The cabin murmured.
Adrian’s expression changed.
This was not one stolen seat.
This was a chain.
Vivian had been inserted into 2A.
Everyone else potentially shifted downstream.
Meredith returned with a tablet.
Thomas took it.
His eyebrows drew together.
“Mr. Brooks, 2A.”
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Caldwell, 4C.”
Vivian said:
“I was promised 2A.”
Thomas continued.
“Mr. Larson, 3D.”
“Ms. Hendricks, 3C.”
“And 4C is currently marked blocked.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Blocked by what code?”
Meredith’s hand tightened around the tablet.
Thomas looked.
“E-R-9.”
Adrian knew the system.
He did not know that code.
“What is ER-9?”
Meredith said nothing.
Thomas looked at her.
“Meredith.”
She swallowed.
“Executive Recovery Nine.”
Adrian stared.
“There is no Executive Recovery Nine in published seat policy.”
Meredith whispered:
“It’s internal.”
“Who created it?”
She looked toward Vivian.
Then away.
Adrian followed her eyes.
Vivian said:
“This is absurd.”
He turned back.
“Who created it?”
Meredith answered:
“Customer experience.”
“Corporate?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“About nine months ago.”
There it was.
Nine months.
The first seat complaint had arrived eight months earlier.
Adrian felt something cold settle beneath his ribs.
Thomas said:
“Mr. Brooks—”
“Adrian.”
Thomas paused.
“Adrian, we need to finish boarding.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked around.
More than a hundred passengers were waiting because of a problem they did not create.
He was not going to punish them for it.
“Handle the manifest correctly.”
“Do not give me any preference because of my title.”
Thomas nodded.
“Understood.”
Vivian stared.
“You're seriously expecting me to move?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Yes.”
Her face hardened.
“My husband sits on your board.”
“Your boarding pass still says 4C.”
“You think that's funny?”
“No.”
“You're humiliating me.”
Adrian looked at the coffee stain across his hoodie.
Then at the boarding pass she had thrown onto the floor.
He said nothing.
Vivian’s face flushed.
Thomas gestured.
“Mrs. Caldwell.”
She stood.
Picked up her handbag.
Then turned to Adrian.
“You're going to regret making a scene out of this.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I haven't made a scene.”
She walked toward 4C.
The passenger assigned 4C stood.
Thomas checked his pass.
4C.
The block code had removed his seat from active cabin map after he checked in.
“What seat were you given?”
Thomas asked.
The man frowned.
“They told me at gate I had been moved to 11A.”