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Her eyes narrowed with a venomous mix of prejudice and personal resentment. Every time something goes wrong, you act like you’re being picked on. Maybe own the fact that you can’t keep up with the standards of this airline. That landed like a disguised slap. coated, sharp, the kind of language meant to degrade without crossing a legal line.
Jordan felt heat rise in his face. Claire, Captain, she shouted down the jet bridge, slicing the air with her voice. We have a safety violation. Your first officer is falsifying reports. Passenger stiffened. A mother clutched her toddler. Someone muttered, “Is he serious? Is he unsafe?” Clare continued, feeding the fire.
He can’t admit he screwed up the numbers, so he tried to manipulate the reports. And now he’s trying to turn it on me. Jordan inhaled slowly. That’s not true, Clare. You know very well. Enough. She hissed. You’re not going to stand here and gaslight an entire crew. I refuse to let someone reckless sit in the cockpit tonight.
Her words struck with surgical cruelty. Some people get the uniform but never grow into the responsibility. And we, the trained professionals, end up cleaning the mess. That was it. The coded attack, the line she’d been dying to deliver. The captain exhaled heavily. Jordan, step off the flight for now.
Security will escort you. We’ll sort the rest in the office. Phones were recording. Whispers spread. Security approached. Clare folded her arms, victorious, smug, unshakably certain that her status protected her from consequences. As Jordan was escorted down the jet bridge, humiliation ripping through his chest, he murmured the verse his father had once pressed into his palms like a shield. Be strong and courageous.
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