Page 11 of The Incredible Kindness of Paper

Oliver

After a quick change in the office bathroom into his jiu jitsu gear, Oliver opened his laptop to type in one more thing he’d just thought of.

Then he slung his gym bag over his shoulder and put on a Yankees cap—Oliver didn’t even watch baseball, but he knew the statistics for skin cancer, and Yankees hats were the cheapest form of sun protection.

They could be found at every sidewalk vendor and kiosk in New York.

He was exiting the elevator into the lobby when his phone rang. It was his brother.

“Hi, Ben. What’s going on?”

“Hey, Oliver, I was wondering if you could do me a favor? There’s some Japanese ingredients I need for a dish I want to try out at the restaurant, but I can’t find them here in D.C.

I could special order them, but there’s some international shipping delays going on, so I was hoping you could buy them for me in New York and then bring them when you come down to D.C.

for that conference you’re speaking at?”

“Sure, just tell me what you need and where to go.”

“Awesome, thanks. There’s a specialty Japanese market in Little Tokyo in Manhattan.”