My husband, Daniel, had reminded me at the curb eight hours earlier that impulsive people are always looking for a fight they can’t handle.

He’d told me to keep my temper cold and my authority absolute.

I had signed the administrative reduction sheet with a firm, deliberate stroke.

A career ruined in anger teaches nothing, but a rank taken away through proper process builds discipline that lasts a lifetime.

I turned the page of my paperback, the paper making a crisp, dry sound in the quiet cabin.

Two rows up, a passenger adjusted his overhead reading light, throwing a warm beam across the carpeted aisle.