Workplace Stories

The summer of 1985. Andrew being a slut on Cyprus.

A Climbing the Ladder Story
Part of the A Well-Lived Life universe
The world of finance is, in its simplest form, just like a game of Chutes and Ladders. There are only two things that matter to the bottom line: profits and losses. The goal is to climb to the finish and thrive, not fall back down the chute. Having been named the manager of the newly created Research Department at Spurgeon, Jonathan's career is soaring. However, as tends to happen, profit is balanced by loss. The next rung of the ladder will be much harder to reach, but he continues to climb.

Father's been away 3 years. His young family's meeting him at the airport. --- Bad Fred, said --- It's poignant, and you hit the right notes. If I didn't know it was your story and trust you, I would have drifted away in the first few paragraphs. It moved slowly. It was lovely, but it wasn't hitting my "what happens next?" buttons. Well, until the end when it all comes together. Readers who stick with it will be rewarded. Set in Australia.

An Indian couple, secretly married and working at a luxury hotel, must hide their relationship. To sell the ruse, the husband orchestrates a plan for his wife to date the hotel owner's son. This multi-chapter saga chronicles their dark journey as the audacious plan spirals into a world of ambition, sexual submission, and the slow erosion of their marriage.

Julie, an American expat in Guangdong, encounters a local tradition: hosts/staff are nude at gatherings, symbolizing openness. Initially shocked, she participates, finding unexpected liberation in vulnerability. Her family visits, witnesses her comfort with nudity at home, and reacts with horror, causing a rift. Despite the pain, Julie embraces her self-acceptance. She finds support in her colleague David, who proposes accepting her fully. The tradition catalyzed her journey to own her skin.

A Story from The Town
Two bookstore clerks are forced to face their pasts, each dealing with their own personal struggles. As they go through love lost and found, and the unfairness of life, they begin to change in ways they didn’t expect. Told alongside The Chef and The Practitioner, their lives take a turn they never saw coming. With Sophie’s help, they try to make sense of a reality that challenges everything they thought they knew.

A Climbing the Ladder Story
Part of the A Well-Lived Life universe
Unfortunately, life, being as random and chaötic as it is, rears its ugly head and inserts some very unexpected complications. Will this chapter of Jonathan's life end with a happily ever after, or will complications abound and leave him back at square one? This, and more, as he continues his climb up the ladder.

A story in the Philadelphia Stories Universe
Graduating from college, Tess DiRosa, grandniece of alleged mobster Vincent DiRosa, feels at a cross-roads, either to follow the pre-ordained path to law school or her yearning for an exciting life. Mostly for giggles, she applies for the US Secret Service, reasoning that nobody would seriously consider her as a federal agent, would they? This is the sequel to "Can't Pick Your Family".