Chim - Keep Holding On

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cheryl woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. She blinked her eyes and saw Kimberley sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling down at her.

“Happy hangover!” Kimberley grinned at Cheryl.

“Me fcuking head!” Cheryl moaned.

“Yes, I thought that might be the case, so I found you some painkillers,” Kimberley pointed to the bedside table where she’d placed the pills next to a fresh glass of water. Cheryl realised Kimberley had changed back into the dress she had worn the night before.

“Are you leaving?”

Kimberley saw the sadness in her eyes and nodded apologetically.

“I am. Justin’s picking me up.”

“I’m sorry about my drunken state last night,” Cheryl said, thinking back over last night’s events. She immediately felt depressed just thinking about it all.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Kimberley smiled but didn’t look at her. “Just as well you don’t need to be in a studio today with a hangover like this!”

Cheryl could feel herself starting to panic...when the hell was she going to see Kimberley again?

“I’m going to miss you.” She said quietly.

“Cheryl, you’re being a bit dramatic, I mean it’s not as if one of us is moving out of the country! We only live about twenty minutes away from each other, we can still be friends!”

Cheryl nodded and looked down at her hands. She didn’t want to just be friends though.

“Come here,” Kimberley pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back. Cheryl leant into her and breathed in her scent. How the hell was she going to cope without seeing her every day? The sound of a car horn outside made them jump. Kimberley pulled away and avoided eye contact when she got up.

“We’ll speak soon, ok?” She walked over to the door and took one last look at Cheryl. Cheryl saw an intense shine in Kimberley’s eyes, and wondered if maybe Kimberley did feel at least just a fraction of the way she herself felt.

“Bye,” Cheryl smiled weakly as Kimberley turned and left the room. Her hangover suddenly felt about ten times worse, and she rolled over, with no intention of getting out of bed any time soon.

***************

It had been just over two weeks since the night they’d gone clubbing, but to Cheryl it felt like an eternity. They’d texted each other a couple of times, but that was it. The song had gone down a storm at the record label; everyone was starting to see why Kimberley had managed to make a name for herself so quickly.

At the start of the first week Cheryl thought it would be good to take advantage of the time apart so that she could try to get Kimberley out of her head. But the more she tried the more she failed. Again she pushed herself into as much work as possible, but it never succeeded to distract her. People around her noticed that she seemed a little depressed, but they put it down to the fact Ashley had been pictured with that woman a few weeks ago. And it hadn’t helped that there had been photos of Cheryl looking very much worse for wear when she’d left the club with Kimberley – everyone thought it was because she was so mortified to have seen the Ashley pictures that day.

By the end of the first week she’d given in and just let Kimberley consume her mind. A week after that she was determined to do something about it, even though she wasn’t sure what yet. She didn’t want to just turn up at Kimberley’s and tell her all her feelings – that would just be awkward, and would probably only push Kimberley further away. But she had to have Kimberley in her life properly again. She just needed to do it in a way that Kimberley wouldn’t say no to. Only one idea sprung to mind and Cheryl picked up her phone.

-“Hi Cheryl, everything ok?” Hillary answered.

-“Yeah, fine, it’s just I was thinking...do you think we could arrange more studio time with Kimberley? I have a song idea, and I want to run it by her,” Cheryl lied; she didn’t have a clue for a song.

-“I thought you were happy with the selection you have now?”

-“Well...I was, but then I don’t want to have not tried everything I can.”

-“I don’t know, Cheryl. The record label can’t just splash out money just because you think you have an idea. They’re happy with what you’ve got.”

Cheryl sighed, worried that this might have been the response.

-“Please Hillary, I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t completely serious.”

-“Ok, I’ll talk to the label and get back to you.”

-“Thanks Hills, I owe you!” Cheryl practically squealed.

-“Bye Cheryl!” Hillary laughed.

Finally Cheryl felt hopeful about something. She could understand why the label would have reservations about spending more money on studio time, but then again it wasn’t that much money in the grand scheme of things – her last album made a fortune, so this really shouldn’t be a problem.

About ten minutes later she received a text from Hillary.

Label are ok with it!

Do you want me to contact Kimberley for you?

Cheryl let out an excited squeak and replied to Hillary, telling her not to worry and that she would speak to Kimberley about it. She then dialled Kim’s number.

-“Hello?” Kimberley answered. Cheryl could immediately tell something wasn’t right about her voice.

-“Hey babe, it’s me, is everything ok?”

-“Yeah yeah, fine,” Kimberley replied, although Cheryl wasn’t convinced. “What’s up? I feel like we haven’t spoken in ages!”

-“Well actually I was going to ask if we could get back in the studio? I really want one more song!”

 -“Really? Ok, that sounds good...” Kimberley didn’t say much more, and Cheryl noticed the lack of enthusiasm, which upset her.

-“Only if you want to though, it doesn’t matter if not.” Cheryl said in a deflated tone.

-“Of course I want to Cheryl,” Kimberley insisted. “When do you want to start?”

Much happier at hearing this Cheryl smiled to herself.

-“Can I come over this afternoon?”

-“Um...actually today’s not good for me, how about tomorrow?” Kimberley replied after some hesitation.

-“That’s fine, but Kim, are you sure everything is ok?”

-“Yes, all’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow then, yeah?”

-“Ok, see you then.” Cheryl heard Kimberley hang up and wondered what was wrong. She would definitely get it out of her tomorrow.