"Half the people who say they're consultants are between jobs."
She tilted her head.
"No offense."
"None taken."
She seemed disappointed.
Maybe she expected defensiveness.
Caleb returned to the laptop.
The aircraft pushed back from the gate.
Victoria looked toward him again.
"Business trip?"
"Yes."
"Seattle?"
"That is where the plane is going."
She almost smiled.
"You're very economical with words."
"Usually."
"How old are you?"
"Forty-two."
Her eyes moved briefly toward his jacket.
Then the laptop.
Then the cracked corner of his phone visible in the seat pocket.
Caleb watched the calculation happen.
"Single?"
He raised an eyebrow.
Victoria clarified.
"You mentioned nothing about traveling with family."
"I have a daughter."
"How old?"
"Fourteen."
"And her mother?"
Caleb closed the spreadsheet tab.
"We're divorced."
Victoria nodded slowly.
Category found.
Caleb recognized it.
People loved categories because categories saved time.
Single father.
Old laptop.
Economy.
Consultant.
Middle-aged.
Modest clothes.
Everything could now be arranged into a complete person without the inconvenience of listening.
Victoria said:
"That must complicate travel."
"Sometimes."
"Client work must be difficult."
"Sometimes."
"How often can you be away?"
"Depends."
"Interesting."
Caleb looked at her.
"What is?"
She crossed one leg over the other.
"Men in your position usually hit a ceiling."
Caleb smiled slightly.
"My position."
"Single parent."
"Of course."
"I don't mean it cruelly."
"I didn't say you did."
Victoria continued anyway.
"Ambition requires optionality."
"Does it?"
"Absolutely."
"If a client needs you in Singapore tomorrow, you go."
"If a board moves a meeting, you move."
"If a deal requires three weeks in another city, you stay three weeks."
"Children make that harder."
"Everything makes something harder."
Victoria nodded as if indulging him.
"Yes, but serious people price constraints honestly."
Caleb looked toward the runway.
The aircraft paused in line.
Victoria said:
"That's why I never understand business travelers in economy."
Caleb turned back.
"Why?"
"Because people who make real decisions don't buy cheap seats."
There it was.
Caleb waited.
Victoria continued.
"They buy time."
"Time is the only resource that cannot be manufactured."
"If you trade four hours of your productive capacity to save a few hundred dollars, you're declaring what those four hours are worth."
Caleb considered.
"Does first class arrive earlier?"
She laughed.
This time genuinely amused.
"That's not the point."
"It seemed relevant."
"The point is capacity."
"I can work here."
Victoria glanced at his laptop.
"In that seat?"
"Apparently."
She looked almost sympathetic now.
That was worse.
"Look, I'm sure you've built a respectable little practice."