For twenty minutes she could not concentrate.
Patricia’s sentence kept returning.
I didn’t know who you were.
Diana had heard versions of that apology before.
From investors.
From executives.
From people who mistook her for an assistant.
From hotel staff who handed her luggage to carry because they assumed she worked there.
From conference organizers who asked whether she was “with catering” while she waited backstage to deliver the keynote.
The apology was rarely:
I should not have treated anyone that way.
It was:
I would have behaved differently if I had understood your status.
For years Diana had accepted that as progress because it was easier.
Flight 447 made it impossible.
When the aircraft landed in Atlanta, there were reporters at the terminal.
Diana used a private operations exit.
Not because she wanted to hide.
Because she had a merger meeting in forty-seven minutes and refused to let Patricia determine the rest of her day.
Marcus met her in a conference room downtown.
“So.”
“So.”
“You broke the internet before breakfast.”
“I did not.”
“Technically Patricia did.”
“Correct.”
The Southern Crest executives had all seen the video.
Diana worried the incident would derail the merger discussion.
Instead, their chairman, Thomas Avery, began the meeting by saying:
“We can postpone.”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
Avery nodded.
“Then we discuss airplanes.”
For the next four hours, that was exactly what they did.
Routes.
Debt.
Fleet leases.
Union agreements.
Crew bases.
Technology integration.
Brand architecture.
Maintenance.
Nothing about Patricia Henderson.
At 6:12 p.m., both sides signed a preliminary merger agreement.
Diana shook hands across the table.
Only afterward did Marcus hand her his phone.
“You need to see this.”
Air Support Services had released a statement.
The company confirmed that Patricia Henderson was an employee and stated that her conduct in the circulating video was inconsistent with its standards.
She had been placed on immediate administrative leave pending investigation.
Diana read the statement twice.
“Good.”
Marcus looked surprised.
“That’s all?”
“What do you want them to do in six hours?”
“People online want her fired.”
“People online don’t run Air Support’s investigation.”
Marcus smiled.
“You are deeply inconvenient.”
“That’s why you make more money than me.”
“I absolutely do not.”
“Then renegotiate.”
The next morning, Diana met Skyward’s general counsel, Priya Shah, head of customer experience Elaine Brooks, Marcus, and director of vendor oversight Nathan Rivera.
No one discussed revenge.
Diana prohibited it at the beginning.
“We are not using company leverage to destroy an individual.”
Priya nodded.
“We do need to preserve options.”
“Yes.”
“Defamation?”
“Document it.”
“Passenger harassment?”
“Document it.”
“Interference with crew?”
“Rodriguez and Maria handle operational reports.”
“Air Support?”
“Separate review.”
Diana looked around the table.
“I do not want Patricia’s behavior used as an excuse to punish hundreds of Air Support employees who had nothing to do with it.”
Nathan Rivera opened a folder.
“The problem may be broader than Patricia.”
He distributed complaint summaries.
Phoenix.
Denver.
Seattle.