Page 4 of Wild Fixation
Tim explains the situation swiftly. I nod and start collecting my papers before he even finishes.
“Tell them I can get there in ten minutes,” I say. “Not sure I can get anyone else there, but it should be enough to get them out of there.”
Tim sighs with relief. “Thanks so much, Seth. You’re the best.”
I shrug. I’m not really the best. I’ve never been the best at anything in my entire life. I’m just a big guy who didn’t have any better job prospects and decided to put his bigness to work to pay the bills. It’s been a pretty easy gig so far, and I like getting to travel. I don’t know a thing about music, nor do I really care, but that seems to be a plus for the musicians I’ve worked for. The more the rest of the world treats them like golden idols to be placed on pedestals, the more they like that I don’t.
I pack up the applications in a folder and wave at the band. They wave or nod in response, going right back to their practice when Tim rejoins them. Being the more experienced band, they don’t get caught off-guard by the press as much as these new guys in Baptism Emperor. The Ten Hours know how to get to and from a practice with minimal disruption.
I really need to assemble that second security team.
I already have approval from their manager, Emmett. He tends to leave these sorts of decisions in my hands. As long as the guys are safe and nothing gets out that they don’t want out, the management company is happy.
“Just make sure it’s guys you trust,” Emmett said when I pitched him on a second security team. “We need to manage this first year of their career carefully.”
Problem is, I don’t know who to trust. I don’t have a big network of friends to call on. Even if I did, they wouldn’t necessarily be suited to this type of work. I’m not just big, though my height and muscular build certainly help in this line of work. I also have a military background. I joined after high school, mostly because I had no idea what to do with my life and couldn’t pay for college. They helped me get an education, for all the good that’s doing me, but I never enjoyed my time in the military and got out as quickly as I could. Afterward, I had no clue what to do with myself, until a friend told me that bands and celebrities often hire guys like me for their security teams. My military background helped a lot when I started hunting for jobs, and before I knew it I found myself in a line of work I didn’t even know existed.
Working with two bands at once definitely affords me job security. It’s not like the military where they force me to be or act a certain way either. No one cares as long as I’m doing my job. That’s definitely a plus.
The military was great in some ways, but in others it was … challenging. The policies might change, but culture often lags behind. They can say queer people are welcome, but when you’re a big white guy with a beard, people assume they can say certain things in front of you.
No one from those days knew I was gay. Most people I interact with now don’t know either. It’s pure chance that I landed a job with a band that has openly queer members. I probably could tell them, but why would I? They’re not my friends; they’re my clients. This relationship should remain strictly professional.
No matter what those dimples do to me.
I shake my head at myself as I get into my car and put the address of the practice space into my phone. Fortunately, Baptism Emperor isn’t far away, and it’s the middle of the day, so the traffic even in downtown Seattle isn’t too bad. I keep my mind focused on the task at hand as I drive, refusing to think of anything else. Baptism Emperor includes more than Jacob. The press is at least as interested in Keannen because of his relationship with Tim. I have five people to protect, not one.
That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway.
I almost miss my turn in my distraction. Once I reach the parking lot, I sit in my car, berating myself for my wandering thoughts. This is yet another reason I need a second security team. Clearly, I’m unfit to protect Baptism Emperor’s safety if I can’t be professional about it.
I run a hand through my normally tidy brown hair, rubbing my eyes under my glasses. It’s like all those years I spent hiding my identity while in the military are trying to burst out all at once, but I live in Seattle of all places. If this is something I need to get out of my system so I can do my job, I should go downtown on a Saturday night. It’s not like I don’t have options here. I’m getting hung up on Jacob because I’ve been forced into close proximity with him for the past several months between the tour and all this stuff. That’s all this is. It’s not real.
The shouts of muffled voices call me out of my thoughts. I’ll have to deal with my confusing feelings some other time, maybe in the shower after I get home. That’s the kind of place where these thoughts need to stay. Right now, Baptism Emperor needs me.
I’ve parked a good distance away so I can assess the situation without alerting the vultures. The second I get closer, they’ll realize what’s happening. I observe them in my rearview mirrors. A huge pack of them cluster around a single door in a building that would look like an abandoned warehouse if it weren’t for all this press attention. I could try getting the guys to go to a different exit, but there’s only one alternative that I know of, and it’s just off to the side. The press would catch wind of it the first time one of the guys used it, and then we’d be right back in the same situation.
No, if I’m going to get them through this, we’ll have to dive in headfirst.
I scroll through contacts until I find Keannen. Jacob is in there too, but Keannen is the safer choice. Besides, he’s the one who called for help in the first place.
“You here?” he says when he answers.
“I’m here. Just outside. You guys know of another exit?”
“Just the one on the side,” Keannen says.
I grimace, wishing I hadn’t been right about that. There was always a chance he knew of some sneaky third exit.
“I’m going to park close and force my way through,” I say. “You guys better be ready for me.”
“We will!”
It’s not Keannen that time. It must be Jacob, and Keannen must have me on speakerphone. Jacob’s voice comes through as clearly as Keannen’s, and I cringe at the way my body tries to react.
“Thanks for coming to our rescue,” Jacob adds.
“It’s my job,” I say through clenched teeth.
