"Eight minutes," Arthur murmured softly. "I suggest you start drafting your resignation letters."
The eight minutes felt like an eternity inside the first-class cabin. The ambient air conditioning hummed, but the silence between the passengers was suffocating. Flight attendant Brenda stood rigidly near the galley, her knuckles white as she squeezed her hands together. Chloe, meanwhile, had retreated as far back into seat 1A as humanly possible, her face pale, repeatedly refreshing her phone as if waiting for a miracle.
Arthur Pendelton remained standing calmly, taking a clean napkin from a nearby service tray to dab at the damp coffee stain on his shirt. He didn't say a word, nor did he need to. The quiet authority radiating from him filled the space completely.
Suddenly, the heavy thud of rapid footsteps echoed through the jet bridge.
The main cabin door swung wider, and Julian Vance stepped inside. The Global CEO of Horizon Airlines looked as though he had sprinted directly from the executive terminal. His hair was slightly windblown, his tie fractionally loosened, and his sharp dark eyes swept across the cabin with terrifying intensity. Behind him were two stern-faced airport security officers and the airline's Director of Ground Operations.
Julian’s gaze locked onto Arthur immediately. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the dark, ruined stain across Arthur's custom Italian suit.
"Arthur," Julian said, his voice laced with immense relief mixed with profound embarrassment. He stepped forward instantly, extending his hand. "I cannot express how deeply sorry I am for this utter catastrophe."
Arthur shook his hand with a single, firm nod. "Julian. I appreciate you coming down personally."
"Of course I came down," Julian replied sternly, before turning his head toward the aisle. His expression hardened into a look of absolute fury as he locked eyes with Brenda and then Chloe. "Now, I want a complete explanation. Right now."
Brenda swallowed hard, her voice trembling violently as she took a hesitant step forward. "M-Mr. Vance... sir! It was a complete miscommunication! I... I was only following standard procedure for unregistered seat disputes. I didn't recognize Mr. Pendelton, and—"
"Procedure?" Julian interrupted, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy tone. "Since when is it standard procedure to accuse a ticket holder of having a counterfeit pass without scanning it? Since when do you threaten the majority shareholder of this company with air marshals?!"
"I... I was trying to protect Ms. Vance's comfort—"
"Ms. Vance is a passenger who used my name to bypass the boarding queue and take a seat that was never assigned to her!" Julian roared, making several passengers in the cabin jump. He turned his gaze toward Chloe, who was cowering behind her designer handbag.
"Chloe, get up. Now," Julian commanded.
Chloe slowly slid out of seat 1A, her arrogance entirely gone. Tears of embarrassment welled in her eyes as she looked at her uncle. "Uncle Julian... I didn't know! She told me the seat was free, and this man was being so rude to me, demanding I move—"
"He was demanding his own seat!" Julian snapped. "You pulled rank using my title, disrupted an international flight, and then threw coffee on the Chairman of the Board!"
"It was an accident!" Chloe cried out, her voice cracking. "I just slipped!"
"An accident born out of sheer entitlement," Arthur interjected calmly, his voice cool and measured. He looked directly at Chloe, then at Brenda. "Julian, this is not merely a mistake by a single spoiled passenger. It exposes a fatal flaw in your frontline service culture. Priority passengers are treated like royalty while process and basic respect are thrown out the window."
Julian closed his eyes for a second, absorbing the weight of Arthur's words. When he opened them, his decision was absolute.
He turned to the Director of Ground Operations standing behind him. "Remove Brenda from this flight immediately. Her employment with Horizon Airlines is terminated effective right now, pending a formal review of her conduct."
Brenda’s jaw dropped. "Sir! Please! I’ve worked here for twelve years—"
"And in twelve years, you forgot the fundamental rule of checking a boarding pass before making accusations," Julian said coldly. "Security, please escort her to the terminal."
The two security officers stepped forward, politely but firmly guiding a weeping Brenda off the aircraft.
Next, Julian turned to his niece. Chloe was trembling, staring at her uncle in disbelief.
"As for you, Chloe," Julian said, his voice flat. "Your corporate flight privileges are revoked permanently. Furthermore, you will be taking a seat in the very last row of economy for this flight, or you can walk off this plane and buy your own commercial ticket with your own money. The choice is yours."
Chloe gasped, looking around the cabin in horror. Every eyes in first class was glued to her, filled with unsmothered amusement and satisfaction.
"Economy?!" Chloe whispered, mortified. "Uncle Julian, you can't be serious! Next to the toilets?!"
"Row 38, middle seat," Julian stated without a shred of sympathy. "Decide now, or security will escort you out alongside Brenda."
Flustered, humiliated, and fighting back tears, Chloe grabbed her designer bag and dragged her heels down the long carpeted aisle, retreating toward the back of the aircraft under the mocking stares of the other passengers.
Julian turned back to Arthur, taking a deep breath to settle his composure. "Arthur, again... I am deeply sorry. I’ve already arranged for a private suite on our next supersonic charter leaving in forty minutes, or if you prefer, we can clear out seat 1A and have our premium service team attend to you immediately."
Arthur looked down at his coffee-stained shirt, then back at Julian. A faint, knowing smile touched his lips.
"The supersonic charter sounds ideal, Julian," Arthur said smoothly, picking up his briefcase. "And while I am waiting, I suggest we schedule an emergency board meeting. It seems we have a lot of restructuring to discuss."
The private conference room at Horizon Airlines’ global headquarters in Manhattan was silent, save for the rhythmic humming of the glass-encased climate control system. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a sweeping panorama of the city skyline, but the atmosphere inside was suffocatingly tense.
Seated around the expansive mahogany table were twelve executive board members, each wearing a tailored suit, each sitting with rigid posture. At the head of the table sat Arthur Pendelton.
He had changed out of his coffee-stained clothes into a crisp charcoal-gray suit, though his quiet, icy demeanor remained unchanged. Beside him, Julian Vance sat with his hands folded tightly on the table, his face drawn with exhaustion and anxiety.
Arthur tapped his pen once against his leather pad. The sound echoed like a starter pistol.
"Thank you all for arriving on such short notice," Arthur began, his voice smooth, clear, and utterly devoid of emotion. "As majority shareholders, Global Sky Holdings called this emergency session to address a critical systemic failure within Horizon Airlines' executive governance and frontline operations."