Tom cleared his throat.
“Ladies, I'm sorry to interrupt you.”
Nia closed her tablet.
Tom looked at the woman.
“Mrs. Harrington, as I explained, the flight is completely booked.”
The woman's expression hardened.
“I am a Platinum Elite member.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“I have been flying with Majestic for ten years.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“There is always a solution.”
Tom looked uncomfortable.
“The first-class cabin is full.”
“Then someone needs to move.”
Tom's eyes shifted toward Maya and Nia.
The twins followed his gaze.
A cold feeling settled in Maya's stomach.
Tom spoke carefully.
“These passengers are confirmed in seats 1A and 1B.”
The woman barely glanced at them.
“Well, they can move.”
Nia blinked.
“Excuse me?”
The woman looked at her.
“My husband is in 1C.”
She gestured toward the gate.
“We always travel together.”
Maya said nothing.
The woman continued.
“I had to book late because of a family matter. The airline separated us. Obviously, that needs to be corrected.”
Nia stared at her.
“And your solution is for us to move?”
The woman smiled.
“Yes.”
She said it as though the answer were self-evident.
“These girls can take my seat in business class.”
The silence that followed was almost physical.
Maya slowly closed her laptop.
Nia placed her tablet on the table.
Then Maya asked:
“Why would we do that?”
The woman looked surprised.
“Because I'm asking.”
Nia laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“We booked these seats months ago.”
“I understand.”
“So why should we give them up?”
The woman's smile disappeared.
“I'm sure the airline can compensate you.”
Tom jumped in.
“We can offer each of you a five-hundred-dollar travel voucher.”
Nia stared at him.
“Five hundred dollars?”
“Yes.”
“To give up first class?”
Tom nodded.
“And move to business.”
Nia looked at Maya.
Maya looked back.
Neither said anything.
The woman folded her arms.
“It's a very generous offer.”
Maya finally spoke.
“It's not about the money.”
The woman rolled her eyes.
“Of course.”
Maya remained calm.
“We chose these seats because we have work to do on the flight.”
“Business class is perfectly comfortable.”
“We want these seats.”
The woman's jaw tightened.
“Young ladies, I really don't think you're understanding the situation.”
Nia leaned forward.
“Oh, we understand it perfectly.”
The woman's face reddened.
“You're being unnecessarily difficult.”
“No,” Nia replied.
“We're simply saying no.”
The woman looked at Tom.
Her voice dropped into the kind of whisper that was somehow louder than normal speech.
“I spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with this airline.”
She pointed toward the twins.
“Are you really going to prioritize them over me?”
Tom swallowed.
The lounge had gone quiet.
Everyone was listening now.
Maya felt the anger rise.
But she pushed it down.
She had learned long ago that some people wanted you to lose your composure because it allowed them to make themselves the victim.
She wasn't going to give this woman that gift.
Nia, however, was less interested in diplomacy.
“They paid for their seats,” she said.
The woman snapped her eyes toward her.
“And you know that how?”
“Because they're our seats.”
Tom looked at the floor.
Then a woman in a crisp airline uniform approached.
She was in her forties.
Her name tag read:
SUSAN PFIZER — LOUNGE SUPERVISOR
Susan looked around.
“What seems to be the problem?”
The blonde woman immediately stepped forward.
“Finally.”
Susan looked at Tom.
Then Maya.
Then Nia.
The woman began talking.
“My husband has severe anxiety when he flies alone.”
Susan nodded sympathetically.
“And I have a medical condition that makes sitting farther back extremely difficult.”
Maya raised an eyebrow.
The woman continued.
“I have been a loyal customer for ten years, and somehow these two young women are being prioritized over me.”
Susan looked at Tom.
“Is that accurate?”
Tom hesitated.
Maya watched him.
The young agent was trapped between policy and pressure.
Susan looked at the twins.
“Ladies, would you be willing to move to business class?”
Maya answered immediately.
“No.”
Susan's expression tightened.
Nia added:
“We're not asking for anything from her. We're just keeping the seats we purchased.”
The woman scoffed.
Susan sighed.
Then she said the sentence that changed everything.
“I understand, but perhaps you could be flexible.”
Maya looked at her.
“Why is flexibility only being requested from us?”
Susan had no answer.
And that was when Maya reached into her handbag.
She pulled out her phone.
Nia looked at her.
“You calling Dad?”
Maya nodded.
“Maybe.”
The blonde woman laughed.
“You're calling your father over an airplane seat?”
Maya looked at her.
“No.”
She unlocked her phone.
“I'm calling him because this may be bigger than an airplane seat.”
The Call
Maya walked several steps away from the group.
She didn't want the entire lounge listening.
Not because she was ashamed.
Because she didn't want her father to react before she explained what had happened.
She pressed one contact.
DAD.
The call connected almost immediately.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Maya smiled despite herself.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Everything okay?”
Maya looked back toward the lounge.
Nia was standing with her arms folded.
Susan looked uncomfortable.
Tom looked terrified.
Caroline Harrington looked furious.
“Actually,” Maya said, “I need to ask you something.”
Her father immediately became serious.
“What's wrong?”
“Do you still have a relationship with anyone on the board at Majestic?”
There was a pause.
“Why?”
“Because we're being asked to surrender our first-class seats.”
Another pause.
“Why?”
Maya explained.
She told him about Caroline.
The claim that they should move.
The $500 vouchers.
The suggestion that Caroline's loyalty mattered more than their tickets.