Chapter 14

Sean stepped out from his car right after Athena had gotten down, he stared at the puddle he had stepped into and sighed, but rather than show a scowl on his face, he took another step and stepped away from the car and the puddle. "Oh my heavens, how could someone live here?" TB asked as he got to his side and Sean glared at him and he immediately shut up. Athena sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear, "I m sorry TB but I live here, and I have done so all my life." TB felt bad for the way he had spoken, "I m sorry I reacted like that, it s just…" "It s okay," Athena smiled, "you have lived in luxury all your life, so I understand if it s your first time stepping into a slum." TB didn t say anything and looked at Sean who was glaring at him, he pouted and looked down at his feet, although he hates where he was standing but he didn t make another comment. Sean glanced at Athena, "where is your home?" He asked. "Right there," she pointed at the building with half of its roof gone, the paint on the wall so old that one couldn t tell the original color. Cracks filled the walls and puddles were visible in front of the compound as well as litters lying around everywhere. An exclamation behind her made her turn to look at TB who immediately covered his mouth when Sean glared at him again. "Lead the way," Sean said to Athena and she nodded and walked ahead, smiling at the children and adults watching them. They had arrived in Sean s black Benz and had been stared at immediately they drove in. Now people clustered around to watch them and playing children stopped their plays to admire them. TB watched his step and twice he had almost fallen because he refused to put his balance on his feet and Smith had to be the one to catch him. Sean on the other hand followed Athena without a blink of an eye, he stepped into the puddles without a second thought that the dirty waters could ruin his shoes. He even smiled to an older woman who was watching him with her mouth open and she had to look away shyly when she received his smile. Athena was familiar with everyone watching them and she wanted to greet every single one of them but she didn t want to piss Sean off by wasting his time more than he wanted. When they finally got in front of the building, Athena waved at their old neighbor who also waved to her but froze when she saw the man standing behind her and looking like an angelic god. Athena smiled faintly at that and walked on to her flat. "Hey, Athena, you are finally back," someone said behind them and they turned to find Tom who was surprised to see Sean, "um…who is this?" Before Athena could say anything, Sean stretched his hand out for a handshake to him, "I m Sean Brand, Athena s friend." "Oh," Tom shook his hand but his eyes were on Athena, "I m Tom, Thomas Bills, everyone around here calls me Tom and I am her neighbor and friend." "Nice to meet you, Tom, can I call you that?" Sean asked with a smile. "Yeah, sure, whatever," he replied and glanced at Athena, "Arianna was worried when you didn t show up for work today, she thought you have… you know," he shrugged, "they all thought the same." "Oh, Tom, I will never do that," Athena said immediately, knowing what he meant. Her employers she owed thought that she had ran away, just like she feared. "Of course she will never do that, in fact, that s why we are here," Sean said with a smile, catching on what they were talking about. "Oh, that…that s great then, alright, I will see you later, Athena," he glanced at Sean one more time before walking away, in as much as the man was being friendly but he couldn t get over the feeling that he shouldn t mess with the man and that he has to be a big shot. He walked into his flat, wondering how Athena met such a man, even his blazer looked like it was worth millions. Sean turned to Athena, "this Arianna and the rest, where are they?" "She is my employer and also she gave me two hundred dollars when I needed money to give to Frank for his project. The rest…" "I know," he interrupted, "I just want to know where they stay, we have to meet them immediately to pay off your debts." "What?" Athena stared at him with her eyes wild open, "pay off my debts?" "Of course, why did you think we came here?" He asked. "I…I thought you just wanted to know where I am staying," she hugged her arm. "That and the other," he admitted. "Can I wait in your flat why you both go and pay off the debts? Honestly, I don t think I can take a walk around here anymore, I m sorry girl," TB requested. "Its okay, TB," Athena smiled while Sean rolled his eyes. "Come on, let s go," he said and Athena nodded. She walked to her flat and opened the door for TB. "Stay here, Smith, there is no need drawing more attention to us. Nothing is going to happen to me here after all." "Yes boss," Smith nodded and entered the house with TB while Sean and Athena left to meet her employers. "That s the bar we often gather to play best drinker, winners always win the money," Athena said, pointing to an old looking house with drunken fellows walking out of it. "Let me guess, you are often the winner," Sean smiled to her, he has not forgotten her high alcohol tolerance, it was one of the things that attracted him to her that day. Athena blushed at his words, "well, it s not my fault they are all such a wimp." Sean laughed at that, not caring that all eyes were on them, on him mostly. Athena smiled shyly, for some reason, she found out that she loved the sound of his laughter, it took her back to that night she had first met him which she had forbidden them to speak about. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and caught him looking around with something in his eyes, could it be longing? She doubts, a man like him will never long to live in a slum, it must be her eyes playing games on her and the longing might actually be loath. Athena took him to all her employers and to her surprise he paid all her debt with a thousand dollar extra to all of them, even though he had said it, she didn t really believe that he would pay the debt nor add extra one thousand dollars to every payment. When they finally got back to the house, she pushed open the door and TB jumped to his feet, "oh thank God, can we go now? I really need to take a bath." Athena smiled to him, "of course, TB, thanks for everything," she sighed and turned to Sean, "I can t thank you enough, you know, I still find it strange that you are doing all this, even though you said you don t know the reason yet, I will still thank you and I will never forget this. I promise to work harder to repay you." Sean frowned when he heard that, "repay me? Nobody is repaying anybody, Athena," he sighed, "now that is settled, go in there, get what you will need and let s go. And I don t mean clothes or shoes; I mean mementos, pictures and all that." Athena heaved a deep sigh with a smile, "Sean, I really appreciate all the things you have done for me and the ones you want to do but I m afraid, I won t be coming with you."