A Few Days Later
I couldn't help but feel this pit in my stomach as we pulled up to the radio station. With the video coming out, the guys were scheduled for interviews all morning to promote the song. We still hadn't seen the finished version, but we were told it would be going live tonight.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited to see it." Sam said, leaning back in his chair. I stood on the other side of the room, getting photos of them all at their seats before the interview started.
"Of course you are." Jake laughed. I could see his cheeks get red as he forced a smile, no doubt trying to make light of it all. Thankfully no one else knew how uncomfortable it was going to be. Sam smirked back at him, shrugging his shoulders.
I looked over at Josh to see him doing his best to avoid eye contact with me. I wasn't surprised. We hadn't exchanged two words to each other since our fight, and I didn't see us doing so for a long time. I guess it was better this way. I took a few shots of him anyway.
"Hey guys, thanks for coming out!" I heard, turning towards the doorway. The host made his way in, shaking their hands and then went over to his seat. I saw Jake's eyes shoot over to me.
"And this is our photographer, Jess. She's here with us today too." He called out. I felt my cheeks burn as he got back up, turning to shake my hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Anthony." He said, flashing me a smile. I nodded, now peeking over at Jake who gave me a subtle smile.
"Happy to be here!" Sam said, eagerly sitting forward.
"So, we'll get right in to it. We know you're busy guys."
"Oh, no. Never too busy." Josh said jokingly.
"Awesome, we'll keep you here all day then." Anthony laughed. The boys chimed in.
"So you've got a new video out coming out, tonight right?"
"That's right." Sam started. "We're really excited about it. It's one of the more intimate pieces we've put out, so it'll be great to see how the fans react to it."
"And what was the idea behind the video?"
"Well.." Josh said, leaning in. "It's a classic tribute to love. You have this person you loved and lost, and all you want is for them to be yours again. You'd give anything for them to come back, and tell you that they want to be with you again. I think we've all been there. So I'm sure many people will be able to relate. The video is a look into how you are before and after the breakup, how you wish you could go back, and how you hope that they think of those memories too, and maybe they will come back to you."
"Oh, yeah we've all been there." Anthony laughed. "Now we haven't seen the video yet, but I'm sure everyone is interested in how you guys decided on the casting, especially for something as personal as this." Jake nodded, leaning over.
"Yeah, you know, with a song like this, you obviously need to incorporate people who you're comfortable with, or the emotion won't show. We're not actors." He laughed, shrugging. "We just want everything to come across as authentic as possible." Anthony looked over towards Josh.
"So any hints on who the lucky lady is? I'm sure everyone is dying to know who was lucky enough to be part of something like this." He asked. Josh's face turned bright red.
"Oh, um.. uh.. n-no.." He laughed, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms. "No, we're.. we're private people when it comes to our relationships. And as far as the girl in the video, well we.. we know her very well, so it was easy to be vulnerable around her. But.. you know.."
"Well, I'm sure all the girls are gonna hate her." He laughed. I saw Jake quickly shoot me a look, his face dropping. I subtly shook my head, and he brought his attention back to Anthony.
"I.. I don't think so. I think.. our fans.. they.. well, they respect us as artists and as people and.. they're not really looking into that. I think.. that um.. well, we never want to cause any trouble for anyone. It was a great project.. and.. well, we just hope everyone will like it and feel it the way.. we did." Jake managed. I saw him start to nervously play with his rings, his cheeks getting redder. This wasn't going to go well, the more Anthony continued to dig.
"Yeah, but there's no denying the fanbase you guys have, you have tons of girls throwing themselves at you, every night. You can't ignore the fact that, for the most part, to put it bluntly, these women want to get with you. So anyone in their way.." He laughed, now looking over to Danny.
"Anything you can give us?" He asked. Danny quickly shook his head, flashing him a toothy smile.
"No way." He laughed, turning to look over at Josh. "Can't get anything out of me." Jake leaned back in.
"I like to think that the fans look at us as.. more than that. Our fans understand us as a band, they understand our message, and what we stand for, and I think that's what draws them in. They've found a group of people that feel the same way we all do, and we all just bond over our love of the music together." He said, now looking away. I could feel my heart starting to beat faster.
"So you're really gonna make us wait then, huh?" Anthony asked, turning to Josh. Josh nodded, flashing him a forced smile. He kept his arms tightly crossed as he remained back in his chair.
"Everyone's just gonna have to tune in and see." He finally said.
"And.. no one should look too deep into anything." Jake chimed in. "It's symbolic.. it's not.. literal." Josh shot him a look. My heart was racing.
"Well we're looking forward to it. You heard it here first, brand new Greta Van Fleet tonight, live at 8PM. Any other news you want to share with everyone?"
"And we're coming back to a city near you next year, so be ready!" Sam yelled. I guess this is how they were announcing the second leg of the tour.
"Awesome! Awesome. Thank you so much guys, can't wait to have you back soon."
"Thanks Anthony, always a pleasure." Josh said.
"Annddd... we're off." Anthony said, taking off his headphones. I heard Jake sigh as he took his off, tossing them to the side.
"What was all that?" Josh snapped at him.
"What was what?"
"We could've just left it alone but you had to keep going?" Jakes face burned red.
"W-what do you mean?" Josh glared at him.
"You really think people aren't gonna look into her now? You brought so much attention to her trying not to draw attention to her. You should've just left it alone."
"I.. I didn't know what to say, I just-"
"This is why I do the talking." Josh snapped.
I hated to admit it, but Josh was right. Now I was starting to get worried. If they had just left it alone, I'm sure Anthony would've dropped it. Now everyone was going to be making a big deal about "the video girl."
"I don't think people are gonna care." He said quietly, looking away.
"We'll see." Josh sighed, getting up from his chair. Jake rolled his eyes, getting up, waiting for me by the door. We hung back together as the rest of the guys head back for the bus.
"Do you.. really think it was that bad?" He asked, biting down on his lip. "I just.. I wanted to make this easier on you. I.. I didn't mean to make it worse. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I'm.. I'm sure it'll be fine." I lied, forcing a smile. He nodded, keeping his eyes down as he nervously picked at his fingers.
"Come on." I sighed, taking his hand. "You've got two more of these. Maybe we should practice a little."