What follows are my senseless story notes. Unedited. (Sorry about this.)

Manipulative complaints. Wearing down a person through passive aggressiveness. The terribleness of it all. Where am I and how did I get here? Is there any place I’d rather be?

An assistant and her—his—boss. She’s demanding and manipulative (think “The Devil Wears Prada”), a passive-aggressive bitch. She’s large and blonde and wears an oversized red coat and red-tinted glasses. She’s a star? No, she’s the wife of a wealthy millionaire who’s been in prison for the last ten years. His money was disgorged, but, she’ll remind her assistant countless times, but what he gave me was mine and safe. She says this with a wink.

Besides her husband’s money, she’s made a lot of her own. She’s been successful in the M&A markets (so my class did influence me). She spent her husband’s shares to take over his company and sell it off for a profit. She does the same for other companies now.

“Temptation walks on two legs, don’t it?” Claire Ranitsky asked. She was speaking to Romy Sands, the third assistants to Claire Ranitsky in the first half of the year. Claire was walking briskly for a large woman. Romy still had not put his head around how nimble and fast she moved. This was the end of his first week working for Claire. She was full of surprises for him.