Chapter 80: New Day

**TWO MONTHS LATER...**

"You have to give it a swift stroke, like you're slashing someone's throat with a knife," she said.

"Of all the examples you could use to describe my stroking, that's what you went with?" He asked with a raised brow.

"It was the perfect description! Now, after swiftly stroking," she said with a smile, "you observe the portrait and look for any corrections or inaccuracies that you need to fix," Sharon said and kissed him on the cheek.

"You know, when I asked you to teach me how to paint, I really thought I'd like it but now that I'm doing it, I absolutely love it," Peter said with a smile, with a palette in his hand, a beret on his head and a paintbrush in his other hand.

"Now you know why I love it so much. It's relaxing, isn't it?" Sharon said while organizing her tools.

Just then, Victoria burst out into the shop with a tray of breakfast. She walked into the studio to give Sharon and Peter some food.

"Hola, master painter and her apprentice, I bring sustenance," she jokingly said.

"Thank you, Vicky," Sharon said and took the tray. She poured some coffee into a cup and offered Peter some, which he declined.

"I'm in the zone, Sher! Trying to blend these colours and I almost got it," Peter said with total focus.

"Wow! He's really taking this very seriously," Victoria whispered to Sharon.

"Yeah, he is. It's hilarious." Sharon whispered back with a chuckle.

"Are you two making fun of me?" Peter asked and stared at them.

"What? No way. We would never, right Vicky?" Sharon said unconvincingly.

"Si, Si, No way," Victoria admitted.

"You're not, huh? Well, you won't be laughing when you see this masterpiece because I...am...done." Peter said with one last stroke of the brush.

"Feast your eyes," he said with pride.

Victoria and Sharon went over and stared at the painting. They weren't sure what to make of it because it was supposed to be a portrait but it looked quite abstract.

"Well?" Peter asked, waiting for their remarks.

"It's..," Sharon didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Let me help you out, Sharon. Peter, you need more practice because this is terrible," Victoria said.

Peter looked at Sharon for verification, and she just nodded her head, admitting that it was bad. He wasn't pleased at all. Then, they heard some noises coming from inside the house.

"What's that noise?" Peter asked.

"I don't know! I'll go see," Victoria said, and walked towards the door that led to the living quarters of the building.

"Be careful," Sharon couldn't help but say.

*It had been two months, and they had been fine. No Addicus, no shooting, no near-death experiences and no tears. But, as always, there was always a lingering fear in the back of Sharon's mind. She couldn't accept that Addicus had finally given up on trying to catch her, sleep with her, kill her or whatever he truly wanted with her. The rest of them had started living without fear except her. She always tried to hide it, but in small instances such as this, it slips out.*

"It's probably just Hector. I don't need to be careful," Victoria said and went inside.

Sharon couldn't help but follow her and so did Peter. They went into the room and found Hector struggling to get a large box into the house from the back door.

"Just lift it and push while I pull," Hector said to the other person outside who was helping him with the box.

"I am pushing. You're not pulling hard enough." The person said.

The box didn't seem to be moving as it was stuck in the door.

"Seriously man? You were able to beat up a huge, bald hitman, but you can't push a little box?" Hector said to annoy him.

"Are you really going there, Hector? Alright, then!" Chris said and pushed the box with so much force that it fell on Hector, and he landed on the floor of the room.

Chris walked in and saw everyone else and a huge smile materialized on Sharon's face after she saw him.

"Chris! You're here." She said happily and ran over to hug him.

"Of course, I'm here! Today's the grand reopening of **Imaginación**, Barrio Escalante branch. I wouldn't miss it for the world," Chris said.

"It's good to see you, Chris," Peter said and walked up to him and hugged him as well.

"You too, Pete."

Victoria shoved Peter out of the way and jumped on Chris, giving him a very affectionate hug.

"Woah! That's a big one."  Chris said, a bit surprised by her affectionate hug.

"I'm so happy to see you," Victoria said while hugging him.

"Yeah, I can tell," Chris said with a smile.

He kind of became Victoria's fourth favourite person in the world, after Hector, Pedro and Sharon respectively, when he saved her from JJ. And when he went back to America, she was very sad, so seeing him back there brought her great joy.

"So, are we doing this or what? Let's get this show on the road," Chris said, and everyone cheered.

They took the box that was filled with paintings into the shop and everyone helped set up everything in preparation for the opening.