Brandy punched some keys, stared at her screen, then repeated the process in silence.

“What are you doing? Are you looking for a seat?”

Brandy looked up. Her face said, Do you mind?

“I’m sorry,” April said. “I’m just . . . it’s really important.”

“There’s nothing,” Brandy said, shaking her head at the computer screen. “Not. A. Thing.”

“I could fly standby, right?”

“Yes, but it’s the end of the day, and I’ve already got about ten people waiting before you to get on the next flight to New York.”

“Ten?”

“There were some delays earlier,” Brandy explained. “But I will put you on standby if that will get you to move out of my area. There are lots of other customers with extremely important life-or-death trips.”

April nodded an emphatic yes. She was groveling at the feet of the aviation queen, and no amount of slighting was going to prevent her from getting on that plane to New York. She took her ticket and rounded the corner. Stopped. The security line was incredibly long. How could that be? Hadn’t most people already made their flights? How could there be this many people still needing to fly?

“It’s a bear,” a tiny grandma at the back of the line said to April. “I swear, sometimes I’m not sure it’s worth it. But then I see those grandkids. I’ve got four of them. Joshie is five, and he’s the most adorable—”

“I’m so sorry,” April said. She felt horrible for cutting off this sweet old woman. “My mind is spinning a little. Is this really the end of the line?”

“I’m afraid it is.”

“I’ve got a flight in”—she checked her watch—“oh, I’m never going to make it.”

The grandma scooted over. “Why don’t you get in front of me? Would that help?”

There were about a hundred people in front of her. It was a generous offer, but it wouldn’t make any difference. “That’s okay,” April said. She stood, paralyzed.

“Why don’t you just walk up to the front?” the grandma suggested. “I’m sure once they hear the reason you’re in such a hurry, they’ll understand.”

“I don’t think so,” April said. She’d heard horror stories about people butting in line.

The woman lifted her heels off the ground and leaned in to meet April’s eyes. “It’s for your family, isn’t it? I can tell.”

April felt moisture develop under her eyelids. “Yes.”

“Then just do it! You’ll never see any of these people for the rest of your life! So who cares if you offend them? You go around this world trying not to offend people, and you’ll never get anything done.”