Ice and Fire novel Chapter 350

Joe paused his game and decided that he had heard enough of the adult conversation. He looked up at John and said,"John, would you like to play games with me?" he asked.

John looked at the adorable Joe, smiled and said,"Okay."

"How about we go to the reading room? There is a computer there that we can use, we can play online games." Joe happily suggested. He was glad that he finally found a willing playmate. His Daddy was always busy and had no time to play with him. He was eager for another man's company, another adult male who was happy to spend time with him.

"Okay, let's go," said John. Then he stood up and reached out his hand to Joe.

Joe gladly took his hand and said to his parents,"Daddy, Mommy, I'm going upstairs with my brother and play computer games in the reading room."

Cherry was glad for her son to leave the adult world happily and she consented,"Okay. Go ahead. But don't play too long. Or it will harm your eyes."

John looked at Cherry and said,"Don't worry. I'll watch over him and we won't play that long."

"All right." Cherry nodded her head and felt relieved that John was with her son.

After John and Joe went upstairs, Lucia looked at Jackson.

Lucia said,"Oh, Jackson, your son is growing up so fast. Every time I see him, he is growing taller and taller."

Jackson ignored her words and said nothing.

When Lucia saw that Jackson deliberately ignored her effort to start a friendly discussion, she was displeased. She was trying very hard to behave herself in front of Andrew. She was trying to be polite and Jackson was not appreciating her attempt to be civil. She thought, 'Was he insulting me by ignoring me? Was he looking down at me? Was this his way of saying that though I could walk in this house, I was no longer considered a family member?'

Jackson was about to say something, but at that moment, Cherry's phone started to ring.

Cherry took out her phone and saw that it was Mond who was on the other end of the line. Suddenly she tensed up.

Jackson felt that Cherry's demeanor suddenly changed. He felt her starting to shake a little. Curious, Jackson discreetly peeked on Cherry's phone to see who the caller was. Jackson saw from the corner of his eyes the name of Mond on the screen.

Cherry needed a time for privacy. She looked at Andrew and said,"Grandpa, excuse me. I have to take this."

Andrew nodded his head and said nothing.

Cherry looked at Jackson silently excusing herself from her husband. She turned around and walked out of the room.

Watching her walk away, Jackson felt irritated and thought to himself, 'Why did Mond have to call her now? Why did he call her? What did he want?'

Cherry entered the dinning room and was sure that she was out of everyone's earshot. Then she answered her phone.

"Hello," said Cherry.

Mond asked,"What are you doing?"

"Nothing special. I was just in the living room." said Cherry. Then she asked,"What's the matter? Why did you call?"

Mond asked,"Is Jackson with you now?" Since Cherry said she had been in the living room just now and it was Sunday, Mond suspected that Jackson would also be home.

Cherry replied,"No. I left him in the living room."

After a while, Mond said,"So he can't hear what we have to talk about, right?" Mond wanted to make sure that Cherry was able to speak freely and that Jackson was not spying on their conversation.

Cherry was starting to lose interest and asked,"What do you want?"

Mond heard Cherry's impatient tone. Convinced that their conversation was private, he said,"I want to talk about what happened last night."

Cherry was surprised. Last night? Something happened last night that she was unaware of? What was he talking about? Cherry only remembered seeing Mond leave the residential compound and that was all. She didn't notice anything wrong or any other event happening in the area, so what did Mond mean? So Cherry asked,"What? What are you talking about?"

Mond didn't beat around the bush and said,"I was hard on you last night, so I want to apologize for my behavior."

Cherry, then understood what Mond was trying to say to her. Last night, he had angrily shouted at her and told her to shut up. Then he added some more hurtful words in his tirade. And now here he was telling her that he regretted what he had said.

Cherry held her phone tightly and was silent, she thought for a while and then calmly said,"Never mind. I didn't take what you said seriously. What happened is done and now it is in the past."

"Are you sure? Do you really not mind?" Mond was surprised by her calm response. Last night, he had been really angry. He had said a lot of hurtful words to her, insulting words even. Cherry's recent behavior made him feel strange. He felt a little worried, because she gave him no chance to apologize.

Cherry replied,"Yes. If you don't have any other things to say, I have to hang up now. I have other important things to do."

Hearing her words, Mond quickly said,"But, I'm really..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Cherry hung up the phone.

Cherry tightly held her phone and looked at the people in the living room. She quickly adjusted her mood and then turned around, went back to the living room to join the family.

Mond stood at the balcony, he was looking at the view, or so it seemed. Mond was actually feeling uneasy, and he was thinking. He had been anxious since he went home last night, but he didn't know why. After he calmed down, he realized that he had treated Cherry badly in the compound. But, by the time he realized his stupid action, it had been already late in the evening. Even though he wanted to have a pleasant chat with Cherry, that never happened. He slept so little last night, he kept thinking of how unfair he was to her. He thought that he needed to immediately apologize to her. However, when he finally got the nerve to call, Cherry was not interested in what he had to say to her.

Mond looked at the distant and released a deep breath. It was his first time to want to apologize to someone, but his words were refused. This hit his pride quite hard. It was not often that he would bow down and admit his mistake.

He thought to himself, 'Cherry, why did you not accept my apology? Are you aware that by doing this you made me care about you even more? I'll miss you more than ever.'

Mond was so confused about Cherry. Nobody knew that he had gone to the residential compound last night. No one knew that he called her today to apologize. If Sally knew what he had done, she would definitely say that he was totally out of his mind. After all, Jackson was his enemy and so should Cherry be. Even their son Joe, was also his enemy. So how could he be gentle to his enemies? Why should he apologize?