On board

First glance

"Ok that's fine mate." Joe nodded as he stood up from the small chair he had sat down on. Taking off his suit jacket and folding it impossibly neatly over the crook of his elbow as he made his way across to the small backstage area, looking for the door which would take him out into a small, private corridor where he could make his way back to his cabin with as little disruption as possible.

"So tomorrow, it's a small outdoor session in the morning. Just chill stuff for like half an hour as people eat their breakfast and that kind of thing, nothing too stressful for you." Adam continued as he reeled off the brunettes schedule as they made their way out of the small theatre style area.

"Ugh, fine. Why do I even have to do that stuff? Can't Charlie do it?" Joe questioned with a small roll of his ocean blue eyes.

"It's just this one Joe. Once you sing some random shit for thirty minutes you can do whatever for the rest of the day until you have another solo event at 9:30 pm. Besides Charlie can't do this one because he's got a midday session tomorrow. But who cares because they won't even be listening to you."

"That's the worst bit Adam, I want them to listen to me." Joe hit back a little sterner, stopping his walk along the corridor before he pushed on a double set of doors and into one of the main routes to get around the gastronomical size of the place. "What I don't want them to do is wonder 'why the fuck won't this guy who's overheating in a pair of black trousers in the middle of the Mediterranean shut the fuck up' whilst they're eating their eggs frickin' Benedict."

"And they will bloody listen to you in your show where you get to be the star of the stage tomorrow night at nine thirty. But until then I need you to do this one little set for me just to cover for Charlie. And if you don't then they will never listen to you again because I'll frickin fire your ass and leave you in Barcelona on Monday morning." Adam responded with his own sense of severity as he looked dangerously at the singer.

There was now doubt in Adams mind that Joe was an incredible asset to his team. He was hard working, incredibly talented, and an overall nice guy. He was everything and more which the boss could ask for. Yet with his incredible talent and grandeur on the tours he went on, Adam noticed how it never took long for the brunette to become slightly stuck up. A little smug. And even in some moments, bloody intolerable. So it was only fair for his boss to put him back in his place as someone who, at the end of the day, had to obey the rules just as much as people who had never toured before. If not more.

"Alright fine." Joe eventually conceded with a sigh, much to Adam's delight. "What time do I need to start?"

"Umm, half eight till like quarter past nine-ish." Adam shrugged once again as he looked intently at his phone which has just pinged in the back pocket of his shorts.

"Adam bro, that's three-quarters of an hour, I thought you said it was only thirty minutes." He whined further, only to have the older of the two glare at him disapprovingly, prompting the singer to sigh once again. "Eight thirty... right I'll be there."

"Thank you. Eastern side of Upper deck B please mate." He continued with a widely irritating smile on his face. "Right, now I gotta go over to the office, something about an admin issue, so I'll see you tomorrow yeah mate."

"Yeah, night Ads." Joe responded as he pressed a hand onto his shoulder before Adam walked off down the corridor, his eyes still deadly focused on the text message he had just received.

Sighing once again and running a hand through his perfectly styled hair, Joe continued to make his way back to his room. A weird sense of confusion fluttering about his body as the post show buzz which he thrived upon continued to stimulate every fibre of his being. Yet with a weirdly heavy heart and an upsetting sense of familiarity to this feeling, it didn't feel quite the same as it did seven years ago. And that thought alone seemed to stick with him more than he ever wished it would.