Chapter Twelve
Cheryl was the first to arrive at Nadine’s house, something which she had planned on to avoid the awkwardness of the previous evening when she had walked in and seen Kimberley for the first time.
At least this way, it would be Kimberley that would have to make the decisions. Small decisions such as whether to say hello or not, whether to hug her the way she would hug the other girls, all the small decisions that had suddenly become monumental.
“you look terrible” Nadine said to her by way of a greeting as she ushered the girl inside the house.
“thanks” she laughed, trying to sound offended but failing miserably.
“so…” Nadine started, a smile creeping on to her face. They walked through the ground floor of her house and in to the back garden area, taking advantage of the beautiful sunshine.
“how’s the love life?” she asked, pointing to a pair of sun loungers that looked out on to her spacious swimming pool. Cheryl laughed incredulously as she took her seat on one of them.
“what’s one of them again?” she asked sarcastically. Nadine laughed but she could tell that there was more behind Cheryl’s words.
“search me if I know” Nadine laughed and shrugged her shoulders dramatically. Cheryl smiled sympathetically, knowing that Nadine hadn’t been in a serious relationship since her and Jason split up a while ago.
“we’re pathetic aren’t we?” Cheryl laughed to her friend at the sorry state of both of their love lives.
-
Cheryl picked her head up from her sun lounger as she heard that familiar voice that always seemed to shout for her attention, giving her butterflies in her stomach at the same time.
She suddenly felt exposed, wearing her little bikini in Kimberley’s presence. Nadine waved to the girl from the pool and Cheryl watched her from behind her dark sunglasses as she walked over to Sarah and Nicola and exchanged pleasantries.
She bit her lip subconsciously as she watched the girl walking up to her.
Kimberley put all of her belongings on to the seat next to Cheryl and smiled at her awkwardly before sitting down.
Of all the seats that were around Nadine’s pool, she had bypassed them all and chosen to sit next to Cheryl.
-
Cheryl wriggled uncomfortably in her seat, aware that Kimberley was casting her eyes over her. She took her sun glasses off and sat up on the lounger.
“hey” she said by way of a greeting to break the silence.
“alright?” Kimberley asked as she got comfortable on the recliner, the umbrella casting a shade over her face.
“yeah” Cheryl nodded, just a bit to enthusiastically for the moment. She swallowed hard as Kimberley quickly took her t shirt off and dropped it next to her, showing off her toned stomach.
She looked away subconsciously, not wanting it to look like she was staring. Was it always going to be awkward like this? Cheryl sighed to herself and lay back down on the seat, putting her sunglasses on. She hoped the next few days would go quickly so she could get back home and move on with her life.
The very thought almost made her laugh out loud. Every waking moment that she was in that little cottage she thought of the girl that was sat next to her. Every time she looked out of her bedroom window she could see the cottage that used to be Kimberley’s, every time she walked across the beach she thought of the times they had done it together.
It was hardly moving on.
“you look nice”
Kimberley’s voice brought her out of her thoughts with a bang. She looked over at the older girl, her eyes automatically falling to her black bikini top and down to the tight jeans that she hadn’t taken off yet.
“thanks” she muttered, feeling her face blush a little at the compliment from Kimberley.
Cheryl watched from behind her sunglasses as the older girl unbuttoned her jeans and slid them off, revealing her curves that Cheryl had always found so inviting.
They both lay for a long while in silence, each one wondering just what they could say to break the tension.
What was there to say?
In truth there was so much that needed to be said, but neither of them knew where to start. Cheryl felt Kimberley turning towards her on her side from the corner of her eye.
“do you think we should have that talk now” Kimberley asked after a minute.
Cheryl lifted her sunglasses up to look at her, even though she had been watching her from behind them for some time.
“if you want” she replied with a shrug, looking around to see where all the other girls were.
“if you don’t want too Cheryl, just say” Kimberley replied, her tone becoming quite sharp.
“its not that I don’t want too” Cheryl replied quickly, but making sure her voice wasn’t raised so as not to arouse suspicion.
“then what”? Kimberley frowned. That frown that could melt even the coldest of hearts.
“I’ve had a year to think about this moment Kimberley, a year to work out what I was going to say, I went over and over it in my head every night you know. But now you’re hear in front of me…I’m afraid I wont be able to say it, and then I’ll never get the chance” she replied, her voice starting to shake with emotion.
-
Kimberley sighed deeply before getting up off her lounger, Cheryl’s eyes following her as she moved around the little table that separated them.
She watched in amazement as Kimberley sat herself down in the middle of Cheryl’s recliner, her bare flesh gently grazing against Cheryl’s hip.
“I’m not going anywhere”
