I sat in 2C.
Not because I accepted the situation.
Because I wanted to see what would happen next.
I opened my laptop.
There were three emails waiting.
One from Melissa.
One from our legal department.
And one from the CEO of Northstar Aviation Holdings.
I read the last one twice.
Mr. Brooks,
As discussed, I will personally attend today's meeting. I believe you should know that there have been irregularities involving several senior executives at Northstar. We need to speak before the acquisition documents are finalized.
I stared at the screen.
Northstar Aviation was the parent company of the airline I was currently flying.
And someone inside Northstar had been hiding information from me.
Suddenly, the woman in 1A wasn't the most interesting problem on the plane.
The Woman in 1A
Her name was Victoria Harrington.
I learned that twenty minutes later.
She was a senior executive at a luxury cosmetics company and, according to the man sitting across the aisle, “very well connected.”
She had spent most of boarding complaining.
The champagne was too warm.
The cabin was too cold.
The overhead bin was difficult to close.
The passenger in row three had coughed too loudly.
Every complaint received an immediate response from the crew.
Every complaint except mine.
I watched quietly.
Victoria noticed.
“You're still upset?”
“No.”
“You should be.”
I looked at her.
She leaned closer.
“You should learn something from this.”
“What?”
“People need to understand boundaries.”
I almost smiled.
“You're right.”
She seemed pleased.
Then she said:
“Especially people who don't belong in places like this.”
That sentence changed something.
Not inside me.
Inside the cabin.
Several passengers looked away.
One older man near row four lowered his newspaper.
A woman beside him shook her head.
Victoria didn't notice.
Or didn't care.
The lead flight attendant returned.
“Mr. Brooks, we're ready to close the doors.”
I asked:
“Did you verify the manifest?”
She paused.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“There appears to be a duplicate reservation.”
I frowned.
“A duplicate reservation?”
“Yes.”
“Then whose name is attached to 1A?”
She glanced toward Victoria.
“Ms. Harrington's reservation.”
“And mine?”
“Mr. Brooks.”
“Also 1A?”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
That was impossible.
Unless someone had changed something.
I opened my laptop.
“Can you give me the reservation numbers?”
“Sir, that's confidential.”
“I understand.”
I closed the laptop.
“Then call your operations desk.”
She frowned.
“I don't think that's necessary.”
“It is if two passengers have been assigned the same seat.”
Victoria suddenly spoke.
“Honestly, this is ridiculous.”
The flight attendant turned toward her.
“I apologize, Ms. Harrington.”
Victoria pointed at me.
“Move him.”
The flight attendant looked uncomfortable.
I could see it.
For the first time, she wasn't completely certain.
Then another crew member approached.
“Sarah.”
The lead attendant turned.
“Yes?”
The younger flight attendant whispered something.
Sarah's face changed.
“What?”
“The operations desk is asking for Mr. Brooks.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
She looked at me.
“Mr. Brooks, could you come with me for a moment?”
Victoria immediately protested.
“Why?”
Sarah didn't answer.
I stood.
As I walked toward the galley, I noticed the younger attendant looking at my boarding pass.
Her eyes widened.
“That's strange.”
“What?”
She pointed at the bottom.
“There's a corporate travel code.”
I looked.
She whispered:
“Northstar executive priority.”
I stopped.
Sarah stared at the ticket.
Then she looked at me.
“Are you…”
I didn't answer.
A voice came through the intercom phone in the galley.
“Is Daniel Brooks on board?”
Sarah picked up.
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then the voice said:
“Do not let him leave the aircraft.”
The Call from Northstar
Sarah put the phone down slowly.
I watched her.
“Who was that?”
She swallowed.
“Operations.”
“What did they say?”
“They asked that you remain on board.”
I nodded.
“Fine.”
She looked confused.
“You're not angry?”
“I've been angry before.”
I sat in the jump seat.
“Anger doesn't make computers work faster.”
Sarah looked at me differently.
Maybe she was finally beginning to understand that I wasn't confused.
I knew exactly what was happening.
What I didn't know was why.
The younger flight attendant, whose name tag read Emily, stood nearby.
“Mr. Brooks?”
“Yes?”
“May I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Are you Daniel Brooks from Brooks Meridian?”
I nodded.
Her eyes widened.
“My father works for one of your distribution centers.”
I smiled.
“Which one?”
“Columbus.”
“What's his name?”
“James Carter.”
I remembered.
“James is a good man.”
Emily looked at Sarah.
Sarah's face had gone pale.
Victoria was watching from 1A.
She couldn't hear everything.
But she could tell something had changed.
The intercom rang again.
Sarah answered.
This time, the voice was different.
“Put Mr. Brooks on.”
She handed me the phone.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“This is Richard Cole.”
I recognized the name.
Richard Cole was Northstar's chairman.
“What's going on?”
“Someone accessed the reservation system this morning.”
“How many reservations?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
I glanced toward Victoria.