She rolls onto her chest and looks at me, her eyes half closed and a shadow of a smile hanging on her lips. The sun is just starting to rise and it floods the bedroom with a warm, pink-ish glow, making her cheeks blush and her skin radiate light. I seem to be viewing the world though a rose tinted filter, and even Cheryl looks more beautiful than usual. The sheets are warm to touch and seem to have been dyed a rosy gold. Gently I run the tips of my fingers up and down her back, feeling the tiny ridges of muscle and the smattering of almost invisible light brown hairs tickle my fingers. She wriggles happily, smiling properly now and arching her back, making her muscles twist and contort at my touch.
She licks her lips gently, then bites them, saying quietly “I want a cigarette”
“Oh Cheryl Cole, you’re so romantic” I laugh and she screws up her nose at me.
She pouts “I’m just saying...”
I pull her closer to me, still laughing at her “fine, you go have a smoke and I’ll pick the kids up.”
“You’ll move back in?” her eyes light up eagerly and I can read the hope in them, glittering like stars in a chocolate coloured sky.
I smile “yeah babe, can’t leave you alone again, can I?”
“No” she agrees, pouting adorably “you’re never going to leave me again. Not ever.”
“Whatever you say princess Cheryl” I laugh, sitting up and pulling back the warm sheets. I shudder as the tips of my toes meet the cold floorboards.
“Can I come with you to pick up the kids? Please?” She looks up at me appealingly. I glance at her. Her hair is spread all over the pillow in a dark halo surrounding her face. Tiny purple shadows cling underneath her eyes and deeper shadows hang beneath her perfectly defined cheekbones. The light sheets drape over her body, and I can still see the outline of every curve as I lean down and kiss her forehead, loving the feeling of her soft skin on my lips.
“Sure babe, you’ll have to stay in the car though, so the babysitter doesn’t see you” I say, turning away from her and pulling on the leather jacket “but you’ll want to see Sacha’s face when I tell her we’re coming back here.” I smile as I imagine how happy my little sister is going to be.
“Hold on...” says Cheryl as she sits up, frowning and obviously thinking hard, creating tiny lines creeping their way across her forehead.
“What?” I hesitate and look at her.
“You got here so quick last night-”
“Well it was good that I did, or you were going to...you aren’t complaining are you?” I ask as I pull on a pair of jeans. Cheryl doesn’t move, she just sits on the bed, thinking hard. “Are you coming or not Chez?” I ask, but she just waves my question away.
“But how did you get a babysitter so quickly? Unless...unless you were already out?” she says quietly, and she looks down at her legs that are crossed beneath her.
I look away. I don’t reply either, because I don’t want to lie to her, but equally I can’t tell her the truth. It doesn’t matter anyway, she already knows. I can hear it as she sighs.
“Kim?” she asks quietly, biting her bottom lip. I look at her, but she doesn’t look angry. She looks confused and disappointed.
“I didn’t have any choice. I don’t have any money, and we needed the money. We needed a place to stay and food and-”
“Babe” she says, and her face looks stricken and tired and maybe even a little scared.
“I’m sorry Cheryl-”
