Concern.
“I have a job.”
“I’m aware.”
“I like it.”
“I noticed.”
Victoria crossed her arms.
“You left yesterday without waiting for me.”
“My shift ended.”
“I was in Denver.”
“Yes.”
“You fixed an eighteen-million-dollar aircraft and went home.”
“My daughter had science club.”
Victoria studied him.
Most executives she knew would have constructed the entire week around such a moment.
Press release.
Promotion.
Compensation discussion.
Recognition.
Ethan had gone to elementary-school pickup.
“I want you to become an aviation systems adviser for Hart Capital.”
Ethan said nothing.
“Part time.”
Still nothing.
“No management.”
His expression improved slightly.
Victoria caught it.
“No administrative department.”
Better again.
“No pointless meetings.”
“That sounds impossible.”
“I said no pointless meetings. I did not promise no meetings.”
“Less attractive.”
Victoria smiled.
“I need someone who can independently review the aircraft portfolio. Acquisitions, maintenance plans, recurring technical issues, vendor performance, reliability questions.”
“You have aviation managers.”
“Yes.”
“You have manufacturer support agreements.”
“Yes.”
“You have consultants.”
“Yes.”
“Then why me?”
“Because yesterday I watched all three of those groups fail.”
Ethan frowned slightly.
“They didn’t fail.”
“My helicopter sat grounded for three days.”
“They followed the available data.”
“And missed the fault.”
“That happens.”
“You found it.”
“Also happens.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You make everything sound ordinary.”
“Most things are after you understand them.”
“I am offering you significantly more money.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Victoria stopped.
Ethan continued.
“Why me?”
She thought before answering.
“Because you did not try to impress me.”
“That seems like a strange hiring qualification.”
“For the people I work around, it is rarer than you think.”
Ethan looked toward the aircraft.
Victoria continued.
“And because I treated you like someone whose opinion didn’t matter, and you cared more about the machine than proving me wrong.”
“That’s because the machine could hurt someone if we guessed.”
The answer sobered her.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“That too.”
Ethan leaned against the workbench.
“What schedule?”
“You decide most of it.”
“School pickup stays protected.”
“I didn’t say—”
“I’m saying.”
Victoria looked at him.
He was not negotiating from ego.
There was no performance in it.
“My daughter comes first.”
“All right.”
“No travel without notice unless it is a genuine emergency.”
“All right.”
“I keep maintenance shifts.”
Victoria blinked.
“You want to continue turning wrenches?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I like it.”
She almost asked whether he understood what she was offering.
Then realized how insulting that would sound.
“Fine.”
Ethan thought for another moment.
“One more condition.”
Victoria had negotiated billion-dollar transactions with founders who demanded board seats, aircraft, tax protections, retention pools, severance guarantees, naming rights, and private offices larger than houses.
She prepared herself.
“What?”