Chapter 29: Paint Goddess

A man walked into the room. He took off his jacket and his trousers. He had some water and walked drowsily to the couch and crashed heavily on it, landing on Sharon.

She woke up in fright, which shocked the man and he fell on the floor and rolled away from her. Sharon picked up the blanket and used it as a makeshift shield.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get in my house?" The man asked.

Before Sharon could answer, Victoria came running down the stairs.

"Brother, I didn't think you'd be back tonight," she said cheekily.

"Why would you think that?" He asked. "You know how I feel about staying out all night and leaving you alone."

"I know. I know," Victoria said.

"Forget about that. What's more important right now is you telling me who that is," he said, pointing at Sharon.

"Oh yeah. You two haven't been introduced. Hector, this is Sharon, my friend. And Sharon, this is my older brother, Hector."

Sharon got up a bit embarrassed by her presence there. She moved closer to Hector and raised her hand to shake him but he didn't accept her hand.

"And why is your friend here, sleeping on our couch, Vic?" Hector asked, visibly upset by this.

"She didn't have anywhere else to go and she wasn't safe on the streets, so I brought her here. I hope you don't mind?"

"You..." Hector caught his words in his mouth and pulled Victoria to a corner, away from Sharon.

"Of course, I mind. You can't just bring any stranger you like into this place without my permission. What if she's a thief?" He whispered to his sister.

"She's not a thief, she's my friend," Victoria said defensively.

"Is she? Cause I've never seen her before and I know all your friends," Hector returned.

"Aww, brother! It's cute that you think you know all of my friends," Victoria said to him and patted his cheek.

"Enough of that,” he pulled her hand away.

"I know what you're like, Vic. You're always helping people and trusting them blindly. I like that you want to help others but you can't help everyone.”

"I'm sorry, but I had to help her. She almost got raped out there and I couldn't let her sleep outside after that."

Hearing Victoria say this about Sharon made him a bit more sympathetic and lenient.

"Fine. She can stay the night but she has to leave tomorrow," he decided.

"But she doesn't have anywhere to go," Victoria said.

"Well, that's not my problem and it's not yours either," he said and walked up the stairs into another room.

Victoria went and sat with Sharon.

"Sorry about that. He just wasn't expecting anyone here except me. He said you can stay for tonight but you might have to leave by tomorrow. But

don't worry, I'll ask him to let you stay longer," Victoria told her.

"You don't have to do that, Victoria. I'll leave if that's what your brother wants," Sharon said in defeat.

"Trust me. I know how to push his buttons. Just get back to sleep and leave it all to me," Victoria told her confidently and went back to sleep.

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The next morning, Victoria and Sharon were already up cooking breakfast. The delicious aroma of the food woke Hector up and he came downstairs.

"If I didn't see it with my eyes, I wouldn't believe it. Vic? You're cooking?" He said surprised and sniffed the air. "And it smells good too," he added.

"Haha, very funny Hector. But, I'm not the one cooking. I'm just assisting the real cook," Victoria said to Hector and pointed at Sharon who was standing behind him with a bowl of spices in her hand.

"Good morning, Hector. We didn't meet on the best of impressions yesterday so I thought I could properly introduce myself and make you some breakfast as a way of thanking you for letting me stay the night." Sharon said to him.

"Oh! You're um, welcome." That was all Hector managed to say because he was distracted by how beautiful he found Sharon.

He didn't see her properly last night because it was dark but now that he saw her, he could not deny that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

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.

.

"It's good, isn't it?" Victoria smiled mischievously at her brother as he ate Sharon's meal.

"It's really delicious. You are a really good cook, Sharon," he said to her.

"Thank you, Hector. It's the least I could do," Sharon replied.

"Well, I need to take a bath and get ready to open the shop."

He got up and was heading to the bathroom.

"Wait, Hector," Victoria called out.

"Yes?"

"Why did you return home so late last night?" She wondered.

"Well, you know I had to meet up with Xavier to work out a good enough price for the new shipments he was bringing in next week. And you also know the way he is. He's the only middle man in the city that can be negotiated with but it's hard to get a good deal from him."

"So, how much did he offer?" Vic asked him, looking a bit worried about what his answer might be.

Hector sighed in frustration with his hands on his waist.

"He said he'll give nine for seven thousand colóns."

"What? That's too much for just nine paintings."

"I know. That's why I spent such a long time there. I was trying to get him to reduce the price but he was adamant about it and refused."

"So, what will you do?" Victoria asked.

"I have accepted his offer and hope that I can sell the paintings for much higher," Hector told her and went to open shop.

He stopped and turned to face Sharon.

"Hey, Sharon, thanks for breakfast. I'm sorry about the way I was earlier but you can see the conditions in which we live so you can't stay here. But, I'll allow you a few days so you can find somewhere else, ok?"

Sharon nodded in appreciation and Hector went out to the front of the building to open shop.

"At least, you have a few days before you have to leave. It might be enough time for you to find somewhere safe to stay," Victoria said to her, trying to make light of her situation.

"Yes, that's good, I guess," Sharon said, a bit disappointed.

Victoria went back into the kitchen to clean up the dishes and Sharon decided to ask about the paintings the siblings were speaking about earlier, knowing that was where her salvation lay.