The Great Pretender

39: Mercy

Goodbyes were something she had unfortunately gotten used to over the course of her life. Goodbyes with her father and sister, and now her mother, whenever a visit ended. Goodbyes with Delia and Harper every summer, and now goodbyes with the friends she had grown up with.

Everyone had shown up for the fireplace 'bonfire', and in true bonfire tradition, all the musicians played their instruments while everyone else sang however drunkenly and off key. She had sat beside Seven, which earned her strange looks from all their friends. Although it made no sense to her; she was also sitting beside Cash, and that was not in any way considered a strange occurrence.

The worst were Ian and Delia and then Juss and Harper who they'd told about the lipstick. Not that they'd received any clarification whatsoever on that front. Seven had simply ignored Delia's comment as if he hadn't heard her and disappeared into the bathroom. Upon emerging a few minutes later, his hair was perfectly pompadoured and there was no trace of lipstick on his face.

Cherish had deemed the question the stupidest thing on earth, "Why would he have lipstick?"

"Your lipst-"

"And before you say it was mine, I didn't lend him any which is about the only way he'd be wearing it because I think I'd know if he kissed me. Besides that, you just saw me putting this on in front of you." Like Seven, she wanted a little more time to figure things out without all the extra input.

But even the annoying speculations of all their friends could not ruin the night for Cherish. It was a happy tradition, one she hadn't partaken in since well before she'd left Montreal, since before Len even. She sang her heart out, feeling hoarse and contented by the time they'd abandoned the music.

By that point, there was only a core group of people left. The rest, the boyfriends and girlfriends, new friends and old friends who hadn't remained as close, had all come and gone. At some point she was aware of Delia, Ian, Harper and Juss leaving to go to bed. Even Seven eventually left her side, softly bumping his shoulder to hers, "I'm going to go get some sleep before our drive home tomorrow."

Cherish, however, hadn't slept all night, spending it instead in front of the fireplace with the close knit group. Quentin, who had come to spend the last night with them, Cash, Jeb, Audrey, Melanie, Jessline and even Iggy. They reminisced about old times and held an impromptu memorial of sorts for Len; they'd joked and laughed and cried and held each other. It was early when others started shuffling through the chalet again, dragging out bags and getting ready to leave.

"D'accord, je suppose que les adieux commencent maintenant," Cherish sighed. If she didn't say her goodbyes now, then someone would get overlooked, especially when they all started getting called away to other activities. She kissed Jeb and then Cash, and was saying an awkward see you later to Iggy when Jacqueline came downstairs, clearly looking for Cash.

"Argent!" she near shrieked and the whole group looked at Cash with a mix of amusement and sympathy. He only frowned at her use of his real name. Cherish was thankful at the very least that the wench had not witnessed their goodbye. Rolling her eyes, she blew one last kiss at Cash as he was dragged upstairs by his possessive girlfriend before returning to her farewells.

With the goodbyes finished, Cherish found herself tucked against Quentin's side. "How you doing, Babe?"

"Good."

He looked down at her seriously, gauging the verity of her reply, "You haven't really called me since your last crisis."

"Yeah, sorry about that."