Connected by Love « Jack White »

roadie.

"whisper, would you get the fuck back here?"

"nah." i cackled into my phone as my cousin, tessa, practically begged me to drive back home and give her a hug before i left. it was really too bad, i was already at the baseball stadium 2 and a half hours from my aunt's house, so i didn't really have an opportunity to anyway.

"oh shit! the guy i'm supposed to meet with is here. gotta go, love you, tell lana and brock i said bye, see ya!" i hung up quickly as i saw the tall, chubby guy i was supposed to meet with. he had an ashy beard, an arm covered with cool tattoos, and a shiny bald head. nice. i was gonna get ink one day.

"melody j. sallow?" he asked in an unexpectedly high raspy tone. i had to bite my cheeks to keep from laughing.

"yessir, that's me. and also, please call me whisper. everyone else does. it'd just be awkward if you were the only one that didn't." i smiled.

"uh-huh." he didn't seem amused. "i'm ted, we spoke over the phone a number of times." he extended out his hand. he had a wedding ring on his huge left hand. i shook it, smiling a bit to myself.

"are you ready to meet the band?" ted asked me shortly after showing me the way to the tour bus. it wasn't on, of course, but he gave me the key. i didn't dare step foot in there though, i love surprises.

"oh hell yeah dude! i've been so pumped ever since i got the job." i grinned widely. ted had told me i got the job over email three months prior. i had a relatively short time to prepare, but that didn't stop me from getting ready.

"carla, quincy, and neil should be out in just a few moments," i bit my cheeks again. moments? who the hell says moments? "but i'm afraid the big man himself will be late."

i was confused for a moment. "the big man?" i asked.

"um, yes. jack? jack white? as in the guy who owns the band and pretty much everything else worth giving two shits about in detroit and nashville?" ted raised a bushy ashy brown eyebrow and spoke in a scolding patronizing tone.

i rolled my eyes and crossed my skinny arms. "i know now."

ted eventually left me alone and i was waiting outside the bus, checking my phone for updates from my friends back home and my aunt, who had called me three times since i hung up on tessa and met up with ted.

her number went straight to voicemail as i saw three people talking and laughing, stumbling out of the café we were parked outside. i gasped to myself and hung up on my aunt's voicemail, tucking my phone in the back pocket of my tight jeans and standing up straight, hoping i looked at least partially presentable.

the three looked me up and down for a second, probably thinking i was some stray psycho fan at first. carla, the pretty short woman, then smiled and approached me. "oh, you're the roadie, right?" she asked me. i nodded. "oh, i'm so excited to have a roadie that's finally a girl!"

"carla, 'roadie' is the female name for 'techies'. we've only had techies before, you see." neil, an average-height african american man, smiled at me.

"i just can't help it! i'm so excited. hopefully you're okay with girl talk?" carla grinned wide and i laughed. "well yeah, of course!"

quincy, a taller african american man with straight pastel purple hair, politely and gently pushed me aside and opened the bus, making his way inside with neil and carla following. i looked back before following her, in the back of my mind i guess i was hoping i would see the big man.