Imani took a seat toward the back rather than join the directors at the front. For a few minutes she listened to the room settle and watched who greeted whom. Doug moved through the audience shaking hands with executives, while Gary found reasons to speak to employees who had helped boost his performance scores. Carol and Lily were not there, but Maya had been invited after her flight to join a short cabin-service briefing at headquarters and had stayed when Captain Daniels asked her to attend. She saw Imani across the room and hesitated, uncertain whether she should approach.
Imani raised a hand in a small greeting. Maya walked over and whispered, "I filed it. Captain Daniels sent it himself." Imani nodded.
"Thank you for doing that." Maya glanced toward Gary onstage and lowered her voice further. "I still don't know if anyone will read it." Imani looked at her with an expression Maya would remember long afterward. "Somebody already has."
The lights dimmed, and a skyline of airplane wings filled the presentation screen. Doug began with the usual figures about punctuality, employee commitment, and customer loyalty. The first two awards went to a maintenance engineer and a baggage operations supervisor, both of whom received modest applause and sincere congratulations from colleagues. Then Doug lifted the plaque with Gary's name on it, smiled broadly, and began the introduction he had practiced all morning.
"Fourteen years with us," Doug said. "The best customer satisfaction score in the Midwest. Gary, on behalf of everyone at Skyline, congratulations." Gary accepted the award amid applause and walked to the microphone. "I just try to treat every passenger the way I'd want to be treated," he said. He could not have known that the sentence was about to become the one everyone remembered when they watched the video afterward.
Margaret stepped forward before Doug could lead the room toward the reception. "Colleagues, before we begin the formal leadership proceedings, I'd like to introduce someone," she said. Gary moved to the side of the podium, still holding the plaque. Margaret turned toward the side aisle. "Our incoming chair of the board, pending today's formal vote, Ms. Imani Brooks."
Imani stood in the aisle with the ordinary visitor badge still clipped to her jacket. She did not pause for dramatic effect or wait for applause, though a few directors began clapping when they recognized her. Gary looked across the room, then looked again, and the color began to leave his face. He saw the woman who had asked for the policy, the woman he had offered 31F, and the woman who had told him she intended to remember his name.
"Seat 2A," Gary whispered. Maya heard him from the back of the room. Doug turned toward Gary, confused by the expression on his face, just as Imani reached the front row.
Margaret introduced her to the audience, but Imani was looking at Gary when she spoke. "Good afternoon, Mr. Whitlock. I believe we've met."
Gary's fingers tightened around the edges of the plaque. "Ms. Brooks, I..." he began, but the sentence would not form. Imani looked at the award in his hands. "I heard you say you treat every passenger the way you'd want to be treated," she said. "Before we congratulate ourselves on that statement, I'd like the company to look carefully at what it meant this morning."