Ice and Fire novel Chapter 70

Stephen froze when his eyes finally focused on the corner she was sitting in. It was a familiar, but emaciated face, and her figure, as well as her appearance, made him feel an icy quiver in his heart.

Stephen stared at Cherry, and slowly started to walk up to her.

She sat in the corner and blankly stared at all the people twirling around on?the dance floor. She was there because she missed Emily, not to see other people having fun.

Cherry wasn't aware of the fact that Stephen was standing beside her until he called out her name. "Cherr, you're here!"

When she heard someone calling out her name, Cherry looked backwards, and saw that it was Stephen. She tried to quickly adjust her mood, and a reluctant smile appeared on her face, which was even more uglier than a grimace. She said, "Stephen, how did you know I was here?"

Stephen suffered when he looked at Cherry's face, and he had no choice but to withhold himself from speaking.

"Don't forget that this is my territory. I always know when you're here, " said Stephen.

Cherry believed that what he said was true. After all, it was his bar, and that meant that everything was under his watch, her included.

Embarrassed, Cherry quickly replied, "I'm so sorry..."

However, Stephen felt an unbearable pain pierce his heart. He fixed his eyes on Cherry, and said, "How are you doing these days?"

She was shocked by his greeting, and because Stephen acted just like a friend, this reminded Cherry of Emily one more time.

"Fine, not so bad, " said Cherry.

Stephen stared at her all the time during their talk. He said, "Not so bad, but it seems that you're not a bit happy at all."

When she heard him, Cherry looked down, and lowered her voice. She replied, "No, I'm actually leading a good life now."

Stephen tried to say, "Cherry, Emily..." but his words were quickly stopped by her before he could finish them.

Cherry immediately raised her head, looked at Stephen straight in the eye, and said, "Please, don't talk about Emily. I came here just to relax." She tried to hide her sadness, because she didn't want it to be mentioned, or noticed, by anyone else.

Stephen then stopped, But after a while, he asked, "Would you like something to drink?"

"A cocktail, thanks, " said Cherry. She hoped that the alcohol would do a quick job to anaesthetize her feelings.

Stephen gestured to a waiter, and told him to bring several glasses of cocktails to her table.

The waiter soon returned with the drinks, and as she looked at the full table, Cherry couldn't help but to pick one up and down the whole glass.

"Drink it slowly, " said Stephen, a bit worried when he saw that Cherry was so anxious. He knew that she still missed Emily very much, and he also knew that she couldn't get her off of her mind, even though she had been long gone already.

But Cherry didn't listen to Stephen for a second, and instead kept on gulping one drink after another, almost emptying all of the cocktail glasses on the table in a very short amount of time.

As she stared at the empty glasses, Cherry said to Stephen, "Give me some wine now, please."

Cherry just wanted to soothe her heavy heart, and to release all the sadness that had been built inside of her for so long with alcohol.

Stephen wanted to stop her when he saw her do that, but he also knew that she wouldn't listen to him for one moment.

In the end, Stephen followed Cherry's wish, and called the waiter to bring some wine to the table.

As soon as she saw the wine, Cherry started to drink again, despite of the fact that she started to feel uncomfortable and wanted to vomit. She ignored her nausea, and instead kept on gulping wine.