I respect that. I do. Ms. Hayes. Russ tried again. No.
No. Let the man speak his mind. She turned back to Ethan and something in her eyes glittered with an energy that felt less like respect and more like performance. Here's what I propose. If you are so certain, so absolutely certain that this aircraft is unsafe, why don't you prove it?
Ethan felt his stomach drop. Ma'am, fly it. A gasp rippled through the crowd. Somebody actually laughed out loud, a bark of disbelief. "I'm not a pilot," Ethan said.
"Of course you're not," Victoria said sweetly. And now she was performing fully playing to the room like a stage actress who'd found her spotlight. So you won't fly it because you can't because none of what you just said has anything to do with real expertise, real training, real engineering. It's fear dressed up as instinct. And I understand that machines like this are frightening if you don't understand them.
She turned back to the crowd, spreading her arms theatrically. But you know what? Let's make this interesting, Mr. Cole, Russ muttered, mortified. Ethan Cole, Mr. Cole, I'll make you a deal right here in front of everyone. Victoria's eyes glinted with something between mockery and showmanship.
The confidence of a woman who had never once in her life been proven wrong in a room she controlled. You fly this helicopter right now in front of all of us and prove your little theory about the tail rotor and if you're brave enough to actually get in that cockpit and take off. She paused for effect. The room held its breath. I'll marry you.
The hangar exploded into laughter. It wasn't gentle laughter. It was the kind that rolled through a crowd like a wave. Ugly and loud investors doubling over engineers slapping each other's backs. someone actually applauding with slow, sarcastic claps. The documentary camera swung wildly between Victoria's triumphant smile and Ethan's still unreadable face.
Petrov was laughing so hard he had to lean against the tailboom. The same tail boom with the crack nobody would listen about. "Oh, come on everybody," Victoria said, riding the wave milking it. "Don't be shy. I think that's a fair trade for a man with this much conviction.
Unless, of course, He's all talk. Someone shouted from the back and the laughter surged again. Russ grabbed Ethan's arm, his voice a desperate whisper. Cole apologized right now. Say you misspoke.
Say you're sorry. And maybe maybe you still have a job when this is over. Don't make this worse. Ethan looked at him. Then he looked past him at Victoria standing there in her cream blazer with her arms crossed and her smile stretched wide.