Substitute

Rey takes a daring alternate route on the road to romance in the workplace. Alexia’s new job at Fallon Sports Agency opens with a disastrous first meeting with her new boss, Nathan Fallon, who thinks Alexia’s been having sex in the conference room with office playboy Tony. The encounter leaves Alexia plagued with lingering desire for Nathan. Tony offers easy pleasure and the spice of potentially getting caught; a playful new acquaintance, Richard, gives Alexia a different way to explore her desires before she has to make any lasting decisions. The tactics of delay and surrogate outlets bypass any opportunity for Alexia to explicitly choose Nathan over her other lovers, and while there’s much to appreciate in tensions that rise ever higher without true relief, all the male characters are much too thinly drawn. The sense of variety propels the passion, but it leaves a yearning without an object. (June)