“You haven't looked at my boarding pass.”
“I don't need to.”
That sentence changed everything.
Nia became completely still.
The woman leaned back in her chair.
“I've been flying first class for twenty years.”
Nia waited.
“I know what belongs here.”
A few people stopped pretending not to listen.
The gate agent behind the counter looked over.
Nia’s voice became colder.
“No.”
The blonde woman frowned.
“You know what you've decided first class should look like.”
The woman’s face changed.
There it was.
The point where annoyance became anger because the assumption had finally been named.
She stood.
She was perhaps fifty.
Tall.
Elegant.
Clearly wealthy.
A diamond bracelet flashed beneath her coat sleeve.
“You have no idea who you're speaking to.”
Nia almost smiled.
That sentence.
Of course.
She asked:
“Do I need to?”
The woman stared.
“My name is Evelyn Whitmore.”
Nia said nothing.
Evelyn apparently expected recognition.
It did not arrive.
“My husband sits on the board of Whitmore International.”
Still nothing.
“We spend hundreds of thousands annually with this airline.”
Nia nodded slowly.
“I see.”
Evelyn interpreted that as surrender.
“Exactly.”
Nia continued.
“So you believe spending money gives you permission to throw another passenger’s property?”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“You're being deliberately difficult.”
“No.”
Nia glanced at her suitcase.
“I’m asking a very simple question.”
Evelyn pointed toward the gate counter.
“Fine.”
She raised her voice.
“Someone needs to check her ticket.”
The nearest gate agent looked startled.
Her name tag said MELISSA.
Melissa stepped around the counter.
“Ma’am, is there a problem?”
Evelyn gestured toward Nia.
“Yes.”
“This woman is occupying first-class seating.”
Melissa looked at Nia.
Then at the cream boarding pass in her hand.
Nia extended it.
Melissa scanned it.
A green light appeared.
Her eyes moved across the screen.
“Seat 1A.”
Evelyn frowned.
Melissa handed the pass back.
“Everything is correct.”
That should have ended it.
Nia expected it to.
She had underestimated how invested Evelyn had become in being right.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“That account was verified?”
Melissa looked confused.
“Her boarding pass is valid.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Nia’s eyes narrowed.
Melissa said:
“I don't have access to payment information at the gate unless there's a ticketing issue.”
Evelyn laughed.
“So you don't actually know.”
Melissa straightened.
“I know the passenger has a confirmed boarding pass for seat 1A.”
“Then someone made a mistake.”
Nia looked at her.
“You’re still doing this.”
Evelyn ignored her.
She spoke to Melissa.
“Call a supervisor.”
Melissa hesitated.
Nia saw something in her face.
Recognition.
Not of Nia.
Of Evelyn.
That interested her.
Melissa lowered her voice.
“Mrs. Whitmore, the ticket is valid.”
Evelyn’s expression changed when Melissa used her name.
“Then you know who I am.”
“Yes, ma’am.”