My name is Dr.
Vanessa Hamilton, and less than two hours before boarding Flight 728 to Los Angeles, I had completed a five-billion-dollar acquisition that would change the aviation industry.
I was the founder and CEO of Pinnacle Equity Group, an investment firm that had spent eighteen months negotiating the purchase of a controlling stake in Meridian Atlantic Airways.
The final agreement had been signed in a glass skyscraper overlooking Manhattan.
Seventy-two hours of negotiations had left me exhausted.
My tailored Italian suit was hanging in my office, and I had changed into an oversized black hoodie, faded sweatpants, and battered sneakers.
I wanted nothing more than to sleep.
I had purchased seat 14A in the first-class cabin weeks earlier.
My boarding pass was valid, my identification was in my pocket, and my reservation appeared correctly in the airline’s system.
There was absolutely nothing unusual about my presence aboard that aircraft.
Until Megan Wilson approached me.
“Excuse me.”
I opened my eyes.
The flight attendant stood beside my seat with her arms crossed.
“You’re in the wrong section.”
I glanced at the boarding pass on my phone.
“No, I’m not.”
Her eyes moved over my clothes before settling on my face.
“People who look like you don’t belong in 14A.”