Page 88 of The Incredible Kindness of Paper
Chloe
That evening, Chloe’s plane touched down in New York. She had gotten on the first nonstop plane she could—Thank you, Nana, for the airfare—because she and Oliver had been put on hold for too many years, and she could no longer wait. She had to find him.
The speakers in the plane crackled on. “On behalf of our entire flight crew, we’d like to welcome you to New York City. If you have a connection, there will be agents waiting at the gate happy to assist you.
“And if this is your final destination, you’ll have the pleasure of walking through a new art installation that was just unveiled yesterday…”
Chloe was hardly listening. She had ripped off her seat belt as soon as the plane landed, and now she bounced in her middle seat—last-minute travelers couldn’t be choosers—and the man next to her glared because she was jostling the whole row.
“In a rush?” he asked, not exactly politely.
“Yes,” Chloe said. “I have to do something very important.” In the past, she would have padded her answer with effusive sorrys and other softening phrases to excuse her behavior, as if she had to apologize for having things of consequence in her life that might conflict with other people’s priorities. But this time, she simply met the man’s gaze.
He glanced down at his shoes. “Oh. Um, well… Once we start deplaning, I can block the aisle and get you out first.”
A smile bloomed across Chloe’s face. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
The man blushed. “Happy to help.”
People were fundamentally good. Sometimes they just needed a little nudge.
When it was their turn to get up, Chloe grabbed her backpack—the onlything she’d packed—and scooted out into the aisle to wait. The clover and infinity charms on her bracelet jingled like a nervous tambourine.
She touched the tarnished silver. Was it possible to polish up the past and move forward?
I hope so.
As soon as Chloe got off the plane, she took off running through the terminal. Forget dignity—there was love at stake.
She followed the exit signs, punching in a request in her ride app at the same time so that she wouldn’t have to wait on the curb for too long. She knew where Oliver worked, and also where he lived, because Bonnie and Mary lived in the same building. She prayed he would be in one of those places.Please don’t let rush hour traffic be bad.
Chloe was still sprinting when she passed the security checkpoint and crossed into the public part of the terminal. She was barely watching where she was going, focused mostly on the airport map on her phone so she could take the fastest route out.
But then she stopped in her tracks.
In front of her, the hall had been transformed into the art installation the flight attendant had been talking about.
Thousands of yellow paper roses had been strung like garlands hanging from the ceiling, so that they draped down like a giant waterfall of hope. It wasn’t just one curtain of garlands, either. It was an entire corridor of them.
“Oh my god.” Chloe blinked, not quite believing what she was seeing.
Every passenger had to walk through the curtains of paper roses, and on the petals of each flower, a joyful note had been written, likeBon Voyage!OrWe are so happy you came!in different languages.
Goose bumps prickled across Chloe’s skin. Was she imagining this?
As she began to walk slowly through the waterfall of paper roses, though, it sank in that this was real. That she had started something small to brighten a few lives, and now it was bigger than she could have dreamed, touching more people than she could have ever hoped for. Children giggled while skipping through the flowers, stirring the garlands like a happy breeze. Their parents grinned at them and at each other, reading their favorite flower petals outloud. Even jaded business travelers paused for a moment, snapping photos of the curtain of roses.
“Idid this,” Chloe said to herself, beaming.
Halfway through the corridor, a rose bopped her on the nose. She was going to walk around it, but it bounced off her, then swung right back on its string and bumped into her again.
She paused to read it.
What you’re looking for is right in front of you.
Her breath hitched in her throat.
A second later, the paper roses parted, and Oliver walked through.
