“I’m not the one you need to convince,” she replied.
That forced him to look outward.
At the passengers.
The crew.
The director.
This moment had never been private.
And it never would be again.
He straightened, drawing in a slow breath.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, projecting his voice through the cabin, “there has been a misunderstanding, and it has now been resolved. We will be departing shortly.”
It wasn’t perfect.
It wasn’t enough.
And he knew it.
But it was the furthest his pride could stretch in that moment.
Eleanor didn’t respond.
She simply picked up her book, opened it, and continued reading as if nothing had happened.
But everything had changed.
The takeoff that followed was quiet.
Unnaturally so.
Daniel guided the aircraft with the same precision as always, but his mind wasn’t fully in the cockpit. It lingered in the cabin, replaying the moment again and again.
