it looked like no one had any idea what end was up. The poor Admins were trying very hard to keep the peace in the back area. Kym was in a mood, being she was one of them and trying very hard to help make sure all the preparations were in place. The phones were ringing off the hook, deliveries were being made left and right, people were becoming very difficult to say the least. Everyone was on everyone else’s last nerve. Scary shit. God, I can’t wait for this day to be over and for tonight to finally get here! I really need a day off.

“Good afternoon, Fuse Studios. This is Eliza, how may I direct your call?” I said into the receiver of the phone I held to me ear as I sat at my desk. “Hello, Fuse Studio, How may I direct your call?” Sitting quietly for a moment I waited and listened to the silence on the other end. There was someone there and then there was a click. Hmm, ok.

Placing the receiver in the cradle I honestly didn’t think much more about it. We were way too busy, and the phone immediately began to ring again. I had to answer within a certain time frame, so once again I had the phone up to my ear repeating the greeting I had just finished saying moments before. This time, however, I could tell that it was someone on a cell phone calling.

“Hey El. I don’t have a lot of time, but I just wanted to call and say hi and see how you’re doing on this amazing fucking day” Shannon said with a chuckle.

“Hi Eliza!” A light voice that I knew must be Jared screamed, and then another “Hi Ellllliiiiiizzzzzzaaaaa!” Yep, that’s Tomo. Then I heard smooching sounds in the background Shannon told them to go fuck off and the sound of the phone shifting back into place.

“Ummm, hey there. And tell your playmates I said hello.” I laughed. “Things are crazy here trying to get ready for this really amazing band to show up soon.” I was smiling largely to no one in particular.

“Oooh, you think are AMAZING! Good to know, sweetheart” Shit, me and my big mouth.

“Uh, well…” I was going to try and come up with some pitiful lame ass nonsense but thankfully, Shannon cut me off before I had a chance to make a bigger fool out of myself.

“Shit, we are at one of the last stops before we get to your place, so we will see you soon.
Bye!” He said and hung up before I had a chance to respond.

I went back to work and was busy running around for Claire and some of the Admins that needed some extra help. I wasn’t about to argue since one of the girls was going to cover for me when I stepped away to go downstairs and watch the interview. Sitting down with a cup of tea behind my desk for the first time what felt like a while, I glanced at the time it was right around 2:15. Hearing the familiar ding of the elevator doors from the main hallway outside our doors I looked out through the glass wall, and saw Jared, Tomo and then Shannon step out of the elevator with their record managers from Virgin, in tow. They were walking towards the two glass doors talking and laughing amongst themselves pulling open the doors and stepping through, the noise level immediately changing.

They all walked up to my desk and smiled down at me, saying hello. Shannon winked and I felt myself blush, I think I may have even giggled. I must have, because Jared slowly turned his head in his brothers’ direction and gave Shannon a long look with his bright blue eyes and a very goofy grin. There was something being said between them, without words. Those damned Leto Brothers.

“Um, yeah, hi Eliza, so you know we are here for the interview I guess we need you to buzz Daniel Reed, from production. He said he would be in the studio.”

“No problem guys.” I lifted the phone and dialed the extension telling Daniel that the men of the hour were here. He said he would be right up and the line went dead. “Mr. Reed is on his way up. Can I take your coats to the closet for you?”

“Sure, thanks.” Jared, Tomo and the other gentlemen said.

“Here let me help you with those.” Shannon said softly after sliding his leather jacket off his broad shoulders.

“I can handle it you know.” I said looking up at him shyly.

“Believe me, I know. It just gives me an excuse to spend a few extra minutes with you alone.”

Hazel eyes shining and a smile playing on his plump lips, I couldn’t say no to his offer.
“Alright, come on.” I groaned at him. Yeah, I was trying to pretend that I was annoyed, but failing miserably. I nudged him with my elbow and he feigned severe pain. “Big faker.” I laughed as I hung most everyone’s jackets in the closet with the exception of Tomo’s and Shannon’s.

As I finished I glanced to my left, closing the closet door gently. Shannon was leaning against the wall, wearing a black t-shirt under his Sherpa lined jean jacket, with a pair black sweats and bright rainbow colored sneakers. Head cocked to one side with his arms folded over one another, while twirling a pair of dark sunglasses in his right hand aimlessly, he was a sight to behold. Turning to face him fully, I didn’t say anything at first because I felt like he wanted to say something. Silence hung in the air, nothing being said between us.

“You look so tired. Been a long day, huh?” I was the first to break the silence, as I asked him with concern.

“Eh, it’s not so bad right now. Got home a little late last night, but nothing I’m not used too. Listen, I am really sorry about getting you back to Kyms’ so late by the way. I felt really about how late we finished up after the show. We never know how long the meet and greets are going to run.”

“I’m ok right now actually. I pretty much crashed the second my head hit the pillow.” Liar screamed the little voice in the back of my head. I sat up thinking about him for about an hour before I fell asleep. “Are you sure you aren’t the least bit tired? You have been running around like crazy almost every day for the past 4 or 5 days and now you’re practicing and doing shows on top of that. Shit, I’m exhausted thinking about it.”

“Nah, I’m great. It’s probably because we are all just really fucking excited. I have a feeling that when Friday comes, and the last person leaves the building, and we all go home, we will crash and sleep for a fucking week. Then again, we are so used to always running around and doing shit that we may never be able to sit still for more than 10 minutes again.” He laughed heartily.

“The thought of your crew not being able to sit still for any amount of time, fucking terrifies me.”

“Awwwe, now that’s just mean.” Pouting like a 2 year old he batted his eyes at me, and I started to laugh quietly, and he laughed with me.

“Come on you crazy muddafugga, we need to get you back up front with Daniel so you can go down to the studio and record your interview.” Nodding my head in the direction of where we had left Jared, Tomo, and the 2 managers, we walked in a comfortable silence together.
When we walked around the corner, Daniel was standing in reception waiting patiently for Shannon to come back while he chatted with Jared, Tomo and the managers. He greeted Shannon with a firm handshake, and he said a quick hello to me, as I walked back behind my desk to answer the incoming phone calls. Jared, Tomo, and the others with the exception of Shannon waved goodbye. Not hearing the familiar sound of the glass door closing, I glanced back up and saw the elder Leto brother standing there holding the door open looking in my direction, he gave a small wave, his signature salute and a wink saying in a hushed tone, “I’ll catch ya later El.” Quick as a flash he was off and bounding into the waiting elevator.

I nodded my head with a smile in response, due to the fact that I was currently on the phone directing someone’s call.

An interview in the process of being produced was a lot more involved than I had imagined. Don’t get me wrong, I knew that there were a lot of people who worked on the studio floor, I had to direct calls to them all the time, but to see the process happen was cool. I had waited for one of the people in the booth to call me and give me the all clear to sneak downstairs and watch. When the call came up, I called Claire to let her know that I was stepping away and that Angela was on her way to the desk to cover for me. I basically ran downstairs so that I could watch as much of the interview as I could.

The 10 minutes that I was given was precious time. Watching from the control room above the floor as the interview took place; I took a small step towards the large pane of glass that separated the producers from the directors/cameramen etc. My eyes roamed from Marc the interviewer to Tomo, then Shannon, and finally Jared. They looked great, and the set that we had gone with was a great idea. They were seated on equipment storage containers and had wires and lights from a studio or stage in the background. It was perfect for them. I couldn’t tell if Shannon saw me standing up there or not to be honest. He was wearing those enormous shades of his, just like Jared and Tomo. I did catch the slightest hint of a smile on his face, but he does that a lot, so I will have to wait until later to find out if they noticed me. Jared did the majority of talking along with Tomo. Shannon tends to sit back and observe things. Only answering questions here and there, he doesn’t like to be thrust into the spotlight I have noticed when it comes to interviews. My time quickly ended, I voiced my thanks to everyone there and made my exit as quietly as I entered, going back to work and I waited for the hour to arrive when we would all meet again. Time just didn’t seem to pass as quickly as I wanted.