“Charles reported himself?”
“He reported the instruction.”
“Why?”
“Because HR asked.”
Ethan nodded.
Good.
Facts.
Mike drank beer.
“Everybody misses you.”
“That fast?”
“Aaron tried to ask Pierce a question.”
“He wasn’t there.”
“Exactly. That was the problem.”
Ethan laughed.
Then Mike became serious.
“You really done?”
“With Cole?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“What about aviation?”
Ethan looked down.
That question he had avoided.
Aircraft maintenance had been his entire adult life.
He loved the work.
He hated what had happened.
Those were different things.
“I don’t know.”
Mike nodded.
“Regional Jet Services called me.”
Ethan looked up.
“About?”
“You.”
“How do they know?”
“Hangar gossip travels faster than a Gulfstream.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That you’re difficult, expensive, and emotionally unstable.”
“Good.”
“They want to talk.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I’m not ready.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to run straight into another hangar just because I’m scared to be unemployed.”
Mike studied him.
“You’ve never been good at not working.”
“I know.”
“That could be a problem.”
“I know.”
Mike lifted his beer.
“To unemployment.”
Ethan touched bottles.
“Temporary.”
Two weeks passed.
Ethan repaired the kitchen cabinet he had ignored for three years.
He attended Maddie’s science club.
He cooked actual dinners.
He slept badly.
Every morning at 5:30, his body woke ready for the hangar.
Every morning there was no hangar.
The first week felt like vacation.
The second felt like identity loss.
He had not realized how much of himself was organized around being needed.
Then, one Thursday afternoon, a pickup stopped outside.
A man Ethan vaguely recognized stepped out.
Sixty.
Silver hair.
Work jacket.
He introduced himself as Daniel Pierce.
Ethan almost closed the door.
“Before you do that,” Daniel said, “I’m not here for Logan.”
Ethan waited.
Daniel held no briefcase.
No attorney.
“Five minutes.”
Ethan reluctantly let him onto the porch.
Daniel did not ask to come inside.
“I pushed Logan for the position.”
“I know.”
“I believed Cole needed operational modernization.”
“Probably does.”
Daniel seemed surprised.
“You agree?”
“Maintenance can always improve.”
Daniel nodded.
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“Then why?”
“Because Vanessa told the board you resigned because you opposed restructuring.”
Ethan stared.
“She said that?”
“She said you reacted emotionally to anticipated changes.”
Ethan laughed.
There it was.
Narrative construction again.
Daniel continued.
“I was at the board meeting.”
“And?”
“And I asked whether your performance had been poor.”
“What did she say?”