He walked straight down the aisle, past row five, past row 10, past row 20, all the way to the back of the plane. Every head turned to follow him. He stopped at row 34. Ms. Taylor, his voice carried through the entire cabin.
Are you all right? Karen stood. I'm fine, Gerald. Thank you. Victoria heard the name.
Taylor. She tilted her head. The name meant nothing to her. She had never bothered to learn who owned the airline she worked for. She had never attended a single companywide meeting.
She had never read a single internal memo that didn't directly affect her schedule. "Who is that?" She whispered to Derek. Derek shook his head. Gerald turned to face the cabin.
"I apologize for the delay, everyone. This will be brief." He gestured for Karen to walk ahead of him toward the front. She did. Row by row, the same passengers who had watched her walk to the back two hours ago now watched her walk forward.
Some recognized her, the woman from the confrontation, the one who had been dragged from her seat. The one Victoria had called nobody. Karen reached the first class curtain. She stopped. She turned to face Victoria Ashford.
Victoria's red lips parted. Her pearl earrings swung. Her fingers, those long red nails, gripped the edge of the galley counter. "What is this?" Victoria said.
"Who are you people?" Howard Langston stood from seat 3A. He buttoned his jacket. His two executives stood behind him. "Allow me."
Howard's voice was quiet, but it filled the cabin the way only a man who had addressed shareholders for 30 years could fill a room. Victoria. Is it senior flight attendant Ashford? Right. Senior flight attendant Ashford.
Howard paused. The woman you removed from seat 2A. The woman you called nobody. The woman your co-pilot grabbed by the wrist. The woman whose phone you confiscated.
Her name is Karen Taylor. He let the name hang in the air. She is the founder and majority owner of Meridian Airways. She owns this aircraft. She owns this route.
She owns the seat you took from her. And she signs the paycheck that pays your salary. The silence that followed was not like the silence from before. The silence in the earlier confrontation had been cowardice. Passengers looking away, pretending not to see.