The woman
After thinking about it for a bit, Jessica walked up to the open seat and politely asked the woman a rhetorical question: “May I sit here?” The woman had placed her large Louis Vuitton purse in the seat next to her so nobody could sit there. She was using two seats just for herself.
The woman’s response took Jessica by surprise, but it explained why there were people standing around the spot without sitting down. It also became apparent to Jessica that this woman thought she was more important than the other passengers and wasn’t taking anyone else into account.
This of course meant her fellow passengers, who didn’t seem to agree with what she was doing.