Page 75 of The Incredible Kindness of Paper
He smiled a little, sheepish. “I did like you a lot, Chloe.Dolike you. So if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
Zac walked her back to her apartment. Before he left, though, she returned the gold crane brooch, still untouched in its Tiffany’s box.
She gave him a peck on the cheek. “Thanks again for coming out here to make sure I was okay.”
“Take care, Chloe.”
“You, too, Zac.”
Chloe smiled softly, glad to have known him but also proud of herself, as she watched him walk away for the last time.
Chloe went to the one place she knew would make her smile—to see her origami-folding crew in Central Park. Almost everyone was there, except Felix, who was on duty, and Jennifer.
Bonnie, Mary, Ricky, Jocelyn, Xander, and Ravi all enveloped Chloe in hugs of sympathy as soon as she arrived.
“Sorry about thatToday Showvideo, Ms. Quinn,” Ravi said. “That guy seemed like a dick. Pardon my language.”
Jocelyn from the cancer center knit her brow. “That’s not my impression of him.”
Chloe blinked. “You know him?”
She nodded. “A couple years ago, his secretary had leukemia. Mr. Jones personally accompanied her to all her chemo appointments because she didn’t have any family in the area. She’s in remission now, and she credits his constant presence for part of the reason she had the will to fight and recover.”
“Oh!” Ricky said. “I knew he looked familiar. I was actually the one who drove him and his secretary to your treatment center, Jocelyn. Since it wasn’t official company business, he couldn’t charge Goldman Sachs, so he always paid me directly in cash.”
Bonnie tutted. “I don’t know… We live in the same building as him. Sometimes we’ll be chatting with Sal, the doorman, and Oliver will just march by, hardly even grunts hello.”
“The other day,” Mary added, “Sal said Oliver’s mother came by to visit, and he kicked her out almost as soon as she arrived!”
“Wait,” Chloe said. “You live in the same building? And did you know that Jennifer, who’s been volunteering here sometimes, is Oliver’s mom?”
“Huh,” Bonnie said. “Why, now that you mention it, they do have the same eyes and hair, don’t they?”
Chloe turned to Xander, the only one in the group who hadn’t spoken up yet. “Don’t tell me you know Oliver, too.”
Xander’s ears turned pink. “Uh, actually… Mr. Jones is a regular at my mom and dad’s restaurant. And he literally saved my life! You know that paper rose you gave me on the last day of school? It blew into the street, and I stupidly dove after it. But Mr. Jones grabbed me and rolled me out of traffic, then went back into the street to get the rose for me.”
Chloe gaped. “Oliver saved your life?”
Xander nodded.
She let out a small laugh, both surprised and not that everyone here was somehow linked to both Oliver and her.
She just didn’t know what it all meant.
When Jennifer arrived, everyone excitedly repeated their connections to her son.
While they chattered, though, Chloe thought over and over about what Oliver had said, that the origami flowers didn’t mean anything, that they were no better than horoscopes.
And then she thought about Zac, encouraging her to take advantage of the popularity of the paper roses. And Wanda from theNew York Times,asking about online branding and corporate deals.
Chloe gasped. Suddenly, it was clear to her what she needed to do. She disagreed with Oliver that the roses didn’t mean anything, but shecouldmake them even more than what they already were.
“I know how to take advantage of the popularity of the flowers,” Chloe said.
“I thought the point was youweren’tgoing to do anything?” Mary asked.
“Not like how Wanda or Zac were thinking,” Chloe said. “But what if I can use the attention these paper roses are getting to start a nonprofit? I was at a party the other night that was for an arts foundation, and it has me thinking about how to increase the good in the world. It’s so wonderful how far the paper roses have already spread, but I want to create something that helps get our uplifting messages to people who not only need them, but who might not be able to find them on their own.”
