“You don’t owe them gentleness.”
Maya gave him a tired smile.
“I know.”
He nodded.
“But I suspect you’ll give them truth, which will hurt more.”
Lena stayed beside Maya a moment longer.
“Do you want me at the meeting?”
Maya looked at her.
“They may try to make this sound smaller than it was. A nurse in the room would make that harder.”
“Then I’m coming.”
Denise hesitated.
“Miss Williams, corporate has arranged a conference room at the airport business center first, but Mr. Whitman is requesting that we move to Crestline’s Manhattan crisis office. He says the board is joining remotely.”
Maya checked the time on her phone.
12:41 a.m.
“Tell Mr. Whitman I will meet him tonight,” she said. “But not alone.”
“Miss Ortiz comes with me.”
“My counsel joins by video.”
“And every word is recorded.”
Denise nodded.
“Understood.”
Naomi had already sent a car.
It was waiting outside arrivals.
A black SUV with a driver holding a tablet displaying only one word.
Williams.
Maya paused when she saw it.
For the first time that night, something from her own world had reached her.
Not the airline’s world.
Not Clare’s world.
Not Victoria’s world.
Hers.
Lena noticed.
“That your car?”
“My assistant doesn’t wait for permission.”
“Good assistant.”
“The best.”
In the back seat, Maya finally leaned her head against the leather and closed her eyes.
She did not sleep.
She listened to Naomi on speakerphone, rapid and controlled, walking through what had happened since the plane landed.
“The first clip is past five million views.”
“The second, the one with the peanuts and ‘you people,’ is climbing faster.”
“Three national outlets have requested comment.”
“Crestline’s public account posted that they are aware of a customer-service concern, and people are tearing them apart for using that phrase.”
Maya opened her eyes.
“Customer-service concern.”
“I know.”
“Save that post.”
“Already archived.”
“Their legal department has called Williams Meridian twice asking whether tomorrow’s signing is still confirmed.”
“What did you say?”
“That you were unavailable for comment.”
Lena sat beside Maya, arms crossed, jaw tight.
“They still don’t know.”
Naomi heard her through the phone.
“Is that Miss Ortiz?”
“Yes,” Maya said. “She’s with me.”
Naomi’s voice softened.
“Thank you for helping her.”
Lena looked out the window at the passing lights of Queens.
“They shouldn’t have made it necessary.”
The SUV crossed into Manhattan beneath a dark sky.
The city was not asleep.
It never really was.
Delivery bikes moved through wet streets.
Steam rose from grates.
A couple argued outside a closed diner.