“You did.”
The HR manager stepped closer.
“Ms. Shaw, please collect your personal belongings.”
Evelyn looked around the cabin.
Her cabin.
That was how she had called it.
Not anymore.
She walked toward the galley.
Richard remained where he was.
The regional compliance officer approached him.
“Captain, I’ll need your crew credentials.”
Richard removed the badge from his lanyard.
His hand shook slightly.
He gave it over.
Then he looked at Amara.
“I was wrong.”
She waited.
He swallowed.
“Not because of who you are.”
Amara said nothing.
“Because I should have stopped it.”
There was a long pause.
Finally Amara nodded once.
“That is the first useful thing you’ve said.”
He looked down.
The first officer appeared in the cockpit doorway.
“Operations wants to know whether we’re canceling.”
Amara checked the time.
7:16 p.m.
Her mother had already sent three messages.
WHERE ARE YOU?
DID YOU BOARD?
IF YOU MISS DINNER I AM SERVING YOUR PLATE TO THE NEIGHBOR.
Amara almost smiled.
She turned toward the ground operations manager.
“Replacement crew?”
“We have another captain fifteen minutes away. Cabin supervisor maybe twenty-five.”
Claire spoke quietly.
“I’m qualified cabin lead.”
Everyone looked at her.
She immediately looked terrified that she had said it.
The operations manager nodded.
“She is.”
Amara looked at Claire.
“You want the responsibility?”
Claire hesitated.
Then straightened.
“Yes.”
“Even after this?”
“Especially after this.”
Amara nodded.
“Good.”
She looked toward the first officer.
“You comfortable flying with the replacement captain?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then continue.”
Richard looked up.
“You’re still taking the aircraft?”
Amara looked at him.
“My mother is expecting me.”
For the first time, Claire laughed.
A small, nervous laugh.
Amara smiled faintly.
“Apparently even CEOs answer to someone.”
The tension cracked just enough for the cabin to breathe again.
Then footsteps sounded outside.
Charles Langford arrived.
He climbed the stairs wearing a camel overcoat, followed by his wife and adult son.
He stopped when he saw the HR manager, compliance officer, displaced captain, crying cabin supervisor, and Amara standing in the aisle wearing green fur.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Charles looked at Amara.
“Are we delayed?”
Amara knew him.
He did not know her.
Not visually.
He had spoken with her twice by phone.
She had approved a service-recovery credit for him six months earlier after an aircraft substitution.
Charles looked toward Richard.
“Captain?”
Richard said nothing.
Charles’s impatience grew.
“I was told we would depart at seven.”
Amara answered.
“There was a crew issue.”
Charles looked her up and down.
“And you are?”
Amara almost laughed.
Claire covered a smile.
Charles looked toward Evelyn.
“What happened to our seats?”
Evelyn seemed unable to answer.
Charles pointed toward 2A.
“We always sit forward.”