He wondered how many times she had encountered this particular passenger.
The woman noticed him watching.
“What are you staring at?”
“The way you speak to people.”
The cabin became quieter.
Her face changed.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“You have no idea who you're talking to.”
“No.”
The CEO leaned back.
“But I'm learning.”
The investor two rows behind them suddenly found his newspaper fascinating.
The woman looked toward him.
She expected support.
He did not provide it.
That angered her more.
She turned back toward the CEO.
“My husband helped finance this company.”
The CEO nodded.
“Congratulations.”
“You think I'm joking?”
“No.”
“He sits on committees people in this company wait years to enter.”
“I’m sure.”
“He has the CEO’s private number.”
The Black CEO almost smiled.
That was technically impossible.
His direct phone number had changed six days earlier.
Only seven people had it.
The woman's husband was not one.
Still, he said:
“Then perhaps he should call him.”
She stared.
“You're very smug for someone who clearly doesn't understand the room he's in.”
The CEO glanced around the cabin.
“I understand it better every minute.”
That was when the senior flight attendant stepped from the galley.
She was a Black American woman in her early forties who had worked for the company twelve years.
The CEO knew that from personnel records.
She did not know him.
At least, she did not appear to.
She approached carefully.
“Is there a problem here?”
The blonde woman spoke first.
“Yes.”
She pointed toward the CEO as though indicating damaged luggage.
“This passenger was incorrectly seated, your junior attendant refused to correct it, and now he's harassing me.”
The senior attendant looked toward the CEO.
“Sir?”
He answered calmly.
“My boarding card says Three-A.”
The attendant checked the manifest on her tablet.
“Yes, sir.”
The blonde woman snapped:
“I already explained that I want the window.”
The senior attendant remained professional.
“Three-C is your assigned seat.”
“I don't care.”
“I can offer you One-A.”
The woman paused.
One-A was objectively better.
Front of cabin.
More space.
Window.
She could have ended the problem immediately.
Instead she looked toward the Black CEO.
“No.”
The senior attendant realized then that the seat had stopped being the issue.
So did everyone else.
The blonde woman wanted him moved.
Specifically him.
“I want Three-A.”
The attendant took a breath.
“That seat is occupied.”