Echoes of Color

Chapter 10: Choices and Chances

The scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the kitchen as Artina joined Emily and her aunt for breakfast. The morning light streamed through the windows, casting a warm glow over the table set with an assortment of pastries, fruit, and steaming mugs.

"𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔," Artina greeted, taking her seat.

"𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔," Emily and her aunt chimed in unison, their smiles reflecting the comfort and camaraderie they had shared over the past week.

As they ate, Artina took a deep breath and said, "𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙."

Emily's aunt reached over and patted her hand. "𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒."

Emily, chewing on a piece of toast, looked up with a curious glint in her eyes. "𝑆𝑜, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛?"

Artina's cheeks flushed slightly as she recounted the evening. "𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐻𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛."

Emily's eyes sparkled with excitement. "𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡."

As they continued their breakfast, Emily's phone buzzed on the table. She glanced at the screen and her expression shifted to one of urgency. "𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠," she said, standing up and stepping away from the table.

Artina and her aunt shared a knowing look, both understanding the demands of Emily's work with the charity. As Emily spoke quietly into the phone, Artina finished her coffee and began gathering her belongings.

A few minutes later, Emily returned, her face reflecting the seriousness of the call. "𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒."

Artina stood and embraced her cousin tightly. "𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔."

"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑜, 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎," Emily replied, hugging her back. "𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑜." she whispers.

With a final smile and wave, Emily hurried out the door. Artina turned to her aunt, who enveloped her in a warm hug.

"𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔," Artina said, her voice tinged with emotion.

"𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎. 𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟," her aunt replied, giving her one last squeeze.