Center Stage
Copyright© 2025 by Lumpy
Chapter 32
I’d been traveling a lot over the last year, doing the show and the tour following it, not to mention all of the meetings and recording. I’d even had them send a car for me a few times, but this, however, was my first time in a limo. I wasn’t sure I got what the hype was all about. I mean, it was cool not to have to drive and the legroom was nice, but I was still a poor country boy at heart, and I couldn’t help but feel a little out of place.
I also didn’t love the suit I’d been told to wear. One of the managers at ARC had set us up to come by and get fitted for fancy clothes as soon as we landed back in LA, and a suit for me and a dress for Kat had been dropped off at our hotel a few hours before we had to be ready to leave for the launch event.
Apparently, it was made by some big-name designer, but I had no idea who they were, since this was the first thing I’d ever had that didn’t just come off the rack.
Kat, however, looked like a princess. They’d set up a hair appointment for her this morning and sent over this glittering blue gown that was tasteful, yet hugged her athletic figure perfectly. It also showed off her tanned and muscled shoulders and arms really well, making it difficult not to stare at her all the time. Or it would have had I not been in my head so much, especially as we pulled up to where they’d laid out a long red carpet with a photo backdrop leading up to the club they’d rented out for the night.
We were sitting in a line of cars, with someone from the label’s PR team sending through cars one at a time so the people could get out, be photographed, and then pass through a small section where they could be interviewed.
When they’d told me this was the plan, I’d honestly been skeptical that it was needed. I mean, this was my first major album release and it seemed unlikely that we’d have that many people worth a red-carpet walk. Country Roads had been more or less a stealth release, with no real marketing for it beyond it being mentioned at our tour stops and a few digital ads on streaming sites, but it was all I had for comparison.
So, I was shocked when we’d been told there were several hundred people attending the party, all either VIP industry guests, my people, or people from the label, along with a large contingent of entertainment reporters. I’d even heard there were some TV and movie people showing up, although no one mentioned any names.
They’d put me in the middle of the pack, so that there would be hoopla going on when I showed up, but not so far back that the reporters would be starting to scatter or get bored.
It was probably well thought out not having me go first, but it also gave me time to dwell on what was happening, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
“Stop looking so worried,” Kat said, squeezing my hand. “You’ll be fine.”
“Maybe. If this thing doesn’t strangle me to death,” I said, tugging at the tie.
“Stop, you’re fine,” she said, reaching up and pulling my hand away from my tie so I didn’t mess it up.
“Easy for you to say. You look like a movie star or something.”
“You’re joking. This thing is too tight around the hips, and they have the neckline dipping so low that the girls are practically on display for the whole world. And people from major publications are going to be taking pictures of me wearing it.”
“It’ll get people to pay attention to the launch. Maybe we should show a little more,” I said, hooking a finger over the edge of the v and pulling slightly.
“Charlie!” she squealed, slapping my hand away.
“Hey, I’m just saying. We’re here to sell my album, and I’ve heard that sex sells.”
“Then you show some skin and sell it, ‘cause this is enough for me,” she said, laughing.
That, more than anything else, helped me relax a little. I swear, her laugh had a magical quality to it, always getting me to calm down.
“Thanks for being here, Kat.”
“Of course! I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. This is a huge moment for you.”
“For us,” I corrected her. “If this album does anywhere near what Hal is thinking it will, based on the sale of the EP, we should be set. We can graduate college without having to worry about loans or what we’ll do when we get out. It’s ... it’s kind of crazy to think about going from how things were when Mom and I first moved to Wellsville, to this.”
“All because of your hard work. You deserve this, Charlie.”
Before I could say anything, the limo pulled to a stop. The door was pulled open and I saw Jean standing there in a suit. I knew she’d gone ahead with Mana, leaving Malik to ride up front with the driver, but I hadn’t realized she’d be there waiting for me when we arrived.
I guess it made sense. If someone in the crowd of people had been drawn by all the photographers and had any ill will, this was a perfect chance to get to me. I also couldn’t pay attention to that. Quinn had gone over how the whole red carpet thing worked and what I’d need to do, including getting out of the car.
I slid out and then stood in front of the door, reaching in to help Kat out so that no one could get any unfortunate photos of her as she got out.
I pulled her out and held onto her hand as we strolled out onto the red carpet. The flashing lights were blinding, and the noise was overwhelming, with people shouting my name, but whose faces I couldn’t see because of the lights.
“Charlie! Over here!”
“This way, Charlie!”
“Kat, give us a smile!”
It was a lot, but it wasn’t that different than being up on stage with people yelling out from a darkened audience and having a hundred different things to pay attention to.
Kat, on the other hand, was like a deer in the headlights, freezing in place and just staring wide-eyed back at everyone. I squeezed her hand and pulled her forward with me, putting my arm around her waist to steady her. She turned and gave me a little smile as she put her arm over my shoulder. After that, she got a hold of herself a little, but I kept my arm around her or my hand at the small of her back as we made our way up the carpet, just to be sure.
I might have been the man of the hour, but she was getting a lot of the attention, with as many, or probably more, pictures being taken of her than of me.
The barrage of questions, though, was really hard to follow.
“Kat! How’s your Olympic training going?”
“Oh, um, it’s going well. I’m focused on...”
“Charlie, is it true you wrote a song about your parents?” someone else shouted, interrupting her before she could finish.
“There are some personal experiences in the album, yeah. But it’s not just...”
“Kat,” came another interruption. “Do you think dating a rising star like Charlie will affect your performance this summer?”
“Well, my relationship with Charlie is separate from my swimming career. I...”
“Charlie, how do you feel about potentially outselling your first EP?”
And so it went, with us fielding questions, one after another, barely giving us time to respond. Thankfully, we finally passed the gauntlet of photographers, as the next car pulled up, and we made it through to the smaller interview area, where people were standing around, each talking to a different reporter. At least here, you were talking to one person at a time, so it was a little less chaotic.
I spotted Lyla and Tabitha up ahead. Lyla looked stunning in a deep purple dress that complemented her blue hair perfectly, with Tabitha wearing a very sensible but still pretty stylish pantsuit. It worked for her, probably more than a dress would have, although maybe I thought that because I’d never seen her outside of blue jeans and flannel shirts, and definitely never in a dress.
I waved to them and they waved back, and then we moved up to our first interviewer.
“Charlie! What can you tell us about your new album?” a lady with an NBN labeled mic asked.
It was noisy enough with all the people talking at once that I had to lean forward to hear her.
“Well, I think it’s the most cohesive thing we’ve ever done. I love our first album, but it was kind of a jumble of all the stuff we’d worked on. This one really speaks to where we’re from and where we’re headed, and I think is a great look into who we are as a band.”
I’d already decided that when talking about touring or any of the music we put out, I was going to say “we” and not “I”. I might be the face of everything, but I didn’t want to take all the credit. Lyla and Seth were cool about it now, but that kind of thing could eat away at a group, and I wanted us to stay together for the long term.
“You had a lot more assistance on writing from your bassist, Lyla Grant, than you had on the first album. Did your schedule with the show and the tour force you to hand over the reins of songwriting more?”
“Well, my schedule was packed, but we never really look at our songwriting like that. I don’t think we ever really had a plan for who wrote what. Even on the first album, whoever came forward with a song, if it worked well with all of us, we rolled with it. And trust me, there have been plenty of songs I’ve brought to rehearsal that got punted back to me. I think what actually happened is that Lyla is starting to feel comfortable and is coming into her own as a musician. She’s an amazingly talented songwriter and has way more of a sense of fun than I do. If it was up to me, every song I’d write would be a dirge. I don’t think we’d be where we are today without her.”
Kat didn’t really get any questions through any of these interviews and just kind of stood next to me, smiling. Jean had also reappeared, after I passed the photographers, and was kind of lingering just out of camera shot. I also noticed Mana standing on the other side of the ropes, slowly making his way through the crowd that had gathered to watch, as he, in turn, watched all of them.
We spent maybe thirty minutes going from reporter to reporter, giving short five-minute interviews. It was actually kind of grueling, especially since they all basically asked the same thing, but then we were finally through and into the party itself.
Any hope that things would have calmed down once I got inside went out of the window as soon as we stepped into the party. It was packed with people, and it was dimly lit with flashing blue and purple lights pulsing along to the beat of very loud music. My music, specifically.
Jean had basically put herself at my elbow and seemed very jittery. The door was tightly controlled, they had pictures of this guy, and the venue security had made sure the other exits were covered, but this many people close together was clearly giving her conniptions.
“Wow,” Kat said.
“I know. Insane.”
I’d barely gone a few steps into the room when Cole appeared next to me, grinning ear to ear, “Charlie! Man, this is something. Thank you so much for inviting me.”
I had a sneaking impression he’d been near the front door looking for me. After we talked, I figured we’d just start his trip early by bringing him out here, then having him go back to Wellsville with us, hanging out for a few days until we flew out to Tokyo. Besides this being a great moment for him to rub shoulders with industry people, I was actually looking forward to playing a last show, at least for a while, at The Blue Ridge, and having him play with me would be a great way to start things off.
I pulled him into a hug, slapping his back, and said, “Cole! Glad you could make it. You ready for the next few months?”
“Yeah, I think so. My mom’s going to water my plants and hold onto my truck, but it’s still kind of wild, being gone for so long. Kat, you look amazing.”
She gave him a hug and said, “Thanks, Cole. You clean up pretty nice yourself.”
We chatted a little about the upcoming show and the Olympics and all the things we had planned for the next month or so when Kat elbowed me hard in the side. At first, I’d thought maybe she’d been bumped into, until I saw past Cole to who was coming up behind him.
People were turning their heads to look at her as she made her way through the crowd towards us, and I could see why. She was stunning in a shimmering gold dress that made her pale skin almost shine.
“Charlie, darling!” she said, pushing past Cole and air-kissing both my cheeks. “This party is fabulous. You must be so proud.”
“Thanks, Alina. I’m just glad people showed up,” I laughed. “I was skeptical when my publicist told me about the plan for this thing.”
“You’re joking? I don’t think you realize how much people are talking about you. The country boy who rode out of the mountains and took the nation by storm? I think people were fighting for a ticket to tonight’s event.”
“Really?”
“He’s clueless,” she said to Cole and then suddenly seemed to realize he was a stranger. “Hello, who are you?”
She was looking him up and down, taking in his tuxedo, which Warren had helped arrange for him, and the cowboy hat combo, a slow smile spreading across her lips.
“This is Cole. He was on The Stage with me and will be opening for me on the tour. He’s also a friend. Cole, this is Alina.”
“Ma’am,” Cole said, extending his hand, which Alina took daintily, looking to Kat as if to ask if he was real.
“He’s a friend,” Kat said, although Alina seemed to take more from that than I’d heard.
“We should mingle,” Kat said. “Cole, do you mind keeping Alina company while we go say hi to people? We’ll meet up with you two a little later.”
“Uhh, sure,” Cole said, a little confused but not one to say no.
As Kat steered me away, I said, “Subtle.”
“Shut up,” she said, laughing.
We mingled for a little bit, with people I really didn’t know all saying hi to me. There were maybe a couple of hundred people inside, but it was impossible to tell. To me, it just felt like a packed sea of people, although I guess I got special treatment being the honoree or whatever you’d call it, since people tended to part and let us by.
Or maybe it was just Jean and her glare.
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