Cherry walked out of the hotel and looked at the setting sun in the sky. Her brain was overflowing with a whole tangle of emotions. Luckily, she had found just the right person and had him sign on the purchase order. At least, she would not have to worry about her work today.
Cherry sighed deeply and spoke to herself comfortingly, 'Cherry, cheer up! For Joe's sake, you have to work hard and be strong!'
In the evening, Cherry returned home but did not have her usual smile on. Wilson realised that there was something wrong with her the instant he saw her. He walked over and asked affectionately, "Cherr, what's the matter? Did anything go wrong at work today?"
Cherry did not want Wilson to worry about her so she shook her head and quickly replied, "No, everything was good."
Wilson understood that Cherry was trying to hide her true feelings. But he decided not to ask her any further questions and just nodded lightly.
At dinner too, Cherry continued with her pretence to be happy and played with Joe while eating. Neither Jacob Yuwen nor Elsa noticed anything wrong with Cherry's mood. Only Wilson did.
After dinner, Wilson's worry for Cherry continued. He wanted an excuse to spend time with her and decided to ask her to go shopping together with him. Cherry did not suspect anything about his intentions and readily agreed to go with him.
As soon as Cherry sat in the passenger seat, Wilson drove away and only came to a stop when the car reached a remote location.
Cherry looked around and asked curiously, "Wilson, what are we doing here? Weren't we supposed to go shopping?"
Wilson did not answer her question. Instead, he turned towards her, looked into her eyes and commanded intently, "Cherr, tell me about what the hell happened today."
As soon as Cherry heard his words, she tried to hide her expressions and blurted, "Nothing special…"
Wilson was not going to give up that easily. He continued, "Cherr, do you really think you can hide it from me? I can tell from your eyes and your face that there is something grossly wrong."
Cherry bit hard at her lips. She did not want to tell anyone, but she also knew that she could not hide anything from Wilson. He was the person who knew her the most in the entire world. He could always tell what she wanted or what had happened to her just from her expressions and body language.
After a while, Cherry surrendered and revealed, "I came across Jackson today."
When Wilson heard Jackson's name, he could not help but shudder. 'She finally met him', thought Wilson.
He did not know what to say in that moment. He paused for a while and tried, "What…what did he say to you?"
Cherry looked out of the car window and there was a lingering hint of sadness in her eyes. She said, "He told me that he hated me."
Wilson could not see Cherry's face as she spoke and he did not know how to comfort her. He knew that she had run away from the city without letting Jackson know and now that she had come back, Wilson was sure that Jackson would not allow her to leave anymore. His fantasy would also be shattered.
"What's your plan then?" asked Wilson.
Cherry took a deep breath and said evenly, "Even when I had decided to come back, I had never expected that I would ever be with him again. I don't care whether he hates me or not. I just want to take good care of Joe and live a happy life with him."
"Did you tell him about Joe?" Wilson was curious.
Cherry shook her head and said, "No, nor will I ever tell him. I will never allow him to take Joe away form me."
Wilson saw the determination in her eyes. He knew that Joe was the most important person for her and she could even sacrifice her own life for him.
"Cherr, just live your own life and ignore Jackson. Tell me whenever you need my help. I'll always be there for you, " said Wilson, knowing very well that he loved her more than he loved himself.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Ice and Fire