Chim - I'll Always Be There

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

It has been an hour since Kimberley has talked to me about why she hasn’t been eating but at least she has agreed to get better now.

We spent the past hour in a comfortable silence, holding her close while she slowly stopped herself crying.

But now we’re in the kitchen.

And I’m trying to get her to eat.

I have opened all of the cupboards, the fridge and the freezer by now and she still hasn’t agreed to eat anything. She is sat at the table, her hand supporting her head, making her look like a stroppy teenager bored out of their mind in an exam.

‘How about toast?’

‘No’

‘Pancakes?’

‘Nope’

‘For God’s sake Kimberley’ I snap raising my voice, ‘you said you wanted to stop? All you’ve done so far is turn down every food suggestion!’

Silence follows as I turn back around to all of the open cupboards, letting out an irritated sigh.

I glance back at Kimberley to see that she is straightened up now. But she is fiddling with her hands on her lap, looking down at herself again, ashamed.

‘I’m sorry Kim’ Feeling incredibly guilty, I move to sit opposite her.

‘It’s not your fault’ she mutters, still not looking up, ‘I’m the one doing this to myself. But I’ve not eaten properly for a week; I can’t just go straight into eating straight away.’

‘I know babe, I shouldn’t be reeling a list of food at you.’ she looks up when she hears my chair move and I pull it around the table so I am sat next to her.

‘Take it a step at a time, right?’ she nods her head and I rise to my feet again, pulling the chair back to where it was, ‘will you at least have something small? How about a smoothie?’

‘Sure’ she smiles, slowly standing up from the table.

‘We do have a blender, don’t we?’ I ask turning back towards her, walking backwards.

‘Yes, we do.’ She chuckles, ‘I’m surprised you haven’t noticed considering how much you have rooted through the cupboards’

‘Do you put it with your food?’

‘Well, no but you’ve open the cupboards that don’t even have food in.’ She walks over to the cupboard under the sink and points, ‘I mean look. This...’ she pauses while she grabs something and shows it to me, ‘...is bleach... and you still moved it out the way to check for any food behind it.’

‘Oh p!ss off.’ I snap.

Pretending to be in a mood, I push her out the way and crouching down in front of the cupboard, examining its contents for the second time this morning.

‘Where’s the blender then?!’ I am actually feeling a little irritated now because I can’t find this damn blender she apparently has.

I hear her chuckle again as she takes a step to the cupboard beside me. I rise to my feet, closing the cupboard, while she opens the other one and bends over.

Granted, I don’t pay much attention to what she is doing once her arse is in full view. But even her arse looks smaller than usual and I find myself watching her with a sad expression as she straightens up.

She turns around with the blender in hand, looking triumphant with her find. The small look of pride soon falls when she sees my face.

‘What’s up?’ Even though she has her own troubles, I can still hear concern in her voice for me.