Ice and Fire

Joe declared with great determination, "If I get married in the future, I'll still always put my mommy first. I will take good care of mommy with the help of my wife, so that mommy can be happy ever after."

Cherry was delighted to hear those innocent words said by her son. Naive as they were, Cherry felt happy.

Cherry's heart still ached from Emily's death. She had always hidden it from her son, because Emily was too important to her. She did not want to mention it, and had to bury it deep inside her heart.

Joe looked at his mommy's face and took everything in. He knew that mommy had kept her emotions about one of the most important persons to herself, and that she never told him anything about Emily. Perhaps if mommy talked about Emily, she would cry. If that were the case, he couldn't make his mommy think about Emily; his mommy shouldn't cry again.

After a long while, Cherry looked at her watch and realised that it was too late in the night. She said to Joe, "It's very late now. Go to bed, and I'll drop you to school tomorrow."

"Ok, good night, " said Joe lovingly and obediently.

Lying in bed, Joe stared at the room ceiling, feeling that he had gained a new understanding of the father he had never met before.

Meanwhile, Jackson drove the car back to his department. He didn't return to the military residential compound, nor go to Sally. Once inside his apartment, he took out two bottles of wine and a glass, and drank all of the wine, sitting alone in the living room. He felt so bad.

Just then, the phone on the couch rang. He knew it was Sally calling him. He did not bother to pick it up.

After a while, Jackson heard somebody knocking at his door. At first, he thought he was hallucinating because he felt dizzy from drinking all that wine. Then, the knock on the door kept persisting. 'Who wants to see me at midnight?' he wondered. Could it possibly be Cherry? Had she promised that she would come back to the apartment?

A glimmer of hope started to rise in his heart. He stood up, came to the door, opened it and then, saw the angry face of Sally.

"Jackson, why didn't you answer my phone?" Sally demanded in a fury.

Jackson saw it was Sally and he felt disappointed. Then, without responding, he turned round and returned to the living room.

Sally knew he had been drinking wine. She followed

up his wine glass and continued to

from Jackson and scolded him, "You have had enough

either

asked again, "Why didn't you answer my

about me? I'm fine, " Jackson retorted, his rudeness obviously generated from the wine he had drank.

" said Sally, while looking into his eyes affectionately. Then, her tone became soft. "Jackson, I love

looked at Sally seriously in the eyes. He spoke every single word clearly and seriously. "I have always loved one woman, and that is Cherry, " he added. Then, he pointed his finger to his heart. "Only that

declaration of love for Cherry and tears streamed down her face.

more. In the past, whenever she cried, Jackson would try to comfort her. But five years had

slapped Jackson on his arm. She shouted angrily,

was accustomed

floor and grumbled, "You never forgot her once in the past five years, even though I was always there for you. You never stopped loving her. Although we seemed

that Jackson was doing this for Cherry, and his love

my wife, and also

what about me?" Sally asked aggressively again. "We once loved each other. Have you

and said earnestly and seriously, "Sally, if you truly love somebody, you can't just break away from

about. It was Cherry, that damn women who had

was suddenly distorted. She wiped tears off her face and stood up. Then, she looked

saying those words, she turned round and set

then, she heard Jackson's stern voice from behind her,

midway, frustrated with his

running down her face. "Is that all? What if I had done something to your wife? Will you kill