"Steemit Challenge s28wk6: Unexpected Chat's True Twist

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The following week was a haze of nervous anticipation. For Antony, who had a habit of exhausting his social energies after only twenty minutes, the touch of Tina’s hand had been a battery-rechargeable energy source he had not known he had.
Antony's world was a mystery because he was A.J. Finch, known as the shy and successful writer of bestselling kids’ adventure fiction books, his world was his secret because Antony was just Antony—he stuttered when he ordered a latte.

Friday morning dawned. They were supposed to meet at "The Basil Pot," a tiny French bistro that smelled like garlic butter and history. When Tina arrived, she was not in her shop uniform. She was wearing a disordered, riotous dress that was composed of pieces and patches that approximated a dozen sunsets.

"You came," she smiled, slipping into the booth.

"I wouldn't miss it," Antony managed, startled by the calmness of his own voice.

They ordered pasta, but food was not what was really being consumed. Their conversation rapidly changed from formal discussions to more exciting discussions of dreams.

"I don't want to sell clothes for the rest of my life," Tina confessed during dinner. "I mean, I'm good at it. But it's not me."

"What is yours, then?" Antony leaned in.

Tina paused, then reached into her bag for a frayed leather sketchbook. “I draw. To actually answer your question, this is going to sound stupid, but I’ve been totally fixated on one writer. His name is A.J. Finch. His stories are so empty, but so full. I’ve been sketching out what I imagine his characters might look like.”

He could feel the room spinning around him. "A.J. Finch

"Yeah."
She opened the book and passed it across the checkered tablecloth. "I know he’s probably some eighty-year-old hermit, but look."

Antony looked. And he stopped breathing.

There, charcoal sketches and watercolors, was The Glass Giant, the hero from his new, as-yet unreleased manuscript. She had illustrated the Giant as Antony had envisioned him in his mind, eyes so full of sadness, and a shoulder that bore the weight of his transparency, a light orb that was a Marigold clutched tightly in his fist.

"Tina," Antony was whispering, "why did you depict him with a Marigold?"

“I don't know, It just felt. right. Like he needed hope.”

Antony reached into his pocket for his fountain pen. He drew his sketchbook closer and began to write on a blank page.

Giant looked at the flower and understood for the first time that he himself was not made of glass because he was fragile. Just the opposite: he was made of glass so the light would shine through his skin.

He signed it: – A.J. Finch.

Tina read the letters. She saw the words. Her eyes opened wide as they scanned from the letter to Antony’s flushed face. The truth struck her.

“You?” she whispered. “The guy who couldn't ask for sugar in his coffee is the Giant?

"I am the hermit," he corrected, spoting a crooked, shy smile.
"And I think I need an illustrator. My publisher is being rather persistent about doing a graphic novel, but I told him I couldn't possibly share my vision. Well, until now, that is."

The romantic tension that had been building all evening suddenly escalated to something much more dynamic and intriguing—Partnership.

"Antony, we’re not just having dinner. We are creating an empire."
Tina held his hands across the table.

Six Months Later

The banner hanging over the entrance of the bookstore read: STORY BY A.J. FInch. ART BY TIna Rossi.
Antony was standing in the corner, wearing a tailored suit that Tina had designed for him. He watched Tina, who was charming the critics with her success radiating off of her. She caught his eye, tapped her heart, and motioned for him to come to her.
They’d not only discovered romance in that parking lot. They’d discovered a purpose. The twist wasn’t that they fell in love. This was, after all, inevitable. The twist was that by discovering each other, they’d finally discovered a way to embrace being themselves.

Pixabay

I invite @peacemike @okereblessing and @bossj23