Page 88 of Come Fly with Me

Reece narrows his brow. “What? Because she’s a woman?” he asks, clearly shocked.

I shrug. “Yeah,” I admit. “She is the only female captain at the airline, so…”

“But that would be…I don’t know,” he says, pausing. “Illegal, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t know,” I reply. “Maybe because no one talks about it, they think they can do whatever they want.”

God knows there are enough stories out there of women getting paid substantially less for doing the same job as their male counterparts. I’m pretty sure it happened back in the military. I mean, fuck, there were some jobs women weren’t even considered for. Were flat out not even allowed to apply for or do.

Reece looks away, his gaze focused now on some spot outside the window on the distant horizon. We’re heading into the sunset, chasing the night as it descends on us.

Eventually, he turns back to me, a strange look on his face as he says, “Give me a sec?”

“Okay,” I say, not sure exactly what I’m giving him a second for.

I watch as he wordlessly gets on the airline email we have in the cockpit. It’s the way we communicate with other Crescent Airways pilots without it being broadcast over the main comms. It’s usually reserved for non-official chatter and to communicate some non-crucial piece of information that’s generally unrelated to a flight update or weather or whatever.

Reece types away for a few minutes, his gaze focused intently on the screen, his brows narrowing with each line of text that comes back at him.

“Shit,” he breathes out. “I think you might be right.”

“What?” I ask, leaning over to have a look at the messages.

It’s all there. Line after line of green letters spelling out the worst.

Yeah, I’ve heard it’s true. Taylor misses out.

Meh, she slept her way to the top. Who cares.

I’m getting mine. What do I care if she misses out?

Reece, are you fucking her or something? That why you care?

“Fucking hell,” I mutter, shocked at the level of callousness. “Do you think anyone gives a shit about this?”

Reece scrolls back up through the messages until he gets to the top before gesturing to the screen again.

It sucks, but yeah, it’s true.

Yep, I’ve heard this too…I can’t believe they can get away with it.

Someone needs to do something. She’s an awesome pilot.

I feel myself exhale, letting out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I’m relieved that not everyone I work with is a misogynistic arsehole like her ex-husband or that fuckwit Theo Jameson.

“Where do you fit in all this?” I ask.

Reece chuckles a little before clearing the screen. “I think it’s shit, Jake. Gender shouldn’t even come into it.”

I nod, as that idea I had floating around in my head back at LAX now slowly starts to take root. “So, if I asked you to help me do something about it, would you?”

Reece glances over, a smile on his face. “So, it is true?”

“What?”

He laughs. “You really are into her?”

I swallow hard, unsure how to answer.

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