“And she enjoyed you. She speaks highly of you and mentions qualities that I’ve been seeking as well: your ability to help her relax, to devote yourself personally to her needs, never to fuss at unusual requests. If you can provide me with the same attention, and if you don’t object to some supplementary training now and then, you’ll have no problem with this position.”

Why do I feel that she’s saying more than she’s saying?

“Can you start tomorrow morning? Good. Ten o’clock: we’re not early birds in this line of business. Any questions?”

“I was just wondering what your specialty is here. The notice just said Top Productions, film and video.”

“That’s a very good question, Trixie, and, in fact, we do have a specialized focus, but why don’t you and I discuss that in the morning. And, Trixie, please call me Jane.”

The Job (Jane)

Trixie’s first day turned out to be a busy one: in the morning, a casting call, and in the afternoon, a wrap. With any luck, the day would reveal some significant gaps in Trixie’s knowledge and skills that would require the kind of extra training session to which she had so readily assented during the interview. Ah, but I was letting myself get carried away again. I can’t help but experience the world in cinematic terms, and from my first view of her, her voluptuous body straining as she frantically tried to put her shoe on, Trixie struck me as a complete ingenue in whom sweet awkwardness and powerful sensuality existed side by side. In another era, she’d have been the script girl in glasses who saves the show by shedding her spectacles and becoming a beauty just in time to replace the ailing star. Perhaps she could replace one of my stars today.

Dreams, idle dreams.

She arrived promptly, wearing a red wool suit.

“Trixie,” I said sharply. “You mustn’t wear red to the office. It’s very becoming on you, and I’m sure someone has told you it’s a power color, but it’s too loud and doesn’t give the right impression.”

“I’m sorry.” She looked hurt and anxious. I tingled.

“Try black or gray or brown. Not blue, though—too corporate. Now, look. You should keep track of these things on a list. You have paper? Write down, ‘I will not wear red to the office.’ That’s right. And that goes for your nail polish, too. Stick to clear. Now, I know we were going to spend the morning getting an interview, but the day is packed and you’re going to have to jump right in. This morning we have a casting call. You’ll sort the files and run through the audition scene with the actresses. Okay? Tryouts start in fifteen minutes, so go through those folders. The scene is in that binder over there.”