Cheryl couldn't help but smile at him, he had this overpowering effect on her emotions and when she was around him she couldn't control herself. He nodded his head at her in response to the first words that had been spoken between them for eight years; he couldn't bring himself to speak to her. He wasn't ready and he knew she could see the pain in his eyes whenever he looked in her direction.
The door swung open once more and Simon pulled a confused face when Sarah and Nadine darted in front of it, shielding whoever had just entered the room. He looked up and saw the panic etched onto Cheryl's face as she glanced between her band mates. Simon noticed that Nicola had grabbed hold of Cheryl's hand, the colour difference between their skin made him chuckle slightly, but he was more interested in who Nadine and Sarah were hiding behind them. His suspicions arose even further when Kimberley wandered around the back of them and bent down, as if she was talking to someone.
Simon stood up from his leather chair; he was desperate to find out what the big secret was the girls were hiding. He felt paranoid even though he was in his own studio, they were hiding something from him and as they were some of the only people that had ever known about his relationship with their best friend he assumed it was something to do with him.
"Kimble let us go!" Lola shouted as Kimberley held her hands in an attempt to keep the little girl hidden from Simon for as long as humanly possible. Cheryl gasped when she heard the unmistakeable voice from her child; she prayed no one else had heard Lola in the quiet room.
Cheryl closed her eyes when she felt her child push her way through the girls and ultimately right into Simon's eyesight. She squeezed Nicola's hand tighter than ever as she bit the inside of her lip in an effort to stop the tears falling down her face. This was not how she had ever imagined her daughter meeting her father; it was definitely not how she wanted them to meet either.
"Mammy why was you all in front of us?" Lola asked with an annoyed tone in the now silent room as people watched the scene unfold in front of them.
"Eloise arrête! Séjour avec moi et arrêt étant bruyant, personne ne veut écouter vous criant" Cheryl scolded her daughter slightly through the fear of Simon seeing the commotion.
"Pourquoi êtes vous Français parlent?" Lola asked her mum with a bemused glare, her annoyance still evident despite the language change. Cheryl grabbed her daughters hand and a stern manner which Lola immediately knew meant she was in trouble.
"Car je veux parler les Français cessent maintenant d'être effrontés" Cheryl warned the seven year old as they both continued to stare into each other's brown eyes.
Cheryl felt the familiar sense of tears forming in her eyes as she looked at her daughter who clearly had no idea what was going on, she felt Kimberley rest her hand against her back for some form of comfort. It was some sort of coping technique for Cheryl, to talk to Lola is French as she knew no one would understand exactly what they were saying, her thoughts were confirmed when she glanced up and everyone that was left in the room was staring at mother and daughter in disbelief.
Cheryl bit the inside of her lip and began muttering in French, occasionally rubbing her head with her hand and walking back and forth over and over again. Simon was shocked, to say the least, he was looking at the little girl then looking back to Cheryl. He couldn't believe she had a daughter, the woman of his dreams had a child with another man. He knew there was no possibility of them getting back together ever again now. He watched in astonishment as Cheryl paced the room groaning in the foreign language with her child occasionally joining in as if it was their own secret way to communicate.
His thoughts bounced around in his overflowing mind as he tried to process the situation in front of his eyes. Cheryl had a daughter. Not even a baby daughter, a child. A walking, talking child. A human being. He couldn't focus properly on the situation; Cheryl was still mumbling away to herself in the corner and the girls were trying to calm her child down.
His mind replayed the last few minutes over and over again. He swore he had heard Cheryl say her child's name, it had sounded French but amongst all the French she was saying he could have easily been mistaken.
"Eloise?" he practically whispered and immediately the room fell silent. Cheryl gasped out loud and raised her hand over her mouth as she heard Simon say his daughters name for the first time, "that's a pretty name, is it French?"
"Aye" Lola nodded uncomfortably as her full name was being thrown around the room full of people she had merely seen on the tv, "It means warrior. Kimble said mam give it us cos she's a warrior and she wanted us to fight like her" the little girl beamed as she hugged Cheryl's legs.
"Your mum is a fighter" Simon nodded in agreement, he was thinking about Cheryl's life. It was true, she was a warrior. Infidelity. Malaria. Divorce. Single Parent. There was no doubt in Simon's mind that Cheryl was a fighter, she had fought for everything. Everything that was, except their relationship together.
"But I don't like being called Eloise, everyone calls us Lola. Don't they Mam?" she smiled and Simon's heart melted at the sight of the infamous dimples she had inherited from her mother. Cheryl nodded her head slowly, her red curls bobbing slightly. She bent down and whispered something to her daughter who then immediately grabbed Nadine's hand and the brunette walked out of the room with her.
It wasn't long before Sarah raised her eyebrow at Louis who got the hint to leave the room too and Dannii dutifully followed.
"Thanks" Cheryl smiled weakly as her band mates left the room leaving her and Simon alone for the first time in eight years.
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Eloise arrête! Séjour avec moi et arrêt étant bruyant, personne ne veut écouter vous criant - Eloise stop! Stay with me and stop being noisy, nobody want to hear you shouting.
Pourquoi êtes vous Français parlent - Why are you speaking in French?
Car je veux parler les Français cessent maintenant d'être effrontés - Because I want to speak in French now stop being cheeky.
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