The Apple of My Eye

"Okay, then. I'm leaving now. Take care of yourself." Isla then left Sheryl's house.

After Isla left, Sheryl's house grew quiet. She turned around to look at her kids. Clark was quiet while Shirley was still pouting to show she wasn't pleased.

"Shirley, are you okay?" Sheryl asked as she walked to Shirley, puzzled.

"Nothing. I just want to go out." Shirley blinked her eyes. She looked upset.

Sheryl couldn't help but be amused by her daughter. She then took Shirley's hand and looked at Clark, who was sitting next to her. "Clark, would you like to go to the park to play with Shirley?" "Mom, I think I'm going to skip this one. I just got home. I'm a bit tired, and I think I want to take a nap." Clark looked at his mother with determination in his eyes.

Sheryl agreed because Clark did look tired. She pulled Shirley's hand and smiled. "Shirley, come on. Let's go!"

"Okay. Let's buy Clark some of his favorite snacks when we get back." Shirley smiled at her mother. She promised this to Clark as if she was afraid that he would miss out on the fun. Clark nodded at Shirley. He was deep in thought when they left.

Clark was quite thoughtful and considerate for his age. He was still thinking of ways to get his parents back together.

It was obvious to Clark that Sheryl was just pretending to be fine when, in reality, she wasn't.

He'd already made up his mind the moment he found out.

When Sheryl took Shirley out, Shirley immediately noticed that Sheryl's mind was elsewhere.

"Mom! Why is your face like that? Do you not like spending time with me?" Shirley said miserably.

"Shirley, no. I love you. I love spending time with you. I'm sorry I was a bit distracted. I promise I won't do it anymore, okay?" Sheryl felt bad because she knew it was her fault. "Okay." Shirley was easy to please. After her mother had promised her that she wasn't going to do it anymore, she giddily grabbed her mother's hand and headed to the park.

There were a lot of people in the park. People liked spending their weekends playing in the park.

They played until it was dark. They only went home when Shirley was already tired of playing.

By the time they'd arrived home, Clark was already asleep.

After putting Shirley to sleep, Sheryl headed to the living room.

It was time for her to go back to her normal life again. People were starting to get worried about her, and she didn't want that.

"Sheryl, this is enough. It's time to pull yourself up," Sheryl murmured to herself. She sat there quietly for a while before washing up and going to bed.

The following day

It was both Nick and Cassie's day off. They'd been staring at each other in silence before Nick suggested, "Do you want to visit Sheryl?"

"It's like you read my mind!" Cassie really was planning to visit Sheryl. It was just that she didn't want to say it out loud in fear that she would disappoint Nick. After all, they rarely get to spend their free days together. Plus, they'd already had a date planned.

"Great! Let's go!"

Nick was so glad that Cassie was so considerate and thoughtful. They drove right away to the Cloud Advertising Company.

It was such a coincidence that they even bumped into Isla.

"What are you doing here?" Isla was a bit jealous of Nick and Cassie's relationship.

"We just wanted to visit Sheryl. We were hoping she isn't busy, and we could go out and have some fun. Where's Aron?" Cassie merrily said, beaming.

Isla shrugged helplessly then curled her lips. "He's been busy. Whatever. Come on, let's go inside. Sheryl's probably already here anyway."

The three of them walked inside, chatting and laughing along the way. Phoebe greeted them upon seeing them. She then directed them to Sheryl's office. "Miss Xia looks fine today as if nothing's happened," Phoebe whispered to Isla. She made sure that Sheryl wouldn't be able to hear her.

Isla was startled upon hearing this from Phoebe. Had Sheryl truly moved on?

As soon as she thought of this, she made her way to Sheryl's office.

Before they headed inside, Isla reminded Cassie and Nick not to mention Charles. It was still all fresh, after all.

"Isla, don't worry. We know. We'll be careful." Cassie took Nick's arm as she looked at Isla with a smile pasted on her face.

Isla then felt assured.

Isla opened the door without knocking like she normally did. Sheryl was standing right in front of the French window when Isla walked in. She turned and smiled when she saw her three visitors. "What are you all doing here?"

"Nick and I don't have to work today." Cassie was the first one to respond.

"I'm fine, okay? If that's what you're here for. You two shouldn't waste your time here. You should be out on a nice date!" Sheryl urged.

"Sheryl, isn't it obvious? They just want to show us how in love they are! Isn't that what any couple wants? They want to show off their love. We shouldn't deprive them of that! Right?" Isla only said this because she didn't want them to leave.

Sheryl smiled helplessly. She couldn't ask them to leave now.

"Well, just make yourselves comfortable here." Sheryl then sat back on her chair and looked at the papers on her desk.

"Sheryl, I talked to Phoebe, and she told me you were available today. Why don't we all go out for some fun? Isla, I heard that a new spring has just opened in the western city. They say it's good..."

Cassie shook Nick's hand free from hers and approached Sheryl so she could pull her arms pleadingly.

Before Sheryl could even respond, Isla spoke up, saying, "Good. It's a plan. Let's go. It's been a while since I've been to a spring!"

Sheryl was already being dragged out of the office by Isla and Cassie. Before she knew it, they were already downstairs.

"What's happening?" Sheryl feigned annoyance as she looked at them.

"Well, Sheryl, can you blame us? We're doing this for your good. Don't you think it's time for you to go out and have some fun?" Isla looked Sheryl in the eye to let her know she was serious. Sheryl didn't know what to say, so she just went along with whatever they had planned.