Echoes of Color

Chapter 9: A Glimpse of Love

As Artina and Emily left the charity office and walked home, Artina continued to gush about her encounter with Caden. Emily listened, smiling at her cousin's enthusiasm. They were just a few blocks from their apartment when they heard a familiar voice calling out.

"𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎! 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦!" Ethan jogged up to them, his smile bright and welcoming. "𝐹𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒."

Artina's heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. "𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛, ℎ𝑖! 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒?"

"𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑦," he replied, glancing at the cup in his hand. "𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑦."

Emily glanced at Artina, a quick glint in her eye. "𝑂ℎ, 𝐼'𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡." She turned to Artina, giving her a knowing look. "𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑜, 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎. 𝐸𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓."

Artina opened her mouth to protest, but Emily cut her off. "𝑁𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠." She winked and gave Artina a gentle push towards Ethan.

Artina hesitated for a moment before smiling at Ethan. "𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝐼'𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜."

Ethan's grin widened. "𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡! 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟. 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑒?"

As Emily waved them off and headed back to their apartment, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement herself. She had always hoped Artina would find someone who appreciated her for who she was, and Ethan seemed like just the right person.

Ethan and Artina walked side by side, the evening air cool and refreshing. "𝑆𝑜, ℎ𝑜𝑤'𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔?" he asked, genuinely interested.

Artina's face lit up. "𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝐷𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝐻𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠!"

"𝑊𝑜𝑤, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒!" Ethan said, impressed. "𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐻𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘."

As they arrived at the restaurant, the cozy ambiance immediately set the tone for an intimate evening. Soft music played in the background, and the warm glow of candlelight bathed the room in a gentle light.

They found a quiet corner and settled into their seats, the tension of the day melting away. Ethan ordered a bottle of wine, and as the waiter poured their glasses, they began to chat about their hobbies and passions.