Match Point

Chapter 8: You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights...

And oh, I'm so tense, never tenser
Could all go a bit, Frank Spencer
And I'm talking gibberish
Tip of the tongue, but I can't deliver it properly
Oh, it's all gettin' on top of me

- "You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights, But You Were Staring Straight At Me," by Arctic Monkeys

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I'm in.

Two simple words, but they changed everything in me when I read them.

"Something you want to share?" Jamie asked as he shook my shoulders. We were all together for a radio interview before dinner and our show the next day.

"Lettie agreed to style our shoots..." I was almost in disbelief.

"Brilliant! Now, does that mean we get the label to buy us some suits from her, too?" Jamie asked as he readjusted himself in the studio chairs.

"I'm sure we could squeeze a few suits into the budget."

Matt turned to me, a smirk plastered on his face. I knew he was going to say something clever, but I wasn't sure how far he would go. "Look at you, all excited about having Lettie be our stylist," Matt teased, nudging my arm. "I bet your Anna is thrilled about it, too, huh?"

"You really like to make something out of nothing," I tried to laugh it off. "Anna is all good and on board."

"I told you you should invite her on tour as our stylist, didn't I?" Matt winked at me. He had said that to me months ago when I first met Lettie. Now that I was reminded of that, I cringed.

"You've lost the plot, mate," I told him seriously. Matt just laughed; he loved to goad me, and he knew how to do it.

I tried to push the comments off. Their joking and sarcasm usually wouldn't bother me, and I'd join in. Still, lately, and especially about Lettie, I felt the urge to protect it, which probably made it worse.

"Anna will probably leave me for Lettie once they meet anyway," I laughed.

"That would be quite the plot twist," Nick laughed.

The interviewer entered the room, and we all got up to shake their hands. I relaxed back into my seat and felt happy. I was anxious about how Anna would actually respond now that Lettie was on board and how I'd navigate it once Lettie was actually with us.

We sat patiently, and the questions were asked in Spanish, which was then translated for us so that it was easily understood by the listeners and then by us. It went well. Everyone was very excited about the Quilmes Rock Fest, which made me excited, too, and it was a good distraction.

After the interview wrapped up, I excused myself to make a quick call to Anna before we were whisked to another event. I wanted her to know as soon as possible so she didn't feel I was hiding anything from her. She picked up after a few rings, her voice bright and warm as always.

"Are you ready to not be working the rest of our time here?" I said, unable to contain my excitement.

Anna laughed lightly. "Lettie agreed to style your shoots."

"Yeah, how did you know?" I asked, surprised.

"I could hear the excitement in your voice," she replied, her tone softening. "And she called me. Ian put her in touch so we can work through logistics."

"The guys are saying that once you two finally meet, you'll leave me for her." I laughed.

"I mean, she's pretty amazing. She has so many great ideas... I'm really happy she's gonna do this." Anna seemed so much more secure and maybe just as excited as I was. I felt relieved and was so lucky to have someone so supportive like Anna in my life, too. I really did care about her and liked being with her despite my lingering feelings for Lettie.