Ice and Fire novel Chapter 142

After she arrived at the apartment, Cherry found a place to park her car and got out of it.

As she stood in front of the door that had used to be so familiar to her, Cherry took out a key from her handbag to open it; she had kept it for five years.

It was pitch-dark in the living room, and Cherry turned on the light habitually. A strong warm feeling suddenly came over her when she saw that everything around the house was the same as she had left it five years ago. She felt like she was back home again.

Hearing the noise in the living room, Jackson quickly got out of bed, put on a robe and went to see what was happening downstairs.

He stopped halfway on the stairs, astonished at the sight of the familiar figure in his house. Was he dreaming?

Cherry was walking around the living room, and when she was just about to step into the balcony, she saw Jackson. His vision was still foggy from the sleep, and it was obvious that he had just woken up.

Cherry turned her head to look at the watch on the wall and saw that it was eleven o'clock.

"Did I bother you?" softly asked Cherry.

After he heard her voice, Jackson began to realize that he wasn't dreaming after all. 'It's true, she came back! She actually came back!'

Jackson then went downstairs into the living room. He didn't get close to Cherry, but instead sat on the sofa, and started to ask, "Why did you..."

But Jackson didn't know what to ask her first. So he stopped before he could finish his sentence. Why did she come there? Or why did she come back? It seemed that he couldn't ask either one of them.

Cherry knew what Jackson wanted to say, and said, "I just wanted to see the apartment."

Jackson was speechless.

The living room was filled with a tense atmosphere, and Jackson lowered his head and kept being silent. Cherry also didn't know what to say to him.

After some time, she asked, "Can I go to the second floor?"

Jackson didn't answer her immediately, but after a while said, "Sure."

Cherry walked towards the staircase and then went upstairs, and Jackson followed in her wake.

Cherry looked inside the study, and saw that it was the same as it had always been. After that, she arrived at the door of the bedroom in which she had slept for so many nights half a decade ago.

Cherry didn't step inside, and instead saw the untidy bed in which Jackson had slept in through the doorway. Her scent couldn't be felt in the room anymore, her robe wasn't on the hanger, and there were no cosmetics lying on the dresser. The bedroom looked to be overall very deserted.

Cherry stood in the bedroom's doorway for some time, with Jackson beside her mute as a fish.

Some time later, Cherry said, "It's late, I'm going to go now; I'll leave you sleep."

After that, Cherry turned around to leave.

But Jackson suddenly grabbed her arm and embraced her tight from behind.

A warm feeling then filled Cherry's heart. She was speechless, and couldn't help but tremble a little because of Jackson's sudden reaction.

With his chin on Cherry's shoulder, Jackson fondly begged in her ear, "Please, stay with me a moment longer, okay?"

His detainment on her and his romance made Cherry's heart melt instantly. She had already known from the start that once she was inside it would be very hard to leave.

Jackson waited for some time for Cherry's answer. He suddenly kissed her ear, and whispered, "I miss you."

His words made Cherry feel miserable, and she made great efforts to manage to control her emotions and love for him. She didn't want her love towards Jackson to reignite again, but because Jackson had started to get closer and closer to her, it became more and more difficult for Cherry to stay in control.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" asked Cherry all of a sudden.