Chapter Thirty Two
‘That’ll be Lily.’ Cheryl says, leaping to her feet when the buzzer goes.
‘Alright, don’t panic.’ I smile encouragingly. ‘I’ll go and stick the kettle on.’
I leave the room, and a minute or two later hear muffled conversation. Taking a deep breath I exit the kitchen and immediately catch the eye of Cheryl’s PA.
‘Hiya… you must be Lily, I’m Kimberley.’
Lily stares at me for a second, then comes to her senses and we shake hands. ‘Cheryl’s told me a lot about you.’
‘Err… I wish I could say the same… but it’s nice to meet you.’ She smiles.
‘Can I get you something to drink?’
‘No thanks, I’m fine… so – it’s true then?’ she says with a nervous giggle, looking at Cheryl.
Cheryl comes to stand beside me, slipping her hand into mine. ‘Yeah, it’s true. Me and Kim are together.’
‘Okay then.’ Lily smiles, sitting down. Cheryl and I look at each other in surprise; we were expecting more of a reaction. ‘Right,’ she says, ‘I don’t really know if that makes things easier or harder. We could tell the newspaper not to run the story until you make a formal statement--’
‘Formal statement?! I haven’t done anything illegal!’ Cheryl snorts irritably, pulling me to sit beside her.
‘Yes but it’ll look better if you announce it…’
‘At this point I really don’t care.’ Cheryl shrugs. ‘So how did this happen, who went to the papers?’
‘Oh my God.’ I gasp, suddenly realizing something.
‘What, babe?’
‘M-my mum.’ I stammer. ‘She kept ringing last night… oh my God, it was her. It had to have been her.’
There is a long silence, then Lily clears her throat. ‘What do you want to do, Cheryl?’
‘Kimba?’ Cheryl says timidly. I can feel my blood boiling, furious. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Well, you could always deny it.’ Lily shrugs.
‘But it will come out sooner or later, then it’ll just have been a lie, Cheryl will look really bad.’ I point out. ‘And even if we can stop them running the story, they’ll still know, they’ll probably find a way to get it out.’
‘If we spoke to them and said I’m gonna announce it, we can make it illegal for them to print anything until I do.’ Cheryl says.
‘But they’ll probably want to make a deal then; you announce it with them, in person, so they can print it in your own words, then they still get their story and their glory and their money.’
‘This is so f*cked up.’ I sigh. Cheryl rests her hand on my knee. ‘What do you think, Kimba?’
‘I think… I want to speak to my mum now.’
‘What?’
‘I’m gonna call her.’ I say, standing up. Cheryl follows me. ‘No, don’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because—well you don’t know for sure it was her.’
‘Oh come on, Cheryl, you know what she’s like, who else would it be?’
‘Sorry…’ Lily interrupts, ‘But, err… I could always ask them where they got the story from.’
‘There’s no need, I already know.’ I say as politely as possible.
‘Kimberley?’ Lily addresses me. ‘Is there anything I should know… about you? Because if this is going to come out soon, the press will be all over it, they’ll start digging into your past like you wouldn’t believe.’
‘S-seriously?’
‘Babe, come and sit back down.’ Cheryl pleads. ‘If you still want to call your mum after we’re sorted here, feel free, just not yet, yeah?’
‘Fine.’ I sit back down, but on the edge of the sofa’s arm, fidgeting.
‘Anyway, there’s nothing you need to know about Kimberley.’ Cheryl says, taking me by surprise. ‘We don’t have to go into that.’
