Chapter 9
Cheryl brought her arms round her own waist, letting out an audible sigh. She carried on staring sadly at the closed doors long after Kimberley had gone inside, unsure as to whether or not to go after her.
Nadine interrupted her silent thoughts, speaking quietly from her lounger. “Do you want me to leave?”
Cheryl turned quickly to look at Nadine, she had completely forgotten the other girl was there. “Oh Nadine, I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have seen that”.
Nadine shrugged. “Oh don’t worry - it’s not the first time I’ve seen you two argue. I can leave though, if you think it would help?”
Cheryl shook her head and sat down on her lounger, resting her head in her hands. “Sh*t” she said quietly, rubbing her forehead, as if trying to erase the memory of the last few minutes.
Nadine observed Cheryl from her lounger and folded her arms, starting to chew on her bottom lip. Finally she spoke.
“Cheryl, what’s going on?”
Cheryl lifted her head up and frowned at Nadine. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you put so much effort into this trip. You wanted it to be perfect. I don’t believe you’d just slot a meeting in like this…” Nadine hesitated for a few seconds. “Has something happened?”
Cheryl looked away from Nadine and over at the kitchen doors where Kimberley had disappeared moments earlier. She nodded slowly, as she turned back to meet Nadine’s gaze.
“Hilary called while I was in the kitchen. The label called an emergency meeting. I said no Nadine but I don’t have a choice – they’re threatening to pull the plug on my record deal…” Cheryl’s voice trailed off as she raised a hand and wiped a tear from her own cheek.
Nadine frowned back at Cheryl, “what? Why?”
Cheryl stood up, “I need to talk to Kimberley, Nadine – explain to her. Will you stay?”
Nadine stood up, nodding her head, and approached Cheryl. “I’ll wait out here – finish my drink. But Cheryl,” she said, putting her hands on Cheryl’s shoulders, “before you came out here, Kimberley was just saying how important these days were to her – a chance to spend time with you without meetings and all that other stuff. So your timing didn’t help…”
Cheryl nodded slowly. “It was never gonna go down well anyway, Nadine. I’ll explain everything later”.
“No rush,” replied Nadine, smiling, and she squeezed Cheryl’s arm.
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Cheryl reached the top of the stairs and spotted Kimberley lying on the bed through the open door of the bedroom. She was curled in a ball, head turned away from the door. Cheryl stopped momentarily, her hand coming to rest on the banister, and she sighed sadly.
As she reached the doorway she hesitated, then quietly she made her way to the foot of the bed and sat down slowly, putting a hand gently on Kimberley’s calf.
“Babe?”
Kimberley didn’t move, and she didn’t speak. Cheryl almost would have preferred her to shout at her, react in some way. Her silence unnerved her.
Suddenly, without moving, Kimberley spoke. “Is that why we came here?”
Cheryl frowned. “What?”
“You had work, so you brought me here – kill two birds with one stone – but make out like it’s a big romantic gesture?”
Cheryl’s frown deepened. “No! No that’s not why we came. How could you think that? I spent ages planning every last detail…”
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