Renner Properties

"Fiona." Captain Reyes's voice had gone flat and cold. "Explain this. Now."

Fiona's mouth opened and closed twice before anything came out. "It was a favor. That's all. I didn't think it would matter, she doesn't fly first class every day, and Cordelia's firm."

She stopped there, half a second too late, the words already out before she could pull them back.

"Cordelia's firm what?" I asked.

Fiona looked straight at Cordelia, pleading, but Cordelia had gone very still in her seat, the color draining out of her face for the first time all morning.

"Renner Properties manages my mother's building," Fiona said, the words coming out fast now, a door that had been held shut with both hands finally giving way. "They filed to evict her two weeks ago. Ninety days' notice, no reason given. I thought if I did something for Cordelia, if I kept her happy today, maybe I could get five minutes with someone at the firm who'd actually listen to me instead of a form letter."

The teenager's phone came back up, slower this time, catching Cordelia's face instead of mine.

"That has nothing to do with me personally," Cordelia said, too quickly, reaching for the mimosa and finding the glass empty. "I don't handle tenant matters. That's a whole different department."

"You knew exactly what she was doing for you," I said. "You just didn't care whose mother it cost."

Captain Reyes turned to the radio still live in Malik's hand. "Safety Ops, I need you to log an employee-conduct incident, effective immediately, and get me a name for the duty manager meeting this aircraft at the gate."

"Copy that," the voice answered. "Also flagging for Meridian: recommend the policy review committee receive this incident file before this afternoon's session."

Fiona's shoulders dropped. Whatever fight had been holding her upright for the last hour went out of her all at once, and for just a moment she was nothing more than what she'd become: someone who had made a bad, desperate choice and was now watching it get read into an official record with the whole cabin listening.

"I need everyone to remain seated," Captain Reyes said to the cabin at large, "while we resolve a seating and conduct issue. This will only take a few minutes."

Cordelia was still staring at the empty glass in her hand, willing it to refill itself and undo the last ninety seconds.