Chapter Nine
“Alright Chez, sorry did I wake you?”
“Um, no?” Cheryl lied unconvincingly.
“Ah, sorry,” Nicola repeated, well aware from the sleepy half-confused expression staring back at her that she had indeed disturbed the Geordie’s sleep.
“My barnet’s looking shocking this morn and I didn’t wanna go down to breakfast like this. Have you got your straighteners with you?”
“Err,” Cheryl brushed her tangled locks from her eyes and rubbed at her forehead distractedly, “Yeah, I think so.”
“Oh you lifesaver,” the other girl enthused happily, stepping around her friend who was half blocking the doorway.
Cheryl nervously closed the door behind her and followed Nicola into the sun-flooded room, past the bed of crumpled sheets and to the dresser.
She glanced nervously at the ensuite, the muffled sound of the cascading shower spray evidence that she was not alone.
Had Nicola bothered to listen. Had she been as finely attuned to what was going on as Cheryl was.
“You’re up rather early, aren’t you Nic? Would have thought you’d all be sleeping off yer hangovers.”
Cheryl started rummaging in one of her holdalls that she hadn’t bothered unpacking while Nicola leant her arm against a chair next to the dresser mirror and tried not to look with disappointment at the offending hairstyle.
“Nah, it was alright though. Sarah was being a bit weird though. Think she really wanted yous two to come out with us.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Cheryl tried to gloss over Nicola’s casual observation as she continued her search for her hair straighteners. “I was just really proper tired.”
“God though, a shot in Barcelona is not the same as a shot in England,” Nicola continued, unperturbed, “The measure is literally like half the glass,” she held up her thumb and forefinger to illustrate the point.
Cheryl raised her eyebrows in approval as her hands came to rest on what she was looking for.
As she yanked the straighteners from her luggage she became aware that the running water had ceased.
“Here ya go Nic,” she said, half an eye on the bathroom door, willing it to stay shut just long enough to get rid of her friend.
Nicola turned from the mirror where she had been attempting to smooth non-existent bags from under her eyes with her fingertip.
“Ah, you’re a star,” she said, turning to take the flat irons that were practically being thrust upon her.
“You gonna come down to breakfast with the rest of us? We’re meeting in half an hour.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try,” Cheryl was now walking to the door in an effort to hurry Nicola out the room.
She could hear as she passed the ensuite again, the gentle sound of Kimberley’s contented humming, evidence that she had not been aware of Nicola’s presence while in the shower.
“Okay,” Nicola responded, “See you down there,” as Cheryl reached to open the door, had it open in fact with Nicola just a few small steps away from crossing the threshold.
“Ah, sh!t!” she exclaimed mildly, “Chez the cord. It needs one of them plug thingies doesn’t it?”
“What?” Cheryl asked, the panic almost palpable in her voice at the redhead’s stalling.
