Another night, another empty Google doc. This one wouldn’t stay empty for long, though. Jules was going to attempt The Cut one more time.

She typed: I Think About This a Lot: Sigourney Weaver Mentoring Melanie Griffith in Working Girl.

Working title achieved, Jules kept going.

Viewers often say Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver), a ruthless businesswoman who steals her secretary’s ideas, is a sociopath straight from MBA hell. They always forget the scene when Katharine gives that same secretary, Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), some real talk. Specifically, she tells Tess that you can’t wait for life to come to you. You go after what you want, and you don’t give up. Ever.

It would do for a start. It wasn’t her usual subject matter, but something about it was calling to her anyway.

Jules limbered her fingers, cracked her knuckles, and took a deep breath.

Here we go again.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“Have you arranged Charles Street for Christmas?” Vivian asked as she slid into the car seat next to Jules, having just finished lunch with the photographer Mario Sorrenti.

Jules was in mid text with a Du Jour PR intern but switched tracks instantly. “Yes. It’s all ready.”

One of the many tasks Jules had had to juggle today was making arrangements for Vivian’s Christmas. This year, she was going to London. It wasn’t clear why since she had no family there. But she always rented the same elegant townhouse on Charles Street in Mayfair for the London fashion weeks in spring and fall. She had been specific in telling Jules to reserve it for the holidays as well.

The owners had intended to stay there for Christmas. Thank God Vivian had a the-sky’s-the-limit attitude when it came to getting what she wanted; the price tag had nearly made Jules faint.

“I’ll forward you the reservation,” she added. “They changed the security code.”

“Good. The last one was too easy to guess.”

Jules looked down at her phone and swiped open the email app. Where was the reservation? She got so many emails, it was almost impossible to—

“Where are you going for the holidays?” Vivian asked.

What?

Jules looked up at once. Maybe Vivian had gotten on the phone in the last half second and was talking to someone else. Or maybe Jules had misheard.

But no. Vivian was calmly looking right at her after asking a personal question for no apparent reason.

“Just back to Philadelphia,” she replied, trying not to sound as astonished as she felt. “Going to see my family.”

“Ugh. I hate Philadelphia,” Vivian said. “Dirty place.”