Chapter Seventeen
Cheryl realised that she could only do one of two things under the circumstances, either come clean and tell the truth or lie through her teeth. Although the option to lie was quite an appealing one, she couldn’t for the life of her come up with a plausible excuse.
She took the paper from out of Nicola’s hand and crossed the room, but didn’t say anything. She used the silence to go over in her head what she was going to say to the two people in her hotel room…her two band mates who had been affected by the events that inspired the letter…her two friends.
For a long moment all three of them remained silent, although Cheryl could feel the weight of both sets of eyes upon her.
“I don’t know what you want me to say” Cheryl replied after a while, shrugging her shoulders at the pair of them.
“all this time and you never said a word” Nicola replied, Cheryl could tell by the shrill tone of her voice that she was upset.
“I didn’t think…” she stuttered, looking to Sarah for some support. “you should have told us Cheryl” was all she replied.
Those words could have cut through Cheryl like a knife. It wasn’t so much the words but the way Sarah delivered them, as though Cheryl had somehow betrayed the trust that they shared between the band.
“I’m sorry”
The words seemed small and insignificant when she said them, as though those two words could have made up for the fact that, not only had she ruined their careers within the band, but she had also kept things…important things, from her best friends.
“we shared everything Cheryl…but that…” Nicola started, she pointed to the letter that Cheryl had folded and put on the side.
“that…the biggest thing, and you couldn’t even be bothered to tell us” Nicola went on, her voice level rising the more angry and upset she got.
“it wasn’t like that Nic…”
“I can’t even be around you right now” Nicola said, cutting her off. She threw her arms up defensively before grabbing her bag off the table and walking out of the door.
-
Cheryl and Sarah stood silently in the room, both with their eyes on the door that Nicola had walked out of just seconds before.
“well that went well” Cheryl said sarcastically as she slumped down on the bed that was still a mess from where Nicola had been sleeping in it.
“it could have gone worse” Sarah replied before walking over to the bed and joining Cheryl.
Cheryl put her head in her hands and heaved a loud sigh before she felt Sarah’s arm around her.
“do you forgive me?” she asked with a sad smile.
Sarah shrugged but made no attempt to move her arm. “was it because you thought we wouldn’t understand?” she asked after a few moments.
“no…that’s not it at all, the reason I didn’t tell you all was because…” Cheryl sighed loudly before trying to compose herself, knowing that she would have to come clean about everything that had happened, to spare her friends thinking she may have thought badly of them.
-
“on the night that she left…that was my fault. I was the reason that she left, because of some horrible things that I said to her. We had an argument, it wasn’t even an argument really, it was just me shouting, until eventually I couldn’t take it anymore”
She poured Sarah a glass of wine as they reclined on the balcony of Cheryl’s hotel room. The blonde picked up the glass absentmindedly and took a sip, her eyes never leaving Cheryl.
“so you loved her?” Sarah asked with a frown before she brought the sunglasses off her head to shield her eyes from the blazing sun.
Hearing Sarah say it made Cheryl stop and think before she nodded slowly. “I loved her from the moment I met her”
“I never knew” Sarah replied quietly, the look on her face telling Cheryl that this concerned the blonde girl.
“I am sorry Sarah…I wanted to tell you but I just couldn’t, I couldn’t bring myself to say what had happened in case you all hated me”
Sarah shook her head emphatically before putting her wine glass down. “we could never hate you”
“Nicola doesn’t like me very much right now does she?” Cheryl asked sadly, although she could understand why the girl was being a little off with her.
“she will come round” Sarah said reassuringly, although Cheryl could detect the slightest bit of uncertainty in her voice.
“I hope your right, I don’t want to lose anymore friends” Cheryl said with a laugh, although both of them knew there was truth behind her words.
-
Kimberley walked to the beach feeling a strange mix of joy and anticipation about the previous night.
She felt the warm sand between her toes as she walked aimlessly down the seafront, lost in her own thoughts.
It was about time that something good happened for her, she had spent the best part of a year thinking that the person she loved most in the world hated her.
It was only when she got closer that she seen a familiar face sat a few feet away, looking out towards the sea. She went over and sat down next to the girl, who glanced over at her but didn’t say anything.
“Nicola?” Kimberley said, trying to get her attention.
Nicola tore her attention away from the ocean and turned to look at her friend.
“you look upset” Kimberley replied as she met the other girls eyes.
Nicola sighed heavily before shaking her head to Kimberley. “you look happy” the younger girl replied, as though it was a revelation.
“I am happy” Kimberley said with a frown, wondering what on earth the girl was talking about.
“because of Cheryl?” she asked.
“what do you mean” Kimberley asked, trying to look confused, when really, the sudden jolt in her stomach told her everything she needed to know.
“I know about the letter Kimberley” Nicola said, giving the girl a look which was hard to determine.
“oh” was all that Kimberley could think to say. Her cheeks blushed a little as she remembered the things she had put in the letter to Cheryl.
“everything inside me is telling me to be angry at you both, angry that you couldn’t tell us…you couldn’t tell me” she started, before stopping to take a few deep breaths.
“so why aren’t you” Kimberley asked.
“because it’s the first time in a year that I’ve seen you smile” Nicola replied after a moments thought. She wanted to say more, but the look of relief on Kimberley’s face broke down her remaining barriers
