High Flying Adored – Wayne 21

[For back story go here: Story so far at 27 July 2020 and the last one.]

[Back story also found through in-links.]

One of the benefits of being a close friend to Dave was that whenever you wanted to celebrate something you celebrated in style. You’d have the best in drink and food, on whatever scale you might desire, and there was rarely talk of a price tag or a returned favour for doing so.

One of the benefits of being a close friend to Wayne was that whenever there was the chance to sit down and celebrate something, you had entertainment to spare. Whether it was access to the best tunes, even those not yet released, or the rarities you didn’t know existed, or whether you just wanted to kick back and listen to some fantastic and fabulous stories from a life of grime and rock ’n’ roll, Wayne was the go-to person for you.

And so it was that Cath, Dave and Wayne sat outside Dave’s closed restaurant (due to opening hours rather than anything else) and basked in the glory of their recent release. Not only had the track been a near instant hit with the usual radio plays, it had gained a shed load of downloads and risen up the charts as if rocket powered. Nothing stood in the way of this track and it had only been available for four days. Interviews were coming in and there was a general recognition than ManzDown was not only getting back up, but was leading the way forward.

“I don’t get it,” said Dave, “Surely it can’t be this easy?”

“Mate, it’s like when you’re coming up with a new dish, or even when you’re putting together something you’ve done for ages, but everyone loves it, they can’t believe you can do it so easily and quickly. It’s not because it is easy it’s because you know how to do it and they don’t.”

Wayne grinned and stuffed two vol-au-vents in his mouth, spraying pastry as he spoke. “It’s genius. That’s all. Straightforward genius.”

“Are you gonna be picky about who gets what interview?” asked Cath. “Music press, broadsheet, locals or specials?”

“Bigger the better,” said Wayne. “Thing is we get the niche stuff anyway, the only way we really grow the audience is by going outside that zone, right? Find the people who are keen for it but don’t know about it yet. They want to be cool, right, and they can be by reading about me.”

“Broadsheet,” said Dave.

“I don’t understand, literally don’t understand half of what they say about me,” said Wayne. “This guy once said that 'panic infused my sentiment of dubiousity', I mean what the actual?"

"He said picnics, not panic," said Dave. "You've never been sure about picnics."

Wayne pulled a face at him. "It sells stuff so must be good.”

A couple of shy young men wearing masks paused outside the patio boundaries, trying desperately not to stare at Wayne. But stare they did and he saw them, donned his mask and went over, still keeping a respectful distance. Having signed a suddenly found piece of paper he returned to the table.

“See what I did there? Man of the people. Doesn’t matter to me who you are, you’re welcome, right?”

"Look, out," said Dave to Cath, "He'll start singing the Dwayne Johnson song in a bit."

“This man of the people thing,” said Cath. “How far would you go?”

 

Wayne looked at her, puzzled. 

“I’m thinking why don’t we offer some lucky winner a gig in their front room, or alternatively you get to play or DJ their party when it becomes… a thing we can do again?”

Wayne considered this and was almost waiting for Cath to crack a smile and say it was a wind up. But she didn’t and the more he thought about it the better the idea became. As they batted the idea around they discovered there were all kinds of different angles off the basic premise. It could be a sort of kickstarter funder for something, a promotion for the next album or just a ‘giving back to the people’ or indeed all of these. And having identified a winner in due course they could piece together the overall plan. Where and when they could do something according to whatever restrictions and regulations were in place at that time. 

“I’ll get on to it,” said Cath.

“I might enter that,” said Dave.

“Sorry,” said Cath, “There’s always a clause that says friends and co-workers don’t get to win.”

“Fine,” said Dave, “We’re through. I don’t like you anymore. OK?”

Wayne laughed and threw the remaining vol-au-went at Dave. Dave tossed a salad back at him and for a couple of minutes they engaged in a rather pricey food fight. The ultimate combination, thought Cath, of great food and great company. 

Wayne was considering pouring the remains of the carafe of red down Dave’s back when his phone went off. Instead, he showily ranked the dregs and hit the answer button.

“Yes! This is ManzDown!” he hollered. “Whaddya want from me?!”

There was a pause before the response came. “Erm…. I think I might be your mum.”