Maya looked out the window.
“The shocking part should be that he believed basic respect depended on whether I could impress him.”
Eric leaned back.
“What do you want to do?”
“Nothing.”
“With him?”
“Nothing.”
“At all?”
Maya looked at him.
“We are not his employer.”
“But his firm wants our business.”
“That is different.”
Eric understood.
Meridian North had been evaluating Whitmore Advisory for a possible capital-structure project.
Douglas was one of the partners leading the pitch.
After what happened, people would naturally assume Maya would cancel the relationship.
She did not want revenge disguised as procurement.
So she made a decision.
“Continue the evaluation.”
Eric looked surprised.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“With Douglas?”
“No.”
“That would be absurd.”
She reopened the laptop.
“But evaluate the firm.”
“On the same criteria.”
“If they lose, they lose because someone else is better.”
“If they win, they win because they are better.”
Eric stared.
“You’re separating him from the firm.”
“I’m separating emotion from process.”
“You’re more disciplined than I am.”
“No.”
Maya looked toward the window.
“I’m furious.”
“That’s why I shouldn't make the decision alone.”
Eric smiled.
“Fair.”
Meanwhile, Douglas stood inside the private terminal watching the airplane leave without him.
He had been rebooked on a commercial flight.
Three hours later.
Middle seat.
That detail angered him disproportionately.
He called his assistant first.
“What the hell happened with the charter?”
She sounded confused.
“What do you mean?”
“My seat.”
“You had 2C.”
“I requested the first row.”
“No.”
Douglas stared at the glass doors.
“What?”
“I requested forward business seating.”
“They assigned 2C.”
“You confirmed it yesterday.”
Douglas said nothing.
His assistant continued.
“Was there a problem?”
He looked toward the tarmac.
The Meridian North charter had disappeared.
“I was removed from the flight.”
Silence.
“What?”
“There was an incident.”
“What kind?”
“A passenger became confrontational.”
His assistant asked:
“Who?”
Douglas hesitated.
“The CEO.”
Another silence.
“Which CEO?”
“Meridian North.”
This time, the silence lasted much longer.
His assistant finally said:
“You had an incident with Maya Carter?”
Douglas closed his eyes.
“You know her?”
“Everyone in the pitch team knows her.”
He became defensive.
“She didn't identify herself.”
His assistant did not answer.
Douglas continued.
“I thought there was a seating mistake.”
“Why?”
He opened his mouth.
No answer came quickly enough.
His assistant asked again.
“Why?”
“I had requested forward seating.”
“You had forward seating.”
“She was in row one.”
“Yes.”
Douglas looked through the terminal.
“She should have told me who she was.”
His assistant’s voice changed.
“Why?”