The Apple of My Eye

"Okay, Daddy. Please, go and get some rest, and we'll be on our way!" After Clark had spoken, he held Shirley's hand, and both turned to leave. Clark was quite wise beyond his years. Despite his age, he voluntarily shared the burden of taking care of Shirley.

Charles managed a pleased yet bitter smile as he watched his children's receding figures. He was beyond grateful that they grew up well, but he could not help but feel a bit of emotional distance between him and them.

After the kids had left, Charles lay down on the bed, feeling exhausted. The waft of a light, familiar scent reached his nose, intoxicating him. It made him feel as though Sheryl was right there next to him. In the meantime, Sheryl was downstairs receiving some late guests. When she spotted Clark and Shirley hobbling down the stairs, she politely excused herself and walked toward her two kids.

"Clark, where's your father now?" Sheryl could not wait to find out what Charles was doing, and her slightly raised voice revealed her anxiety.

Clark shot Sheryl a frustrated gaze and then turned to Shirley. The two exchanged a knowing look. As if they had rehearsed, both of them shook their heads at the same time.

Seeing the look of frustration on Sheryl's face, Clark cuddled up to her in an attempt to soothe her worries. "Mom, what is it? We don't know where Daddy is, but we figured that he must have drunk too much."

"I see. Go over there and play with the other kids. Have some fun!" Sheryl gently patted the kids on their heads and promptly rejoined the conversation she had left.

An hour later, things had quieted down. The little gathering was about to end.

Only after Sheryl had sent away all the other guests, did she walk with Damian to the front gate.

"Thank you again for coming," she said warmly.

"My pleasure. By the way, I don't know if this is out of line, but may I call you 'Sher' from now on?" Damian looked at Sheryl expectantly.

Although Sheryl knew that there wasn't a deep connection between the two of them, nor had they known each other for a long time, she still trusted him very much. So she nodded with a smile. "By all means." Damian laughed. "You just made my day. It's getting late. I must go now. Please, Sher, take care of yourself and have a good night's sleep!" He could barely hide his smile, as the tiny change in the way he addressed Sheryl had truly overjoyed him. After bidding Sheryl goodbye, Damian took off.

Seeing Damian leave, Sheryl dragged her exhausted body back into the house. She could really use a good night's sleep, but not before she had tucked the kids in first.

The kids were also exhausted from all the playing they had done during the day. Before taking them to their beds, Sheryl hugged them affectionately, took them to brush their teeth, and wash their faces. After cleaning up here and there, Sheryl finally tucked them in.

Almost immediately, Clark and Shirley drifted off to sleep, making Sheryl feel warm. Finally, she gave each of them a good night kiss, took one last look at them, and then left their bedroom.

Because of everything she had done the whole day, Sheryl was bone-weary. She was even more exhausted now than when she was in Cloud Advertising Company. With eyes that could hardly open, Sheryl managed to take a quick shower with the lights out. She had no strength left to turn them on. At last, she headed to the bedroom for that long-overdue rest.

Sheryl crashed onto the bed. She was about to grab a blanket when she suddenly felt somebody getting closer to her. Before she could even react, this person—a man-had already positioned himself on top of her.

Sheryl, now shocked, was about to call for help when she recognized who the man was; it was Charles!

She immediately relaxed, and her once-elevated heartbeat began to slow down. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Now, she was no longer scared, but she was still annoyed.

"Hey, what are you doing? Knock it off!" Sheryl tried to push Charles away from her.

However, Sheryl's strength was no match for that of Charles'. Even after several attempts, Sheryl failed to push Charles away, and now their bodies were pressed intimately against each other.

Despite Sheryl's resistance, Charles began kissing her all over. Moments later, he was trying to take her clothes off by force. Sheryl couldn't help but notice how different this was from Charles' gentle and polite attitude earlier that day. It was clear that he was still under the influence of alcohol.

All of a sudden, his warmth, his scent, his power over her, and all these familiar feelings overpowered Sheryl. When she felt that she was about to succumb, she came to her senses and, with all her might, tried to push him away one last time.

Finally, she succeeded in fending him off. However, pushing him away with such force caused Sheryl to fall from the bed as well.

She immediately got up to her feet and ran for the door.

When Charles saw that Sheryl was about to leave the room, he pretended to be drunker than he actually was. He dropped to the floor, shouting after Sheryl in the hopes that she would stay.

"My head is pounding. It hurts so bad! Please, don't leave me, Sher. I can't lose you again. Ah, it hurts-" Charles yelled hysterically, as if he had truly banged his head.

Sheryl could not believe what she was seeing. Charles had never behaved like this before, and so she concluded that he must have been pretending.

With this thought in mind, Sheryl decided to get away from Charles, but not before stealing another peek at him as she was heading for the door. She was still a little worried about him, after all.

The yelling stopped as soon as it had started. Now, Charles lay on the floor, motionless, and Sheryl wondered if he had, in fact, hit his head.

Growing more concerned by the second, she walked hesitantly toward Charles. She gave him a gentle nudge and asked, "Hey, are you still okay?"

She tried to wake him up a couple more times, but Charles remained motionless. After checking for a pulse, Sheryl was relieved to know that he was still alive. He must have drunk too much and had eventually passed out.

Sheryl sighed. She had no idea how to deal with their relationship now. With all the strength that she could muster, Sheryl helped Charles sit up with his back against the bed, and then she went to the guest room to finally get some well-deserved rest.

Sheryl remained on the bed for quite a while, but as tired as she was, she could not sleep. For hours now, she had been dying for a good night's sleep, but after that little encounter with Charles, sleeping seemed impossible.

Silently, she pondered over whether she should forgive Charles or not given their history.

Charles' persistence definitely affected Sheryl, but with everything that had happened, Sheryl's feelings towards Charles were complicated. Also, she knew she had meant what she had said to Damian.

A man like Charles didn't have to do much to get attention. He could stand and do nothing, and women would still throw themselves at him. How much more if he was moving around all day? The thought that she would have to deal with this if she chose to be with him again gave Sheryl a headache.

Charles, who was still in the master bedroom, was in no better shape. He was still hurting from when he realized that Sheryl was able to leave him like this. He had no idea what was going on between Sheryl and that man, and he could only hope that the two of them were not being too intimate.

Both Sheryl and Charles stayed awake. As the night deepened, Sheryl found it even more difficult to fall asleep. Her mind was running wild, thinking of all the possibilities.

For the whole night, the two were up, each preoccupied with their own concerns. It was dawn when the two of them finally drifted off to sleep, each in their separate rooms.

Clark and Shirley, unperturbed by their parents' concerns, got up early. The first thing they did was to stop by their parents' bedroom to check on them and to see if they were okay. To their surprise, when they walked through the door, they saw only their father, asleep on the floor. Their mother was nowhere to be seen. They immediately exchanged a look.

Then, without a word, Clark held Shirley's hand in his and led her away from the bedroom.

"Brother, where's Mommy? I want Mommy!" Shirley demanded, her face full of worry.

"She may be in the guestroom. Let's go check!"

Clark then headed to the guestroom with Shirley following close by. When the two found their mother there, sound asleep, they both let out a sigh of relief.

Shirley was about to wake Sheryl up, but Clark stopped her. He gestured for her to be quiet, and together, they left the room.

When they made it back out to the hall, Clark took Shirley's hand once more and said, "Mommy is still sleeping. She must be tired, so let's not wake her up. We should go to Daddy first!"

"What for?" Shirley had no clue about what her brother had in mind. She grew curious, but she decided to wait and find out.

Clark did not speak. He merely kept walking while he held his sister's hand.

In a very short time, they reached the master bedroom once more. Clark went over to Charles and gently shook him awake.

"What is it?" Charles mumbled. He was still a bit dizzy, and his head began to hurt from the lack of adequate sleep.

"Daddy, why aren't you and Mommy sleeping together?" Clark looked at Charles with a worried look on his face.

Memories of the previous night came rushing back to Charles. He could not help but groan and sigh. At last, he decided not to say too much to the kids for fear of alarming them. Instead, he faked a smile and told his son that he and Sheryl had slept in separate rooms because Sheryl had been too tired and wanted to relax by herself for a night.