After the worst flight of my career, I couldn’t wait to forget the arrogant passenger who humiliated me in front of everyone. But the next morning, I walked into my childhood kitchen and found him sitting at the table… in my mother’s robe.
There’s something surreal about being in the sky. When you’re thousands of feet above the ground, everything else fades away: the noise, the stress, the clutter of daily life. Up there, it’s just metal and wind.
Becoming a flight attendant was the dream I stubbornly clung to when everyone else said I should “get a real career.” I didn’t care.
I got the job, I got the uniform, I got the wings. But nothing in training prepared me for that flight. The one that almost made me hand in my badge.
It started off like any other shift. But in seat 3A sat a man who would turn the entire flight into a slow-burning nightmare.
Tall, smug, probably late 30s, expensive watch, expensive sneer. He gave me that look the moment I offered him a ginger ale, the look that stripped away my uniform and reduced me to a walking object.
“You’re too pretty to be a flight attendant,” he said.
“Would you like anything else, sir?”
He leaned closer. “Yeah. A date after we land, baby.”
“No, thank you.”
His eyes narrowed, and I felt the air shift. The rest of the flight was a slow spiral.
“I asked for tomato juice. How hard is that?” he barked, although I clearly remembered him saying orange.
He snapped his fingers when I walked past. He spilled peanuts on the floor and then called me back to clean it, saying,
“Well, you’re basically a waitress with altitude, aren’t you?”
Passengers turned their heads. Some frowned, others looked away. By hour two, my hands were trembling every time I passed his row.
The final blow came during beverage service when I asked him, calmly, quietly, to please stop shouting.
He picked up his cup of tea, stared at me with icy amusement, and with a flick of his wrist, poured it down my blouse. The liquid wasn’t hot enough to burn, but it was hot enough to make me gasp and stumble back.
Laughter erupted from his seat.
I don’t remember finishing the flight. I just remember locking myself in the lavatory and crying silently, biting my lip until I tasted blood, praying for the wheels to touch down already.
When the plane finally landed, I felt like I had crawled out of a nightmare.
I watched that passenger strut down the aisle with his carry-on, his head high, as if he hadn’t just made someone feel smaller than a speck of dust. I told myself I would never have to see him again.
I was wrong.
I had a few days off, and I’d planned to spend them at my mom’s house. She lived in the same quiet neighborhood I’d grown up in, the one where my name was still carved into the sidewalk outside her house.
My parents had split a year ago, but I still loved them both. My Dad had moved across town and rarely called unless it was my birthday.
My shift ended late. By the time I arrived at my Mom’s driveway, it was nearly midnight.
All the windows were dark.
I didn’t want to wake her, so I let myself in with the spare key under the flowerpot, tiptoed through the familiar hallway, and slipped into bed without turning on a single light.
The next morning, the smell of pancakes made me smile before I even opened my eyes.
I thought maybe Mom had remembered I was coming, her quiet way of saying “welcome home.” I headed downstairs, still half-asleep, with a warm ache of nostalgia in my chest.
“Good morning,” I said, stepping into the kitchen.
Mom spun around in surprise. “Tessa! You’re here already?”
“I got in late, didn’t want to wake you. You made pancakes?”
She laughed. “Not for you. For Mike. He’s obsessed with them.”
“Mike?”
Before she could answer, a man walked in wearing Mom’s bathrobe and holding my favorite mug. It was HIM. The passenger. The smug face, the same cocky grin. Here. In OUR house.
I didn’t say a word. I looked at my mother, then back at him.
“Can we talk? In private.”
“Um… sure.”
I led her into the next room and shut the door.
“That man was on my flight yesterday. Poured hot tea on me. Mocked me in front of the whole plane.”
Mom stared at me, frowning.
“What?”
“I’m serious. He flirted, I said no, and he turned cruel. It was humiliating.”
“Tessa… I think you’re overreacting. Mike’s never been anything but kind to me.”
I stared at her. “He bullied me in front of passengers, and you’re defending him?”
“You’re just upset I’m seeing someone. You never liked the idea of me dating again.”
“This isn’t about yourdating. This is about who you’re dating.”
“I finally feel happy, Tessa. Maybe instead of judging, try giving him a chance.”
“You don’t know who he is.”
“And you’re not a child anymore.” She exhaled, already reaching for the door. “The pancakes are going to burn.”
I followed her, numb, back into the kitchen, where Mike was already halfway through his plate. He smiled at me like we shared some private joke.
I am not going to let it go.
Not when she was sitting there feeding pancakes to a man who had humiliated me in front of a cabin full of strangers. Not when she defended him instead of me. I needed to prove who he really was.
That afternoon, while Mom and Mike went out for groceries, I slipped into the bedroom. His duffel bag was open, clothes half-folded, like he’d already claimed the space.
At first, there was nothing: designer shirts, sunglasses, a camera, a stupid amount of hair product. And then I found a small black notebook. It was full of names. Women. Details.
“Likes red wine. Collects antique spoons. Afraid of cats.”
A profile on each. Like case files. Near the back, I found one with my Mom’s name. Her favorite brand of tea, the name of her hairdresser, and a note that she liked to be called honey in the morning. My stomach turned.
Then I saw it, a glossy business card, stuck between pages like a bookmark.
Carlos Professional Charmer
For when love needs a little help
Phone number. Website. And nothing else. I typed the site into Mom’s laptop. It was slick, vague, and terrifying.
“Revenge. Loyalty tests. Distractions. Emotional closures.”
No photos, just promises. Anonymous service. Clean breakups. Emotional damage guaranteed.
I stared at the card, then picked up my phone. I didn’t even breathe as it rang.
“Speaking,” said the voice on the other end, smooth, amused, and unmistakably his.
I hung up.
My skin prickled as I put everything back exactly where I found it. I couldn’t tell Mom, not yet. She wouldn’t believe me. But I knew someone who might.
That evening, I went to see my Dad. They hadn’t spoken much since the divorce, but if anyone knew Mom, it was him.
He met me at a quiet diner, looking worn out and distracted, like always. We ordered lunch, made small talk. Then I leaned in.
“I need to talk to you about something. It’s about Mom.”
“What about her?”
“She’s seeing someone. He’s not who he says he is. He’s a paid seducer. His real name is Carlos.”
Dad slowly lowered his cup.
“And?”
“And he’s targeting Mom. For money. For revenge. For something.”
“It’s not my problem.”
“Not your…? She’s your ex-wife, the mother of your child. She’s being targeted.”
He leaned back. “Maybe she should be more careful who she lets into her life.”
Then the check came. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and slid it across the table.
“Pay this for me, will you? I need to hit the restroom.”
I stared at the worn leather wallet for a long second, then opened it. Inside was a mess of receipts, a few crumpled bills, and another card.
Identical to the one I found in Carlos’s notebook. I pulled out my phone, opened the voice recorder, and hit record. When Dad came back, I placed the wallet gently on the table.
“Funny thing. You have his business card, too.”
Dad’s face didn’t move.
“You hired him,” I added.
He looked out the window. “She took everything. The house, the money, the years. I gave her my life, and she moved on like it was nothing.”
“So you sent someone to destroy her? To humiliate her?”
“I wanted her to feel what I felt. Used. Left behind.”
“You don’t care if she’s happy.”
“She was never supposed to be happy without me.”
My chest burned.
“You’re disgusting.”
Dad didn’t follow me when I left.
***
Later that night, I sat across from Mom and Mike in the living room, my fingers clutching my phone. They were curled up together on the couch, watching something mindless, laughing.
“I have something to say,” I said. “And I want you both to hear it.”
Carlos looked up lazily. Mom muted the TV. I pulled out my phone and pressed play.
Dad’s voice filled the room.
She took everything. I wanted her to feel what I felt.
She was never supposed to be happy without me.
Mom blinked. “What… what is this?”
Carlos’s smile dropped. I turned to him.
“Your name isn’t Mike. It’s Carlos. You’re a paid actor. You seduce women for hire. My Dad paid you to ruin my Mom.”
Carlos stood up. “It’s not what you think.”
Mom turned to him. “Is it true?”
“I was just doing a job.”
That was enough. She slapped him so hard he staggered. “Get out of my house.”
“Wait, I didn’t mean for it to go like this. I know how it looks, but…”
“Get out of my house!” Mom shouted. “Take your lies and get out!”
Carlos hesitated, trying to say something else, but she was already storming toward the hallway. She grabbed his duffel bag and threw it outside.
“Wait, just let me explain,” he pleaded.
She yanked open the front window, grabbed the rest of his things, his jacket, his shoes, his toothbrush, and hurled them one by one onto the lawn.
“I trusted you!” Mom screamed.
Carlos stood frozen, like he couldn’t decide whether to be ashamed or angry.
But in the end, he said nothing.
Mom locked the door and leaned against it, shaking. I crossed the room and pulled her into a hug.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“No,” she said through tears. “I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you. I should’ve known.”
“You wanted to be loved. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
She looked at me. “How did I fall for this?”
“Because you still have a heart.”
“And apparently a terrible radar.”
“You’ll find someone real. When the time is right.”
She touched my face. “At least I have you.”
“Always.”
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Source: thecelebritist.com