She walked past the security guards patrolling the entrance, her footsteps echoing on the polished marble floor. A server appeared, sliding her coat off her shoulders with practiced ease. Ariella took a deep breath, her eyes sweeping over the displayed artifacts as people mingled about the gallery.
Her gaze fell on a photograph hanging on the wall, and she paused. The title above the photo reads:
𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏.
It was a picture of her mother, smiling radiantly with a pregnant belly, her dad beside her, helping her cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the Egyptian Gallery fifteen years ago. Ariella traced a finger over the image, a sad smile tugging at her lips. Her mother had donated money to the Egyptian department to educate the citizens of Metropolis.
Ariella breathed and moved to the other side of the gallery. Lana spotted her and smiled before turning to face Clark.
"Why don't you join us?" Lana said to Clark as Ariella overheard. "I'm going to go yank Nell away from the jewelry exhibit so we can eat."
As Lana walked off, Clark's gaze turned to Ariella.
She held her breath as he stepped toward her, his eyes lingering on her pale blue dress before meeting hers with a look of awe.
"You look beautiful," Clark breathed.
Ariella smiled. "Thanks," she breathed. "I didn't know you were coming."
"Lex invited me," Clark replied, taking another step closer.
Ariella nodded, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "I see. Do you want to join—" she started.
"—yes, uh, I mean sure," Clark cleared his throat. "Unless you have a date..."
"I don't have a date." She interrupted, lifting a brow. "My dad and brother couldn't make it," she explained, reaching out to grab Clark's hand.
