Julian stood in the aisle for a moment, his eyes scanning the premium cabin until they landed on Leo. Leo was sitting comfortably in an extra crew seat, casually reading a magazine and looking entirely at peace. Desperate to salvage his wife’s comfort and his own pride, Julian straightened his designer jacket, walked down the aisle, and sat in the empty space right beside Leo with a fake, paternal chuckle.
“Listen, friend,” Julian said, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “about our little arrangement earlier. The suite has some sort of massive digital glitch, and Beatrice is getting quite uncomfortable. I was wondering — would you perhaps consider taking the suite back? We’d be more than happy to move out at this point.”
Leo lowered his magazine and looked around with a mildly apologetic expression. “I’d genuinely love to help, Julian, but —” he gestured at the crew seat he was occupying, “— the cabin staff put me here since I was traveling solo and this spare seat was going unused anyway. It’s a single seat. It wouldn’t do much for you and Beatrice, would it?” Julian followed Leo’s gesture, the reality of the situation settling over him — one crew seat, two of them. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Leo continued, picking his magazine back up with a sympathetic smile and turned a page, “I’m sure the staff can sort something out for you.”