Ice and Fire novel Chapter 69

Early next morning, Jackson received a call from the army base, and was told that there was something that needed to be urgently handled by him.

He didn't have the heart to wake Cheery up when he saw that she was still sleeping after he spoke on the phone.

When Jackson felt Cherry move, he carefully asked, "Are you awake?" and when she opened her eyes and looked at him, he focused his gaze on her.

"Yes, when did you wake up?" asked Cherry.

Jackson gently stroke Cherry's hair, and said, "Just earlier."

Cherry read Jackson's face, and figured that there must be something on Jackson's mind, and asked, "Do you have anything to tell me?"

Jackson paused for a moment, and then said, "I have to go back to the barracks soon."

"Oh, " replied Cherry, "Then you have to start packing. You don't want to be late."

Cherry knew that military orders could never be violated, and it seemed that Jackson had already wasted quite some time waiting for her to be awake.

After they got up out of bed and washed, Jackson put on his army uniform. After she checked his clothing and made sure that it was okay, Cherry whispered to him, "You go on ahead, I'll be right here waiting for you when you get back."

"I don't know for how many days I'll be gone; I don't want to leave you, " said Jackson.

In contrast to him, Cherry looked more indifferent, and said, "The military comes first. Don't worry, I take good care of myself when I'm home alone."

Before he left, he kissed her forehead, and reluctantly replied, "Okay."

Watching Jackson leave, Cherry felt slightly wistful?and sad, because she was yet again condemned to be alone for a period, devoid of Jackson's companionship.

Jackson had already been gone for several days, and the longer Cherry stayed at home alone, the more she felt upset. She spent every afternoon looking out the balcony, and after dusk fell, she just stared blankly at the ceiling for most of the night. She was thinking about Emily, and about the days that they had spent together. She missed Jackson, and no longer blamed him for Emily's accident, aware that her love had surpassed her blame.

One morning, Cherry got up as usual, and after she washed, she stood on the balcony to breathe the fresh air from outside.

Soon after that, Cherry didn't feel so good, and started to get pale. She patted herself on the chest, but nausea struck her just before her hands reached her chest. With her hands clamped around her mouth, Cherry immediately ran into the toilet.

It was not until half an hour passed that Cherry started to feel better again.

She looked at her pale face in the mirror, and thought that she felt that way because she hadn't eaten a square meal in days. She didn't have any kind of appetite, and could do nothing but to fight with her body.

As she walked out of the toilet, Cherry sank herself in the sofa and drank a cup of water, something that made her feel much more better. She then switched on the television to watch news, and the whole morning passed quickly in leisure.

In the afternoon, after a short nap, Cherry was bored and had no idea about what to do next. She walked to the wardrobe and opened it, and she saw all of the clothes that belonged to her. Cherry also saw the purple dress, and felt painful, because she had bought it with Emily when they went shopping together. She remembered of her again, and all the days that she had spent with her appeared in front of her eyes and played just like a movie.

Cherry took out some clothes from the wardrobe, changed into them, put on some light make-up, picked up her bag, and went out.

Cherry then went to the bar, looked at the large letters that spelled its name in front of the door, and felt a quick pain stab her heart. In the past, Cherry had come there only for Emily. She had always believed that wherever Emily was, there surely must be a place full of joy, and that included the bar. Although it was noisy and chaotic, she still loved coming there because of Emily's voice and presence. But why did she come there now? Did she come there looking for traces of Emily?

Cherry stood at the entrance of the bar for a long time before she entered it, and as soon as she walked through the door, the first thing Cherry saw was the bar counter, because that was the place where Emily had worked.

However, the girl at the counter was no longer Emily. She instead saw a young girl with her mouth corners slightly raised, wearing the same work clothes as Emily had. She was mixing drinks for customers with a smile on her face, and her movements were natural, almost as good as Emily's were.

Looking at the young girl in front of the bar counter, Cherry's eyes turned red and filled with tears. She missed Emily very much.

All of a sudden, a drunk man walked by Cherry and accidentally collided with her, but Cherry quickly recovered from the brief shock.

The drunk man didn't pay any attention to Cherry, and instead just went ahead after colliding with her without any sort of inclination?to apologize.

Not caring about his apology, Cherry then looked at the people around her. When she found an empty table in the corner, Cherry walked over to it, and sat down.

At that moment, a waiter happened to pass by Cherry's table, and as he took a quick look at her, he immediately recognized her. He quickly put the tray that he was carrying in his hand on the bar counter, and then walked forward towards the staff room.

Stephen was sitting in his office and browsing his files when he heard a knock on the door. Without raising his head from the paperwork in front of him, he said, "Come in."

When the waiter came in, he found that Stephen was busy working. He was nervous, because he didn't know whether he should tell his boss what he saw or not.

Stephen naturally looked up, and when he saw that it was just a waiter, he casually asked, "What's wrong, Tom?"

After he said this, Stephen continued to immerse himself in his office work.

Tom, the waiter, first hesitated for a?second, but then stood in front of Stephen, and said, "Mr. Stephen, I just saw Emily's friend, Miss Cherry, in the bar."

As soon as Tom's last words came out of his mouth, Stephen raised his head, and looked at him in surprise.

Tom felt even more nervous when he saw Stephen's reaction, and immediately said, "I was bringing some wine to a table just now and brushed against Miss Cherry by accident. I'm pretty sure that it's her, but she looks so emaciated, and her face..." Tom paused for a few seconds, and then continued, "doesn't look so good."

Stephen quickly rose to his feet, and asked, "Where is she now?"

"I just saw her in the hall. She should still be there, " said Tom, and as soon as he finished his words, Stephen quickly walked to the door.

Stephen reached the hall, and frantically looked for Cherry. It had been a long time since he had last seen her at Emily's funeral. He had missed her much and wanted to see her, and he had also heard about the accident, and wondered how she was feeling lately.