Page 9 of More Than Scars

Bowie stressed as he pulled the hair across one side of his face and then glanced at Tony, who nodded back. “How about Stoli on the outside next to Bowie, and Joey do the same with Tony so they’re both in the center? Alright guys, say cheese.”

Their smiles were wide. I fired it off to River to make sure it was okay to post and got an instant thumbs up in response and got busy compiling the post to cut and paste across the platforms.

Coming Soon

Imminent Danger

The Seattle metal scene just got hotter!

#Rockstars #MetalMusic #ComingSoon #ImminentDanger #MastersonManagement

Hashtags were important in the social media world, so I added all the important ones.

“Hey, um, Pressley?”

“Hmm.” I glanced up, surprised to see Bowie standing as close to me as he was. “Could you text me the picture you took and that badass logo? I’d like to save up to get a tat of it.”

“Absolutely.” I’d added his number to my phone last night along with the other pertinent ones and fired them off via text. “There you go.”

Bowie nervously fiddled with his phone. Clearly, something was on his mind, and he needed a bit to sort it out. I kept working on the posts and waited him out. Pushing him felt all kinds of wrong and a surefire way to send him away.

“I wanted to thank you guys for this opportunity, I promise not to fuck it up.”

Interesting start to a conversation. Why did I feel it came with a heavy backstory?

“I hope not. You’ve both had the best deal possible dropped in your laps. There isn’t a free agent musician out there not wishing they could sign with Masterson.”

“Yeah,” he flipped his phone around, and I saw he’d changed his screensaver to the band logo. “I’ve got some shit I’m working through. I’m a work in progress.”

“We all are. I got wind there was a bit of negativity yesterday with another contestant?” Bowie had to own up to his actions without being prodded.

“I feel like shit about that. If I run into that guy again, I’ll apologize. I swear, that’s not who I am.”

I believed him, but setting boundaries up front was key. “Just don’t ever forget you’re one of the faces of Masterson now. Best foot forward and all that.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Tony came skipping out of the office with Wolf behind him, smiling and shaking his head at the silly man. “Boy, you have got to learn to read before you sign. The bigger you get, the more people will try to screw you.”

“Are you saying you’re trying to screw me?” Wait, was Tony flirting with Wolf or being serious? I couldn’t tell.

“Wolf, are you blushing?” Joey teased. “It’s so hard to tell through all your facial hair.”

Wolf flipped him the bird and mumbled something along the lines of, "I can still kick your ass, little boy," as he started to wander off.

“Come on, old man,” Stoli hollered after him. “You can clean this shit up tomorrow. Let’s go eat.”

Wolf perked up. “I could eat.”

Guess the way to that manwasthrough his stomach.

“Wolf’s been with Masterson, how long now?” Stoli asked as we waited for our meals. Another Masterson perk, just tell Easton where you’d like to eat, and a table will be ready when you get there.

He leaned back in his chair as he thought. “Well, probably as long as Easton’s been alive. I was one of the first roadies Sal hired when he branched off on his own. Eighteen, no clue which way to go, I just knew I wanted music to be included in it. Can’t play an instrument or sing for my life, but I love working with the talent and watching them grow. It was rough in the beginning, but we weathered through. Never regretted the decision to sign on once. Sal and Easton are good people who I consider to be family.”

His words served to affirm my own, I’d made the right decision as well.

“He’s selling himself short,” Joey smiled. “Wolf runs the gamut of our road crews across all bands. He hires them, gets the semis ordered and loaded and on the road for each tour. Without him, we’d be lost.”