The Radio Station

Chapter Eight - We're Friends, So It's Cool, Why Would It Not Be?

23rd of February, 2020

Notes on a Conditional Form turned out to be much more of an undertaking than Matty had anticipated. It got delayed. And delayed. And delayed again. Between touring, headlining Reading and Leeds, running Dirty Hit and just general life, it turned out making a twenty-two-track album took longer than a year. Part of him felt annoyed that this project wasn't going according to plan, but the other part of him knew that this was their best work yet, and it would take however long it would take. Thankfully, he had a good social network to get him through his hectic schedule and keep him on track. The band were invaluable, his family were incredibly supportive, as were his friends. He'd been back at the radio station to bother his favourite host a few times as singles dropped, and the two of them had only gotten closer throughout the year since the BRIT awards. Matty had been incredibly grateful to have his friend back; it was nice to have that extra shoulder to lean on when he was at home.

She'd helped to console him through the breakup as it went down. Despite her best attempts to convince him that things were going to be okay, he knew deep down that they weren't. When things had been awkward at home, she'd offered to take him out to lunch to help lighten the mood. When he'd been depressed, she tried to be a voice of comfort and reason. When the dust had cleared a bit, and things were a bit more stable, he invited her out to the studio a couple of times for sneak peaks into what was going on with Notes. It was nice to feel like they were close friends again, even if she hadn't expected that they'd become this close. She supposed she shouldn't have expected any less from someone as open and honest as Matty. But, unbeknownst to her, Matty still had that lingering memory in the back of his mind of what could've happened at the bar. What might've been had he paid more attention and made a conscious effort to make time to stay in touch before. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like maybe if that wasn't the right time, maybe now was? He didn't know when he'd next get a chance to shoot his shot.

He pulled anxiously at the sleeve of his faded long sleeve t-shirt as he stood at the studio door, taking a deep breath to compose himself before making his way inside. She didn't turn to look at him when he sat himself down on the corner of her desk, already knowing full well who it would be.

"If I push this button, what happens?" He asked as he leaned over her to touch her soundboard.

She slapped his hand away, "Don't touch my shit, Matty." She grumbled. "Or I'll ban you from interviews." She added as she threw a challenging look his way.

"You wouldn't be able to ban me if you tried." He smirked as she just rolled her eyes and went back to what she was doing on her computer. "Oh! I saw a thing on the way here and it made me think of you." He said as he stood up and started rifling through his pocket.

"Oh?" He fished out a small keyring and handed it to her - it was of an eight ball. "You bought me a tacky keyring?" She asked as she stared down at it in confusion.

"Thought you might like it." He shrugged with a knowing smile as he rounded the desk and took a seat. She stared at him for a moment, trying to work out what her friend was playing at, but he wasn't giving anything away.

They had a bit more time to chat before the interview officially started. Matty didn't seem like his usual self, but she couldn't quite work out why. He was still just as talkative and charming as usual, but something was off in his demeanour. It was almost as if he was fidgeting more and in his own head a lot, but not in the way he used to be. She'd have to ask him about it after the interview. Maybe the album was bothering him again.