Chapter Twelve
‘Kimberley, I have to tell you something.’
I was lay in her bed, in that blissful post-sex haze, my eyes closed as she stroked up and down my shoulder. ‘What?’
‘You’re not going to like it.’
‘What is it?’
‘I’m in a relationship.’
I sat up quickly to look at her. ‘And we’re engaged.’ She added in a whisper.
‘To a man, or a woman?’
‘A… a man.’
‘Right.’ I slid out of bed to sit on the edge, and she does the same, putting her arms around me. ‘I don’t love him.’
‘You must if he proposed and you said yes.’
‘I did at the time, then I met you. I don’t love him, I love you.’
‘Really?’
‘Don’t you love me?’ she said sadly.
‘I don’t know… I’ve never been in love before, I wouldn’t know.’
‘You’ve never been in love before?’
‘I’m only nineteen!’
Silence fell between us, and she started kissing my shoulder. ‘So, we’re having an affair.’ I said slowly.
‘I’m going to leave him.’ She said with determination. ‘That’s if… if you want to be with me for real. Do you?’
‘I hadn’t really thought about it like that.’ I admitted. ‘I’ve never had a proper… girlfriend before.’
‘Just f*ckbuddies?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Well, do you want me to be your first proper girlfriend?’ she said huskily, pushing me back down on the bed and kissing down my stomach. ‘Not until you finish with this guy.’
‘But until then…’ she whispered, ‘we can still carry on as we are?’
‘Like I’m gonna say no to that…’
It’s definitely the best birthday since I lost my dad.
We don’t do anything special at first. Cheryl takes me around LA shopping, even though we don’t buy anything, it’s just a beautiful place. We go and see a film, then to a little backstreet shop that sells enormous ice cream sundaes and we sit in the sun eating them as fast as possible because they immediately start to melt.
Cheryl takes us back to the house to get changed. ‘Wear that black dress I got you.’ She tells me. ‘It’ll be perfect.’
‘Perfect for what?’
‘You’ll see.’
‘Cheryl…’ I say warningly , but she just grins cheekily at me. ‘Hurry up babe, or we’ll miss it.’
‘Miss what?!’
‘I’m not telling you.’
‘You’re such a pain…’
**
We end up walking along the beach just as the sun is going down. ‘Why is nobody here?’ I say in disbelief, admiring the view and the silence. ‘It’s so beautiful here…’
‘I know… not many people come here, it’s only tiny compared to further up on the other side of those rocks. Oh look, it’s here!’
‘What’s here?’
‘Look.’
I have to shield my eyes because if the sun, but I see a boat coming in. ‘What, that?’ I say, looking at Cheryl in confusion. She just smiles. ‘Are we getting on that?!’
‘Aye, course we are. We’re having dinner on it aswell.’
She laughs when all I can do is stare at her. ‘What’re you looking at us like that for?’
‘How did you get that?’
‘It’s mine, Kimba.’
‘Really?! You can sail?’
‘Well yeah, but I won’t be tonight I’ll be eating with you, someone else will be sailing.’
‘Oh my God, you never told me you could sail!’
‘You never asked.’
‘Well it never came up, did it? It’d be weird if I just randomly asked you, like if I just randomly asked you if you could horse ride, or ski.’
‘Yep, that too.’
‘What, you can ski?’
‘Yeah, and horse ride.’
‘Bloody hell Cheryl, you’re full of surprises aren’t you?’
‘I’m a woman of many talents.’ She laughs. ‘Come on, you ready to board?’
‘I guess so…’
**
The sea is calm. We sail gently out into the middle of the ocean, resting under the stars, eating and talking. I think it’s the happiest I’ve ever felt in years, and Cheryl notices. ‘Why do you keep looking up and grinning?’ she giggles. ‘You’re not drunk are you?’
‘We’re not drinking. No, I’m just… I dunno.’
‘Go on, what?’
‘I can’t believe I’m here. I might have to pinch myself. This is… really bizarre.’
‘In a good way?’
‘Of course in a good way! I’m… really, really happy right now.’
‘Aah, good. You had a good birthday then?’
‘The best.’ I say seriously. ‘The absolute best.’
