Chapter 149 - A Balm to a Broken Heart

The flowing rhythm of the sweet and romantic music ignited them both to sway their bodies according to the beat. Cherry placed her hands on the shoulders of Hayri and the latter placed his on the small of her back. Hayri gave her a weak smile despite the gloom in his eyes. It was not difficult to understand as Cherry knew everything about them. Hayri was always sincere to the point of giving his all in the name of love and moving on was expected to be a difficult task.

"Sir, I'm so sorry," Cherry exclaimed, the sadness in his eyes was too much for her heart to bear.

"For what?" replied Hayri, somewhat puzzled by what she meant.

"About you and Sheena."

Hayri chuckled with a sardonic glow in his eyes. "I lost nothing, you know that. She is my sister."

"But it's not easy to move on."

The curve in Hayri's lips did not leave and his feet moved across the dance floor but his thoughts wandered off. Cherry went along, her heart screamed in sympathy for him. In silence, she observed his every move and his strayed glances at Allie.

"Che, how can I forget?"

Cherry was a bit startled at his question. She stared at him for a while before she was able to think of an answer.

"Sir, they say that love is lovelier the second time around. They also say that only a heart can heal a broken one."

Hayri laughed, amused at the famous quotes she cited. To love again seemed so distant at the moment. Perhaps, his heartache could last a lifetime. After some time, he returned a question. "Che, were you in love before?"

The smile on Cherry's lips faded away. She took a deep breath, drawing courage deep inside before she gave out a faint smile.

"I was and it was a traumatic one. The heartache was the reason why I flew to Istanbul. I quit doing those things I loved to do even to the extent of avoiding places like this. I didn't want to see any music performances even online."

Hayri gathered his brows. "What's wrong with concerts?"

A lump formed in her throat and it took her some time to reply. "I was once a female lead vocalist and he was the pianist..."

Hayri's eyes widened and glowed with excitement. "Really? You can sing well?"

Cherry shook her head and laughed. "That was before."

"Che, the best step to know if you have really moved on is to take the stage again."

Cherry nodded her head and smiled. "Maybe next time."

To Cherry's confusion, Hayri no longer waited for the music to end. He led Cherry back to their table where Allie and Mr. Tan were waiting. It seemed that Mr. Tan was able to lure her out into talking that Allie no longer looked uncomfortable. She glanced up and smiled at them, trying to dispel the growing sense of awkwardness within her but Hayri avoided her gaze. To her embarrassment, Hayri excused herself and went to the direction of the ante-room where the comfort room was located.

To her surprise, Hayri was back in less than 15 minutes and a broad smile was plastered on his face. He sat beside Cherry, ignoring Allie and Mr. Tan on the other side of the table. His eyes were focused on the stage and out of curiosity, they all followed his gaze. Soon, they saw a woman going up and picked up the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she started to speak as she ran her gaze across the room and the crowd was hushed into silence, "tonight, we have a very special request from our honored guest. Guess what?"

Cherry's heart took an abrupt halt as she heard the lady of the ceremony. She could already predict the next thing she would say. What made her get more nervous and sure of what was going to happen was when the lady gave her a meaningful gaze.

"The next song will be rendered to us by Engr. Dioko's girlfriend, Miss Cherry Perez."

The crowd didn't have the difficulty recognizing whom she meant because her eyes were focused on their direction and that Cherry could be seen blushing and fidgetting. They gave a round of applause and Cherry felt like a melting candle against a strong heat. Hayri stood up and held her hand, gently pulling her up. Unable to refuse any longer, she stood up and Hayri led her to the stage. A more intense round of applause was heard. To the people's eyes, Hayri was a very supportive boyfriend.

The next thing Cherry knew was that she was already holding a microphone as she waited for the prelude to end. The beautiful music which flowed out from the keys of the grand piano and the familiar stroke which gave more life to the rhythm, made her remember her pre-existing love for singing. She was then carried out and her beautiful voice floated into the air.

"Oh I could say that I'll be all you need

But that would be a lie

I know I'd only hurt you

I know I'd only make you cry

I'm not the one you're needing

I love you, goodbye."

Cherry no longer knew she was already giving her all in that song. She no longer saw the crowd and in the back of her mind, were the memories of the past she tried to leave behind. She tried imagining the future where she would start a new beginning and she didn't know that tears of release were already streaming down her face.

As the song ended, Hayri went up the stage again and seeing those tears which spoke of his own heartache, his heart was torn in pity that he subconsciously pulled her close and hugged her tight.

Cherry allowed him to wrap his arm around her waist as they climbed down the stage and walked towards their table. Feeling the warmth of sympathy, she just couldn't stop her tears. For such a long time, she tried to be strong and kept her memories behind; not knowing that it was still there waiting to be set free.

Allie stood up and hugged her close as soon as she settled back to her seat. She understood that the cheerfulness she wore was just a facade to the fragile self she tried so hard to hide.

Just then, the voice of the emcee disrupted their emotional moment as she thanked Cherry for her wonderful song.

"That was a very wonderful song, Miss Cherry. I wonder how could you be so good when you were not rehearsing with the team."

Her eyes which looked at Cherry were so full of admiration and in her overwhelming joy, she added something which later shook her world off.

"Miss Cherry, I would also do the honor of introducing the one behind the wonderful music which went perfectly well with your beautiful voice."

Cherry looked up and smiled back at the emcee, her eyes followed hers as she called up the one whose fingers dance wonderfully into the keys. When the familiar built of the man immersed from the backstage, Cherry covered her mouth to conceal her wide gape.

"Andrew?"