Ice and Fire novel Chapter 97

On the other side of the line, anger was slowly rising inside Sally's heart. 'Where are you, Jackson?' she thought anxiously. 'Why aren't you answering my calls?'

Cherry pulled over to the entrance of the hotel, as it was written on her sticky note. She checked the address and saw that it was correct, and after that she got out of the car and went straight to the hotel.

Cherry went to the reception and showed her identity. The hotel staff looked into the customers' messages and told her that there was a Mr. Xie who had asked the representatives of the JS Group to go upstairs and meet with him in his hotel room.

"You can go to Room 5022, " said the hotel staff respectfully.

"Thank you!" She then turned around and left the reception area.

At the VIP zone, Cherry looked around and searched for Room 5022. She was nervous, and her hands were shaking, and she was fearful that if she said something inappropriate or wrong, her client might refuse to sign the order form. 'What does my client look like?' she wondered. She couldn't lose such an expensive order for anything.

Cherry ran into a bellboy who was cleaning the hotel's corridor, and she hastily apologized for her carelessness.

The bellboy smiled at her, and said, "Never mind, lady."

After he left, Cherry continued her search for the room. Her mind went blank, and she had already forgotten the exact number of her client's hotel room.

As she stood between Room 5021 and Room 5022, Cherry had no idea on which door she should knock. She looked at the two identical doors, and regretted that she hadn't written down the room number on her sticky note.

Cherry finally decided to knock on door 5021.

When she was just about to stretch out her hand and knock on the door, it suddenly opened from the inside.

Cherry was prepared to ask if the man or woman that opened the door was her client.

"Excuse me, " she said, but after she opened her mouth, she quickly stopped her question halfway. When she saw the familiar face in front of her, she was struck dumb right there on the spot.

Jackson, was just about to leave the hotel when he opened the door and saw the familiar face that he had been dreaming about every night for the past five years. He stood in the doorway, dressed in his clean uniform, petrified. He had never thought that Cherry, his ex-wife and the woman that he loved so much, would suddenly appear at this hotel. Did God actually feel sorry for his pain and sorrows, and have pity on him?

Cherry was also taken aback by the man standing in front of her. He shared the same facial features with her son, but his face seemed to be more serious, and complicated. It was a face that she had once held in her hands, and kissed.

The two of them just stood still and stared at each other without talking, but at the same time they seemed to share and talk about their experiences and thoughts in the past five years while they were separated.

Finally, Cherry recovered first, and realized that Jackson wasn't the client that she was looking for. 'Why am I even standing here? Am I a stupid?' she thought. She never wanted to see the man again, and she wanted to turn around, and leave as quickly as possible.

But before Cherry had the chance to do that, Jackson had already guessed her thoughts, and he stretched out his hand, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his room.

Inside his hotel room, Jackson pushed Cherry's body against the wall, with one hand holding her arm, and the other squeezing her neck. He couldn't hate the woman enough.

"Are you running away again?" said Jackson coldly and furiously.

At such a close distance, Cherry didn't dare to look him in the eye. She looked away, and could hardly put up a good fight.

Jackson wasn't satisfied with Cherry's dodge. He turned her face towards his, so that their eyes could meet.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to see me?" He aggressively came closer to Cherry until his face was only an inch away from her nose. Her scent had remained unchanged, and he remembered that he had once lost himself in it. He told himself to stay calm and reasonable, although he had been hating this woman for almost five years. How could he ever forget how he was abandoned by this slut?

Cherry looked at Jackson's distorted face, and felt scared. She shouted, "You're hurting me! Let me go!"

"Do you think that's even possible?" asked Jackson. His glares hadn't left her face since the moment he opened the door and came across her. He might have skinned her and ate her alive, just to alleviate the pain that had accumulated in his heart in the past five years. "You left me five years ago, all of a sudden. Now you've returned, and met me at my hotel room. Why?"

Jackson's heart ached, and it was as painful as being stabbed several times by a sharp knife. He had never recovered from the blow, but he was now holding the woman in his arms again. How could he let her go easily? He thought that at least she should have a taste of the pains that he had suffered. She was deeply indebted to him, and she had to pay the price with whatever she had.

Cherry was unwilling to answer such a question. She had thought of the day when she would meet Jackson again, and wondered what kind of questions she would have to answer him, but she had never thought that their meeting would occur so suddenly and unexpectedly in a hotel. 'What's he even doing here?' she wondered.

Cherry couldn't help but shake her head and try to break away from him, but Jackson sensed her struggle and tightened his grip on her; he refused to let her go.

"Jackson, let me go!" shouted Cherry.

"Oh, so you still remember my name, don't you?" When Cherry called out his name, Jackson felt a spark ignited in his heart.