Silence.
Richard finally said:
“I never received a response to my letter.”
“I know.”
“Fair.”
“You weren't owed one.”
“I know that too.”
Amara looked out the window.
Richard said:
“I almost canceled this flight when I saw your name on the upgrade list.”
She turned.
“You can see passenger names?”
“Not anymore.”
He smiled.
“I’m consulting for a completely different company.”
“Small one.”
“No Apex contracts.”
“Good.”
“Very.”
They sat.
Eventually Richard asked:
“Did the airline get better?”
Amara thought.
“Yes.”
“Perfect?”
“No.”
“Of course.”
He looked toward the cabin.
“I've read some of the policies.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“You still read compliance programs involving companies you no longer work with.”
Richard laughed.
“Old habits.”
Amara looked at him.
“Did you get better?”
He stopped laughing.
“Some days.”
Honest.
She appreciated it.
Richard continued:
“I spent the first year after stepping down furious.”
“At me?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“At Thomas.”
“The investigators.”
“My board.”
“My employees.”
“Anyone except me.”
Amara waited.
“Eventually that got boring.”
She smiled.
“Self-awareness often begins with boredom.”
“Maybe.”
The champagne arrived.
Richard’s water too.
He lifted his glass.
“To shared armrests.”
Amara stared.
Then laughed.
She touched her glass against his.
“Shared.”
For the first hour, they barely spoke.
Richard respected the armrest precisely.
At one point his elbow crossed the midpoint.
He noticed instantly.
Moved it.
Amara smiled without looking.
Later, turbulence began.
The aircraft shook.
A child cried somewhere behind them.
Richard looked pale.
“You hate turbulence?”
“Always have.”
Amara laughed.
“The powerful Richard Halston.”
“Terrified of air pockets.”
“Good to know.”
The plane jolted.
His hand gripped the armrest.
Their hands touched.
Richard immediately pulled away.
“Sorry.”
Amara looked at him.
The word.
So ordinary.
So easy.
Ten years earlier, he could not say it.
Now it came automatically.
She rested her hand on her side of the armrest.
“It's fine.”
Then she corrected herself.
“No harm done.”
Richard smiled.
Turbulence passed.
Hours later, cabin lights dimmed.
Richard slept.
Amara remained awake.
She looked at him.
Not the villain of her life.
He never had been.
He was a man whose bad behavior exposed weaknesses larger than himself.
He paid consequences.
Others learned.
Some systems changed.