Chapter 19
Hilary rubbed her temples and tried to quell the onsetting headache. She hadn't been subjected to this stubborn side of Cheryl in a long time.
'No Hilary. I am not attending this event. That's final'
'It's an important party Cheryl. The record label committee is going to be there. You can't just avoid it'
'I understand Hilary' Cheryl offered sympathetically, 'but I couldn't do it. I'm sorry'
'Why?' Nadine asked, casting a curious glance at her bandmate. 'Is it because you have to bring Kimberley along? I thought you were getting along with her'
She frowned and her scowl deepened. 'It's not that..'
'Then what is big fooking problem Chez?' Nicola expressed, annoyed at the fuss over a party. Cheryl had been out with Kimberley at parties before, granted she wasn't always sober, she still couldn't see why the brunette was making a big deal out of it.
'Piers, he will be there' Cheryl stated meekly.
'So?'
Exactly so? She couldn't put a finger on what she was feeling. She didn't understand why she felt this protective over the blonde. It hadn't happened to her since Gary.
'He seems kind of obssessed with Kimberley'
Nadine's lip twitched to a smile at the quiet way the words were whispered.
'And?' Nicola asked impatiently.
'And? Have you forgotten how she was after Stein, pet? I don't want her moping around the house looking right depressed and sh!t.' Even as she uttered the words, she knew it was a lie.
Nadine's smile turned into a knowing grin.
'Piers is not Stein, Cheryl. Besides I'm sure you would keep her safe. Wouldn't you?'
She would. But she wasn't going to admit it and make Nadine's creepy grin even wider.
'I'm not her bloody bodyguard. She can look after herself'
'Right' Nadine nodded.
'Bloody right' She agreed.
*******************
'Cheryl, why don't you go and talk to Tre?' Kimberley asked, her eyes flickering back and forth between her silent companion and the dancer. She could tell she wanted to talk to him, but Cheryl was acting stranger than usual, glaring at everyone who dared to approach their table.
'No'
She knew she wasn't going to get an explanation, and decided to drop the questioning with a sigh. She saw Piers waving at her and calling them over to meet someone.
'Cheryl, Piers wants us to go over to him'
The brunette looked so fast up, Kimberley wondered how she hadn't broken her neck yet.
'I don't care' She growled.
'It's rude Cheryl. You can't just ignore him' She sighed, deliberating what has gotten into the brunette, only getting even more silence as her response. 'Fine, I'll go and talk to him then'
'No' She almost yelled and regretted soon as she saw the blonde flinch at the harshness of her tone.
'No?'
'No.' She repeated, this time a little less louder.
Kimberley felt her anger bubble up. 'What makes you think you can choose who I can talk to and who I can't?' She asked evenly.
Cheryl twitched uncomfortably in her seat.
'Because you're me wife' It came out like a question instead of an answer and she almost smiled to herself. She hadn't done that since she was a teenager, she quickly hid her smile not wanting to upset the irritated blonde even further.
'Wrong answer. I'm not really your wife and there is no reason to pretend like one as there is nobody within five feet of us because wait a second you've been oh so helpfully glaring at everyone who comes this way. So try again.' The blonde spoke slowly and clearly, as she tried to control the anger at being ordered around.
'Because you're wearing high heels and you might trip?'
Kimberley saw a ghost of smile playing on the brunette's lips and her eyes narrowed even further because the girl was clearly taking the p!ss now.
'Cheryl' She began, exasperatedly.
'Wrong answer? Try again?' She didn't bother hiding the smile anymore, she was having fun teasing the blonde who looked almost adorable as she huffed and puffed at her reponse.
'Fine. Speak to me again when you've dropped your childish attitude'
She wasn't even mad at her anymore, how could she be when Cheryl was being so playful? She wasn't ready however to drop her act and speak to the singer.
Ten minutes of painful silence later, Cheryl decided the blonde was being very immature about this, eleven minutes later she wished the girls would come back to the table instead of socialising, twelve minutes later she convinced herself she enjoyed the silence, thirteen minutes and she had enough of the silent treatment.
'He has a thing for you aye? Go right ahead and talk to him if you want to, but don't expect us to come play hero for you if he tries something. I'm tired of this bodyguard duty anyway' She scoffed, twisting the napkin in her hand.
Despite herself, Kimberley smiled as it sinked why the brunette had remained dutifully by her side throughout the evening.
Cheryl was protecting her.
The Cheryl who hurt her once, was now trying to keep her from getting hurt. It was such a thoughtful gesture, sweet even; something she would have never associated with Cheryl before and she was glad she was beginning to see this side of the singer more often.
'I won't go, okay?'
'Okay, whatever' She shrugged nonchalantly, like she couldn't care less about what the blonde did.
Two minutes later, Kimberley swore she saw a goofy grin splitting the singer's face and her heart swelled at the sight.
**************************
Out of body experience. She was sure she was having one of them, because Cheryl had marched right into her room and asked, more like demanded, that they go out for lunch together.
She surely wasn't expecting them to wear hoodies and huge sunglasses, and have lunch at McDonald's out of all places. It was bizzare, carefree and normal at the same time. The singer still had trouble making conversations, but the blonde's smiles were big and bright and encouraging whenever she would try and engage in small awkward talk.
She had also learnt few things about the brunette, like how she double dipped all her nuggets, her sweet tooth- she had stirred six pack of sugars into her coffee, raised an eyebrow when Kimberley gasped and cheekily added another, her childike enthusiasm as she waited for the signal to change from green to orange and race down the crossing line at the last minute just as it turned red, giving the drivers and other passerbys almost a heart attack, her love hate relationship with tictacs- she had declared she loved them as she popped one into her mouth only to spit them out a minute later in complete disgust; those quirks only making Cheryl even more human in Kimberley's eyes, an extremely likeable one at that.
They had been to every store in Picadilly Circus, because Cheryl had said they had the best toys and blanked Kimberley's amused eye roll, and even let a bloke draw them, but the brunette had become restless just as the guy had begun to draw the outline and announced that they had better things to do- like check out the candy store right down the street.
Six hours later, they had walked into their home, tired and exhausted, and Cheryl had cheekily said 'Now go make us a sandwich, wife', the blonde didn't resist the urge to throw a pillow on her face.
When Cheryl responded with a girlish squeal that was so unlike her, Kimberley convinced herself she was definitely having an out of body experience.
