Working Girls

At a stockbroker firm in Lower Manhattan Tess is dismissed as a pretty face rather than valued for her business mind. A pivotal humiliation pushes her to a breaking point. She quits in a dramatic yet controlled display of resolve.

Tess lands a job as the administrative assistant to Katharine Parker at a mergers and acquisitions firm. Katharine initially seems supportive, inviting Tess to share ideas and promising a path forward. Tess senses a chance to prove herself and advance through merit.

Katharine invites Tess to contribute ideas and hints at a real path to promotion. She frames Tess as a valuable resource to be cultivated. Tess feels hopeful that her hard work might finally be recognized.

Katharine privately warns that the Trask deal would not work and signals a test Tess will have to pass. The warning suggests fragile loyalties and control over advancement. Tess braces for a challenge she did not anticipate.

During Katharine's absence while she breaks her leg Tess is asked to house sit. While there Tess uncovers meeting notes showing Katharine intends to pass off the Trask acquisition as her own idea. The discovery deepens Tess's sense of injustice and the precariousness of her position.

Returning home Tess discovers her live-in boyfriend is having an affair. The shock compounds the professional bruises she has suffered. Their breakup leaves her emotionally unsettled but more determined.

With Katharine away Tess seizes an opportunity by borrowing her clothes and leveraging her connections to present a more professional image. She enlists her friend Cyn to help navigate the new role and opportunities. The makeover sets the stage for a crucial meeting connected to Trask.

Tess attends a bar level dinner hosted by Jack Trainers firm. Jack is attracted to Tess and follows her after she leaves. A night of missteps unfolds including the influence of Valium and alcohol, ending with a cab ride to Jack's apartment.

The next day Tess arrives at her own meeting with a sense of unfinished business. Jack arrives at her office to pursue the idea further and they decide to move ahead with the merger. Their collaboration yields a solid financial plan and a persuasive presentation to Trask.

On the strength of their plan Tess and Jack deliver to Trask, and their professional success becomes intertwined with a growing personal attraction. Tess keeps wrestling with how the idea originated and Jack's past entanglements with Katharine, which adds ethical tension to the achievement.

Katharine returns on the day of the merger and confronts Tess, accusing her of stealing the idea. Tess cannot defend her contributions in the heat of the moment and exits the meeting in apology and embarrassment. The confrontation triggers the unraveling of the original plan.

Days after the merger Tess clears out her desk and meets Jack, Katharine, and the Trask team in the hallway. She explains exactly how she arrived at the Trask idea, proving the originality of her contribution. Trask offers Tess an entry level position and she moves in with Jack, discovering that her secretary Alice is actually her equal and reinforcing a new ethos of equality and collaboration. She also reaches out to Cyn to share that she has truly made it on her own terms.