Bombed – Wayne 44

[For back story go here: Story so far at 30 Nov 2020 and this one.]

[Other back story through in-links.]

Wayne was staring at the download data and really couldn’t understand it. Everything he touched at the moment turned swiftly to gold, or at least that was how it felt.

Unfortunately the latest track was proving that he couldn’t take this for granted. Usually dropping a track was met with a flurry of social media interest and several immediate reviews, maybe even a sudden interview with an influencer or fan-with-a-good-website. This one appeared to be about to sink without a trace. Wayne was particularly annoyed about this because the track was the Valentine’s Day special he’d created for Dave. He had hoped this would seal their patched up relationship and prove once and for all he wasn’t afraid of what people thought or said about him. Now all he was hoping was that the general public’s view on his protestation of love wasn’t indicative of something deeper. No one likes your tune, no one wants your love.

Thankfully the current circumstances did not appear to suggest there was any general malaise across Wayne an Dave’s relationship. Yes they had screamed at each a fair amount - Dave did more screaming that Wayne, thought Wayne, but the complainants from the flat next door might have shown there were other views on that. Wayne had the edge on voice projection, noted Dave, sipping a herbal tea in the aftermath.

Having done with the screaming they sat down and had a reasonable conversation and a couple of ginger biscuits for old times’ sake. Then Wayne had sat down with a video link and had a conversation with Cassie. For old times’ sake too.

He got half way through the conversation and then invited Dave to join him. Dave did so and the two explained everything clearly to Cassie. How they felt, what they were doing as a couple and how they didn’t really care what she thought any more. There would be no more concessions, no more kiss and tells, and probably no more meetings, but this didn’t entirely rule out being friends. Acquaintances more like. If Cassie was lucky and didn’t do anything stupid.

Cassie agreed to this, although Wayne thought she’d probably agree to anything at this point. But she did ask that Wayne didn’t put out their story or his anger on a track any time soon. Or at least if he did that it wasn’t obvious.

And so the seed of an idea was sewn. If not hate and bombast, why not love and care? If not Cassie, why not Dave? If not family, then why not a couple?

A few negotiations later and the track was ready for the drop.

Dave, happier now with his relationship, and extremely happy about the forecast lifting of the lockdown, was already making plans, contacting suppliers and work colleagues and generally beginning to feel like he might be able to work again. The daily snacks had taken another turn toward the gourmet and Wayne went out of his way to make sure he complimented him on every success.

Cath had been in touch and was now starting to work out if they could start getting realistic about the front room gig. Maybe at the point when it was perfectly legal and everyone involved felt safe they could celebrate the end of restrictions with the gig. A party to end all parties - indeed, what if the front room gig was followed by an after-show party that actually transpired to be an appearance at the Reading Festival? Wayne was immediately charged with enthusiasm - an actual real life honest to goodness audience. Not avatars throwing him smileys, maybe some crowd surfing - jeez there wouldn’t be anyone there who wouldn’t want to crowd surf if it was safe and legal to do. End of the summer ManzDown triumphantly returns to his home. Job very much done.

Except the track was scoring few downloads. He couldn’t believe his currency had fallen so quickly, couldn’t believe no one cared. Maybe there was a technical issue or he should have Spotified it straight off. His IG and twitter promotions still earned plenty of likes. So what was it? Was everyone just turned off today? Or just turned off to what he was trying to do? He sent a garbled answerphone message across to Cath to check out the tech side of the equation - was there a chance that the site was overloaded with interest so unable to keep up with the numbers?

That evening, however, things hadn’t improved. The track had still just rippled rather than blown up. It barely made an impact. Sunk without a trace and without much airplay either. But as he looked across at Dave, now whistling as he mixed a new batch of choux pastry, he didn’t care. He wasn’t in it for the fame. Not this time.