14 Days

The rest of the day passed Evie by quickly. She made sure to take full advantage of the bath in her hotel room, filling the tub with scalding hot water, bubbles and dipping in with a bottle of wine and a good book. It had been far too long since she had indulged in a bath, and was not letting the opportunity go to waste. She stayed in until the water cooled too much and she became wrinkled and pruney, enjoying every single second of solitude she could.

She declined the dinner invitation from the guys, deciding to venture out on her own and let the boys enjoy their night as the family they were. She knew she was included in that family now, but it was almost like being an in-law, in the family by default, and sure, everyone liked her, but there was still that feeling of ‘otherness’. She wasn't in on the inside jokes, she couldn't reminisce about the last time they had been in that town, and she was still a little removed from anyone else except Matt Berry.
At 11am the next morning, Evie made her way down to the hotel lobby to meet the crew to start bumping in at the venue. They drove in the bus to the venue 10 minutes away, all the gear still attached to the roadie bus as it was safer to leave it in the hotel’s parking rather than at the venue itself. The band would take their bus to the venue a little later on once they were ready to sound check.

Being Evie’s third concert experience with Avenged Sevenfold, she had now claimed a bump in and out role for herself, and worked seamlessly alongside the guys as they unpacked the trailer. She first took the merch to the merch booth, stacking the boxes behind the table for the girls to sort out when they arrived. Next she helped Matt distribute the mics around the stage, placing the cases in the correct locations for the sound check. By this time,the guitar boats were usually free, so she rolled one to side stage and started working on her actual job.

Evie settled into her own world as was tuning and testing the guitars. She started with Johnny’s basses as they generally just needed a quick clean and a restring. He only had a few, so it was quick work, and it was fairly easy. She moved on to Zacky’s guitars, still slightly struggling with the left handed layout. She constantly had to reminded herself when restringing that she needed to think before she placed the strings through the tail piece. More than once she had accidentally started stringing them the wrong way, and now she made sure to note exactly where the scratch plate was so she wouldn’t be stringing them upside down.

Thanks to Brian’s love for Floyd Rose tremolos, she always left his until last. His set of 6 all-but identical black and white pinstripe customs took her at least an hour to restring, let alone retune, clean and check. She was thankful that she didn’t have to restring his every night, usually alternating the back up guitars and the main guitars each night to cut down the workload. Each guitar was in the same condition, so she saw no reason it would matter that they alternated, and he still got to play new strings each night.

Evie had finished setting up, each axe now begging to be played. They looked good, cleaned from the dried sweat and beer from two nights previous, strings shining and each of the receiver packs tested and ready to go. She smiled happily, proud of another job well done. Looking around the stage, the boys had also worked quickly and thoroughly, JB adjusting the drum kit ever so slightly to Jimmy’s liking while his brother watched on. Matt never stopped unless the job was done, so it was a good indication that they were finished as well.

“I’ll meet you guys outside,” she told them, lifting up her cigarettes as her reasoning why she would be outside. JB waved a drumstick at her, saluting her departure while Matt turned to follow her out.
“Wait up,” Matt called out, starting to walk away from the kit. While Evie waited for him to make it to side stage, she shrugged on her jacket and checked she still had her laminate. It was still in her pocket, the lanyard poking out, waiting to get caught on something. She shoved it back in as far as she could, making sure it would not fall out again.

Once Matt caught up with her, they both started towards the back of the venue once again, tracing the path they had taken many times to unload the trailer.

“Did you have a good day off yesterday?” He asked, making conversation on their walk. He had been surprised that he had not seen her at all the day before, especially so when she had rejected the dinner invite from them all.

“It was actually really great. I am loving the luxury of this tour! A hotel night with a real bed and my own bathroom, you guys are spoiling me,” she replied, a grin on her face. It was true, she was being very spoilt this tour, and she was dreading having to return to the Halestorm van where she was squished in with all the band. Though she was missing her own tour family, she was not missing the lifestyle.

“Enjoy it while you can,” Matt told her, nudging her shoulder as they walked, “they are pretty far and few in between.”

“We have like, 3 more coming up,” she replied, quirking an eyebrow at him. That is far and few? She couldn’t imagine what could be better!

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. That is pretty abnormal,” he said, totally forgetting that this part of the tour actually was pretty relaxing. “We normally have one a week, if that.”

“Even still, that is amazing,” she told him, pushing open the door to outside and making her way to the left. The weather was beautiful, the sun shining brightly and only a slight breeze. It made her regret that she didn’t spend all morning outside.

They both lit up cigarettes, a silence stretching between them as they smoked. Evie was glad that they had developed a friendship over the last few days, and it was even better that they were both comfortable in silence.

It was then they heard a loud, low rumble, and around the corner came the band’s bus. Evie checked the time, noting it was already 3pm, astounded that it could possibly be that late already. She had really thrown herself into her set up, the minutes and hours flying by before she knew it.

The 5 guys all slowly descended from the bus, the smokers lighting up once their feet touched the asphalt car park. It was almost comical, Evie thought, almost an exact replay of almost 30 hours previous when they had arrived at the hotel after their bus ‘party’. She chuckled to herself, receiving a weird look from Matt beside her.
“Just my train of thought,” she told him, shaking her head to tell him that it wasn’t important. He shrugged, looking back to the band slowly approaching them. Well, 4 members of the band slowly approaching, one member running at Matt with his arms out, ready to tackle him. One guess as to who that was…

“Jimmy, if you fucking touch me,” Matt warned him, trying to sound as stern as he could while threatening the lanky drummer.

“What? What will you do, Mattykins?” Jimmy taunted as he came ever closer. He was sizing the tech up, trying to find a weak spot.

“Jimmy,” he warned again, this time handing his half smoked cigarette to Evie in preparation. He knew there was a 99% chance that something was going to happen, and that the something was going to involve a lot of bodily impact.

“Jimmy!” Brian yelled out, trying to get his best friend to calm the fuck down. Since they had got on the bus, the drummer had been too full of energy, his sleep in had filled his energy reserves to full and now he was paying the consequences. “We need him for the gig!”

“I won’t hurt him!” Jimmy called out in response, finally slowing down thanks to Brian’s words. He had all but reached Evie and Matt, only a few feet from their current position.

“Jimmy!” This time it was the gravelly voice of Matt S that made the drummer stop. He spun around, looking at the front man with a glare. “Use that fucking energy for sound check, man.”

Jimmy whined, knowing that Matt was right, but still wanting to mess with someone. He folded his arms over his chest like a child, frowning as he spun back around to face the technicians. Sensing it was now safe, Evie went to hand the cigarette back to Matt, but before she could move her hand out of the way, it was plucked from between her fingers by Jimmy.

“There, at least SOMETHING happened,” he said with a huge, exaggerated roll of his eyes. He took a long drag of it before dropping it and grinding it out underneath his foot. Matt just sighed in resignation as he watched Jimmy.

“You’re so fucking weird, man,” he told the drummer. “Come on, weirdo, let’s get you to your kit.”

Matt shoved Jimmy towards the door to the venue, the drummer quickly turning back and yelling out a ‘Hi, Evie!’ before he was manhandled into the venue by one already exhausted Matt Berry. Evie couldn’t help the smile on her face as she watched the entire interaction, the constant antics from Jimmy making her laugh more and more each day. He was such a wild card, no one knew what he would do next. It was a riot to work alongside him, and she was enjoying every second of it she could. After all, this tour did have an expiration date, and it was creeping up quickly.

She finished the last of her cigarette, mimicking Jimmy and grinding the last embers between her foot and the floor before picking up her butt, and also the one Jimmy left on the ground. The rest of the band were still pretty far back, Johnny, Brian and Zacky smoking while Matt hung around to finish their conversation. Evie waved over to them as a greeting before heading back inside and getting back to the guitar boats to prepare for the sound check.

Sound check went well, the only things that needed adjustment were the levels. Evie took that as a great sign, hoping that the night ahead would go just as smooth. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The first inkling that something was wrong was in the final chorus of ‘Afterlife’, the second song of the evening. Evie’s attention went from watching the levels of the mixing board beside her straight to the guitar in Brian’s hands. It started with a slight crackle, the sound akin to plugging in a dodgy auxiliary cord, the metallic sound only audible for those listening out for something out of the ordinary. Luckily, it stopped as quick as it started, and the show continued.

Evie watched the levels like a hawk, her eyes only only lifting to watch Brian’s guitar as he played, looking for anything out of the blue. A single raised brow was shot to her as the sound was heard through his in-ear monitor, the ever-perfectionist Brian having heard the sound beneath his playing. He shrugged minutely, silently asking Evie if everything was ok. She nodded in reply, giving him a thumbs up. That was enough for him to believe that everything was ok again, and that there was nothing wrong with the gear.

They were both wrong. He started the pick slides and dive bomb into the beginning of ‘Beast and the Harlot’, playing over Zacky’s rhythmic backing before the next crackle was heard. Brian kept playing from his position on the stage riser. He tried to ignore the sound, but it happened again. And again. The next time it happened was as Matt started singing and he was accompanying Zacky with the chugging choral verse. This time both he and Evie were on high alert as his guitar cut out. It was only for half a bar, but it cut. This caught the attention of all the guys on stage, panicked looks being sent her way as they tried to continue.

Within seconds Evie had grabbed the back up guitar in drop D, grabbing a wireless pack and motioning Brian towards side stage. He was already walking towards her once the cut out started. As he moved, it cut again. God bless Dave on the sound board, bumping up Zacky as Brian’s guitar struggled.

“JB, tell Dave to cut the signal to Brian’s guitar and change over to pack 3,” she commanded Jason. He had a walkie, immediately radioing Dave to relay her message. “I will tell you when it is good to go.”

Having a few shows under their belt meant that the guitar change over was swift. Brian had a look of pure panic on his face as he finally reached Evie.

“What the fuck?” He asked her, hating that he had let down the band mid song. He had no idea what was happening, and that made his panic worse. Was it him? Was it the guitar? Was it the gear? “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Evie replied tersly, her stress levels peaking as high as Brian’s. What had she done? “This one is fine, I promise.”

It took them the duration of the conversation to switch, Brian taking off his faulty guitar and taking the back up, putting the strap over his head and adjusting the guitar to its correct place. Evie unclipped the transmitter, attaching it to the strap of the fucked guitar and put the new one into his back pocket. She signalled to JB to give Dave permission to switch over to the new transmitter, and they were on their way. She was thankful that their transitions were now so smooth, the new guitar in Brian’s hands in time for the duel guitar chorus.

Evie bolted back to side stage, putting the guitar aside and away from all the others in her care. She could not afford to mix them up, and would have to quit on the spot if she gave him the broken guitar! She took a deep breath, her attention once more on the levels on the board in front of her, making sure the signals were uninterrupted. Not for the first time, she was grateful that the board for the monitors was so close to her so she could keep track as the show progressed.

‘Beast and the Harlot’ ended, the crowd cheering and yelling in appreciation, having forgiven the slight sound error that had occured at the beginning of the song. With the drop D flat guitar in hand, Evie once more moved to the stage to trade with Brian for the next song, ‘Scream’.

“Well whatever the fuck happened at the start of that song has been fixed. Let’s take this chance to give it up for our crew! Let me hear you make some noise!” Matt yelled through the microphone, playing the ever charismatic frontman he was. The crowd ate it up, once more a roar met their ears as the fans applauded.

“What happened?” Brian asked Evie again as Matt entertained the crowd. With a look at Evie, he could tell she was freaking out as much as he was.

“I will look at it after the show. I don’t want to want to get distracted again during the show in case it happens again,” Evie told him, trying to assure him that she was looking out for him. She took the drop D guitar in her free left hand, handing over the D flat to Brian. “I can guarantee it is either the guitar or the transmitter, though, so we are ok.”

“That fucked me up,” Brian told her, admitting how the event had actually affected him.

“I’m sorry that happened, Bri,” she told him earnestly as she replaced the transmitter with the new one. She finished, placing a hand on his bicep quickly to convey her sincere apology. “Just breathe, chug a beer, duel with Zacky and tear this set up!”

Brian laughed at her words, his spirits raising as she retreated back to side stage with the guitar. He did as he was told, taking a deep breath before wandering over to the drum riser and picking up his beer. He raised it in a salute to Evie side stage, letting her know he was taking her advice on board. She smiled in return, giving him a thumbs up before turning her attention back to the sound board for the start of the next song.
“Ok guys, are you ready to fucking SCREAM?!” Matt bellowed at the crowd, their cheers deafening as the band broke into the groove orientated song.

For the rest of the set, Evie was on edge, just waiting for the next thing to go wrong. Each time she changed guitars for Brian, she would reassure him again, making him laugh at her corny pep-talks. As long as he was forgetting about the earlier fuck up, she was happy. She had pushed aside the anxiety that was coursing through her body from the end of ‘Afterlife’ but it came flooding back as soon as the last notes of ‘Little Piece of Heaven’ rang through the amphitheatre and the band bade the crowd farewell. All she could think about was the possibility of losing her job because of the faulty guitar.

Still on an adrenaline high, the band retreated to their dressing room, ready to continue drinking and dissect the show. Trying to avoid any thoughts of what the conversation would sound like, and if she was going to get thrown under the bus, Evie immediately grabbed the faulty guitar and got to work.

Using the process of elimination, Evie ruled out the transmitter as the cause as it worked perfectly for each other the other guitars, it was transmitting everything through to the monitors perfectly. She tested the lead between the transmitter and the guitar, and that was working as well. She played with the volume and tone knobs, and they also were in working condition. The final thing she tested was the input, and this is where the problem was. She sighed in relief, finally diagnosing the area of the problem, and now she just had to fix it.

She searched through the box of spares in the guitar boat to find a screwdriver, and came up empty. Where the fuck had it gone? She ran across the stage over to the bass guitar case, searching for it in there. Nothing. She went through Zacky’s guitar spares, and still nothing. Realising that someone must have ‘borrowed’ it, she cursed loudly.

“Matt!” She yelled out, unsure of where the tech had gone. He wasn’t on stage, he wasn’t on either side of the stage, and she was sure he hadn’t made his way to the trailer so soon after the show.

“He is with the band,” JB answered her from the drum kit, starting to unscrew the cymbals from their stands, a job that took time.

“Thanks,” she replied, immediately heading towards the room. She wound through the corridors, dodging stage hands as she delved further into the venue to locate her friend. She finally reached the room, a very official ‘A7X’ printed slip of paper taped to the door to indicate the band’s room.

Evie knocked cautiously, a little timid of approaching the dressing room. The only other time she had been inside was her first day with the A7X crew when Matt took her to meet the band. It almost felt like a thousand years ago now. Evie sighed, getting herself together again before knocking once more, this time with a lot more power. After a second, the door opened to reveal Johnny with a beer in hand.

“Hey!” He greeted cheerily, opening the door wider to let Evie in.
“Hey, great show,” she told him, giving him a smile before looking around the room for Matt. “Is Matt in here?”

“Shads? Yeah, over there?” Johnny replied, his answer a question in itself. He was confused, Evie clearly seeing the burly singer on the couch, chatting to Zacky.

“Oh, sorry, I meant Berry. I am really going to have to differentiate them somehow,” she told him, the latter half more to herself. It was starting to get a little more confusing now Evie was getting friendlier with the band.

“I just call them Shads and Berry, then neither get called Matt,” Johnny said, a shit eating grin on his face. “Berry is there.”

Evie finally saw Matt, tech Matt, in the corner in an animated conversation with Jimmy, and poking out of his back pocket was the screwdriver. Evie glared at his back, moving over to him quickly after thanking Johnny for his help. She approached the pair, taking the screwdriver without Matt realising that it had gone. Taking the opportunity, she lightly pushed it into his back as she whispered in his ear.

“Take my shit again, Matty, and I will have to stab you,” she said calmly, sending a quick wink to Jimmy to show him that she was just fucking around. She slightly surprised herself by calling him Matty, her subconscious picking up the nickname from Jimmy earlier that afternoon.

“Whoa, fuck,” Matt cursed, raising his hands in defence. His eyes widened as he spun around slowly to face Evie. “I’m sorry!”

“You are forgiven, this time,” she told him, keeping up the charade another few seconds before cracking and laughing at him. “I couldn’t help it!”

“Dude, you are intimidating!” He said, finally cracking a smile back. “I didn't like evil Evie.”

“Well, don't steal my shit and you won't have to meet her again,” she replied. Taking that as her queue, she turned back and made her was through the dressing room towards the door again.

Before she reached the door, it opened and in stepped Brian. Evie had to make a conscious effort not to stare at him. He had clearly just come from the showers, dressed only in black jeans, he was trying to dry his wet hair with his towel. A shirt was thrown across his shoulder, but had not made its way onto his body so his torso was revealed to the world. Evie had not realised what a toned body he had, and she couldn't take her eyes away from the way his bicep bulged as he continued to dry his hair.

“Oh, hey Evie,” he greeted, surprised to see her in the dressing room. He had to smirk as he realised she was staring at him, and chuckled as a blush coloured her cheeks once she ripped her attention from his body.

“Hi,” she managed to reply, awkwardly twisting the screwdriver in her hands. “Gotta go. Bye.”

Wth her atrociously awful farewell out of her mouth, she stepped around Brian and walked back through the door. She walked as fast as her legs could take her, trying to regulate her breathing as she went. She had shocked herself with her reaction to a shirtless Brian, kicking herself for her teenage response to seeing his body. It's not like she hadn't seen a shirtless guy before, shit, she had seen a lot more that that! Why had it made her flush all over, and why had it pleased her so damned much?

As she made it back to side stage, she physically shook her head, trying to get the action to replicate itself mentally. She needed to clear her thoughts and memories of the past 2 minutes and focus on the task ahead.

Evie placed the guitar on the side of the mixing desk, making sure the headstock wasn't touching the board itself. She unscrewed the two. Tiny screws holding in the input plate and removed it.

“Find the problem?” A voice asked, startling Evie. She looked behind her to see both Brian and Matty standing before her. Surprisingly, a twinge of disappointment shot through Evie as she saw that Brian had actually donned the shirt.

“Yeah, it is just the input wiring,” she told them, once more trying to rid her mind of anything but the guitar in front of her. “Nothing unrepairable.”

“Why did it happen?” Brian asked, wanting to know if there was a fault that Schecter needed to know and fix.

“It’s just wear and tear, really. All the movement you guys do on stage just finally got to it. It's an easy fix,” she replied, showing them just how easy it was. All she had to do was replace the wire and tighten up a screw. “See? Done!”

Both guys stood there amazed as she replaced the input plate and tightened the screws again. She grabbed the transmitter, plugged it in and checked the levels. She played a few scales and then used the notes to play a random melody, the entire time her focus on the board, watching the lights respond to the input of the guitar without failing. Once satisfied, she switched off the transmitter and unplugged it from the now fixed input.

She returned the guitar and transmitter back in the boat with the rest of its brothers. Looking over at Brian who had remained silent while she fixed and tested the guitar, she bit the inside of her lip nervously. Matty had since abandoned them, jumping back out to the stage to start packing down, and she was thankful.

“So, uh, I just wanted to say how sorry I am,” she started, once more playing with the screwdriver as a distraction.

“Why are you sorry?” he asked, unsure what she needed to apologise for. She tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowing at his question.

“That,” she replied, pointing at the guitar. “I didn't even think to check the inputs, and it totally fucked you over. I am really sorry, and I can guarantee that it won't happen again. I am going to check every sine guitar tonight and make sure they are all perfect, and not just the inputs, but all the wiring. The humbuckers, the volume and gain knobs, everything. I haven't had this happen to any guitar in a long time, and it was just a lapse in care. I can't apologise enough, and I just hope that you guys can eventually forgive me.”

“Hey, hey,” Brian started, shocked to see Evie so affected. He reached out and took her shoulders in his hands, forcing her to stop her apologetic rant. “Shit happens. Relax, seriously. It is not your fault that the wiring came loose.”

“No, but I should have checked it, it is my job,” she said, not able to shake the thought that it was all her fault. If she had checked it, everything would have been fine, there wouldn't have been a panic during the gig, and they would all be calm and celebrating another perfect show.

“Evie, chill out. If that is the biggest thing to have gone wrong since you joined us, we are doing well,” he told her, trying to reassure her that she was actually doing a great job. “You had to pick up a completely new job, with a new band, new guitars, and it has been seamless. A fuck up was bound to happen soon, and this wasn't even your fault, it was the wiring.”

“But…” she started, once more about to fight him on it. To her, nothing under perfect was acceptable, especially when her work was directly impacting someone else. In this case, it impacted 5 other people, plus each and every fan that attended tonight's concert.

“No buts. I am your boss, and I say you're doing a good, no, a great job,” he interrupted. He could see the internal debate she was having with herself, and felt bad for her. He could just tell that she was her own biggest critic.

Evie gave him a small, half smile, his words actually meaning a lot to her. This was the first time someone other than Matty had told her that she was doing well, and it had come from the one person her work impacted most.

“Thanks, Brian,” she told him, trying to convey her appreciation. “I am glad you think so.”

“We all think so,” he replied quickly. “I'm fact, you're so good we are going to have to steal you from Halestorm!”

Evie laughed, his reaction clearly over the top to lift her spirits.

“I am serious! You are far too good for them, you will stay with our crew forever!” He declared, grinning as he saw Evie start to laugh harder. Before he could think about his actions, he was bringing her into a hug.

“Ohhhh, Gates is getting sexy time!!” JB shouted as he looked over to side stage. Evie felt him chuckle, his chest vibrating as she pulled away from the guitarist.

“You jealous, Jase?” Brian shouted in response, not letting the comment pass by without retaliation.

“You wish!” He replied, throwing up his middle finger before returning to his job.

“See, you are one of us now. You are staying forever,” Brian told Evie, his arms back at his sides, his hands in his pockets. He was unsure where the urge to hug her came from, he had just wanted to make her feel better after the clearly self loathing thoughts were going through her brain.

“You wish,” Evie answered, sending him an exaggerated wink as she repeated JB’s words.

“Definitely one of us,” he told her, winking back. He gave her one last smile before leaving her to continue packing the guitar gear.

For the third time that evening, Evie had to physically shake her head to get her thoughts back on track. She tried to push the multitude of questions that popped up through that conversation to the back of her head, knowing she didn't have the mental capacity to even attempt to answer any of them in that moment, she just tried to enjoy the moment, free from worry or doubts.

Notes