Rock Dog: The Final Call

Chapter 1 - Change

September 2024

Swissôtel The Stamford, Singapore

10.30am

It had been going so well, Bodi dreamt in his mind. The concert went smoothly as expected. He wowed his audience with his "Fire" and most importantly, he had been spending the last seven to eight years dating the love of his life. And she was sleeping next to him on that lofty bed, her arm stretched to his stomach.

The band had slept well beyond their usual wake-up times after arriving at the hotel late. For sure they will miss the breakfast buffet, but they care little about it when they had officially completed their Southeast Asia tour, which means they finally get to go home. Tomorrow.

"Ugh..." a groggy Bodi attempted to get out of the Egyptian cotton mattress, his hair obscuring his view (he vowed to trim his hair upon returning home) as he stumbled his way inside the marble bathroom, taking the left of the two sinks. He wanted to sleep more, but the mastiff had other issues to contend with.

A few minutes later, Bodi sipped his cup of Nespresso on the wide balcony that overlooked most of the Singapore skyline, including the Padang to his right and Esplanade Theatres, the to-be-completed NS Square and of course, the Marina Bay Sands. He wished he could have stayed there, hearing stories from Swifty on the infinity pool at the SkyPark, or his kiss with Jade during that 2018 stay.

"Morning, Bodi."

Darma had also awoken, having washed herself up in the bathroom earlier. She, just like Bodi, had changed to a simple shirt and a pair of jeans, ready to take on their last day in Singapore. Bodi, once again, felt like not wearing his beanie. He had gotten used to not wearing it, anyway.

"So, about that interview..."

"Yeah, that. You could have responded differently, Bodi."

"I know. I'm so stupid telling the Muttons that."

"Now, it has gone a bit out of hand. Still, no such thing as bad publicity."

The day before the concert, Rock Dog had a radio interview with the legendary radio duo, The Muttons, on their show "Muttons in the Morning". Justin and Vernon conversed with the Rock Dog members over their music and the concert itself. However, the one question they dreaded was when Justin asked about Bodi and Darma's dating.

Justin: And one more question, and this one's for you, Bodi. There's been rumours online, from fan accounts to pictures of you and Darma dating on a regular basis. Having dated for quite some time, can you tell a bit about how it's going?

Darma: Sorry to interrupt, but I don't think that's a –

Bodi (interrupting): I think I can answer that, Darma.

Darma (eye twitching): You sure?

Bodi: I think we can all agree that I've been going out with Darma frequently. As for whether we're dating... um... Yeah, we are.

Vermon: So it's true, then?

Darma (playing along, face still red): Yeah, we're dating. In fact, Angus's often complaining about us setting aside rehearsal time for this...