About You. (Matty Healy)

16- Complain About Your Fame.

"Look how I do this, look how I got this."

White Dress by Lana Del Rey

"It's all okay. There ain't a drop of bad blood, it's all my love."

All My Love by Noah Kahan

April 2019

Jade sat at a cafe table with Viola in her lap. They kept each other entertained while Jade waited to meet Nell. It had been a week since Matty's birthday, which meant that it was Jade's turn to have Viola. She knew that Nell would be happy to see her daughter, as she was practically an honorable aunt to her.  The plan for their outing was to finalize the details of Viola's first birthday, which was only a few weeks away. Jade was in disbelief. Time was a wicked trap. The blessing on the other side of the coin was the fact that trying to savor Viola's childhood helped Jade stay present. 

The bells on the cafe's door jingled. Jade turned her head to see Nell, who she instantly looked eyes with. Before Jade could greet her, Nell rushed over to their table with her eyes wide. "Have you looked on Twitter lately?" She asked. There was urgency on her face and it was hard to tell if the news was good or bad. Jade was caught off guard by it, "Uhh no I haven't."

Nell took a seat and pursed her lips for a moment. Jade could tell that she was trying to manage what disposition she should use. "It seems that fans have caught on to you and Matty ending things."

Jade fell back into her seat, "I mean it was bound to happen at some point. I'm surprised it took this long, to be honest. It's been six months, after all. What's the verdict?" Her tone was a bit stoic, almost unimpressed. She had grown to be a bit numb when it came to public perception and the breakup. It was something that was a requirement to learn when she was with Matty. She had fans of her own, but as her fan base was much more niche, it often felt safer than Matty's. 

"A bit mixed from what I've seen. Most people seem genuinely sympathetic, but then others are taking sides. Some think Matty is this deadbeat dad and some are accusing you of being a slag."

Jade rolled her eyes, "Typical. Well, at least they're wrong. I wonder how Matty's dealing with it all." She was worried about him taking it to heart. Although she knew he was also numb to mass opinions being thrown at him, he was more sensitive than he seemed on the surface.  

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Nell comforted. She leaned forward, "Enough about all that. I want to hear about the hunk you left with the other night."

Jade chuckled. She looked down at Viola and covered her ears, in an attempt to spare her from hearing anything crass. "It was just okay. He was sort of clingy," She paused and blushed from embarrassment, "Funny thing actually...Matty came by when he was walking around my apartment shirtless."

Nell burst out into laughter, "Did he really? Was Matty jealous?"

"No, not jealous. I don't think so, at least." Jade gave a neutral shrug, that could've easily been mistaken for disappointment.

Nell smirked, "But you wanted him to be?"

Jade shook her head to reassure herself, "No. None of that was to make him jealous. I just wanted to move on more... officially." She realized how easy it was for her to bring up Matty in a conversation. It was a trait that she started to be self-aware of. That always seemed to be the first step in terminating such behaviors. She scoffed at herself, "I have a meeting I have to get to in a few hours, we should probably start talking about the party."