Chapter 9
The next day all the girls are having a break from a meeting with Hillary. They are sat in the canteen drinking coffee and eating whatever junk they can get their hands on.
“I’m going out to get a MacDonald’s. Anyone wanna come?” Nicola asks standing up
“I come for a walk” Sarah says standing up “Cya in a bit guys”
“Bye” Kim replies turning to face Cheryl “Where’s Nadine?”
“Toilets” Cheryl smiles “I think she was going to talk to Hillary more about the schedule for this year as well”
“She going back to LA soon?”
“Yeah” Cheryl answers looking down
“You ok?” Kim asks placing her hand on Cheryl’s knee to comfort the girl
“How are we going to last Kim?”
“What do you mean?”
“With me living here. Nadine living across the water. It’s impossible”
“You love each other” Kimberley says gently “You’ll work things out eventually”
“I love her” Cheryl frowns and looks up at Kimberley “She still hasn’t told me she loves me”
“Maybe it’s still too soon?”
Shaking her head Cheryl stands up “It’s been 3 weeks, surely she must have some sort of indication if she loves me or not”
Standing up, Kimberley grabs Cheryl’s arm to stop her from walking off “Have you asked her?”
“What?”
“Have you asked her?”
“Hey guys”
Turning around, Cheryl sees Nadine coming up behind them and sits down with a coffee “Where are you both going?”
“I’m just nipping to the loos” Kimberley smiles “I’ll be back in a bit” and with that she squeezes Cheryl’s hand and walks off leaving the two girls alone.
Cheryl sits back down next to Nadine and takes a sip of her own coffee.
“Are you ok?” Nadine asks sensing the Geordie was feeling upset
“I’m fine” Cheryl replies “Did you talk with Hillary?”
“Yeah, I should be able to go home every weekend, mostly”
Smiling sadly Cheryl looks down and lets a tear escape her eye.
“Babe?” Nadine asks noticing the tears “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing” Cheryl smiles sadly and looks up “I’m just going to miss you that’s all”
“Awww babe” Nadine says standing up and wrapping the Geordie into a hug “I’ll miss you too”
A few hours later the meeting comes to an end. Nicola and Kimberley say their goodbyes and leave. Cheryl stands up and gives Sarah a hug “Bye babe” She walks over to Nadine and pulls her into a bear hug “Bye I love you”
Nadine smiles and pulls apart from the hug “Bye babe” She places a gentle kiss on Cheryl’s lips.
Cheryl smiles sadly and walks out of the room leaving Sarah and Nadine alone.
“Is she ok?” Sarah asks walking up to Nadine and linking arms to walk out of the meeting room
“I don’t know”
“What’s wrong Nadine?”
Nadine smiles at Sarah. She always knows when something’s wrong even if Nadine tries not to show it Sarah always picks up on it. “Let’s go get a coffee”
Sitting in the canteen downstairs Sarah sips her coffee and looks up at Nadine “What’s going on?”
“I wish I knew” Nadine sighs “Cheryl’s been acting a bit weird. It may be because I’ll be going back to LA again and leaving her. I don’t know”
“She’ll miss you Nadz” Sarah puts her coffee down and reaches her hand across the table to hold Nadine’s “She loves you”
“Hmmmm”
“And you love her, you’ll work it out”
Nadine looks down and sighs.
“You do love her, don’t you?” Sarah asks confused
“I don’t know” Nadine takes a sip of her coffee “Cheryl’s the kind of person who likes the forever kind of thing”
Sarah smiles at Nadine’s reluctance to be with Cheryl “It’s called a grown up relationship babe”
Nadine smiles up at Sarah “I don’t think I’m ready for a forever kind of love”
Smiling sadly Sarah squeezes Nadine’s hand “You can’t string her along and let her think this is forever then Nadz. It’s not fair on her”
“I know”
“I think you both need to talk”
Nadine rolls her eyes and stands up “Come on lets go. It’s freaking me out you being all caring and sensitive”
“Hey!” Sarah stands up and slaps Nadine playfully on the arm “I have my moments”
“I know you do. You are a good best friend” Nadine pulls Sarah into a hug.
Pulling apart Sarah speaks again “Let’s go home”
It’s 9:00PM and Cheryl is sat in her flat watching the TV. She hears her buzzer go off so she stands up and answers it “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Nadine”
“Come on up” Cheryl says pressing the buzzer.
A few minutes later Nadine appears at the door. She closes it behind herself and walks into the living room. She sees Cheryl and sits next to her. “Hey babe”
“Hey you” Cheryl says leaning in for a kiss
“How are you?”
“I’m better now you’re here” Cheryl replies leaning in for another kiss.
After a few minutes Nadine breaks the kiss and smiles sadly “You done much this afternoon?”
“Just cleaned the flat” Cheryl smiles leaning in again to reclaim the Irish girl’s lips “I love you” Cheryl whispers onto Nadine’s lips and pulls her in closer. After a few minutes of kissing Cheryl pulls apart and looks into Nadine’s eyes “I love you so much”
Nadine smiles sadly and looks away “It does look really tidy in here”
Shaking her head Cheryl places her hand under Nadine’s chin and makes the girl look at her “Do you love me?”
“Cheryl” Nadine starts but notices the tears in Cheryl’s eyes “I’m sorry”
“It’s ok” Cheryl smiles sadly taking her hand away from Nadine’s chin “It’s to early”
Looking down again Nadine smiles sadly “We need to talk”
