"From what to what?"
"Five shifts a week to three. Sometimes two."
"Did they give you a reason?"
"Vanessa wrote that I was having trouble adapting to the service direction."
"Were there performance warnings before that?"
"No."
"Why did you stay?"
Maya looked around the annex.
The Black technician was scrolling through flight updates. The nurse had pushed the fruit away and was drinking water. The Latino businessman still balanced his case on his lap. The older veteran stared toward the runway he could not see from his seat.
"Because if everyone who knows leaves," Maya said, "there won't be anyone here to tell guests they're not imagining it."
There was no drama in the answer.
Only fatigue.
Adrian folded the paper and slipped it into his jacket.
"Do you know who sent me an anonymous email Friday night?"
Maya's expression changed. "No."
He believed her.
Before he could ask another question, Vanessa appeared.
Maya returned to the podium.
Vanessa watched her walk away. "Employees are prohibited from sharing internal material with guests."
"She brought water."
"You seem very interested in our internal operations."
Adrian turned toward the loud white traveler at the coffee station, who had received fresh coffee and bonus points without any record being opened.
"Are Black guests more likely to be described as confrontational here?"
Vanessa's face tightened. "We don't see race. We evaluate behavior."
Adrian pointed toward the coffee bar. "Where is his behavior report?"
Vanessa followed his hand.
The man was still complaining, now about the foam level in the replacement drink.
"Every interaction is different," she said.
"That's not an answer."
"You seem determined to find problems in everything."
"I'm asking whether the same behavior receives the same name."
The lounge doors opened before she could answer.
Leonard and Gloria Bennett entered together.
Leonard was seventy-one, tall even with the slight forward lean caused by pain in his right hip. A silver cane supported his left hand. Gloria, sixty-eight, wore a plain tan coat and carried both of their travel folders in a zippered pouch. She walked close enough to steady him without making the gesture feel like assistance he had not requested.