Cheradine- Lost and found

Chapter 20

She wanders into the bedroom to find Cheryl zipping up two Louis Vuitton suitcases.

“Is that you all packed then?” she asks, leaning against the doorframe.

The brunette turns, puts on a brave face although Nadine can see she’s barely holding it together. “Yeah, me usual system of chuckin’ everythin’ in and hopin’ it all fits works a charm.”

Nadine smiles. Commuting between LA and London she’s got used to travelling light but she used to be just as disorganised as Cheryl is. “We’ll need to get goin’ if want to avoid the rush hour traffic.”

Cheryl looks away. “Actually, I’ve arranged a car to pick us up. Should be here in five minutes.”

Naturally Nadine had just assumed she’d be driving Cheryl to LAX herself. This change of plan leaves her feeling sick in her stomach because in just a few short minutes Cheryl will be gone and Nadine hasn’t had a chance to say half of what she wants to.

When Cheryl’s sees the bereft expression on Nadine’s face, her resolve crumbles. The brunette crosses the room and cups Nadine’s cheek. “You know I’m not good with goodbyes. If you come to the airport with us I’ll just loose it completely.”

Slim arms wind around Nadine’s neck as Cheryl clings to her. Seconds later and their mouths find each other, kissing desperately until the rude blare of a horn shatters the moment.

Cheryl steps back, her eyes shining wetly. “That’s me. I’d better go.”

“I’ll help you with your luggage,” Nadine says, her voice cracking under the strain of holding back her own tears.

They grab a handle each, lugging the cases out the front door and down the driveway to the cab waiting outside. The driver pops the trunk and gets out to help them lift each case into it before jumping back behind the wheel.

They linger beside the nearside rear passenger door, eyes speaking volumes more than words ever could.

“Cheryl, I-“ Nadine starts then thinks the better of it. She grabs the other woman in a bone-jarring hug and presses a kiss to Cheryl’s temple. “Call me as soon as you land, okay?”

She feels Cheryl’s fingers digging into her shoulders and lets go.

The look on Cheryl’s face is completely miserable and Nadine knows it must mirror her own. The Geordie just nods wordlessly and gets into the taxi.

Nadine stands there in the street, watching the horizon a good ten minutes after the car’s disappeared from view, as if by sheer force of will she could somehow make Cheryl turn around and come back but it doesn't happen.

***

For the rest of the day Nadine stays in bed watching black and white weepies, eating junk food and feeling sorry for herself. Both her mum and Rachael call her mobile a few times each but she can’t bring herself to talk to anyone so she diverts their calls to voicemail.

She doesn’t know what to do with herself now that Cheryl’s gone. She’d got so used to the Geordie being around that the house feels empty, the bed too large for one person.

She looks over to the place where Cheryl had slept not seven hours ago, the indentation of her head still there on the pillow along with a couple of long strands of dark brown hair, and tries to calculate where Cheryl’s flight must be now, somewhere over the Atlantic.

The sensible, productive thing to do would be to throw herself into work and she does make a half-hearted attempt to sit down with a pen and piece of paper to write some lyrics. But after an hour of staring at a blank page, she gives up.

She looks at her phone again and retrieves her voicemail. Six messages: three from Rachael, two from her mum, all with the same note of concern. There’s one from the record company and she listens to the secretary’s faux cheerful voice asking her to make an appointment to come in to the office next week. So she saves that one and deletes the rest.

She’d been hoping that Charmaine would call but she should’ve known really that her sister would be stubborn and refuse to make the first move. Biting the bullet, she rings Charmaine’s mobile.

It rings for a long time - Charmaine’s probably screening her calls too – and she’s about to hang up when she hears her sister’s sharp, “So you are speaking to us after all? Mum’s been worried sick about you.”

“Hi,” Nadine says sheepishly, knowing that she deserves to be rebuked for the way she’s been acting. “Sorry, my head’s just all over the place today.”

“Mmn.”

“Listen I was wonderin’ if you wanted to meet for lunch tomorrow? Just the two of us.”

There’s a long pause and Nadine starts to think maybe they’ve been cut off. “I can’t. The kids are-“

“Ask Rachael to watch the kids,” Nadine interrupts. “Please Charmaine, I need to talk to you.”

Never one to refuse her little sister for long, Charmaine sighs. “Okay but you’re payin’.”