He looked toward the dress.
“Richard didn’t create the weakness.”
“He exploited it.”
Simone corrected:
“He may not even think of it that way.”
Daniel looked at her.
She continued.
“If people keep rewarding your aggression, eventually you call aggression normal.”
Daniel nodded.
“That doesn’t excuse him.”
“No.”
“But if you want prevention, you need to understand reinforcement.”
Daniel smiled.
“You should work for legal.”
“I’d rather eat the dress.”
He laughed.
Then became serious.
“Are you okay?”
Simone looked toward the dark window.
“I keep replaying one sentence.”
“What?”
“Passengers like you.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Simone continued.
“He never finished what ‘like you’ meant.”
“He didn’t need to.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Was it race?”
“Maybe.”
“Gender?”
“Maybe.”
“Class?”
“He assumed I had less status.”
“Definitely.”
“Some combination.”
Simone nodded.
Daniel reached across the table.
She took his hand.
“What bothered you most?”
he asked.
Simone thought.
“That he became sorry only after you arrived.”
Daniel looked down.
“Yes.”
“If you hadn’t?”
He did not answer.
Neither needed to.
Three weeks later, Richard Hale’s attorney sent a letter.
Formal.
Polished.
Careful.
Richard regretted “the unfortunate cabin incident.”
No admission of intentional conduct.
No mention of champagne being poured.
No recognition of discriminatory language.
The letter emphasized stress.
Miscommunication.
Travel fatigue.
Simone handed it to Daniel.
“What do you think?”
He read it.
“Lawyer wrote it.”
“Obviously.”
“Do you want to respond?”
“No.”
Daniel placed it aside.
Two days later, Richard sent another letter.
Handwritten.
Daniel did not open it.
He gave it to Simone.
She read.
Shorter.
Less polished.
Mrs. Warren,
I behaved disgracefully. I poured champagne on you because you would not give me something I wanted. I used my customer status to pressure staff, and I spoke to you in a way I would not have spoken to someone I believed had greater power than I did.
Simone stopped.
Read that sentence again.
She continued.
I have spent several weeks asking myself why learning who your husband was changed my behavior so quickly. I do not like the answer.
I am sorry. Not for the scandal. Not for being removed. For what I did before I knew anything about you.
Simone folded the letter.
Daniel watched.
“Better?”
“Yes.”
“Enough?”
“No.”
He nodded.
Fair.