Mind of His

22. Carolina

Harry POV

Carolina - Harry Styles

*Oh yeah!
She's got a family in Carolina
So far away but she says I remind her of home
Feeling oh so far from home...*

I raised the volume of my music on my phone as I walked into the venue in Philadelphia. The show is tonight. Last quick rehearsal this afternoon then I have a few more hours to prep.

There is a certain thrill in walking into the empty theater. Imagining that all these seats are going to be full tonight is incredibly exciting.

Somebody called me so I pulled one of my earbuds out of my ears and drawled, "Yeees?"

Mitch bumped my shoulder and pointed to a portion of the audience. "That's the VIP box," he said. "Apparently you've got a couple of special visitors coming tonight."

I hummed and continued walking towards the stage, passing workers sweeping and cleaning the seats of the auditorium.

"You nervous at all, mate?"

I glanced at him over my shoulder. "Eh!" I answered with a careless shrug. Something else was on my mind though.

"Something else seems to be on your mind though."

Fuck. Mitch knows me too well.

"Who was it you visited in New York?

I savored the extra time for answering that climbing up onto stage gave me. "Um," I said, glancing around, pretending to be very engrossed in my pointless preoccupation. "Not that important really. Should we check sound?"

Dylan piped up from the piano and drums set ups behind me onstage. "Yeah, can we get a mic over here?" Someone came running with the mic, struggling with the long wire. Newbie.

Dylan jogged over to me as Mitch climbed onstage. Dylan took the mic and handed it to me. "I want to also check the volume of your voice to the background voices. Shall we do that now or do you want to get settled backstage first?"

I took my other earbud out and let them both hang over the neck of my white T-shirt. I always have the wires tucked under my shirt, it makes things easier.

"I think I'll get myself situated backstage first if you don't mind," I said.

"A'right, do what you need then we'll start," said Dylan giving me a pat. He raised his voice and called, "Mic stand!!"

That same poor runner boy came scrambling with the mic stand, which was raised to it's full height and therefore taller than him.

I hid my smile and headed into the wings to get backstage. Once in my dressing room, I sighed and tossed my bag onto the floor by a chair. Heléne, my photographer, was already there.

She smiled up at me from fiddling with her camera. "Good afternoon, love. How are you feeling?"

I took my sunglasses off my head and put them back on, a little unsure about what to do with myself at the moment. There definitely was something else on my mind that I needed to address if I wanted to be in the right state of mind for my performance tonight.

"Pretty good," I said nodding. I watched her fiddle with her settings, then she lifted her camera and took a picture of herself in the mirror, a test of her settings I guess.

"New camera?"

She smiled at me. "I'm surprised you noticed Harry. Yes, this is the Leica SL. I think I like it, but I'll know for sure in a few minutes."