Betrayed On Board, I Called Off Our Match

My mother set me up on a blind date.

My date was Victoria Hale, the young CEO of Hale Airlines. She was beautiful, wealthy, and booked on the same transatlantic flight as I was.

To keep my work confidential, my employer had asked only that the airline hold seat 1A for me and add one ordinary note to the passenger manifest: DO NOT REASSIGN.

I had barely sat down when Victoria's chief assistant slapped a check down in front of me.

"We want this seat. Name your price."

When I refused, he had the crew remove me from the plane and said with a smile, "The whole airline bears the Hale name.