“Now, if you would kindly get the hell away from me, and return to your adoring flock of fans who actually buy into the bullshit you’ve spun about us, I think you’ll be a lot happier in the long run.” He slammed the door in my face, and it took everything in me to resist the urge to knock on it again and force him to open it right back up. To hold off from storming inside and making him listen to me, but I held back.
I needed to let go of this for good.
We were finally done.
Gate C42
Jake
Dallas (DAL)
I took a seat in the makeshift Personnel Office at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Marriott, noticing that unlike my previous experience here, there was no blue-suited witness, no files stacked all over the desk, and no digital recorder waiting to collect my every word.
There was only a red-haired woman with glasses sitting across from me, looking as if she’d been conducting these sessions far too long.
She adjusted her frames and clicked her ballpoint pen. “Good afternoon, Mr. Weston.”
“Good afternoon.”
“Could you take a look at the paper in front of you and read the first few lines aloud, please?”
“Sure.” I picked it up. “Elite Airways does not, under any circumstances, condone interpersonal relationships between any of its employees. If any employee is found to be involved in such a relationship, he or she may (depending on their position within the company), be subject to suspension, transfer, or termination.”
“Thank you.” She slid me a different sheet of paper. “Now, for the record, I am aware that you have an FCE and are nearly incapable of being fired for any reason. That said, so far, I’ve asked every pilot who’s scheduled to fly out of this city this week a certain list of questions, and I have to travel across the country over the next few weeks to ask hundreds more. So, please don’t take the following line of questioning personally. Did you, Jake Weston, ever have interpersonal relations with Gillian Taylor?”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“It’s a yes or no question.”
“Then I guess it has to be a no since I don’t know who that is.”
She raised her eyebrow and flipped open a folder. “Miss Taylor flew with you on numerous trips, Mr. Weston. During her last few months here, your schedules actually aligned thirty percent of the time. I’m not attempting to imply anything. I’m just asking if—”
“I said I have no idea who the fuck she is.” I glared at her. “Can we move on?”
“Fine.” She glared back, pressing the issue even further. She slid me a copy of an employee witness report. “Is this your signature? Confirming that you did see a passenger treat her inappropriately, upon landing at Houston, during a repositioning flight?”
“It looks forged.”
“There’s a video tape on file of you signing it.”
“Was I under duress at the time?”
“Mr. Weston,” she said, crossing her arms. “Did you confirm that you saw Gillian Taylor being treated inappropriately or not?”
“I did.” I relented. “Although, she wouldn’t be the first flight attendant I stood up for.”
“Actually, she would be.”
Silence.
“In all of your years as a pilot for other carriers, you’ve never vouched for any of your peers. Only Miss Taylor. Quite an interesting fact, isn’t it?”
“Only if you have a distorted definition of the word interesting.”
“Why would you vouch for her, Mr. Weston? And why did you vouch for her over something so simple? Were you jealous?”
“This is your attempt at not implying?”
“It’s my attempt at giving you a chance to be honest with me.” She looked me right in the eyes. “When I pulled your file a few minutes ago, I noticed that you updated it weeks ago. You listed a new emergency contact, one by the name of Gillian Taylor. Her phone number and address are actually identical to the ‘Gillian Taylor’ we’re currently discussing. Any idea how her name and your signature got there?”
I took the form out of the folder and quickly signed my name next to the “Never had any contact with Gillian Taylor” and “I understand the employee relations policy” boxes and stood up. “Is that all you need from me?”
“Yes.” She shook her head as I handed her the paper. “Yes. Thank you, Mr. Weston.”
“My pleasure.”
Gate C43
Gillian
PENGUIN PUBLISHING’S UPCOMING RELEASE, TURBULENCE, ENJOYS DIZZINGLY HIGH PRE-ORDER SALES, EBOOK & PRINT
—USA Today
* * *
SOON TO BE RELEASED TURBULENCE REVEALS THE FALLACIES IN ELITE AIRWAYS’ NONFRATERNIZATION CLAUSE, REVEALS SEX IN-FLIGHT
—Flying Quarterly
* * *
PILOTS DECRY THE LOGISTICS OF “IN-FLIGHT SEX” IN UPCOMING NOVEL, TURBULENCE
—CNN
* * *
TWO PILOTS ADMIT TO HAVING SEX IN-FLIGHT AT LEAST ONCE DURING CAREERS, SAY ‘TURBULENCE’ COULD BE ACCURATE
—MSNBC
* * *
TURBULENCE, AN EROTIC ROMANCE, REACHES SOARING ALTITUDE ON BESTSELLERS’ CHART FIRST WEEK OF RELEASE
—The Wall Street Journal
* * *
AUTHOR OF TURBULENCE, TAYLOR G., TO APPEAR ON THE TODAY SHOW TO DISCUSS SCANDALOUS NOVEL
—Today.com
* * *
TURBULENCE LANDS AT #1 ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERS’ LIST SECOND WEEK OF RELEASE
—The New York Times
* * *
DAUGHTER OF FAMED NEUROSURGEON(S) RELEASES STEAMY, EROTIC NOVEL BASED ON HER OWN EXPERIENCES AT ELITE AIRWAYS
—Boston Globe
* * *
TURBULENCE SPENDS SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE WEEK ON NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERS’ LIST
—The New York Times
Official Elite Airways Press Release
*Regarding the fiction that is currently being propagated as fact via a former employee*
* * *
Our esteemed airline did indeed employ Gillian Taylor as a gate agent, a reserve flight attendant, and as a full time flight attendant over a well-documented period.
During her short term career with us, Miss Taylor amassed a total of five minor employee infractions—one of which was a termination which was eventually overturned due to an error in the Human Resources Department.
However, her fictional account of being able to so easily sustain such a relationship within the confines of our airline’s strict non-fraternization policy is simply untrue, and is packaged solely for her publisher’s entertainment.
Furthermore, although we are genuinely happy for “Taylor G.’s” newfound career and success, we would be even happier if the reading public accepted her “truth” for the mere fiction that it really is.