Chim - Keep Holding On

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Kimberley ran upstairs to her flat after being in the studio all afternoon. She was desperately looking forward to seeing Cheryl, especially as she hadn’t been able to see her last night. She wanted to make Cheryl an amazing dinner and pamper her as much as possible, as she figured she’d come back tired after her long day. She opened the door and found Cheryl standing in the living room, fidgeting with her hands.

“You’re back!” Kimberley beamed with surprise as she walked quickly towards her. “I thought I wouldn’t see you till later. I missed you so much.” She gave Cheryl a kiss on the lips, immediately able to smell and taste cigarettes. “Stressful day?”

Cheryl looked at the ground as she slowly shifted away from her. Kimberley noticed Cheryl’s unusual lack of contact, as well as the lack of her gorgeous smile.

“Is everything alright, babe?” Kimberley reached for her hand and squeezed tightly.

Cheryl gazed down at their interlinked hands for a few seconds before pulling hers away.

“I’m sorry.” Cheryl said in a flat voice. Kimberley frowned, not understanding what was going on.

“What are you talking about, Cheryl? You’re scaring me, what’s wrong?” As Kimberley asked the question, her eyes caught sight of a large box next to the sofa. She walked over to look at what was inside and saw all of the things that she had left at Cheryl’s house were now packed in it. She stared at it in confusion and looked up at Cheryl who was biting her lip and looking in the other direction. Suddenly it dawned on Kimberley what was happening.

“No.” Kimberley whispered quietly, slowly shaking her head. She was met by a long silence, Cheryl avoiding eye contact the whole time. Kimberley felt her eyes filling with tears, as a massive jolt shuddered through her heart. “I don’t understand. Why?”

Cheryl winced at the sound of Kimberley’s panic-stricken voice and remained silent.

“Why, Cheryl? If I’ve done something wrong, tell me and I’ll fix it, I promise.” Kimberley cried as she felt her world come crashing down around her.

“It’s just not right.” Cheryl shrugged.

“Not right? What the hell? You’re ending this because it’s ‘not right’? What do you mean? I need to know, I need to know what I’ve done.”

Cheryl clenched her jaw for a moment before answering.

“You haven’t done anything. It’s just...we’ve both only recently come out of serious relationships, and this has all happened too soon. I don’t want us to regret anything one day.”

“What you actually mean is you already regret it, but you can’t just tell me to my face, can you?” Kimberley spoke quietly as tears streamed down her cheeks. She thought she saw Cheryl’s lip quiver, but then figured she was probably only seeing what she wanted to see. “Where were you last night? Were you actually working late? Was there really a photo shoot this morning?” Kimberley raised her voice as she demanded answers.

Cheryl looked at her hands ashamedly and spoke in a barely audible voice.

“No.”

Kimberley let out an unamused laugh. “Course. Where were you?”

“I just needed to get away,” Cheryl answered feebly.

“Is there someone else?” Kimberley asked in a haunting tone after a slight pause.

Cheryl looked at Kimberley for the first time that evening as she answered. “No, there’s no-one. I meant what I said all that time ago – I would never cheat. I did just need to get away.”