The Only Exception

Part One - Chapter Two: Life in Rosario

Nibbling on her lip as she crept up the stairs towards her apartment, Lucia Castro prayed that she would be able to avoid her landlord; she knew that she owed him that month’s rent but things were sort of tough for her at the moment.

Lucia was sure she would have had the money if her father hadn’t ended up in hospital and she’d been forced to help her penniless parents to pay for his medical bills; she knew that his condition would only get worse as time went on and her parents were really struggling right now.

Lucia paused as she heard her landlord’s apartment door open, she pressed herself up against the wall in hopes that he wouldn’t see her if he came out; she had been avoiding him for days and she didn’t want to make him angry.

“Oi Castro where is my rent?” Lucia’s landlord barked as he spotted the blonde, he glared at her as he hurried out of the door and towards her; she swallowed this wasn’t going to end well when he discovered that she didn’t have his money.

Hernan Reyes was not a patient man and he made it clear that he didn’t find it acceptable for someone to be late with his rent; no matter what the reason behind it was.

“I’m sorry señor Reyes, I don’t have the rent just yet,” Lucia squeaked as she took a step back from him, his breath stunk of alcohol and it made her stomach churn; she swallowed as a murderous look flickered through his brown eyes.

Hernan shook his head as he clicked his tongue, this wasn’t the first time that Lucia had been late with rent; she had lived in the complex for four years now and he was growing tired of the pretty thing that he couldn’t have.

Lucia yelped as Hernan’s hand shot out and grabbed a hold of her upper arm, she hissed as he tightened his grip and pulled her back towards him; she wriggled as she tried to break free as fear claimed her.

Lucia was wearing a white neckline drape tee and high waist skinny jeans with busted knees paired with burgundy leather ankle boots; she swallowed as she tried to break free knowing that he was going to smack her about until she caved.

“Por favor… I’ll have it next week,” Lucia pleaded as she struggled against his tightening hold, she felt tears fill her eyes and she wondered if this was going to be as bad as last time; the blonde shook with fear as she remembered the last beating that Hernan gave her.

Hernan smirked as he pressed Lucia into the wall behind her and pressed against her, he loved when the women of the building begged; the police wouldn’t even do anything if anyone reported him.

“I’m feeling generous… you have until next week to have the money plus next months in advance, if not your pretty little arse is mine,” Hernan said smugly knowing that there was no way that Lucia would be able to pay him that much.

***

Lucia sniffled as she sat in her apartment and thought about what she was going to do, she couldn’t ask her parents for the money and she didn’t know a lot of people that had the money that she could borrow to pay two months’ worth of rent for her crappy apartment.

Lucia sighed as she wiped her nose on the back of her hand before she reached over and grabbed the television remote, she sighed to herself and flicked on the television to a match that was showing.

Lucia stared for a moment as she watched Barcelona vs. AC Milan, she swallowed as the camera focused on the team’s star player making her heartache; Lucia could remember the last time that she had seen Lionel Messi in person and it was when she had told him goodbye.

Not a lot of people knew that she had been close friends with the footballer before he had moved to Barcelona to continue on with his dream; she was proud of him even if he had forgotten about her when he had become famous.

“At least one of us is living their dreams,” Lucia murmured as her stomach grumbled, she swallowed heavily she had no food in her apartment and she knew that she would be going hungry that night.

Lucia stared at the television screen for a moment with a soft smile on her face, she was glad that Lionel’s dreams came true because he deserved to be happy; she had never been able to admit it but she’d had a crush on him when they were children.

Lucia shook her head fondly as she remembered sitting in the dirt watching him play when they were younger; he was always able to bring a smile to her face even if she was sad and bad things were happening.

Lucia swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, she was glad that he couldn’t see her now; his star shined so brightly while she was nothing but dirt on the bottom of his shoes.

Lucia switched the television off and sighed as she got to her feet and headed for her bedroom, she might as well get some sleep since there was nothing else for her to do.

***

Guillermo Marin sighed as he looked through the list of qualities that Lionel had given him to find him the perfect wife; he didn’t know what had gotten into his footballer but he knew that there had been no talking any sense into him.

The sports agent was now on a flight with a team that had been assembled by Sandro Rosell to track down a woman for Lionel Messi; it was the last thing that Guillermo had ever thought that he would be doing was this.

Staring down at the list, he groaned as he reached up and rubbed his tired eyes as he wondered how on God’s green earth he was going to manage to find a woman like this; Lionel wanted someone who didn’t care for his fame and everyone knew that someone like that was going to be hard to find.

“So what is the plan?” Leslie Cortez asked as she sat down across from Guillermo, she had been sent to make sure that the woman chosen didn’t cause them any legal problems and that Lionel stuck to his promise once the condition had been met.

“We start with childhood friends and such… people that we know that can be trusted,” Guillermo said as he set down the list and looked at Leslie, he knew that this was going to be a long trip and Barcelona wanted results and quickly.

Leslie nodded her head as she reached over and took the list from Guillermo and started to look through it herself; she snorted in derision wondering if the footballer could have been any more precise on what he wanted.

“He couldn’t choose anyone easy to find?” Leslie joked at what the footballer wanted in the woman that was going to be his wife; Guillermo snorted and nodded his head, he had almost asked Lionel for a name since it was almost like he was describing someone instead of a list of suggestions.

“I wonder what brought this on… I mean, I know things with his last girlfriend didn’t work out but this is a pretty extreme way to find a wife,” Leslie mused aloud making Guillermo sigh and look out if the window; he hadn’t known how truly unhappy Lionel had been until he had added this to his contract negotiation.