August first finally rolled around, and I was awakened at 4:00 a.m. by blaring truck horns. It felt like they were blasting right into my ear. Those who did not live locally stayed in the motel across the street. Shawn and Jossie were LA residents, so they went home every night. Voz lived on his bus. No admittance. The rest of us, however, stayed in the motel. So, at the sound of those horns, at least six of us blasted out of our beds and rooms, looking for the source of the noise and what/whom to kill.
Shawn pulled up in his car with the tour manager, screaming "They're here!" over the din. It was the trucks ordered for The Voz D'Oro Band, finally sprung from the red tape of Customs. While a few rushed out to talk to Shawn and see the trucks, I realized the racket had finally stopped, so I turned to go back inside to my bed. I hadn't noticed that Joe had sidled up beside me, and when I turned to go inside, he grabbed my arm. "Oh, no, you don't, Wren! It's time to get to work! We have to load those trucks and get on the road! Shower, get dressed, and meet us at the Hangar."
I grimaced. "What? But, I'm not a roadie; I'm a guitar tech!"
He shook his head, angry. "No, you're part of the Elysia-D'Oro technical crew, and we all share in the loading and the unloading!" He turned back inside his room.
I went inside and looked longingly at my bed in the dim pre-dawn light. I covered my eyes as I flicked on the light, as well as the TV, to help wake me up. After my shower, I felt a little more refreshed, but still angry about rising before the sun. It's obscene! It should be illegal!
A new thought flew in. Will we hit the road today? God, I'd better make sure Jossie gets help packing up the salon, and, oh! We have to pack up the workshop! Hey, am I riding in a truck, a bus, or what? Nobody ever said!!
Joe walked over to the Hangar with me. We went inside the workshop. The room was full of guitars and packing cases. A tall, skinny man with curly dark hair stood beside one of the cases. He approached Joe, smiling.
"Wren", said Joe, "This is Donny. He's one of the D'Oro guitar techs. You two need to rack the guitars in the cases. Pack them all up; don't forget to loosen the strings." Without waiting for a reply, Joe left us. That was twice he had been rude to me in a matter of minutes. What's bothering him?
Donny smiled after Joe. "He's so cute! Is he gay? I'm openly gay."
"Oh, uh, I'm not sure what his orientation is," I said, a little taken aback.
He turned and looked at me and supressed a giggle. "Are you shocked?"
"No, no. I'm fine. Really!" I smiled.
"Come closer, and let me look at you, Wren."
"Huh?"
"Let me get a closer look at your aura. I've never seen anything like it!" He took a few steps toward me. He stared at the negative space around my head, then held my hands in his. He gazed into my eyes and sighed deeply. "Windows to the soul," he murmured. Then he said, "You have big, beautiful, grey eyes, Wren, and strong innocence and wisdom." He let go of my hands and stepped back.
I smiled, "Okay..."
"All I can add to that, dolly, is your man has *dark* hair."
"Dark hair?" I asked. Cornelius was blond.
"Dark," he repeated. He sighed and looked around, and smiled at me. "Okay, let's get to work! We'll grab some breakfast after we've put a dent in all of this. Look how on the inside of each case, there's the owner's name, and an inventory of the guitars meant for that case. Look here..." He showed me a list taped to the inside of a case. "This says 'Shawn Thompson: one Ovation 12-string acoustic, black; one Ovation 6-string acoustic, black; one Stratocaster, green...'get it?"
"Okay," I said, "So, we match up the descriptions to the actual guitars, loosen the strings, and load them into the cases."
"Correctamundo, dolly!" he nodded, "and ten guitars per case, one person per case. So, looks like, with fifteen guitars, Shawn has two cases; five in one and ten in the other. You want as few partially filled cases as you can, but you don't want more than one owner per case because when showtime comes it'd get hellaciously confusing backstage! Every guy will have all their gear in one spot backstage."
"Got it!" I said.
"I'll hand you the guitar; you loosen the strings and load it into the case."
I nodded, and Donny handed me the first guitar.
We worked for two hours, and then, at 7:00 a.m., Donny looked at me and said, "I'm famished! How about you?"
I nodded my head vigorously, and we headed out of the Hangar and into the motel's restaurant. We sat and ordered up.
"I've been thinking about what you said, about my man having dark hair," I said.
"Uh-huh?"
"Well, you know, I've been dating Cornelius, and he's blond. Are you mistaken? You mean, Cornelius isn't the one for me? Or, " I giggled, "Is he going to dye his hair?"
He rested his chin in one hand. "Dolly, I think it's a different guy altogether. Search your heart for your true feelings for Cornelius. Do you trust him? Love him? I'm getting a feeling that your heart's desire is dark haired."
I wasn't all that upset by what he was saying. Cornelius was very, very amusing, and uniquely handsome, but we didn't quite fit. I knew that in my heart just a couple of hours after my birthday. Still, he paid me a lot of attention, which I adored, and he made me laugh. I adored that, too. "You know, Donny, I don't even know why Cornelius showed up in the first place! I heard he was touring with his band, so how come he's hanging around here?"
Speak of the Devil, Cornelius came into the restaurant and walked over to our table. "Hiya Babe!" He kissed me hello.
"Hi!" I smiled up into the bluuuue eyes. "This is Donny."
"Hi Cornelius!" They shook hands, and he sat beside Donny. Cornelius held my hands across the table. What does he mean that Corry's not my heart's desire? Looking at him sitting there, feeling his warm, soft hands holding mine, I was not so sure.
Playfully, he put one of my hands up to his mouth and gave it a huge, loud, smooch of a kiss. Donny and I giggled. "Hiya!" He said softly, huskily. "Missedya! Whereyabeen? Whatchabeendoin'?"
It took me a minute to regain enough composure to answer him. "Uhhhhm..." I honestly couldn't remember what I was doing fifteen minutes ago! He fixed his gaze on me and waited, a smile playing on his lips. He kissed my hand again, but quietly this time. Then he rested his chin in my hand. "What did you ask me?"
He laughed, and softly said, "Where have you been, and what have you been doing, Miss Wren Lady?"
"Oh! I have been with Donny, packing up a whole ton and more of guitars for the bands." I sighed.
"That sounds mega cool! Want some help?"
"We'd love help!" said Donny.
"Well, I'll help!" Cornelius smiled and nodded his head.
"Thanks, Corry!" I sighed.
"Corry wuuuuvs guitars, Miss Wren Lady," he said to me in his Elmer Fudd voice.
I giggled.
The waiter brought our breakfasts, which we promptly ate. We paid and went back to the Hangar. Corry was a huge help, and also had us in stitches with all his funny stories and silly voices. What a ham! Not my heart's desire? Really???
I took a break around 9:00 a.m.. I headed into the ladies room. As I walked back out, I passed the orange vinyl sofa. It beckoned to me. Geez, it's been four non-stop hours since those truck horns blasted me out of bed, and to quote Voz from an interview about why he left Jury, 'I truly was toast'. I sat on the sofa, then my feet sort of floated up, and I was lying down...
Somebody shook me awake. "Wren! Wake up! Wake up!" It was Jossie.
I sat up. "Jossie?"
She was really upset. "Wren, they left without you!!"
I sat straight up, alarmed. "What?? Who??"
"We've been looking all over for you! Joe and Donny and Jolly all left for Vegas in the guitar truck, and you were supposed to go with them! They couldn't find you, so they had to leave to stay on schedule!"
"What? What time is it?"
"It's noon. All the techs left at 11:00 for Vegas. They waited until 11:30 for you!"
"God, I've been here since 9:00. Guess I fell sound asleep! But I told Donny and Corry I was going to the ladies room. Why didn't somebody bang on the door?"
Jossie sighed. "I don't know, I don't know. But Corry's still here. He's in your motel room, since we found your stuff still there. Come on. We need to find Shawn."
We left the ladies room and headed out into the now empty arena area. "Wren!" said Shawn, "Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, Shawn! I'm fine! Nobody said a word to me about when we were leaving or even how we'd get there, or where we were going! I swear!"
Shawn furrowed his brow. "What? Didn't Joe tell you that stuff last night?"
"No! The last thing he said to me today was to pack up the guitars. That was early this morning; around 5:30."
Shawn swore under his breath. He frowned and cussed again. "Okay", he sighed. "That's just the way it is. You'll have to ride with one of the bands in their bus. Where's Cornelius? He was looking for you."
"He's in Wren's motel room," said Jossie. "Is he coming to Vegas?"
"Is he?" Shawn asked me.
"I have no idea," I replied. "Like I said, nobody told me anything!"
"Oh. Just thought your boyfriend might have told you his plans," said Shawn.
I shrugged and shook my head.
Just then, Shawn's cell phone rang. He flipped it open. "Yes? Cornelius, we found her! She was asleep in the ladies! Bring her stuff here, will ya? We need to find you all a ride."
Voz strolled into our little group. "Hello! Wren! You're found!" He smiled. "I'm so glad!"
"Yeah, and Joe is up shisscreek for not filling her in and leaving her behind!" said Shawn, still royally ticked. "Wren and Cornelius need a ride to Vegas, Voz."
Voz smiled. "I'd love for you to ride with me, Wren! How about it?"
Corry panted up beside us, dumping my suitcases at my feet and planting a kiss on my cheek. He wrapped an arm around my waist. "How about what?"
"Voz has offered us a ride to Vegas," I explained.
"You bet!" Voz smiled. I've got my agent, Don, and Brill with me, but there's still plenty of---"
"Brill?" Interrupted Corry. "Brill Nelsen? From Jury? God, he's the greatest guitarist on earth!"
"Yep, that's him, Cornelius!" Voz smiled. "I'm mending some fences; asking Don and Brill to back me up on this tour. Jury's got some time off, and they were kind enough to accept my offer. I've missed them!"
"Wow! Time alone with Brill Nelsen!" Corry beamed.
I laughed, looking at Corry all starry-eyed. "Thanks, Voz. We would love to ride with you."
"Wonderful!" said Voz.
Shawn sighed. "Great! Settled! Wren, WE LEAVE AT ONE O'CLOCK; THAT'S IN ONE HOUR!" He said, clearly and distinctly.
I laughed. Corry and Voz picked up my bags and we headed out to Voz's big, black, shiny bus.