Page 43 of Too Much In Common
The entire love/hate relationship she had with nepotism was largely on Dad and Grandpa. She appreciated all they did to smooth her path to becoming a commercial pilot without any school debt. So many pilots had to take out loans for school and to fulfil their flight hours. She’d skipped all of that at the cost of every pilot at Legacy Air knowing that she was fast-tracked into the company and suspecting that she wasn’t a good pilot.
Which all boiled down to Tian spending every hour she wasn’t worried about her father, working to get the remaining hours in on the 787 and wondering how many of the regular pilots would add extra tests or lectures to her skills. She always appreciated the input, but an hour lecture on a particular plane’s feature was, more often than not, overkill.
Somehow in between, she fit in worrying about Simone, Brit, and her phone call with Chris, which resulted in her purchasing not one but two boxes of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for each person—because she’d eaten the first set.
So when the captain asked her to take the controls for the landing at O’Hare, she shouldn’t have been surprised. A predawn landing in lightly falling snow, with 305 souls on board, with two experienced pilots watching every move, it was the experience she needed. Thankfully, everything went simulator-perfect. Even her favorite air traffic controller was working the radio.
The captain gathered his things. “Tian, I’d heard that you were an excellent pilot, but having flown with your dad, grandfather, and then, once I met your great grandfather, I had my doubts. I figured they would have pulled some stings. You put those fears to rest. I’d be glad to fly with you anytime.”
“Thank you.”
“I second that. I’ve flown with some others from the founding families—Johnsons, Pitts, Hansons, Carvers—and not all of them have been up to standards,” said the other pilot.
Tian felt a blush rising. Three of the four founding members of Legacy were flyers. Their descendants and other relatives represented nearly ten percent of the airline’s employees, most of them part of the nine thousand pilots that flew for the airline. “I appreciate you let me land at my home airport.”
The captain laughed. “Next time, we’ll make it harder.”
Likely there wouldn’t be a next time. Schedules on the 787s went to those with more seniority.
Brit waited for her at the end of the jetway. She didn’t wear any makeup and her eyes were red. “Do you have time for breakfast? My shift doesn’t start until ten.”
“Sure. Give me a few minutes. I’ll meet you?”
“Berghoff Restaurant. Simone is already there.”
Of course. Hands down best breakfast at the airport. Tian debated her omelet choices on the walk over.
At the far back, Simone sat with Brit and three plates.
“We ordered your favorite omelet. Hope you don’t mind. I only have an hour before I need to be at work.” Simone looked much more composed than Brit had.
Not disappointed at their choice, Tian sat in the empty chair. “Did Dad call?”
Brit sniffled. “Late last night. He wants us to be on the Paris flight with you.”
“Both of you? Are you going to be?”
“We have complimentary seats. Perk of the last flight. He can take guests. I had no idea there was such a policy.” Simone sipped her hot chocolate. “He apologized.”
“What?” Tian’s fork fell to her plate. Those were two words she never thought she would hear about her father.
“Told me he should have dealt with the passenger differently. Hindsight is 20/20 right? Yes, the guy was a bit sauced when he boarded, but we’ve had worse. If we started denying every tipsy passenger, we’d kick off enough fares to make the airport bars complain. And if we kicked off every person who made a pass at a ‘stewardess’”—she used air quotes— “the pilot shortage would be a whole lot worse.”
“It is not that bad, is it?”
Simone set her cup down. “No. I’ve only had a couple of pilots make passes. From what my mom says, the 60s and 70s were a lot worse. Sorry, I am not in the best mood.”
Tian laid her fork down. “None of us are in a good mood. I am still not sure how to react to Dad’s news. Every New Year’s, I’ve put ‘mend bridges with Dad’ on my resolution list, mostly at Mom’s request. Now I feel like I’m running out of time even if Dad says he’ll be around for years.”
“You’ve always been the angriest at him. Why?” asked Brit.
“I’m not sure. Maybe it was that I was in my teenage angst years when everything happened. All of a sudden I had a sister—whom I adore—but I felt like I wasn’t good enough, so he needed another daughter. I think that is when I started having to prove myself. Pilot’s license earned the first day I was eligible. Valedictorian, you bet. The harder I tried, the more attention he spent elsewhere. Oh, here is wife number three. Mind if I bring her to graduation? But at the same time, he was always there. Something I took for granted.”
Simone touched Tian’s shoulder. “You spent the entire weekend rehashing the last fifteen years, didn’t you?”
Tian nodded.
“Stop. Just stop. Think about the future. You have time with your dad. Take it. Do you want to forgive him?” Brit’s question brought one word to mind.
