Just into my forties, mid-career; hotly pursued by footsteps. Closer, closer. Soon they’ll be upon me. Ascending the pyramid, I’m approaching the top. The climbing gets harder. Vertical musical chairs. Only in this game, failure to get a chair ends a career. The dilemma: reach for the next level or hold on to the chair at […]
The world from up there is very different. I took one last look at the high-rise and my former penthouse condo at almost its very top. And then I turned my back on it. I’d had my finger on the pulse of high-finance. I’d been master of profitable shenanigans that grew more outrageous with each […]
There’s no other word for it. But after all, that’s what an antagonist is supposed to be. The one in my new novel certainly lives up to his label. Naturally, by the end of the book, he is to be found out and get his comeuppance. But so far, he isn’t cooperating. Taking him down isn’t supposed […]
It has to be me. I’m sophisticated, accomplished; a good fit for his family. My career is important enough to complement his, but not demanding enough to interfere with plans for family, travel or his advancement. I’ve spent five years planning my approach; watching each relationship, studying the mistakes made by those who’ve tried to […]
Two halves of the same soul; together we were one. I wanted her life to be about me, and only me. But she refused to give up her’s to focus on mine. So I left her—to teach her a lesson. To make her feel what it would be like without me. She is stronger than […]
We all know that the Managing Partner is on his way to a Board position. One of us is to be his successor. To his credit, none of us has a clue which of us it will be. He has mentored us all; helped us all advance our careers. One among us wants the rest […]
Embarrassing as hell. We’re the premiere analysis company and we’ve been spied on and infiltrated—after one of our own analysts produced a seminal report on how to avoid such a situation. That’s what got the old guy fired. Well, not really. At this level of the game, you get asked to retire—not fired. Unless you’re […]
It’s not my fault. It was my grandfather who squandered our inheritance, and he did it long before I was born. Still, I’m tainted by his failures just like all the rest of his descendants. On the other hand, his brother parlayed his fortune and now his children and grandchildren are growing it even more. […]
Intelligence. Dedication. Integrity. All admirable qualities, but they’re for saps. The only way to get ahead is to run with the big dogs, and I’m running with the biggest, baddest of them all. He’s already gotten me into executive management, and as long as I watch our backs, or do a job here and there […]
My cousin is the analytical, level-headed one. I have the reputation of being a hot head. Neither is strictly true; but enough so that when he interrupted our extended vacation with words like “Armageddon” and ‘annihilation” it would have been absurd not to take notice. This is the same man who described the […]
