Page 17 of The Librarian and the Rock Star

Crawling into bed, I genuinely wondered for a moment if I’d lost my mind. I had honestly been about to invite a total stranger into my home and my bed, and, well, into myself, technically. What was I thinking? Or was I just so sick of overthinking everything to pieces that my mind had shut down from a few kisses?

Or was it just Jack? I could still taste him on my lips, feel his arms holding me tight. I loved that he wasn’t delicate with me. He was passionate. Impulsive. Maybe a little wild, but certainly not in any bad ways. That I know of, anyway.

That’s the thing, I suppose, I thought as I turned off the light. It takes time to get to know a person, not just one wonderful magical long conversation. I had great faith that my brain would kick back into gear tomorrow.

– FRIDAY –

12. Very Good Morning

I woke up to a text that had been sent extremely late last night.

Jack: Can’t stop thinking about you. Wish you were here in my arms. xox

I wanted to text him back immediately, but it was only ten am. Somehow I felt like it would be wrong to contact a musician before noon, in case it woke him up.

Making myself a large pot of coffee with the expensive beans I reserved for special occasions, I settled on the couch with my laptop to do some research. Looking up Vegas Mud Disco, I was surprised. They had started six years ago when Marky’s other band was suddenly kicked off their label, and Jack was leaving a garage band in search of a new direction. Tate and Noodle were from another slightly known hard rock band, Good Luck Red Star. The four of them gathered in Toronto to write their first album, Wrong Shade of Sky.

They toured the bar circuit, sold their indie album fairly well, and got a deal with Neon’s Orange Records. Their new album Til Each Star Fizzles really isn’t that new, it was released six months ago, but the label didn’t seem to be promoting it very well. They’ve been touring with bigger bands and doing some fairly large shows of their own, but something didn’t make sense.

As I read through some of the more boring corporate announcements, it looked like the record company didn’t really believe in

the band enough to put real marketing money into promotion. Most of their marketing over the past year had been done by the band themselves, and their fans.

Digging a little deeper, it seemed that Tate and Noodle didn’t interact with the fans very much, and rarely did interviews. They weren’t even very many photos of them online other than posed band shots. Marky did a little, and about a year ago there were lots of photos of him with fans, and all over social media.

Jack was the one who got stuck with most of the interviews and photo ops. They were plenty of photos of him with fans, but it seemed to drop off about ten months to a year ago as well.

Something happened then, I thought to myself. I checked their social media stats. They had a ton of fans, and about a year ago they were completely engaged, with fans tagging the band constantly, taking photos, and being excited about the music.

Why did it stop? What happened a year ago?

I went through the band’s website, their social media, and found nothing other than the drop off in engagement. They still seemed popular, but the fans were just less excited, or less chatty. But it also seemed that they just didn’t know about the shows far enough in advance.

There was an interview with Jack from just over a year ago where he said, “I just can’t be inspired unless I’m in love, or at least dating someone special. I need that spark in my world to be inspired creatively, and truly bring life to the songs. I’m like a candle without a match. I hope it doesn’t make me sound like a hopeless romantic, but most of our songs are about relationships, and the whole process of men and women navigating these relationships. I find I do my best writing when I have a wonderful woman by my side.”

Just six months ago, in another interview, he said, “I’m not sure if I can handle another relationship. With the stress of the band, the constant touring, the constant work unless we’re waiting around to work… I don’t know. Sometimes it just seems sort of impossible, you know?”

Poor Jack, I couldn’t help thinking. He seemed a pretty sensitive guy, and having relationships flung out there publicly must be horrific.

Searching the Neon’s Orange Records website for press releases from approximately a year ago I finally found what I was looking for. Paul Fleet replaced their old promoter Magda Stevens, and that seemed to have been the catalyst for the change.

I had to find a way to ask Jack about this later. It really seemed like the fans were still there, and still excited, just no longer talking online for some reason. Wouldn’t that be a problem that is fairly easily fixed? Maybe I should talk to their PR person, Kelly. Maybe I should suggest that Jack talk to her, when he is starting his blog.

I shook my head and stared up at the ceiling. Good grief. What was I doing? Just because I was annoyed with my own job, I immediately take on another as soon as I see an opportunity? It was certainly not my place to stick my nose in after knowing somebody for one day.

My mind traveled back to the way Jack held me, and a shudder ran through me. I hoped that wasn’t a one-time thing. It didn’t sound like it, but everything is different in the light of day. Plus, he didn’t even live in Toronto anymore. Long distance relationships rarely worked, even if one person wasn’t a constantly traveling rock star. The most I should hope for is a fabulous fling.

Just past noon, I got an email from Kelly attaching two tickets for the huge Kuedler Hall show tonight. I responded immediately, thanking her. Then I looked up the location on the venue’s seating chart and grinned to myself when I saw that they were front row, just off center. Sherrie was going to freak. I emailed a ticket to her, then sent a text, explaining that we were going tonight, and had great seats.

She messaged back almost immediately with a string of emojis, and I could picture her jumping up and down. Then she phoned me.

“Hi – How did it go with Marky last night?” I asked immediately.

“He was really fun,” she said. “We had a good chat, and he invited me back to his hotel room for another drink, but I didn’t go.”

“That’s probably for the best,” I said.

“And how about you, miss thing? Did I really see the shy, quiet girl take off into the dead of night with a big shot rock star?”

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