In the bathroom, Selina carefully cleaned Cherry's face as gently as she could. It pained her to see Cherry's swollen cheek.
"Cherry, how do you feel?" asked Selina anxiously.
Cherry slowly straightened herself up and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She whispered, "I'm fine."
However, Selina was sure that it hurt a lot, event though Cherry tried to deny it.
Cherry looked at her friend, and sincerely said, "Selina, thank you."
She knew that Cherry was referring to what happened back at the party, and said, "You're welcome. I just don't like Sally's attitude at all. What makes she think that she had the right to smack you?"
Cherry didn't reply.
Selina then understood that Cherry was not the kind of person who liked to speak ill of someone else, and that was why she couldn't blame Sally. After all, Sally was Jackson's partner at the party.
Selina suddenly asked, "Cherry, did you leave Jackson five years ago because of Sally?"
Selina was dying to know why Cherry had left Jackson, because only by knowing the truth could she make a comprehensive plan of reuniting Cherry with Jackson. But now she didn't know how to make things better.
Cherry looked away to avoid Selina's gaze, and then said, "Isn't Sally the love of his life?"
Suddenly all made sense to Selina. Because Cherry had cared so much about Jackson, she was offended by Sally meddling in their relationship.
"No, " answered Selina in an instant, but she still didn't know how to tell Cherry the whole truth. She added, "Sally doesn't deserve that."
But before Selina could say anything more, she was suddenly interrupted by Cherry.
Cherry raised one hand, and said, "Selina, please stop."
Selina sensed Cherry's sadness and obeyed. If she had been the one smacked so openly in public, she would have been even more depressed than Cherry was.
"Let's go, " said Cherry.
Selina nodded.
But when they walked out of the bathroom, they stopped.
Jackson was standing at the end of the hallway and looking at them.
They knew that he had been waiting for them all along. For what other reason would he be there, when everyone else was outside and having fun?
Selina knew that Jackson had to be there for Cherry. Although she had smacked Sally in retribution for Cherry, Jackson wasn't angry with her.
She took the hint, and said, "Cherry, I'll go first."
Cherry grabbed Selina's arm and shook her head, begging, "Please, don't go."
Cherry was afraid of Jackson. She didn't dare to face Jackson alone, and as a matter of fact she also didn't know how to face him.
Selina patted Cherry's hand, and comforted her, "Take it easy, he won't hurt you. I promise."
She gave Cherry an encouraging look, and then took her leave.
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