The movement startled the baby again.
The mother held her tighter.
The purser lifted one hand.
“Please remain seated.”
“No.”
The wealthy woman turned toward the front.
“I want the captain.”
The purser's tone hardened.
“The captain is conducting departure procedures.”
“Then stop the departure.”
A few passengers laughed in disbelief.
The wealthy woman ignored them.
“I know senior leadership at this airline.”
The mother looked down at her daughter's wet dress.
Something about that sentence almost made her smile.
The wealthy woman saw the expression.
“What?”
The executive looked up.
“Nothing.”
“Say it.”
“No need.”
“You think this is funny?”
The mother reached into her handbag.
The purser noticed.
“What are you doing?”
“Making a call.”
The wealthy woman laughed.
“Of course.”
She looked around at the cabin.
“Here comes the performance.”
The executive unlocked her phone.
The baby's crying had softened to little hiccups.
The mother kissed the top of the white bow.
The wealthy woman pointed toward the aisle.
“Call security.”
The purser looked at her.
“For whom?”
“For her.”
The cabin went silent again.
The mother lifted her eyes.
The wealthy woman continued:
“I am not sitting next to someone who threatens passengers.”
The younger attendant frowned.
“She hasn't threatened anyone.”
The wealthy woman looked at the mother.
“She did.”
“When?”
“When she said touching the child again would cost me.”
The executive spoke.
“I said the seat would be the least expensive thing you lost today.”
The woman's eyes widened.
“There.”
The purser looked at the mother.
“Did you mean physical harm?”
“No.”
“What did you mean?”
The executive looked toward the wealthy woman.
The first hint of anger entered her voice.
“That depends on whether her behavior becomes the airline’s problem or remains only hers.”
The wealthy woman laughed.
“You hear that?”
The purser did.
But unlike the wealthy woman, she heard the strange precision of the sentence.
The mother opened her contacts.
The wealthy woman turned to the younger attendant.
“Get security before she invents something else.”
The mother pressed call.
The phone rang once.
A man answered.
“You’re supposed to be in the air.”
The executive smiled faintly.
“We haven’t pushed back.”
The wealthy woman stopped moving.
The voice from the phone continued:
“Everything okay?”
“No.”
The executive put the call on speaker.
The purser looked at the screen.
Her face changed.
She knew the name.
Not the woman.
The name.
The group CEO overseeing the Northstar transition.
The wealthy woman had not noticed yet.