She Denied Me Boarding, but Karma Took Flight

A month after I was urgently transferred from Rogge Airlines to a luxury commercial airline, I had flown twenty-six times. Right before my twenty-seventh takeoff, the entire flight crew received photos of my supervisor, Victor Gibson, picking me up in his luxury car and taking me into a five-star hotel. Every shot made us look intimate. Jessie Brooks, the head flight attendant, sneered at me, "I knew it. No wonder the new contract flight attendant always gets to serve the VIP passengers. She slept her way there! "What a surprise..." She crossed her arms and looked me up and down, smug. "So VIPs have such weird tastes these days. They like freaks who don't even look like a man or a woman! No wonder they picked you!" I had no time to explain. I needed to get on that plane. But Jessie had her people pin my arms behind my back and confiscated my flight gear. "Cher! You've been trading sex for favors inside the company, and I've reported you! "As head flight attendant, I'm pulling you off every flight, effective immediately. I'll have another flight attendant cover your shift." I fell silent for three seconds. Wait... Did anyone bother asking me? The Global Finance Summit started in just three hours, and I was the captain. If I couldn't board, who was going to fly the eighteen financial titans, gray-market bosses, cross-border smuggling kingpins, and business tycoons on that plane to the summit? Chapter 1 "Ms. Brooks, I..." I'd barely started to explain before Jessie Brooks cut me off. "Didn't they train you before you came here? "Seniority matters in this industry. On top of that, I'm the team lead, and you're just a contract flight attendant! "All you think about is sleeping your way into the VIP cabin. You're a disgrace to this profession! "It's people like you who give flight attendants such a terrible reputation!" Her gaze cut into me like a knife, as if she wanted nothing more than to sink her teeth in and finish off the parasite eating away at her industry. Strictly speaking, though, she and I didn't work for the same company, and she certainly wasn't my superior. I'd been temporarily transferred here to help out in an emergency, so naturally my personnel file hadn't come with me. And I wasn't riding around in my supervisor's luxury car or sleeping with him at a five-star hotel either. I'd told my supervisor, Victor Gibson, from the start that there was no need for anything so lavish or for such a fuss. I could take a cab myself, and I could stay at a motel. But Victor insisted. He said I was here to bail them out of a jam and was doing them a huge favor, so I had to eat well and sleep well. I'd gone over the classified flight briefing for this trip ahead of time. This VIP flight was carrying no fewer than eighteen financial heavyweights, all headed to the Global Finance Summit starting in two hours. They were major players who could move the financial markets with a single sentence. Any one of them could crush me as easily as an ant. I sucked in a sharp breath. I really didn't have time for Jessie's nonsense. I was just about to swipe my badge when a dull pain shot through my wrist. Jessie had a death grip on me. Veins bulged at her temple, and her face twisted into a nasty grin. "A Silver Wing card? "Even I only have a navy-blue badge. A lowly contract flight attendant like you is swiping a Silver Wing card, and you still claim you're not sleeping with the boss?" I was at a loss for words. "This card is mine. Ms. Brooks, every card has its own unique number. You can look it up after we land." Shock froze on her face for three seconds. Then she burst into shrill, piercing laughter. "Yours? Lady, how old are you, anyway? "The only people in our department who get that card have put in over forty years! "Even Cory Olson, the prodigy captain from a family of aviators, doesn't have one. What makes you think you do? You're lying through your teeth!" I seethed inside, but there was nothing I could do. That was just how the industry was. Only one in every hundred captains was a woman. I held an Airline Transport Pilot License, type ratings for nearly every aircraft, special privilege certifications, and multiple commendations for distinguished service. Even so, I still couldn't measure up to my show-off junior. "Ms. Brooks, please give my card back." I kept my face stern. "The plane takes off in just an hour and forty minutes, and I still have other preparations to make. After we land, I'll submit a written report to my supervisor addressing the issues you've raised." Jessie gave a cold laugh. She pinched the card hard between her thumb and index finger. My Silver Wing card snapped in her grip, and she flicked it at my face like a piece of trash. Chapter 2 My mind went blank, and my temples throbbed. Of all the times for it to happen, the supervisor handling my transfer was away on a business trip. He'd just boarded a plane, and I couldn't reach him. Without my card, I couldn't get through the gates. There was only one option left. I had to get my show-off junior to come and get me. When Jessie heard I was calling Cory Olson, the hatred on her face grew even fiercer. "You? Calling Cory Olson? "Oh my God, lady! "Old men have used you up and tossed you aside, and you're still fantasizing that you know Mr. Olson? You've been binge-watching too many online short dramas. You think you're the female lead!" I had no interest in a pointless argument with her. I ignored her, took out my phone, and dialed. Nobody answered the first call. Jessie crossed her arms and scoffed, "You obviously picked a number you knew wouldn't go through and saved it under Cory Olson!" My headache got worse. Cory hadn't changed one bit. He never took anything seriously. I'd told him long ago that preflight prep started two hours early. I made the second call. This time, it went through. "Hello, Cher? You..." But before he could get more than a few words out, someone snatched the phone from behind me, hung up, and deftly switched it off. Rhonda Statham from the inspection department gave me an icy look. "You're Cher Robertson, aren't you? "Ms. Robertson, we've received a report that you've been trading sex for favors inside the company. "We checked the payroll account you have with us and found a large deposit of 200,000 dollars. That's way beyond anything a flight attendant should be earning! "Please put down what you're doing and come with us for an investigation." Jessie looked even more smug. "Since you can't clean up your own mess, I'll board in your place and clean it up for you. What can I say? I'm the head flight attendant. "And just so you know, the first officer on that flight happens to be Cory Olson. In a bit, I'll ask him myself whether the rich guy from a family of aviators actually knows a freakish gold digger like you!" My head pounded even harder. "I'm not a flight attendant. I'm the captain! You can request verification of my pilot license from higher up. This flight matters a great deal to everyone. Give me back my phone right now!" There was only an hour left until takeoff. I thought I'd made the stakes perfectly clear. But when I stepped forward to take my phone back, Rhonda's people wrenched my arms behind my back. My joint gave a crack, as if it had popped out of place. Searing pain shot through me, and my face went deathly pale. Rhonda looked down at me. "What? You're going to attack me right here in the company? And are you questioning my competence? You're a contract flight attendant whose file hasn't even been transferred here, and you want to request verification from higher up?" She gave a cold laugh. "You think I don't know a request like that takes over two hours? You sure know how to stall!" Beads of sweat clung to my forehead. I glanced up at the wall clock. Only fifty minutes remained until takeoff. "Are you going to let me board this plane or not?" Jessie was as arrogant as ever. "Not only am I not letting you board, I'm getting you fired!" I was so angry I laughed. Fire me? Did she even have the authority? "Ms. Brooks, how many years have you been on this crew?" Jessie was caught off guard for a moment before she scoffed. "What? Trying to get on my good side?" This time, I was the one who smiled. "No. Your career is over, so you might as well start commemorating it now." The words had barely left my mouth when a loud slap landed squarely across my face. Jessie's eyes bulged with fury. "Are you cursing me, you bitch? "Fine! Rhonda, if we don't take the staff corridor back to your office, we have to go through the terminal, right? "She had the nerve to be a slut in our airlines. Let's see if she has the nerve to get paraded through the terminal like a criminal!" I was so furious my eyes turned red. I'd been an outstanding graduate of my alma mater. An outstanding pilot at my home airline. So this was how their company treated the talent it had borrowed on a temporary transfer? Fine. I just hoped their bosses wouldn't mind one bit when they saw this! Chapter 3 Before we crossed the terminal to Rhonda's office, I stressed it one more time. "I'm not a flight attendant. I'm the captain. Nobody else can fly this mission. If something goes wrong, you two won't be the only ones who take the fall." But Rhonda and Jessie exchanged a look and both burst out laughing. "Don't tell me you're waiting for your boss to get off his plane and save you. Dream on! I can't believe you'd even tell a lie like that! "I've been a flight attendant for years, and I've never seen a single female captain in commercial aviation, let alone one as young as you." Rhonda nodded, her face full of contempt. "I never heard about any female captain being transferred here, either! "You are the captain? Can you even do it right? It'd be a miracle if you didn't cause a disaster. Stop pretending!" I didn't say anything else. Before my temporary transfer, Victor had thanked my mentor over and over again. My mentor was Derek Olson, the chief commander and Cory's father. At the time, my mentor had patted Victor on the shoulder. "She's an elite pilot who's been working on the front lines, and she's my best student. Sending her to your commercial airline is a bit of a waste of her talent, but I know you're temporarily expanding your routes and need her for emergencies. "Once you've handled the urgent stuff, send her back to us as soon as possible. You have no idea; we can't do without her for a single day around here. The sooner, the better." Then my mentor turned to Cory. "And you get your butt over there with her! Be her assistant! While you're at it, learn a thing or two from her, and see what a real prodigy looks like!" Cory grumbled about it at the time. But when it came to packing his bags, he was lightning fast. "Cher, come eat over here! Sit next to me!" On our first day after the transfer, he waved cheerfully at me in the cafeteria. But I kept my distance to avoid any gossip. He was too high-profile. With his reputation as the prodigy captain from a family of aviators, he and I just didn't seem to fit together. Looking back now, I couldn't help wondering. If I'd gone and sat with him that day, would I have been spared this whole undeserved disaster? Coworkers and passengers turned to stare. Countless eyes burned my cheeks red. Some people even took out their phones and started filming. "I heard she's a flight attendant and a homewrecker! Intimate photos of her and her boss have been going viral at her company all morning!" "Wow, she's got guts. I have to post this." "She looks so young. Who knew she'd be so shameless? Ugh!" I kept my head down low. Ever since I was little, I'd stood on countless stages to accept awards while countless people watched me. But never like this. "Mommy!" A little girl holding a Boeing 747 model pointed at me. "Mommy, Mommy, look! That's my favorite ace pilot! Cher Robertson!" The atmosphere turned strange. Jessie gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Sweetie, you've got the wrong person. "This is just a flight attendant with questionable morals. "Besides, why do you have to be a pilot? Wouldn't you rather be a pretty flight attendant like me?" That was the first time I'd ever felt such genuine fury. She could target me all she wanted, but she had no right to crush anyone else's dreams. In the office, Rhonda and Jessie barely discussed it before hastily deciding to fire me. It was laughable. People who weren't even authorized to look at my file thought they had the authority to fire me? "Fine!" Jessie sneered. "Then open your eyes wide and watch whether this head flight attendant has the authority to fire a contract flight attendant like you!" The walkie-talkie on Jessie's hip crackled to life. The voice said the VIP flight was about to depart, but the flight crew still hadn't all arrived, and asked whether to activate the backup Plan B. That meant an emergency switch to a different airport to make sure the flight wouldn't arrive at its destination later than scheduled. Jessie gave me a mocking look. Then she raised the walkie-talkie and responded, "Don't worry. I'm in the lounge right now. The plane can take off as scheduled. I'm on my way." She had no idea she'd just thrown away her last chance. Chapter 4 The voice on the walkie-talkie belonged to someone I'd never heard before. They must have heard a woman's voice and mistaken Jessie for me. I tried to speak up, but Jessie cut off the walkie-talkie. "Like I'd let a bitch like you ruin my big chance? "All right, sign it." I looked down. A hastily drafted resignation agreement had been pushed in front of me. "We can't let someone like you ruin the reputation of the whole company." "I can sign it, but whether it's legally binding is another story." My file wasn't even here, so this piece of paper meant no more to me than scrap. "Besides, when it comes to dismissing me..." I looked at the two of them and shook my head. "Even combined, you two don't have the authority." Jessie and Rhonda were so angry they were panting. "Fine, so we don't have the authority. How about this, then? We'll go live and let the whole internet judge your shameless homewrecking!" My heart lurched. The charges were made up in the first place, so I wasn't afraid of them. But once a livestream started picking up traction, my family would see it. The truth would turn into lies, and lies would turn into the truth. "I have to warn you. Don't keep digging yourselves deeper. What you're doing is illegal! It'll hurt the company too!" Jessie saw me dodging the camera. She was clever. She didn't go live. Instead, she pointed her phone at my face and recorded a video. Even with my face blurred out, the friends and family who knew me would recognize me at a glance. This wasn't just a slap in my face. It was a slap in the face of the entire industry. Just then, another urgent message came over the walkie-talkie. Jessie studied herself in the mirror for a long time. Her makeup was flawless, and she'd already changed into her uniform. If I remembered correctly, she wasn't even on the schedule today. I gave a soft laugh. That meant she'd come fully prepared to go after me. She'd planned to board in my place all along. But that little scheme of hers... wasn't going to be so easy to pull off! Jessie left, leaving just me and Rhonda in the office. Rhonda's face was cold as she demanded I sign the resignation agreement right away. This time, I didn't refuse. Fine. Like I'd said, if this was how their company treated a captain on temporary transfer, I didn't mind experiencing it firsthand. As long as they could take responsibility for it. Rhonda moved back to the dorm fast. All my luggage was dumped outside the dorm like garbage. Among it was a photo of my grandmother, Kayla Robertson. When I was little, Grandma Kayla loved taking me out to look at the stars. She loved it, and so did I. Back then, I promised her that one day I'd fly her thirty thousand feet into the sky so she could touch the stars herself. But a child's promises always end up as jokes. Grandma never got to touch the stars, and she never rode in my plane thirty thousand feet up. I reached out to pick up Grandma's photo. But Rhonda stomped on the back of my hand. Excruciating pain ripped through me, and my bones gave a sickening crack. "My hand... No..." I still had to grip the control yoke! Rhonda ground her foot down even harder and barked at me, "Stop playing the victim. A homewrecker like you has it coming from everyone!" But the next instant, someone flung the door open. Jessie didn't notice me sprawled on the floor in a sorry state. I had no idea what she'd just been through, but she looked panicked as she grabbed Rhonda. "Where's Cher Robertson?" Rhonda looked confused. "Aren't you supposed to be on the plane by now..." Before Jessie could answer, Rhonda switched gears, practically angling for praise. "But that contract flight attendant Cher is such a joke! "I stomped her hand to a pulp, and she's still acting all high and mighty! Ha! Let's see her seduce men now!"