Painting

Chapter 66

Tyler walks toward me and gets down on the ground. He makes me sit in his lap. Victor takes the blanket on my couch and wraps my shoulders in it.

I look up. My lips stretch in a faint smile.

-Thank you.

Tyler is holding my head with his hand. His face tenses up and his eyebrows are frowned. He wipes the sweat off of my forehead.

-She needs sugar. We have Gatorade in the car.

Victor runs off toward the door.

-I'm so tired.

-I know, but stay with me for just a little bit. You scared me.

-I'm sorry.

-Don't be.

Another loud rattling in the stairs. Victor is holding two bottles of Gatorade, red and blue. He opens the cabinets and finds a mason jar type glass. He fills it with ice, the red Gatorade and a glass straw. I take it carefully with my two hands and start to drink slowly.

Victor sits next to Tyler. He pulls on my hair a little bit and starts to play with the ends.

I take a deep breath. My exhale breaks the silence. My glass is almost empty.

-Do you think you can get up?

-Can we stay here for a little bit?

-Of course.

-If both of you are here, who is taking care of the business?

-Antonio and Ella.

-Makes sense.

I scratch the back of my head.

-Isn't it against the rules to date your employer?

-We're dating?

-Well, I thought.... We....

Tyler giggles.

-Of course, we are.

Victor gets up and fills my glass once again.

-You're not working for us, you are working with us. There is no hierarchy in the office.

-If you say so.

I gently drop my glass on the floor and put my hands on the ground behind me.

-What are you doing?

-I'm getting up.

Victor holds out both of his hands to me.

-I can do it myself.

He raises his left eyebrow. I roll my eyes and grab his hands. He was right, but I won't tell him.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

Victor smirks and presses his lips together. Tyler tilts his head to the ground, but I can still see his eyes looking at me. I look around confused, then I remember. I'm wearing a blanket. My eyes wander down.

-I'll go put something on.

Tyler scratches the back of his head.

-Yeah, good idea. I'll go and text Antonio, to tell him that we won't be coming back.

-Fine.

I walk into my room and find some underwear, a sweater and sweat pants. Then, I sit down. Victor comes in.

-What happened? Do you want to talk about it?

I look away, at the window.

-It's nothing, really.