After hours of shuffling papers and pacing around, I gave up and headed into the bar.
"He's got it in the bag. I've been saying that all along," said Jackson.
The bar wasn’t even open yet but that didn’t seem to worry Jackson. He’d sit and drink while Carlie set up.
"You think?" Carlie replied. "Did you see the crowd here for Alex? I thought the floor would collapse from the weight of them all. And, to be honest, the advance ticket sales for Razer have been slow."
"Oh, trust me, they'll turn up,” Jackson said. “Razer has the love of the people."
I wondered. I'd seen that love in action but would it be enough? Alex had done radio. He'd done ads, full-color ones. He’d set up a website and been on social media constantly. He'd worked his shit until his shit could be worked no more. How could the love of the people compare to that?
Jackson fell back into silence.
Drew sat at the Galaga machine. He'd been practicing a lot lately, thinking he might one day beat Carlie.
"Alex has the allure, though. He's a star while Razer's just a regular Joe." Drew had to add in his bit.
"Well, if Alex wins, you can date him. You'd love that, wouldn't you Drew? Got a bit of a boy-crush on Alex?" I asked him.
He sure was keen on Alex winning. I seemed to remember the last time they’d had this conversation, they'd said pretty much the same thing but were on the opposite sides. I don’t think either Drew or Jackson cared which side they argued on, so long as they were arguing.
"God, I hate working upstairs," Carlie said. She threw down the cloth she'd used to scrub the bar. "Those crowds are feral. I'll be run off my feet all night and not get to see anything."
"It'll be fine," I said, not even convincing myself.
"You're nervous, aren't you?" she asked. "You pretend that you don't care but you have a stake in this. Are you wanting him to win or lose? I haven’t been able to work that out yet."
I didn't answer. I wanted to not care.
I sipping on my drink and appreciating the late afternoon quiet. Drew and Jackson argued about some stupid movie they'd both watched and it distracted me from my nerves.
I thought Razer would turn up early but he still hadn’t come in. Maybe he figured it'd be better to get here at the last minute. All their gear was loaded in, so it wasn't like they actually needed to be here for a while.
A bunch of people came into the bar.
"Is the band room open yet?" one of them asked.
I looked at the clock. "Not for another hour yet. Grab a drink until the doors open."
They ordered drinks then settled themselves on the stairs, waiting to be first in the door.
"God, they're keen," said Carlie.
"Told you," said Jackson.
Within half hour, the stairs had filled up and more people crowded into the downstairs bar. A fight nearly broke out when one group tried to push into the line –just some yelling and shoving and the bouncer sorted it out pretty quick. I'd never seen anything like it in the club before. Normally, you'd be lucky to have one or two people arrive before the doors opened. The bulk of people turned up somewhere in the opening band's set.
"Do you think I should open the doors early?" I asked Carlie. "No one can get to the bar down here because of them milling around in the way."
"Nah, if you open up, I'll have to open the bar early and there’s no one but me here to work it. Make them wait."
I wasn't sure. I didn't want trouble breaking out.
"We could sell them the advance tickets and get them to come back later."
"That's not going to work," Jackson said. "Those chicks want to rush to get
prime spots at the front of stage. They’re crazy for Razer." He grinned an annoyingly self-satisfied grin.