Chapter 12

Gennie sat fidgeting in her seat as she stared out the window at the beautiful Rocky Mountains.   There was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. The plane was taxiing to the gate and all that stood between her and an MTV camera crew was the space between her and the jet way.  She was no longer nervous about meeting her favorite band- that was old news.  Her new anxiety stemmed from the realization that in a few short minutes her whole life, for the next week anyway, would be captured on videotape for all posterity. 

 So far, her day had been filled with obstacles.  Her original flight had been cancelled and she was now on an earlier flight.  She silently hoped that the scheduling problems with the airlines would mean that the film crew would not be waiting for her when she disembarked.  She was supposed to go straight to the sound check at the amphitheatre, but now she was getting in a few hours earlier.  She was not sure how this change would affect her afternoon, and frankly, that didn’t matter to her.  Her first concern was facing those cameras!

 A flight attendant knew that there was going to be some commotion surrounding her exit, so she asked her to stay behind so everyone else could leave first without the benefit of being on television.  As the cabin emptied, another young flight attendant, her nametag indicated that her name was Lisa, approached Gennie, kneeling on the seat in the row in front of her. 

 “So, is MTV really waiting out there for you?” she asked excitedly.  Her accent indicated she was from Texas.

 In her nervousness, “Yeah,” was all Gennie could muster.

 “Should I know who you are?  I’m really sorry if that sounds rude, but I don’t see much MTV anymore.”

 “No,” Gennie replied with a shy smile, “I’m no one you’d know.  I’m doing a show for them, but I’m just a regular person.”

 “Oh,” Lisa replied, somewhat confused.

 “Do I look alright?” Gen thought she’d get her opinion. “Those little mirrors in the lavatory don’t help much.” Her eyes lit up as she laughed, “I’m counting on your honest opinion, now.”

 Lisa called out to one of her co-workers, “Marilyn, go make sure those camera people are ready for her!” She looked back to Gennie, “Ms. Redlin, you look great!” then she started to mess with her hair a little.  “There you go, hon. You’re perfect, knock ‘em dead.”  Gennie got up and started down the aisle to the door.  All eyes of the crew were on her and even though no one knew her, she felt like a celebrity.  Marilyn popped her head in the door. “They’re ready and waiting,” she hollered with a big smile.  Gennie stepped through the door in to the jet way with Lisa close behind.  “You don’t mind if I tag along a little do you?  I’m curious!” she giggled.  “So what show are you doing, anyway?”

 “It’s a new show. I’m going on tour with the Goo Goo Dolls for a week.  I’m picking the tour up here,” Gennie divulged; glad to have someone to take her mind off the cameras waiting for her at the end of the long corridor. 

 “Wow, I love them!  Say hi to the cute one for me, OK?” she giggled again.

 “You mean John?  No problem.” Gen turned around and grinned, hardly believing the words coming out of her mouth. 

 “You tell him,” Lisa paused and hung back, she dare not go a step further. “You tell him to come fly with us and I’ll treat him right!” she winked.

 Gennie saw her hesitate.  That could only mean one thing…the cameras were within sight.  Before she turned back around to face the world, she waived goodbye to Lisa and the other flight attendants that hovered in the jet way to watch her exit.  She took a deep cleansing breath and walked out the door to the waiting area and an MTV camera guy.

 Once at the gate she wasn’t really sure where she was to go or who she was meeting. After what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact less than a minute, a woman in a suit walked up to her and introduced herself. She was all business. “Hi, I’m Nancy Freeman, I’m one of the publicity people for the Goo Goo Dolls.  You must be Genevieve Redlin.”  She extended her hand for a firm handshake. Her manner was neither negative nor positive, merely indifferent...maybe a little irritated.  Gennie didn’t know what to make of her, but followed her silently. “Come with me.  We’ll get your luggage picked up and get out of here.”

 As she led the way to the baggage claim area, Nancy looked at her with a steely gaze and accounted for Gennie’s schedule that day.  “You’re early of course.” 

 Gennie nodded. ‘Obviously’ she thought.

 “That does throw a kink in our plans.  We were supposed to take you directly to the venue for the sound check, but they won’t be there yet.”  She took a big breath and sighed.  “So they’ve asked that I take you to meet them at the radio station.  They’re doing some on-air time this afternoon.” 

 “OK.”  She got the impression that Nancy didn’t think it was a very good idea.  She seemed to view Gennie as a trespasser in her territory.

 They grabbed the bags and tossed them in the minivan that was waiting in the loading zone out front.  Gennie took the passenger seat.  The camera guy got in back. “Don’t let this bother you,” he gestured to the camera sitting on his lap. “My name’s Jack and I don’t want you to pay any attention to me or my buddy Tony who you’ll see later.”

 Gennie had to laugh at that.  “That’s the strangest introduction I think I’ve ever received!”  Nancy wasn’t laughing. 

 Jack slid a box out from under the seat.  He pulled out a very compact, but very expensive looking video camera and presented it to Gennie.  “This one’s for you,” he smiled.  “It’s small, so keep it with you.  I’ll show you how to use it later.”

 “Sounds good to me.” Gen examined the camera in her hands.  When she tired of checking out her new toy, she spent the rest of the long quiet ride staring out the window at the rugged terrain. It was beautiful. She was starting to worry, though, that she might have to be around Nancy more than she would like.  The silence was awkward for her.  She didn’t know quite what to do or say, so she just kept staring out that window.

 The hour-long ride in the van was finally over as they pulled up in front of a tall office building. Nancy’s piercing gaze was once again directed in Gennie’s proximity. “They’re in there.  They should be waiting for you.  I’m taking your bags to put them on the bus.  You’ll be sleeping there tonight. From here on out, you’re stuck with them.”

 “Thank you,” Gennie said, though she wasn’t sure for what.  “Will I see you later?” she asked as she leaned in through the open window of the van. She waited with baited breath in anticipation of her answer.

 “No.”

 “OK, bye” She waived, saving her pleasantry for Jack who rode off still sitting in the back seat.

 She entered the building with no idea where she was going.  After the tense hour she’d just experienced, the uncertainty was oddly liberating.  Once she got to the reception desk to ask for directions, she saw what could only be Tony, the other camera guy.  The lady at reception greeted her and told her to head to the 10^th floor.  They were waiting for her.

 In the elevator, Tony made a brief introduction, but like Jack, said to please pay no attention to him.  Gennie nodded and tried as best she could to ignore the camera that was trained on her face for the ride to the tenth floor.  It wasn’t easy. As the doors slid open she stepped out and was greeted by an excited office staff that reminded her of the office she left back in Tulsa.  She smiled nervously as she was greeted by lots of people trying to avoid the camera.  They pointed her down the hall to the door with the red light above it.  As she turned the knob, it dawned on her that she wasn’t just meeting them at the station, she was meeting them on the air with ‘Bob in the Afternoon’ on whatever Denver radio station this was.

 “…So what do you mean she’s following you?  Is she like driving along behind you?  In her own car? Or do you mean like a stalker?” Bob was already asking about her.

 “No, no she’s going with us. She’s not a stalker, man!” John clarified with a chuckle.

 “She’s not driving along behind us in her car either!  Dude, we’re not that big of jerks!” Robby laughed.

 They all turned as they saw her walk in. John, Mike and Robby’s bright smiles greeted her.  She gave them a little wave and tried to stay in the background.

 “There she is right now, Ms. Genevieve…uh…well, I’d better not say.” Robby stuttered as he announced her.

 “Give her a hand” John tossed in.  Bob queued up the canned applause for her.

 “Come over here, darlin’, we won’t bite.” Bob tried to coax her to a seat at the desk. “You can sit by Johnny, he’s a hottie, huh?”

 “Shut up, dude. Let her sit wherever she wants.” Johnny retorted without being completely serious.

 She took a seat beside Mike.  He was the furthest away from the line of fire. Robby handed her a pair of headphones so she could hear the conversation. “He’s OK,” she dismissed Bob’s statement. She immediately made herself comfortable and joined in the laughing and joking, “But, I do have a message for him from Lisa the flight attendant.” She had to giggle.

 “Uh, oh…” Mike interjected.

 Bob bit at this tasty tidbit, “What might that message be?  Sounds pretty interesting.   John, you know any flight attendants named Lisa?”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” he replied in a deep voice as he leaned in close to the microphone. A huge smile fell across his face and he looked to Gennie hoping she wouldn’t embarrass him on the air.

“Go on, tell us then…Genevieve, is it?” Bob prompted.

“Yeah.” She paused, “Well, the message was something like that you should fly with her and she’ll treat you right?”

“Oooh. Fly the friendly skies.” Robby was laughing.

“She’s obviously never met the bastard,” Mike remarked with a hearty chuckle.  They all laughed.

“So, Genevieve, was this here in Denver?  She might still be here?” Bob wanted to know.  “Cause if she is, maybe you should get her in to the show tonight.  She sounds like a live one, Rzeznik.  You’re a single guy, right?”

John was shaking his head, he was a little embarrassed by the direction this conversation was taking, especially around people he hardly knew…about people he didn’t know at all!  “Man, whatever.”  He took a drink of his Diet Coke and let out a little giggle.  “What airline did you say this was?” again with the throaty voice.

 “So, Genevieve, are you looking forward to living with these three losers for a week?” Bob asked.

 “Sure, why not?” was her reply.

 “Is MTV paying you? Cause if it was me, I’d want them to pay me for it!”

 “Dude, whaddaya mean? Are we that horrible that you wouldn’t do it unless they paid you?” Robby ribbed him.

 “I’m just saying it sounds like a big pain in the ass, is all.  The girl shouldn’t have to put up with you.”

 “Aw, c’mon.  Gennie, we’re not that bad are we?” Mike was curious.

 “Well,” she smiled and gave him the eye. “You- I don’t know.  John and Robby are OK, I guess.  I could spend a week...” she got cut off.

 “What?  Did you just blow off the drummer on live radio?” Bob was astounded!

 “Well, no.” She found Bob to be rather annoying.

 “Man, she met us last week, but she didn’t have time to meet Mike.  Or, no, he didn’t have the time to meet her.” John explained, giving Mike a playful punch in the arm.

 “I see.  IT’S BOB IN THE AFTERNOON HERE WITH THE GOO GOO DOLLS AND WE’LL BE RIGHT BACK.” They broke for a commercial.  “Hi, Genevieve.” He reached across the desk and shook her hand and was much more polite than he was just moments ago. “Nice to meet you. I’m Bob Douglas, and welcome to my afternoon mad house,” he said with a belly laugh. 

 “So Gennie, how’ve you been?” Robby patted her on the back.

 “Good. And you?”

 “Same.  We’ll be outta here soon. Are you ready to get this show on the road?”

 “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she admitted with a facial expression that revealed a peculiar combination of excitement and trepidation.

 John rolled his chair back from the desk and leaned behind Mike so he could see her better.  “So you’re early.  How was your flight?”

 “Not bad.  They cancelled my original flight- that made for some early morning drama.  But I guess you knew that.” 

 He bobbed his head in affirmation as he took another drink of Coke.  “So this Lisa person, is she real?” he laughed.

 Gennie rolled her eyes and shot him a sideways glance.  “No, it’s just a part of my schtick,” she laughed sarcastically. “Of course!” she smiled, “Lisa the flight attendant really did say that. I promise.  Did you think I was coming up with one-liners on my way over here?  Hardly.” She laughed at the irony of that thought. 

 John grinned.  “So you met Nancy, huh?”  He finished his soda.  “I don’t think she likes us,” he sighed honestly.

 “I don’t think she likes me either.”

 He shrugged. “Then we’re in good company.  I take that as a sign that we’ll get along well.” He rolled his chair back in place and the show was once again on the air.

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