Chimon - This Moment

Chapter 27

With Kimberley's help, Cheryl managed to survive one day in the absence of Simon without too much pain, but the next day was completely and utterly agonizing. Given a completely empty schedule, Cheryl just sat around twiddling her thumbs and counting down the minutes and seconds before Simon's return. Luckily for her, she was notified in the late evening that her production team was able to schedule her into the Jonathan Ross show at the very last minute, which meant that she would be busy with rehearsals starting tomorrow. After taking a break for quite some time, she was more than ready to throw herself back into work. In fact, she was bursting with excitement and could hardly wait to get the ball rolling again. Although it was certainly nice to get a break from her hectic schedule, this break had been dragged out for far too long and she was getting sick and tired of sitting around on her ass all day long with absolutely nothing to do.

After washing up and preparing for bed, Cheryl heard her phone vibrate on the bedside table and eagerly snatched it into her hands, praying for dear life that her caller would save her from the intolerable boredom that nearly consumed her alive. Once she acknowledged that it was a call from Kimberley, she pushed the call button immediately and held her mobile firmly against her ear, brimming with enthusiasm.

"Hey babe!" Cheryl answered cheerfully, plopping herself merrily on the comfy bed.

Kimberley remained silent for a few moments, breathing heavily into the line. "Cheryl..." She stated hesitantly.

Cheryl detected the uneasy tone in her voice and immediately felt queasy to the stomach. "Kimba? You alright?" She asked anxiously, bolting straight up from the bed.

Kimberley cleared her throat quietly, trying to mask her nerves. "Okay, don't freak out." She declared uneasily, squeezing her eyes shut as she structured her words in her mind.

Cheryl felt her heart shatter into tiny pieces at her words, grasping the undeniable fact that there was something terribly wrong. After all, it was common knowledge that nobody with a grain of common sense would tell someone not to freak out unless there was something to freak out about.

Cheryl clenched her jaw tightly, feeling every muscle in her body tense up with fear. "What is it?!" She asked anxiously, nearly digging her nails into the flesh of her palm as she clutched her fist tightly by her side.

Kimberley sighed deeply on the other end. "Turn on the news, babe. I think there's something you need to see." She explained grudgingly after a moments hesitation.

Overcome with a rush of panic, Cheryl dashed across the room and hastily grabbed the remote, clutching it callously in her clammy hand. Within seconds, she turned on the telly and flipped through a sequence of channels before settling on the news. A look of confusion washed over her countenance as she focused her attention on a coverage highlighting an unrestrained strike in Greece, unsure as to how this incident could possibly affect her in any way.

"Okay Kimba, I have it on, but what am I watching fo-" Her voice trailed off into the distance as the following words reverberated endlessly in her head, bringing her vast obscurity to an abrupt end.

"Coming up next, a scandal that will shock the nation. We have an exclusive interview with Chelsea footballer, Ashley Cole, where he reveals all about Simon and Cheryl's love affair. Stay tuned to find out what really happened behind closed doors of the Cole estate, and don't miss out on the revealing images that say it all."

As the broadcaster's words echoed repeatedly in the still air, Cheryl froze in place and dropped her mobile onto the hard ground, feeling a wave of nausea hit her like a ton of bricks. She clasped a hand over her mouth and widened her eyes in shock, a silent gasp escaping her throat. Amid her vacillating sense of balance, she felt her stomach fold over repeatedly as an intangible agent tightened her throat like a vice, leaving her gasping for air. 

"Cheryl? Oh my god, Cheryl! Did you see that? Did you just see that?" Kimberley rambled, almost incoherently. "I called as soon as I heard it the first time. Cheryl? Cheryl? Cheryl, are you there?" She shouted frantically through the phone.

Locked in an absolute state of trance, Cheryl bent down to pick up her mobile and continued to stare at her telly in disbelief, unable to find suitable words to express the erratic wave of emotions that circulated within her, frustrating her psyche. "Fucking hell!" She screamed into the phone, burning with pure contempt. "Bloody fucking hell!"

"Okay calm down, Cheryl." Kimberley said soothingly, softening her voice as Cheryl seethed through the phone.

"Calm down?! How the fuck am I supposed to calm down?" Cheryl blasted irately. "They have pictures? What pictures, Kimba?! And Ashley?! Ashley doing a tell all? For fucks sake!!" She shouted hysterically, pacing back and forth in large strides.

Cheryl's entire body shook with fury, reaching the point where she didn't even know what to do or say anymore. Amid all of this madness, her vocabulary consisted of only various profanities that she continued to spew out left and right without a care in the world.

"Cheryl, maybe it's nothing babe. It's just his word against yours." Kimberley reasoned calmly. "I'm sure there aren't any telling photos anyway. They're probably just the same old recycled, blurry images that could be anyone really!" She explained evenly, attempting to pacify her uncontainable anxiety.

"Oh my god, Kimba, this is all going down in parts!" Cheryl breathed sharply. "This is it! This is going to be the end of me career! If this story goes through..." She paused for a moment and halted all movement, pressing her palm to her forehead with her mouth agape. "Oh my god, if this story goes through, everybody's going to think I'm some sort of a hypocrite. Oh god, oh god, oh god. This can't be happening." She continued to ramble, feeling the air being sucked out of her lungs with every verbal release.

"Cheryl! Just breathe alright." Kimberley advised rationally. "We don't know what's going on yet. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet."

Cheryl took a deep breath and situated herself at the head of the bed, cursing at the telly as she waited anxiously for the commercials to end. After spitting out more profanities and random words that she completely fabricated out of thin air, the news finally came back on the telly and she shot up from her seat, holding her breath in terror.

"Okay Chezz, here we go. I'll be on the other line this whole time okay babe? Just calm down." Kimberley said soothingly even though she was practically freaking out herself. This whole thing was just getting messier and messier by the minute, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she had a horrible feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach. Based on intuition, she had a bad feeling about this one.

Without saying another word, the both of them paid close attention to the telly as the coverage began; both in absolute panic of what was to come.