Chapter Text
Everything is of course a work of fiction, I have another chapter lined up if there's any interest..
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The front door unlocked as Nadine turned the key in the lock, clutching Ayaiya's hand in her own Nadine smiled down at her daughter as she pushed the door open.
Almost two days worth of travelling back from Australia had Nadine exhausted so she couldn't imagine how tired her little girl was. Lifting the young girl up on her waist, Nadine dragged their suitcases behind her and closed the door over.
It was just the two of them for tonight, Nadine had made it clear she wanted a night alone with her daughter despite both Jason and her parents insisting but after a month away all she wanted to do was cuddle up in bed with Anaíya by her side. The plan was to stay in London for a week or so and then head back to Ireland for Christmas with the whole family and Nadine couldn't wait.
"Mammy?" Nadine smiled at the young girls tired mumbling against her neck, enjoying how clingy the young girl had been the past few days.
"Yes baby?" Nadine replied, chucking the house keys on the kitchen counter as she moved towards the fridge glad to see someone had kindly stocked it up for their return.
Pulling out a carton of milk, she opened the kitchen cupboard above the counter to grab a plastic cup before filling it half full.
Placing Anaíya down on the kitchen counter, Nadine handed the young girl the cup as she brushed back the stray hairs from her daughters face.
"Can we go to bed?" Nadine chuckled at the question, glancing up at the clock hanging above the kitchen door it read 10 o'clock in the morning.
"Of course we can honey." Nadine knew it was best not to let the young girl sleep for too long but it was the only way to avoid any tantrums later in the day. Anaíya lifted her arms up, motioning to get lifted up again.
Nadine couldn't help the tears that sprung to her eyes as her daughter nuzzled her face right into her neck, Anaíya's arms and legs wrapping tightly around her body.
It had been a roller-coaster of emotions, facing her fears and trying to get back to her old sense of self confidence. One thing she had learnt was that she would do anything to make her daughter proud, it was a new beginning for them but first they were most definitely in need of some sleep.
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Anaíya was fast asleep, wedged as tightly to Nadine's body as possible her little arm possessively clung around her mother's waist.
Jetlag hardly ever affected Nadine, years of travelling back and fore between LA and London had her more or less immune to the side effects. The Irish women couldn't be sure how long she had been laying watching her daughter sleep for, happy to watch the rise and fall of her little chest.
The sound of her phone chiming not for the first time on the bed side table broke her out of her thoughts, carefully reaching behind her Nadine picked the phone up thankfully not waking Anaíya in the process.
Hitting the home button, Nadine's phone screen lit up with multiple notifications appearing. Jason's name popping up with multiple texts wondering how she and Anaíya were. It was the phone call from an unknown number at the top of the list that had her eyebrows knotting together, not recognising the number at all.
Just as she went to unlock her phone, a text came through from the same number.
'Hey Nadine. Not sure if this is still the right number. Its Kimberley. X'
Nadine's eyes widened, not sure she was seeing things properly she read over the text multiple times.
Although Nadine avoided reading newspapers and online articles it was hard to miss the rumours of a WhatsApp group set up by the other girls to plot against her. It was one of the first things her sisters had mentioned when they were sat in the car after her departure from the jungle headed back to the hotel. Every single interview she had given, it was brought up but all she could do was give a vague answer and hope that they didn't twist it into something it wasn't.
If Nadine was being honest, it wasn't something that bothered her anymore. The harsh reality was that she was always the outsider. Pushed aside as Kimberley, Cheryl and Nicola all grew closer and she grew lonelier.
As Nadine thought more and more about it, it wasn't that much of a surprise that Kimberley had reached out. Bad publicity was never good, especially not surrounding an already sore point of a feud between herself and the other girls. No doubt, the girls were squirming and probably
needed Nadine to make more of a statement.
Placing her phone back on the bedside table, Nadine knew she would have to reply but right now she wanted a stress free afternoon.
Gently stroking her daughter's cheek, Nadine leant down to place a kiss on Anaíya's cheek watching as the young girls eyes fluttered open.
"Hello baby. Fancy something to eat?" Nadine offered, smiling at Anaíya's groggy nod of the head.
Pulling the covers over their heads Nadine tickled Anaíya all over, the giggling and laughter was music to her ears.
It had taken a long time before she had started to find confidence in herself as a mother, second guessing herself and phoning her mother up at all times of the day and night but now she felt as though she could actually do it herself. The prospect of being a single mother had scared her but all she knew was as long as she was there for her daughter the way her mother was for her then they would be fine.
If anyone had said to Nadine she would be the first to have a child out of all the girls she would have laughed in their faces and yet here she was, a 5 year old daughter who made her proud to be a mother.
Nadine could only imagine the other girls faces when they found out she was pregnant, no doubt just as shocked as she was. There was a part of her that was sad that they weren't a part of Anaíya's life, the same sadness she felt at never meeting either Cheryl or Kimberley's little boys. Even though they weren't friends, they shared a bond with each other that nobody else in the world could understand.
Even though she had accepted the fact they weren't friends, Nadine still loved them all. It was strange, loving someone that didn't really want to give you the time of day and yet she still did. Nadine didn't know how she would respond to Kimberley, unsure exactly what her intentions were she knew the only way was to reply to the text but she didn't handle awkward situations very well.
A few hours to mull over what to do was the best plan of action she could come up with, lifting Anaíya up from the bed she danced around the bedroom before making her way down the stairs with her daughter clinging onto her back.
The text had certainly sent her mind into overdrive that was for sure.
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It wasn't until just after 9 o'clock that night when Nadine had lay down in bed that she picked her phone up again, yet more notifications from her family and Jason appeared but right now it was Kimberley's text that she concentrated on.
Nadine's fingers hovered over the keyboard, typing and deleting multiple texts before finally settling on a reply ten minutes later.
'Hi Kim, you've got the right number. How are you? X'
Shaking her head at herself for taking so long to come up with two sentences in response, Nadine hit the send button.
Charmaine had mentioned a Loose Women interview that Kimberley had done when she was in the jungle, more than once trying to talk to Nadine about it but at the time she wasn't interested. All she had wanted was to relax with her daughter without being questioned about the other girls but now with Kimberley's text she found herself curious.
Quickly typing her own name into the
search bar on Google, Nadine was bombarded with multiple articles with the word
'feud' featuring heavily in the majority of them.
There was a picture of Cheryl, apparently heading to Kimberley's birthday party, that made Nadine stop scrolling. The Irish women never could quite understand why Ashley would ever want to cheat on Cheryl. The women was stunning and as much as they didn't see eye to eye on numerous occasions Nadine could never say Cheryl was a horrible person. Quite the opposite actually.
Nadine didn't know exactly why deep down she felt hurt by Cheryl constantly distancing herself from her. It had become easier and easier over time to pretend it didn't bother her even though it truly did.
Article after article quoting Kimberley's interview but the one line that stuck out for her was the line about Cheryl crying. Nadine couldn't understand it, if anyone she would expect Kimberley to be the most upset about the rumours considering they were more friendly than she ever had been with Cheryl.
Nadine could feel a headache coming over her, whether from exhaustion or from her mind going into frenzy from Kimberley's texts.
The phone in Nadine's hand began to ring, quickly glancing down at Anaíya she could see the young girl beginning to fuss at the rather loud intrusion. Quickly answering before she could really even think about declining the call from Kimberley, Nadine held the phone up to her ear and waited.
"Hello? Nadine?" Kimberley's Yorkshire accent floated down the phone, the women sounded hesitant and Nadine couldn't blame her.
"Kimberley, everything okay?" Nadine answered quietly, not realising just how much she missed hearing Kimberley's voice even if it was just over the phone.
When they had started Popstars The Rivals, Kimberley had been her best friend but even more so a motherly figure which she sorely needed being so far away from home. Whenever she had missed home, crying quietly in bed it had always been Kimberley who wrapped her up in a cuddle and reassured her with her warm and caring ways.
“Everything’s fine, I thought it would be easier to talk on the phone rather than texting. Only if you’re free to talk now?” Nadine lifted her reading glasses up to sit on her head, not quite sure how this conversation was going to go considering their track record.
"I'm just in bed with Anaiya, she's fast asleep with the jetlag. Was there something you needed to talk about?" Nadine didn't want to come across as being rude but the fact was that the way the two of them had left things after the band splitting up wasn't exactly friendly.
Kimberley had said it herself in the interview, it was a 'profession relationship' and not a friendship, not that Nadine didn't do her fair share of trying to salvage their friendship. Kimberley just wasn't interested.
"I take it you're still more or less immune from jetlag then? All that travelling back and fore between London and LA came in handy. Nothing in particular, just wanted to see how you were doing." Nadine could tell there was something more to the phone call, Kimberley was skirting around whatever it was.
"I'm doing fine thank you. I take it everything is okay with you?" Nadine had been waiting for it and she was sure the reason for the phone call was coming. She wasn't wrong.
"I'm fine thanks. Cheryl's quite upset, I'm sure by now you've seen all the rumours splashed across the papers..." The way Kimberley left the sentence hanging as thought waiting for Nadine to make some kind of comment had the Irish women rolling her eyes in annoyance.
Nadine felt almost hurt, for a second when Kimberley's text came through a glimmer of hope shot through her at the possibility of the Bradford women wanting to reconnect but as far as she was concerned Cheryl's feelings always came first.
"It's not as if there haven't been plenty of stories printed about a feud going on before so why is she bothered now? And why is it you that's phoning and not her if she's supposedly so upset by it?" Nadine could feel herself getting more and more annoyed.
If anyone should be upset then it was her, a chance for herself to shine and show everyone she wasn't the bitch that the media liked to portray was shadowed by the others girls yet again.
It was as though she couldn't do anything without them being brought up and now Cheryl wanted it to be about her again. It was selfish but Nadine just wanted a bit of attention for once without it being about Girls Aloud. She loved the band to bits but right now it was driving her insane.
"It's upsetting because we only wanted to see you do well Nadine! Unlike what the papers tried to make out! Seriously babe? Would you have even spoken to her if she'd have come on the phone?" It was the final question that hurt her, the insinuation that she disliked Cheryl.
It was as if the more she denied it the more people believed it. Yes, there may have been times where the Geordie women annoyed her but never to the point of hating or even disliking her.
"If you even need to ask that then you clearly still don't know me very well. I would speak to any of you, Cheryl included but clearly it doesn't go both ways considering we only ever had a 'work relationship' as you so very often like to put it." Nadine could hear the sounds of Kimberley's children playing in the background.
The silence from Kimberley almost made her want to apologise, it was a bit of a low blow and clearly the Bradford women didn't know how to respond but she held her ground and let the awkward moment carry on.
"Maybe it's best we meet up, doing this over the phone isn't really working is it? Are you staying in London?" Nadine didn't know whether to lie or not, the stress free option would be to say she was leaving for Ireland tomorrow but no doubt the press would rumble her if she so much as walked out her front door in London which she planned to do this week.
"I'll be in London for the next week, I've got a few radio and TV appearances lined up but nothing too crazy. I'll text you tomorrow if that's okay?" Nadine knew it was time for a fresh start, wipe the slate clean and even if they couldn't repair or salvage the friendship that faded away over 15 years ago she would try if Kimberley was willing to put herself out there too.
"That's perfect. I suppose I had better get my little rascals off to bed so I'll leave you to get some sleep. N'night babe." Nadine smiled at the thought of Kimberley wrangling her young boys up to bed, glad that the jetlag had taken over Anaíya rather than the young girl fighting the much needed sleep.
"Night Kim." Nadine pulled the phone away from her head, hanging up she dropped the phone on her chest before rubbing her face. Quickly picking the phone up, Nadine made quick work of texting everyone back before muting her phone.
It had certainly been an eventful day. Nadine's thoughts drifted to the conversation that had ended not even a minute ago, not knowing whether to be looking forward about the imminent meeting or wary. Reminding herself that it was only Kimberley, Nadine took a deep breath before reaching over to place her phone on the side and turn the bedside lamp off leaving the room in darkness.
The quietness was slightly unnerving, used to the sounds of the jungle Nadine was half tempted to play some kind of nature playlist on her music app but settled on pulling Anaíya closer. Falling asleep to the gentle snores of her daughter in her ear, Nadine felt a sense of peace and calm wash over her before the exhaustion finally caught up as she drifted off to sleep.
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Kimberley placed her phone down on the kitchen counter, not quite sure what to make of the phone call. Kimberley had expected a frosty reception, prepared herself for the Irish women to completely ignore the phone call or dismiss the suggestion of meeting up and yet Nadine was texting her tomorrow with a time to meet up. The more Kimberley thought about it the more she felt almost excited about meeting up.
"How did it go then?" Cheryl's voice broke through her thoughts, the question was asked with trepidation as Kimberley swirled around to face the Geordie women.
Standing against the door frame, Bear rested on her waist snuggled into her side, Cheryl bit her thumb nail as she waited for Kimberley's reply. If Kimberley was being completely honest, she couldn't quite understand exactly why Cheryl was so bothered by the rumours.
As Nadine had said, they weren't particularly close and yet the way Cheryl had reacted with tears had surprised her but then again the Geordie women was rather emotional lately and the stress of being slated off in magazines probably wasn't helping at all.
"I wouldn't say it went amazingly but she's going to text me tomorrow to let me know when we can meet up. I think she's going home to Ireland next week so I'd imagine it would be in the next few days." Kimberley replied, walking over towards Cheryl she tickled under Bear's chin smiling as the young toddler giggled in response.
Cheryl nodded her head, the look on her face told Kimberley the women was digesting everything she had been told and was dying to ask for more information. After knowing Cheryl for so long she knew if she stayed quiet for long enough the women would no doubt ask the question.
"Did she say anything about me?" Cheryl was shifting from foot to foot, almost trying to hide her face from Kimberley as though embarrassed by her question.
"I told her you were upset by everything that was being said, I don't know if she quite believed me to be honest.. I think it would have been better coming from you rather than through me." Cheryl stood silently mulling over Kimberley's honest response whilst the Bradford women walked back towards her phone.
"Do you want her number?" Kimberley offered, motioning towards the phone in her hand.
Cheryl strolled over towards Kimberley, placing Bear on the kitchen counter so the young boy was facing her she kissed his forehead before turning to face her best friend. Kimberley smiled at the sound of Bobby in the background trying to get out of going to bed with Justin, not that it seemed to be working one bit.
"Has she still got the same house in London?" All Kimberley could do was shrug her shoulders.
Leaning forward Cheryl wrapped her arm around Kimberley's shoulder, pulling the older women into a one armed hug whilst making sure Bear didn't fall off the counter.
"I'll leave you to it. Justin sounds like he's got his hands full through there plus this one here needs his bed too. Love you Kimbs." Cheryl kissed Kimberley's cheek before pulling back and lifting Bear to wrap around her slim waist.
"Love you too babe. I'll text you tomorrow, yeah?" Cheryl nodded her head before walking through to the living room to gather up their things leaving Kimberley in the kitchen alone with her thoughts.
Saying a quick goodnight to Justin and Bobby, Cheryl made her way towards her car parked outside. Bear was mumbling away to himself as Cheryl clipped him into his car seat, grateful for there being no paparazzi around to snap photos of her at this time of night.
Starting the car up, Cheryl glanced in the backseat to see her son's head gently sloping off to the side as his eyes fluttered closed with exhaustion after a day of playing with Bobby and Cole. Nadine was playing heavily on her mind and had been for the past month or so. The Irish women rarely ever appeared in the newspapers but now she was all over them and it gave the opportunity to highlight the 'rivalry'.
Cheryl was sick and tired of the constant nastiness being printed about both herself and Nadine and she knew the only way to fix things was to make a real effort with Nadine.
Tomorrow, she would make the first step.