Nowhere But You

Chapter 24

Robin made her way among the quickly gathering attendance, her camera hanging from her neck. She was studying all the potential spots to take good pictures of the band, the crowd and the overall atmosphere.

This wasn't just another assignment to shoot one of the Crimson Management bands, like she had been doing for the past months. This would be the first ever show of River's and Nathan's new ensemble, which they had temporarily decided to dub 'Dick Morgan.'

Or DICK Morgan, with the first word all in caps and italics, as per suggestion of the self-proclaimed art director of the group, Nathaniel Harrison. This aesthetic would prevail on all the flyers and ads Nathan enthusiastically constructed to spread the word about their first gig.

Things were following their natural course, he thought, and he was happy to be back 'at it' again. After months of self-doubt, he was once again determined to try to make it again.

Third time's a charm.

For obvious reasons, DICK Morgan was not Robin's favorite choice of a name, but the guys got a kick out of it. Even Liz, Eli and Johnny who never met her stepfather before agreed it was suitable, clever and funny. A play of words with a person's name.

They promised, however, to choose a different and definitive name if they ever got to the point of signing a new record contract; they just needed a name for the bill. The most important thing for them was to demonstrate that they weren't Wicked Garden Part 2. Instead, they were showcasing something new, fresh, a combination of different talents, backgrounds and stories.

The only way to make themselves known was to be seen and heard playing around the scene. In a sneaky but smart move, Robin brought her boss, manager extraordinaire Sandra, to a rehearsal. It only took her one song to offer to manage them –at no cost– for the first couple of months.

She trusted this act could go far, even further than Wicked Garden, so she booked them a show just a couple of days later (in total, a week and a half since their first rehearsal together as a band) and although it might have seemed too soon, Sandra felt they were ready. They needed to get this machine up and going. Surprisingly, they all agreed –even River, the most doubtful about what this project even was and where they would take it.

Naturally, Robin was assigned to cover this gig and all activities related to the new project. Promotion, shows, photoshoots, demo recordings, radio diffusion. Like before, but more extensively, more hands-on... more responsibilities.

The strawberry blonde girl walked into the backstage area, that in the good ol' Stick-n-Stones joint was literally just that, a spot behind the stage. No dressing rooms, except for a handful of mirrors on the walls, and boards that served as 'dressers.' When Julian was around he took up all the space for him and his band and the rest just obliged, because this was home turf for them. Now, they'd have to take turns between them and the other acts that shared the bill and make do. Nathan and Liz were using one mirror and River was looking at himself in another.

"'Sup?" Robin patted River's back gently and looked at him through the mirror. Something appeared to be troubling him.

"Hm." He sighed. "I don't think I should go with this baseball cap."

Robin chortled. "Why not? It's your favorite."

"I—I don't know," River waved his hand, "Maybe I shouldn't have anything on my head, I—" he spoke fast and stuttered, like every time he was anxious or nervous, "I don't know, I always did with Small Death and Wicked Garden but this is—"

"Different?" Robin cut him off. "Reev, relax. Here, let me help you."

She stood behind him, removed the baseball cap from his head and combed his hair back with her fingers. She them rubbed his arms softly and stared back at their own reflection.