Hey, wait!” Max called out. “Why are we leaving the gate area? Wait, please can I have my boarding card back? You need to find someone else to upgrade, please. I just want to get aboard my flight.”

The shoulders ahead continued to recede. At least, Max thought, there’s no danger of losing him. The guy must be six foot three or more.


The crowd thinned out and Max followed the suited man through a recess that he would never have noticed otherwise, into a wide, featureless corridor. Floor, walls and ceiling were the same nondescript off-white; it was hard to know where one surface ended and another began. Fluorescent lighting came from all around. There was a row of seats. The man motioned to Max to sit.

“What’s going on?” Max demanded, remaining on his feet.

A lady, of whose presence Max had not been conscious, spoke up from a few seats away. “Do as he says, dear. I tried arguing too.”

Max sat. The man walked away.

“Are you getting an upgrade?” inquired Max.