Little Wanderer [a.i/m.c]

chapter one: i swear thats my beanie

• Nell •

To say I was nervous was an understatement. The only other jobs I'd ever had in my life were crappy waitress jobs that paid a pittance. This however, was a job that paid a great deal and was pretty darn important. Capitol Records were not the biggest record company, but if I didn't do my job properly, there would be some pretty unhappy people within the company.

Being an assistant to the Tour Publicist was a huge deal. Especially at the tender age of 19, they were putting a lot on the line giving me such responsibility. But, here I am, pulling my large suitcase behind me as Pete, the guy I will be assisting for about a month, loads his own suitcase into a large black car.

For my first tour, I will be staying in the UK, but if this goes well, there are chances of me going further than the British Isles, which, I really hope I do. Glasgow is the first stop, and it's 5am and Pete and I are getting ready to head to the airport for a short flight over there, where we'll be meeting the band and the rest of the crew.

The band. Pete, in our many interviews and meetings together, has told me a little about them. They were around my age, apparently, four of them in total, all from Australia. Nice boys, he said.

"Nell, good morning. All ready for this?" Pete asks, shooting me a warm smile as he heaves my suitcase into the back of the car. I adjust the beanie on my head and glance up at him, grinning widely.

"Of course! This is my dream, I can't wait to get started."

Pete huffs out a laugh, shutting the boot with a soft thud.

"We'll see if you're still saying that once the tour ends. C'mon kiddo, we better get going. We cannot be late, Jane will kill us." I jump into the passenger seat beside Pete, who made the car roar to life.

I'm not lying when I say this job is my dream. It hasn't always been my dream. My original dream was to be the artist, touring the world and making music that people loved. But I found out when I was fifteen that I couldn't sing, nor play a musical instrument to save my life. But I still wanted to tour the world and be involved in music because it was in everything I did.

Thus, a career in the music industry was my next choice. I'd done various work experience placements at arenas to try and gain experience about working with a music crew, and took courses in music publication.

After months of hard work and copious amounts of CV's, I was finally accepted into this tour as an assistant. It's a test, to see if I can handle it. And by God I hope I can.

//

After an hour on the road, and an hour or so plane ride, Pete and I were being driven to the Glasgow O2, the first date on the tour. I had one night to enjoy the show, as Pete had taken care of most of the pre-tour publicity, while I would begin to help out as the tour began.

We pulled up to the arena, pulling around the back where various large cars and tour busses were parked. I suddenly became even more nervous. I was young, probably too young, to be doing this job. Pete himself was a good ten and more years older than me, and he had not been working with the company for very long.

What if my youth made the other crew members dislike me, what if they thought I was stupid and too inexperienced to even be on the tour? Heck, the only people close to my age were the band themselves.

Pete's gravelly voice pulled me out of my worries the car is pulled into a parking space.

"You alright Nell?"

I swallow nervously, trying to at him. "Yeah," I nod, chewing the inside of my lip slightly, "Just a little nervous, is all."

He smiles, squeezing my shoulder with his large hand, "Understandable kiddo. But don't worry, you'll do great. You wouldn't be here if they didn't expect great things from you. Plus, I'll be right beside you every step of the way. I know what it's like, I was new once."