Detroit wasn’t quite as pleasant as Rob had hoped it would be. Yesterday, wrapped together with Jane, everything seemed perfectly alright. However, even the hotel Harold had booked for them didn’t quite seem up to scratch with that Cleveland or any of the other cities had offered them. And it certainly wasn’t due to cost. Rob looked along the peeling edges of the wallpaper around their bed and wondered how far they had come. How quickly he could complain about a hotel booked for them, across the country from his hometown, doing what he loved. And sleeping with whom he loved as well. Looking to his right, he saw the mass of blonde hair tangled in a knot. His eyes followed the hair down to it’s origin, seeing Jane’s head resting gently beside him, nuzzled into him. It was their second mid-day nap in two days. Jane had been so very direct to Rob. It was like a switch turned on between them. Now, knowing each other so well, the next step into their relationship had been so smooth and direct. And no matter how many bad press articles were released, no matter how much Rob worried, everything seemed like it was going as well as it could be. He turned softly as to not disturb her to look at his phone. He had missed a text message: [i]4:21, Trent:[/i] [b]What are you doing?[/b] [i]4:45, Rob:[/i] [b]Napping. Got an interview at 7 and we go on at 9.[/b] [i]4:47, Trent:[/i] [b]Want to get out? Our set’s at 7 but we’ve got shit to do until then.[/b] [i]4:49, Rob:[/i] [b]Sure. You’ll be on the bus?[/b] [i]4:50, Trent:[/i] [b]Always am.[/b] Rob looked to Jane again, this time with eyes wide open. He hadn’t wanted to sleep as much as she had, and while he enjoyed her against him, he could use some time away. Maybe he could bum more weed off the guy, if anything. Rob waited until he felt Jane stir, then whispered into her ear. “Trent wants to meet up,” he said softly. “Let me see if I could get us some more stuff.” 
He kissed her gently. “I’ll be back before the interview.” … He arrived at the venue earlier than anyone had expected to see In Bloom, so it took some explaining to security why the drummer had shown up early enough. After a few ID checks and quick explanations, Rob found himself knocked at the Vicarious tour bus. After a moment, the door snapped open with a waft of smoke, and the unmistakable stench of pot. [i]Man,[/i] he thought to himself. [i]I knew they were stoner rock, but—[/i] “What’s up?” The curly-haired man in front of Rob said. His wild hair in varying colors between blonde and brown was shoved back with sunglasses. The man scratched at his heavy stubble as he waited. Rob recognized him as their guitarist; Matt. “Hey,” he started, “I’m Rob from In Bloom. Trent said—“ “Yeah, yeah,” Matt said, stepping aside. Nodding, Rob entered the van again, now much more occupied than last he saw it. “He’s in the back bedroom,” Matt said, downing the last of the beer in his hand. In the bus, clothes were strewn about in various baskets and along the floor. At the table off to one side, Rob saw the frontman noodling some notes on his guitar, most likely practicing the songs they were soon to play. His eyes were cast downward, and the two didn’t talk as Rob walked further back. Passing the bunks, Rob slipped into the back, main bedroom—pushing the cracked door wide open. Inside, Rob saw Trent mid-laugh, one hand gripping the mouthpiece and the other holding the hookah steady as the bed shook with him. He was sat across from another man, who seemed equally enthralled in whatever they had discussed. Leaned against the back wall, their bassist had her eyes down at her phone; her black hair obscuring most of her face. Hearing the unmistakable creaking of the door, her eyes locked back upwards to Rob’s, and the two for a moment, had no idea what to say. “Rob!” Trent said loudly, throwing a hand in the air. He patted the bed on the only free spot- a corner on the other side of the hookah, by the bassist’s feet. “Come sit!” Behind him, a stereo blasted a old favorite of Rob’s: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnrS4lFnGQk]Speaking In Tongues by Eagles of Death Metal[/url]. He did so, planting himself smoothly on the bed, slipping off his flip flops as he did so. Now sitting, he could feel the vibrations of the bed along to the endless beating of the song. “This is David!” Trent said over the music, pointing the mouthpiece to the other man. “He normally rides in the crew bus, but we fuckin’ love this guy so he’s with us for now. And this,” he said, pointing to the raven-haired bassist, “is Zoe. Bass extraordinaire, but not much of a talker.” Zoe tossed Rob a polite nod, looking at him with drained eyes, before lowering back into her smartphone. Her white earbuds stood out strongly against the dark clothes and smoky haze. “So,” Trent said, “How long do we have?” Rob looked to his phone. “About an hour, before you go on.” “Perfect.” … Over the next several minutes, each of the four people sitting atop the bed passed the hookah around until each was high out of their minds. Rob tried to focus on Trent’s explanation of which specific strain he had purchased, but between the endless music and jokes, he couldn’t hardly remember it. Before long, he was laying in the center of the bed, pressed up shoulder-to-shoulder with Trent and Zoe on either side. David’s legs were the only part of him on the bed; the rest of his sprawled out, staring at the ceiling and talking about penguins. Or, something of the sort. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t reasonable. Next to him, Zoe muttered something to herself, before looking at Rob. “You might want to watch this,” she said. She pulled one of her earbuds out and passed it to him, before angling her phone so he could see it. It looked like one of those smaller blog interviews with anyone within arm’s reach of a popular band. “Fuck,” Rob muttered aloud the second he recognized the guest. On the screen, Anna sat, dressed in the same dress from the hotel room. He entered in the middle of the conversation: [b]Host:[/b] So, wait, you were working crew for Vulture, and this guy approaches you? [b]Anna:[/b] No, I went for him. [b]Host:[/b] You started it. [b]Anna:[/b] It’s not like it was an affair or anything. Tour life can be shit, and when I see someone I want, I take that opportunity. [b]Host:[/b] So, you were more into it than he was? [b]Anna:[/b] No no no. It was mutual. [b]Host:[/b] And completely physical. [b]Anna:[/b] Look, if there’s one thing their frontwoman has right, it’s that I’m gonna do what I want. I wanted to hook up with him, I admit it. I don’t give a shit that it seems bad or shallow. [b]Host:[/b] And he was into it? [b]Anna:[/b] Completely. Well, at least until one night. [b]Host:[/b] What happened? He stopped you? [b]Anna:[/b] Fuck no! He might tell you otherwise, but I stopped him. I wasn’t going to be a conduit. [b]Host:[/b] For Jane? [b]Anna:[/b] Yeah, for Jane! He’d do creepy shit, like mess up my hair like hers. It was kind of pathetic, actually. [b]Host:[/b] Well, it seems like they might be together. Some of our readers sent in a photo from an impromptu cover the two did in New York. Another guy said he saw both of them getting kicked out of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. [b]Anna:[/b] There are worse places to do it. [b]Host:[/b] [laughs] Yeah, but wouldn't you say the problem seemed to work itself out? [b]Anna[/b] I’d just like to see them just fucking admit it already. There are other bands running the circuit right now that that actually deserve to be talked about. [b]Host:[/b] Like Vulture? [b]Anna:[/b] Vulture, Vicarious…any of them, really. Releasing a generic-ass rock single isn’t worth talking about. … Rob popped the headphone out and slid it back to Zoe. He turned to Trent, but he was already reading about it on the phone. “Holy shit,” he muttered to himself, “I mean, I’d say I’d kill for the press attention, but—“ “Trust me,” Rob said, putting his head back against the wall. “No you fucking don’t.” After that, Rob helped the group clean up the room a bit, before using their eyedrops to clear out the last of the physical evidence and getting a promise from Trent that he’d set him up with that strain once he got more. “You need to try that shit as an edible,” Trent said as he pulled his spare sticks out from one of the many closets along the walls. “It’ll help you through that interview today.” “I really need to cancel that,” Rob said. He slipped his hands into his pockets. “We’re not ready to talk about this. By the time I get back, me and Jane won’t have enough time to figure it out. God…our fucking manager loves this. He [i]wants[/i] us to be all over the news.” As Rob made his way out of the bus, he felt a gentle hand grab at his shoulder. He pivoted around to see Zoe. “Hey,” she said, soft. “Don’t worry too much about it. She seemed like a bitch anyways.” Rob laughed lightly. “I don’t know. She might be right. I might be a creep.” “You’re not.” 
 Zoe turned and made her way to the stage, leaving Rob planted in place for just a few moments, before turning and making his way to the main road for a taxi. He slipped out his phone and sent Jane the link to Anna’s interview. [i]5:57, Rob:[/i] [b]I’ll be back as soon as possible.[/b] Climbing into the taxi, however, his phone rang. Harold. “Alright,” Rob said into the microphone, not wasting a beat, “what?” “Is is true?” Rob sighed. “Most of it, yeah.” “Look,” Harold came, “just put up a united front. I’ve got something for you to announce that’ll detract from the news.” “And that is?” Silence, for a moment. “Harold,” Rob said, “I’m really not in the mood. Just fucking tell me.”

“I switched around your tour dates,” Harold said. “I was up last night finishing arrangements. You’ll go through Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis as scheduled. Then, you’ll do Kansas City and St. Louis. That’s the end of your American tour.” [i]“American?”[/i] “For now,” Harold said. “Obviously you’ll swing back in and catch the cities we missed afterwards. Because after St. Louis…you’re going on a European Tour.” Rob couldn’t believe it. “I’d be more excited if I wasn’t so fucking stressed out.” “I’ll fill you in on the details later, but it’s just to help build the name. You’ll probably be playing the shittiest venues in Europe again, but trust me, this is worth it.” “I’m at the hotel,” Rob said as the taxi driver pulled up to the lobby. He handed him a twenty and left the cab. “I’ll call you back once I figured out this Anna shit.” He disconnected the call, and felt his head whirling as he went upstairs to the room. He found Jane quickly once he entered, but paused himself to let her speak. Pretty much everything was going to take some explaining from this point forward. Looking back on just a few hours ago, he was right to be worried. 

Everything was changing, all at once.