chapter 8
Chapter 8
New York flashback, continued
Cheryl's POV
I walked away from the reporter with a fake smile plastered across my face. God I hated reporters. Still to this day the press give me a bad vibe, even on the other side on the damn planet. The difference is over here they don’t know me, they don’t know what sneaky questions to ask me to get me to say something wrong. All they know is that I’m famous overseas and that having a photograph of me accompanied by a one-hundred word article, somehow, makes them easy cash.
I was taking a break from recording so I decided to come over to America. Tre was doing some showcases in New York so we got to spend some more time together. I knew Nadine would be at this event too, it tied in with other she supported back in Ireland. I didn't know what I was going to do when I had to confront her though, no one but Tre and my mother new why I was really here.
“Cheryl” I heard someone shout hesitantly, it sounded more like a question of my presence than someone actually asking for me. It was hard to make it out above the noise of the crowed of photographers and reporters along the carpet.
“Cheryl, is that you?”. This time I could definitely recognise the familiar Irish twang. I turned around slowly and smiled. I wasn’t glad that this type of reunion was happening at a public event but I was definitely happy that we weren’t in the UK.
“Yeah Nadine, it’s us”, I said. I wasn’t sure how she was going to react. She didn’t know I was going to be here and she was never one to deal well with unexpected confrontation, she hated conflict. “uhmm… w-what are you doing here, Cheryl?”, she sounded like she’d lost her ability to speak.
“I’m just supporting this charity, like you are” I pulled on a smile but I knew just by looking at her face that she could see right through it. She rolled her eyes at me, a sure sign she was getting angry. Not that she had any right to be.
“Don’t give me that c**p that you just gave that reporter, I know you didn’t fly all this way for some charity you’ve never supported!” she whispered in a harsh tone. Before I even had the chance to respond to her there was a sudden outburst from the reporters, asking for pictures of us. They must have finally realised who we both were.
“Nadine, Cheryl, could you look this way please!”
“Smile girls, over here!”.
Nadine stepped in close to me and placed her hand around me, resting it on my hip. As she placed it there I flinched, unnoticeably to the press but not to Nadine who looked at me concerned. She moved her hand round to my back as we posed for more pictures.
One of the event organisers then approached us and told us we could move inside if we wished. Nadine took this opportunity to take my hand and pull me inside the building. I followed behind her as we entered the building and she took me into the solitary disabled toilet and locked the door behind us. The bathroom was nice, large with marble floors and a creamy sofa. The pulled me to sit down with her on the couch.
>third person POV<
"Cheryl, what's going on?" Nadine asked, Cheryl just looked down at their still adjoined hands. "... and don't tell me you're only here for this charity because I would've known beforehand if you were coming, the guest list was organised weeks ago and you weren't on it". Nadine was so involved with this charity, surely someone from management would've informed her if they knew Cheryl would be attending.
Nadine was right, Cheryl hadn't come here for the charity. It was just a cover story so the press would have a valid reason as to why she was in New York without revealing the truth. Nadine's eyes bore into Cheryl's, silently pleading with her to tell the truth.
She could see the older girl starting to look sick, her face draining of colour and almost resembling Nicola's complexion. She watched as Cheryl suddenly began to rise off the sofa and stand so she was in front of her with her side toward the sofa.
Cheryl took ahold of the zipper on the left side of her dress and took a deep breath in, she looked straight at the floor, she couldn't face Nadine as she did this. The figured though that she couldn't leave here without lying and that's not something she wanted to do, so Nadine would have to learn the truth. She only hoped her Irish friend could handle it. Nadine watched, confused, as Cheryl pulled down her zipper to reveal her hip, bruised, red and swollen from pain. Now she understood why Cheryl had flinched so much when she had put her hand there.
"Cheryl?" Nadine asked, struggling with what to say next. "Babe, what happened".
Cheryl suddenly broke into tears, hearing that worried tone in the younger girls voice was too much for her. She felt her knees buckle underneath her, Nadine reached out to break her fall before she could completely collapse to the floor.
Nadine could feel tears welling up in her own eyes, she had never seen the girl so distraught over anything before. "Cheryl please" she sobbed "tell me what's wrong". She pulled the Geordie into her arms, hoping to reassure her that she was safe.
Cheryl leant into the embrace, finding comfort in the arms of an old friend. "I came to New York to see a doctor, to get a diagnosis" she managed to say before the tears began again. "A diagnosis for what?" Nadine asked, placing her hand on the older girls cheek, forcing Cheryl to look her in eyes for the first time since they'd entered the bathroom. "Are you sick?"
"It's cancer Nadine, Leukaemia". She said, diverting her eyes from the Irish girls "i started bruising and only found out why yesterday", she said before breaking into tears again.
Nadine didn't know how to verbally respond, so she pulled Cheryl into her arms and held her friend tightly as she cried. When the younger girl finally found the courage to speak she just tightened her hold on the Geordie and whispered, "I promise I'll be here, every step of the way".
