Page 83 of The Suite Life
‘Go away,’ she demands firmly. ‘I’m serious, right now, get out of here.’
Nathan looks genuinely terrified. Without a word, he does as she asks and hastily flees the scene.
Sunshine collapses into a chair with a dramatic sigh and starts sobbing.
I don’t know what to do other than sit down next to her and rub her shoulder.
‘Sunshine, it’s okay,’ I tell her, trying to comfort her as she sniffles and wipes her snotty nose with the back of her hand.
‘Gigi, listen to me,’ she just about manages to say between sobs. ‘I had no idea that he was still with you when we got together. I never would have done that to you – to anyone.’
‘You were single, he wasn’t – you have nothing to apologise for,’ I assure her. Obviously it’s not great, to facilitate someone cheating, but at the end of the day it’s always down to the taken person to resist.
She wails, flailing her arms around dramatically.
‘I really, really like him – I love him,’ she says.
‘Go after him,’ I suggest gently. ‘Talk it through, sort it out.’
‘No,’ she replies firmly. ‘I’m a girls’ girl. We don’t do that to each other, it’s not girl code.’
I smile softly at her.
‘Listen to me, okay?’ I start, squeezing her shoulder a little more firmly. ‘Nathan and I were not happy together. We were going to break up sooner or later. It really wasn’t your fault. But I’m over him, and he’s over me, and you two actually stand a chance of being happy together. So, if you love him, go after him, hear him out, and see how you feel then. But don’t lose out on a shot at love because of the way he treated me. I promise you, I’m okay.’
Sunshine sniffs hard, contemplating my words.
‘Are you sure?’ she checks.
‘I’m certain,’ I reply, offering her a reassuring smile. ‘And Lucy and Rick will figure it out too. It’s all going to be okay.’
Sunshine grabs me, pulling me into a tight hug.
‘Thank you,’ she says. ‘I’ll go find him now.’
Sunshine springs to her feet and heads off in the direction Nathan left in. As the bouncer moves the red rope to let her out, Gary Garrie joins us again.
‘Are you going to drink that?’ he asks me, nodding towards an open bottle of champagne.
‘I’m pretty tired, I’m going to bed,’ I tell him. ‘It’s all yours.’
‘I just keep landing on my feet,’ he says to himself, jumping up and down giddily on the spot.
‘Back to the suite?’ Donnie suggests.
‘I think that’s a good idea,’ I reply. ‘Quick – before anything else happens.’
As Donnie and I stroll, he gently takes my hand in his.
‘Are you okay?’ he asks softly.
‘I’ve had worse nights out,’ I say with a half-hearted laugh.
‘You know what I really love about you?’ Donnie begins. ‘The fact that even though you just found out your boyfriend cheated on you, you still found it in your heart to comfort the person he cheated with.’
I give his hand a squeeze.
‘To be honest, she was way more upset than I was,’ I admit. ‘Obviously, being cheated on doesn’t feel very nice, and I imagine I wouldn’t have taken it as well if I had found out at the time, but now, I don’t know, I’m just not bothered any more. I don’t feel anything for him, good or bad.’
