No Priority for Love

Synopsis

On the radar screen, twenty-three aircraft were lined up for approach when Franklin Bailey's private phone call came through to the control tower. "Arianna, I'm number fourteen in sequence. Can you bump me ahead?" he asked. Outside, the storm was brutal—heavy rain, wind shear alerts flashing twice. I stared at the dense cluster of blips on the screen, keeping my voice low and controlled. I said, "Franklin, you're contacting the tower on a private line outside of controlled frequencies. Do you understand what that implies?" He paused for two seconds and then said, "There's an important passenger on board." "Every aircraft has important passengers," I said, and ended the call. When I powered down the screen, my colleague Albert Brooks glanced at me but didn't ask a single question. That night, I brought all twenty-three flights in safely, one by one. Franklin landed exactly as scheduled—no priority, no exception. He didn't text me after touchdown. But I found myself thinking about something he said. Who was that "important passenger"?