Monthly Archive for August, 2009

When I first met my boss, Miranda Priestly 2.0, her voice was as soothing as a bubbling brook that could calm the most uptight of people. Seriously, if you were on a flight being hijacked by terrorists and you happen to be sitting next to MP II, you’d actually be glad to be there. Despite her criminal dress sense but never being incarcerated, (yet! – do read on), Miranda came across as a soft and nurturing friend. However, as the weeks went by, in my new employ as her executive assistant, the varnish soon wore thin, as a rather acidulous undercurrent became apparent.

The awakening came one morning, after I had just received a phone call from a dear friend, inviting me to meet her and her husband in Europe for the summer, which incidentally, was in seven months’ time – plenty of time to process my leave application and for MP II to hire a temp to cover my position. Feeling a mixture of relief and reward, as well as a damn good reason to travel overseas, I walked with a little spring in my step to MP II’s office, whilst watching the ink dry on my application for time off.

Her immediate reply was, “Oh, that’s wonderful”. Within a microsecond I was envisioning dusting off the suitcase and requesting my seat allocation on-line. A further microsecond later, the clincher came, “but I can’t let you go, as we have the new CEO starting with us at that time!”, as she exhaled. Feeling pangs of disappointment and flattery, that Miranda would want me around to welcome the new CEO, I resided myself to the fact that I would probably have to wait another year or so, to meet my friends in some other cosmopolitan city in the world.

Being her only assistant, I had access to her E-Mails and of course needed to read them, to keep her on track with the daily banter of the other executives and the many confidential issues to hand.

Whilst toiling through a stack of paper that MP II had placed in my In tray and trying to eat lunch at the same time, an E-Mail punctuated my In Box with the subject heading of “Flights”. I had booked Miranda on some interstate flights, for a conference that she was to speak at in the coming weeks. However, to my absolute shock and disbelief, the contents of the E-Mail did not reveal the destination of Los Angeles, but Paris!!!. The piece de resistance came when I read the dates, which were exactly the same as the ones I had requested earlier that month. Basically, Miranda had gone and booked exactly the same flights as I was not allowed to book, due to her supposed need of me in the office at that time.

Continue reading ‘horror story: in plane sight’