Page 55 of The Incredible Kindness of Paper
“You have to go over to the pop-up gallery they set up,” Julie said. “The artist is amazing. He paints completely realistic portraits and landscapes but then there’s one whimsical, unexpected detail. Incredible.”
Oliver made a noncommittal noise.
“So did you come with anyone?” Julie’s eyes roved over his body.
“Er… no.” He angled himself slightly away, hopeful that she’d take the hint that he wasn’t interested.
“We should sit at the same table for dinner then. I’m here solo, too.”
“I, uh, haven’t decided yet how long I’m staying.” Now that Puja had seen him once, he figured he only needed to loiter long enough for her to notice him again a little while later, and then he could disappear. There would be enough people milling around that she wouldn’t notice him gone.
“Oh, youhaveto stay for dinner.” Julie reached over and touched his arm. She left her hand resting on his sleeve. “Hawthorne Drake spares no expense. It’s all caviar with gold leaf, and lobster and truffles. And the wine is top-notch. If we’re forced to attend this thing and pay for the ticket, we might as well get our money’s worth, right?”
“Not really. That’s an economic fallacy.” Oliver shifted his arm away from her. “The ticket price is already a sunk cost. No matter what you do, you won’t get your money back, so you might as well minimize the additional suffering you have to endure.”
Julie laughed as if he’d made a joke, but he’d been entirely serious about this gala being a torment.
“You know, like, half the staff on your floor has a crush on you, Oliver?”
“What?”
She laughed again. “There’s something endearing about your grumpiness.”
“I’m not grumpy,” Oliver said. He just didn’t talk much in the office because he didn’t see what was so interesting about the things everyone else loved chattering about—the latest reality show or which celebrity was dating whom. None of that superficial stuff was even real.
“I swear,” Julie said, “of the unmarried staff, half are in love with you, and the other half with Zac Billings. Who would have thought that math nerds would end up ruling the world?”
Ugh.Even on a subject Oliver didn’t care about—office crushes—it was still somehow a competition between him and Zac. At least Zac was still on a business trip and Oliver wouldn’t have to run into him at this gala. That would’ve been the only thing that could possibly make this night more torturous.
“Anyway,” Julie said, “want to grab another drink and then head over to look at the paintings?”
Oliver held up his glass. It was still full.
“Great,” Julie said. “Since you’re all set, let’s go see those paintings, huh?”
Across from the bar, the elevator dinged. The doors opened.
Out stepped just one person.
She wore a diaphanous blue gown, the fabric flowing down the curves of her body, the hem swishing gently at her feet like the tide. Her dark hair was done in loose braids and waves, woven through with tiny crystals. Like a selkie who’d just stepped onto the shore.
The entire ballroom fell silent. Or maybe it was just Oliver, who suddenly couldn’t hear the band, or Julie talking, or any of the other three hundred people in the room.
“Chloe,” he breathed, as he tried to keep his heart from bounding out of his chest. What was she doing here?
He left his drink on the table.
“Oliver?” Julie said.
“Excuse me,” he murmured, forgetting that he had been trying to keep his and Chloe’s worlds apart. Because the invisible string that connectedthem was vibrating at a frequency he couldn’t ignore, and he wove his way across the ballroom toward her, everyone else around him a mere blur.
Chloe hadn’t seen him yet. She was taking the white leather folio from the arts foundation couple in the foyer, smiling at them like they were the most important people in the world. Chloe was good at that; she always listened, always made sure everyone felt heard.
But there’d been a time when Oliver really had been the most important person in her world. And here they were again, in the same city after all these years, now at the same party. She had asked if he believed in irrational concepts like fate and he usually didn’t, but if it were ever to exist…
She glanced up then, and when their eyes locked, Oliver’s skin dissolved into a million stars.
He would always be hers.
