specialists and riggers wouldn’t be participating until the following week when they hit the larger stage. From what Pete had told him, they were going all out with the effects for this tour.
As Braylin sipped his coffee, he caught the eye of Pete. He waved Braylin over in a silent invitation to come hang with him and Vinnie, the guy in charge of the keyboards and other electronic instruments.
Once Braylin made his way to where they stood at the end of the long table, he nodded a greeting. “Hey guys.”
“Hey.” Pete grinned. “Quite a rush isn’t it? I can still remember back in the day how excited I was at the band’s first official rehearsal. Fuck man, how overwhelmed I was those first couple weeks.” He rolled his eyes. “Then it got real after that.”
Vinnie snorted. “Real exhausting.”
Pete nodded. “And frustrating.”
Vinnie chuckled. “And bubble-bursting.”
While Braylin had assumed the thrill would wear off in time, he hoped none of his bubbles ever burst.
“Yeah, I figured it would be a lot of work, long hours and so on.”
Pete smiled and nudged him with his elbow. “You’ll do fine. Just takes a while to get used to this kind of life.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the refreshments. “Better grab a bagel or donut before the animals wipe them out. We won’t break for at least four hours once the band gets started.”
Braylin regarded the plates of carbs and wondered how he could respond without sounding too pretentious. He considered not commenting, but they’d all be thrown together in close quarters around the clock for four months, so it wasn’t as if they wouldn’t eventually figure out his food issues anyway.
“Thanks for the warning. I brought some snacks because I can’t eat gluten.” He cleared his throat. “Or milk products.”
Vinnie arched his eyebrows. “Good luck with that.”
Pete whacked the guy’s arm. “Be cool.” He regarded Braylin. “Is it like an allergy or something?”
“The milk, yeah. The gluten thing is more of a sensitivity, but it’s really strong with me.” Braylin shrugged. “I’ve had it my whole life, so it’s no big deal. And I’ve always made sure I was covered in situations like these.” He smiled. “It won’t be a problem.”
“Okay, man. But you let me know if there’s anything special you need, all right?”
Vinnie chimed in. “Yeah, totally. Sorry. I wasn’t trying to be an ass.”
Braylin let out a long exhale. Already he was getting the feeling he’d fit in quite fine. “That’s all right. And thanks.”
“Uh-oh.” Pete’s attention had been drawn to Gordy and the band members in a huddle on the stage. “Looks like the trouble’s already begun.”
Braylin studied the scene and wondered what Pete meant by trouble. Sure, he’d heard rumors of problems with the guitarist and all that, but gossip wasn’t gospel. It was simply something that came with the territory of being under the watchful eye of the media. Braylin was a realistic guy. He knew things couldn’t be perfect all the time.
“What’s going on?” He might be realistic, but he was also dreadfully curious.
Vinnie groaned as Pete leaned into Braylin.
“Sal’s drinking, no doubt. When the last tour ended, he was warned about making sure he showed up to rehearsals on time. Sometimes, he bailed on them altogether. As it was, Zen and Sal wouldn’t record their tracks in the studio on the same days for the new record. The blood between them has gotten really bad.”
Vinnie chimed in. “Yeah. To be honest, I’d begun looking around for another gig after the sessions were done, and Jeff filled me in on how volatile things got in the studio.”
Braylin hadn’t realized things were so dire. “Jeff Wright. That’s the recording engineer, right?”
Pete nodded. “Yup. I’d thought about jumping ship too, but I couldn’t do that to Zen. Not after all he’s done for me.”
A lightbulb went off in Braylin’s head. “That’s why this spot was open.” Another realization hit him square in the gut. “And why Gordy hired a nobody like me.”
“Hey.” Pete smacked him on the arm. Braylin mused it seemed to be one of his go-to communication techniques. “Don’t say that. Old Gordo never would’ve brought you on board if he didn’t think you were top notch. He’d never do anything to jeopardize the band.”
Doubting his own ability wasn’t the issue. But he was back to being realistic. Young guys with no road experience—not even with a local band—and who didn’t know anyone in the business, rarely got the chance to put in