CHAPTER 5
LUCAS
“You can’t be serious.” Lucas leaned against the counter, his heart sinking. The woman behind the counter gave him a sympathetic smile as she shook her head.
“I’m sorry, but the next flight to Cabo is completely booked out. I can get you on a flight tomorrow morning, though, or I can get you a flight with a connection in Mexico City later this afternoon.”
Lucas wanted to bury his face in his hands. He’d been so ready to escape to Mexico and leave all this behind, but now he might not even get there. A layover in Mexico City didn’t sound great, as it would add hours to the trip. He didn’t want to go back to his empty apartment, though, either.
“Isn’t there anything you can do?” he asked.
“Well, I can get you on the standby list,” the woman offered. “It’s always possible that someone won’t check in for the upcoming Cabo flight.”
“Fine.” Lucas shook his head. The woman’s face fell slightly at his sharp tone, and he managed a half smile. “Thank you for your help.”
He leaned against the counter while she worked to put him on the standby list. It felt like the universe was laughing at him today. First, he’d found out that a close friend was defrauding him on the day he’d planned to launch an exciting new product. Then, he’d practically been run over by the pretty auburn-haired woman who’d been quite rude. Now, there wasn’t even a seat on the flight he needed.
“There you go. Good luck.” The woman behind the counter smiled, but Lucas could only manage a grimace in return. He took his passport and headed to security. The line was short, surprisingly so for LAX, and he got through security quickly and headed straight to his gate. The board above the gate showed that he was first on the standby list. Even if he got on the flight, though, he’d probably end up in a tiny middle seat by the bathrooms.
Lucas really missed his private jet.
He sank onto a seat at the edge of the boarding area between an elderly couple holding hands and a young mom bouncing a baby on her knee. The baby smiled a gummy smile at Lucas, but he barely noticed.
It wasn’t that long ago that he’d traveled like this all the time. He’d grown up in a lower-middle-class family, where vacations had been camping trips in the mountains or road trips to visit family, and they’d carefully saved money for big expenses. Back then, he hadn’t flown anywhere, and a trip like this would have been a dream come true, even in an economy middle seat.
Lucas had started computer coding as a teen and had won a college scholarship based on his skills. He’d taken his first plane ride at seventeen years old on the way to college on the East Coast and had been awed by the fields and mountains far below. Hard work and plenty of side jobs meant that he’d finished college in only three years with enough capital to invest in Omegron, which he’d already been working on at night while studying.
Omegron had grown quickly, and soon Lucas had moved from flying economy to flying business class. Within a few years, he had his first private jet, and he hadn’t been in a commercial airport since then.
Lucas smiled as he thought about how far he’d come. Years of hard work had brought him so far — or had they? His heart plummeted as he remembered Omegron’s shaky footing. It could all collapse around him so easily. Worse, he couldn’t even do anything about it. He was essentially being banished.
Lucas looked up, taking a deep breath, and swept his gaze over his fellow passengers, hoping for a distraction from his worries. He got one. The auburn-haired woman from the check-in counter was sitting near the window, wearing headphones and bobbing her head along to something she was listening to. He could only see her in profile, but he recognized her easily.
Great. With his luck, they’d run into each other again while boarding. Lucas scoffed again as he remembered how confidently she’d told him that her day was worse than his. There was no way that was true. Unless she’d also seen her fortune ruined by a close friend, she couldn’t top his day.
Lucas glanced up at the screen above the counter, where his initials still flashed at the top of the standby list. The screenchanged to show it was about fifteen minutes away from the first group’s boarding time, so Lucas grabbed his phone and looked for news about Omegron. The articles and social media posts had doubled since the last time he had checked in the car on the way to the airport. The journalism ranged from high-quality and factual to wild conspiracy theories about Omegron being a front for terrorism. One article suggested that he’d started Omegron just to scam the public.
So, it began.
Lucas shook his head. Everything depended on whether the public was willing to believe the truth or not. If they believed the sensational stories being tossed around, no one was ever going to buy an Omegron product, much less Omegron stock, again.
“If I call your name, please come up to the counter,” a young man with a shiny shaved head announced. “Elizabeth Rice and Lucas Chambers.”
Lucas got to his feet and went to the desk. He was half-worried that the auburn-haired woman would be Elizabeth Rice, but the other passenger called was an older woman with graying hair and smile lines around her eyes. She gestured for Lucas to go first.
“I’m Lucas Chambers.”
“Great. Good news,” the shiny-headed man said. “We have a free seat for you, so we’re able to get you off standby. The seat’s even in first class. It’s your lucky day.”
“Great.” Relief flooded Lucas, so much so that he couldn’t even scoff at the man’s comment about it being his lucky day. He was really going to make it out of LA. Soon, he’d be in his vacationhouse, where he could hole up, refreshing the news, drinking Mexican Coca-Cola, and waiting for his staff at Omegron to call.
The man handed Lucas his boarding pass. Lucas thanked him and threaded his way back toward his seat, which was now occupied. Instead of finding a new seat, he leaned against a pole at the edge of the boarding area.
“You’re Lucas Chambers?”
He turned to see an older man approaching, and his stomach sank.
“Yes, I am.”
