The collar had come loose. A strand of blonde hair hung across her face. She didn't fix it. At the cabin door, she turned back.
Her eyes found Briana. "I'm sorry. I didn't— It was a misunderstanding. I was just trying to maintain cabin standards."
"Keep walking, ma'am." Dawson guided her through the door. His partner followed. The jetway swallowed them up. The cabin exhaled.
12 passengers who'd been holding their breath for an hour finally let their lungs work again. Mr. Douglas sat down slowly, rubbed his face with both hands. Mrs. Crawford dabbed her eyes with a napkin. Janice Tate lowered her phone at last, but didn't delete a single second.
Briana stayed in her seat. She hadn't moved. Her cheeks still burned. The swelling had turned from red to a deep bruised purple along the bone.
She touched it once with her fingertips. Then she pulled her hand away and picked up her phone. 23 minutes later it rang. Derek Collins, CEO of Sky Nation Airlines.
His voice came through tight and fast. The voice of a man trying to hold a crumbling wall together with his bare hands. "Briana, I just heard. I am— God, I don't even know where to start.
This does not represent our values. This does not reflect who we are as a company. I want you to know that I am personally—"
"Derek." He stopped. "Save the PR script." I've heard it before. Every company says the same thing when they get caught. This doesn't represent us.
We're better than this. We're launching an internal review. I've sat on enough boards to know exactly how this plays out. Silence on the other end.
She could hear him breathing. Here's what's going to happen. I want a full internal investigation. Not a summary, not a brief, the complete file.
I want every complaint filed against Heather Wilson in the last 5 years. Every incident report. Every passenger grievance that was resolved internally. I want names, I want dates, and I want it on my desk before the board call tonight. "Briana, I assure you—"