ENCHANTED LOVE, VOLUME 2 - Season 9 Episode 62

Anthony looked at Sheryl with his eyebrows slightly furrowed into a frown. “Sher, I…”

Sheryl interrupted before he could continue, “It’s alright. You should probably go back first.” Sheryl heaved a small sigh. If it weren’t for Anthony, Sue might have been taken away by that stranger already. Who knew what the man was planning to do to her? In spite of everything, Anthony still helped Sue and Sheryl herself as well.

Despite the anxiety boiling inside of her, Sheryl said calmly, “I’ll bring Sue home. You can just go now.”

“No,” Anthony resisted, shaking his head. “Sher, you know the consequences of taking her home now. If someone finds out about it, it wouldn’t be good for her. Also, it’s not very appropriate for her to go home with you now that she’s passed out and drunk like this. Why don’t you let me take her from here and bring her to a hotel to stay for the night? We can settle everything else as soon as she’s sober tomorrow.”

“Why should I let you?” Sheryl refused with a frown and added without hesitation, “Don’t forget that you and Sue are not in any relationship now. Besides, how can I trust you?”

“What are you talking about?” Anthony looked at Sheryl helplessly and sighed. He looked at her with a serious expression on his face and explained, “I’m just saying that it’s not a good plan for you to bring her to your house, so I’m offering to bring her to a hotel. Besides, since she’s drunk, she will need someone to take care of her, and I can be there for her.”

“But…” Frowning, Sheryl started, opening and closing her mouth as if trying to find the right words. When she couldn’t find any, she paused and thought about it for a while. Now that she lived with the Murphy family, they would probably be worried sick if she did not come home for the entire night.

However, if she took a drunk Sue with her, Amy would most probably be more worried.

Seeing the hesitation on Sheryl’s face, Anthony continued to insist, assuring Sheryl, “It’s okay, Sheryl. There’s really nothing to worry about. Let me take care of her.”

Sheryl looked at Anthony and weighed her options. After a short while, she heaved a helpless sigh and said, “Fine.”

Anthony nodded and gently carried Sue with his arms. Sheryl was still worried despite Anthony’s reassurance, so she followed Anthony to the hotel. She helped them book the room and open the door, so that Anthony could conveniently enter without having to place Sue down. As soon as Sheryl closed the door behind her, she saw Sue throwing up on the floor. Luckily, Anthony wasn’t splashed nor were Sue’s clothes affected, but she still made quite a mess on the floor. Sheryl called for housekeeping service while Anthony placed Sue down on the chair and proceeded to go to the comfort room to prepare a warm towel. He carefully wiped away the stains on Sue’s face.

Sheryl watched as Anthony took care of Sue gently, feeling her worries fade away.

The housekeeper finally came and cleaned up the mess. Once Sue was cleaned up, Anthony carried her and laid her on the bed. Sheryl sighed under her breath in relief. She nodded at Anthony, who nodded back at her. Then, she quietly left the hotel and went back to the Murphy family house.

As soon as Anthony tucked Sue in, he prepared painkillers and a glass of water on the bedside table. He sat on the sofa, watching Sue the entire night, in case she would start throwing up again. It was only when the sun almost began rising that Anthony felt the exhaustion and closed his eyes to rest.

As the sun rose higher on the sky, its bright rays shone through the glass window onto Sue’s face. Her eyebrows furrowed at the light. She opened her eyes, blinked slowly, then sat up and winced at the pang of pain on her head. She gently massaged her temples and reached for the the painkillers on the bedside table and drowned them with water. She glanced around, confused as she noticed the unfamiliar room she was in. As soon as her eyes landed on Anthony, who was sleeping on the sofa, her eyebrows immediately furrowed into a deep frown.

Sue did not want to talk to him or even interact with him, so she decided to leave the room quietly. However, the moment she got out of bed, Anthony’s eyes opened.

Seeing that Sue had woken up, Anthony instantly sat up, feeling a rush of relief. He noticed that the painkiller was not on the small plate anymore, and that the glass was already empty. He gave a gently smile and said, “Finally, you’re awake. You’ve taken the painkillers, too. How are you feeling?”

Since her back was turned to Anthony, Sue did not notice him waking up. She was startled, her heart jumping a little. Hearing his voice, Sue turned to him with a frown and questioned, “What are you doing here?”

“You drank way too much last night. If I hadn’t found you, you might have woken up in an unfamiliar hotel room with an unfamiliar man.” Anthony answered with a tone of rebuke and asked, “How could you drink so much? For a girl like yourself, you should know that it’s really dangerous.”

Sue scoffed, “Why do you care? It doesn’t have anything to do to you.” Her head throbbed again, making her wince once more. The memories of last night after her glasses of alcohol were very vague, but she still had snippets of the in-betweens. Had it not been for Anthony, she really might have gotten in serious trouble. Indeed, she was very grateful for what Anthony had done for her, but somehow, she couldn’t help but speak to him in a bitter manner.

“Sue!” Standing up, Anthony called out her name. His forehead creased, and his tone became a bit irritated as he asked, “Why are you treating me this way? Why can’t you be a little nicer, huh? I was and still am very worried about you.”

“Who asked you to worry about me?” Sue spat without hesitation and added, “Why does it matter to you whether I live or die?”

“You…” Anthony started, feeling his jaw clenched tight. He heaved a deep sigh as he tried to calm himself down. Then, he spluttered again, “After everything that I have done for you, this is how you treat me? Not even a single ‘thank you’ for me?”

Sue’s hands rested on her waist. She scoffed, “Ohh, so you did all this just because you wanted me to be grateful to you?”

Anthony grimaced. Sue’s sudden sharp tongue made him feel a little uneasy and uncomfortable; it was as if he were the one at fault in this situation. He shook his head and replied, “Of course not, but…”

“If that’s not what you’re looking for, then leave. Now!” Sue interrupted and rasped coldly, pointing her index finger towards the door.

Meanwhile, after Sheryl had dropped Shirley off to school, she passed by a restaurant and bought breakfast before heading towards the hotel to see Sue.

As she walked near towards Sue’s room, she started to hear voices growing louder and louder. As she stepped closer, she recognized the voices and realized that Sue and Anthony were quarreling.

She quickly rushed towards the door. She raised her fist to knock, but before she could, the door opened abruptly and Anthony was suddenly standing in front of her. Sheryl’s eyebrows frowned in confusion. Anthony gave her a feeble smile and said, “Great. I was wondering if you were ever coming.”

“Anthony, what’s going on? I can hear the both of you quarreling from outside,” Sheryl asked concernedly, and then entered the room to see Sue.

“Sher!” Sue called out and walked towards Sheryl with a look of complaint in her eyes. “How could you leave me here alone last night? You know very well that…”

“I didn’t have a choice, Sue,” Sheryl replied. She heaved a deep sigh and explained, “You were too drunk last night, and I knew that the Murphy family would worry too much if I brought you with me.”

Anthony cleared his throat and excused himself, “Sher, since you’re here, I’ll take my leave now.”

Withouthing else or even looking at Sue, Anthony walked away and closed the door behind him. Even after he left, annoyance still showed on Sue’s face. She turned to Sheryl and complained again, “Sher, how could you leave me here alone with him?”

“What did you expect then? Should I have just left you with a stranger?” Sheryl asked, crossing her arms on her chest as she gave Sue a frustrated look. “How could I bring you back when you were so drunk like that?”

When Sue pouted, Sheryl sighed and added, “Besides, I saw with my own eyes how Anthony truly cared for you, which was why I trusted him to take care of you in my place just for a night.

Also, if you hadn’t recalled anything from last night, I should fill you in now. You wouldn’t stop throwing up, since there was really too much alcohol in your system. Despite the mess and the smell, Anthony still stayed by your side and even prepared warm towels to clean you up. I could tell that he was really worried and concerned about you, which was why…”

Sue started to wander in her thoughts, drowning Sheryl’s words. She felt a ripple of warmth flow through her heart as she remembered someone attending to her meticulously, but she was too drunk to know who that person was exactly.

Now that Sheryl was telling her straight out, Sue was certain that it was Anthony. Sheryl looked at Sue, who seemed to be lost in thought; she snapped her fingers near her face. “Sue, are you listening to me?”

Sue came back to her senses and looked at Sheryl. “Sher…” She sighed, and with sad eyes, she said, “I’m sorry that I made you worried.”

Sheryl sighed as well and said, “It’s okay. At least you’re fine, now. But, accepting your apology doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to do this again. Don’t you ever dare to drink that much again, do you hear me? Last night, you were almost…”

“I know.” A rueful smile formed on Sue’s face. She added, “Anthony dropped by my house yesterday. I was really worried. That’s probably why I drank so much.”

Sue sighed again and looked at Sheryl before earnestly saying, “Don’t worry. I will never do it again.”

Sheryl felt relieved by Sue’s words but remembered what she had said earlier, making her frown in confusion.

“Anthony? Why did he suddenly go to your house? Are you saying that Peggy knows he exists now, too, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Sue replied with a nod. Her smile grew sadder. She moved to sit at the foot of the bed and continued, “This situation is really giving me a terrible headache now. I don’t know what to do anymore, Sher.”

Sheryl’s eyes grew sad as well. She knew that Sue was very troubled and bothered by everything that was going on with her family. She did not want to make her feel worse, and decided to change the subject right away. She moved towards Sue and sat beside her.

“Alright, stop worrying, okay? Have some breakfast first. We can settle everything else later.” Sheryl then directed Sue towards the sofa with a coffee table and took out the food she bought for her.

She brought fried dough sticks and a box of soymilk. Sue sat beside Sheryl and grabbed the dough sticks. After having only a few bites, she suddenly felt nausea clawing her throat. She quickly rushed towards the comfort room and threw up what was left in her stomach on the toilet bowl. Sheryl rushed after Sue and raised her hair to prevent them from getting dirty. As soon as Sue finished, she flushed the toilet and looked at Sheryl, who was really worried about her more now. “Sue, what’s going on? It has been a night already, so why are you still vomiting like this?”

Sue rinsed her mouth on the sink and shook her head at Sheryl’s question. She then turned to her and answered, “I don’t know. Perhaps… it’a just probably because I really drank too much last night and it really hurt my stomach.”