Page 40 of How To Tackle A Crush
It is… surprisingly attractive.
Which is inconvenient.
“And then there’s var,” I say.
“V…A…R,” he corrects.
“Yes. The lines.”
“The lines?”
“The ones they draw that look like someone is measuring for curtains.”
That makes him burst out laughing.
“I have never heard it described like that.”
“You won’t unsee it now.”
“You may have ruined VAR for me.”
“My work here is done.”
I write something down and realise he is watching again.
He shakes his head.
“Is your whole article about general football terminology?” he asks without judgment in his voice.
“No… I… well I just wanted to understand the basics first.”Floor open and swallow me, please!He probably thinks I should have done my research before rocking up in his office. “I don’t like writing about things I don’t understand,” I try to explain myself.
“That already puts you ahead of a lot of people,” he nods approvingly.
“So,” I say, “how do you deal with pressure?”
His expression changes slightly. Not guarded. Just more thoughtful.
“You learn what matters,” he says.
“And what doesn’t?”
“The noise. Opinions. Headlines.”
“And what does matter?”
“The people you go home to.”
That answer lands somewhere soft before I can stop it.
“Your son,” I say.
“Yes,” he says. He sounds surprised. “My son.”
“You don’t really talk about him in interviews.”
“That’s deliberate.”
I nod. That makes immediate sense. If your life is constantly public, the instinct to protect the one person who didn’t choose that must be overwhelming.
