Miller’s Girl Plot Summary
At the beginning, Cairo introduces us to her dull and mundane life. Her parents, who are wealthy and brilliant, have moved abroad, leaving Cairo alone in their mansion. To cope with her loneliness, Cairo turns to writing, finding comfort and companionship in her stories as a way to escape her ordinary reality. However, even her passion for literature cannot fill the void of longing for love and companionship.
On the flip side, there’s Jonathan Miller, a respectable published author, and Cairo’s new literature teacher. Recommended by Winnie, Cairo’s friend, Jonathan is praised as an exceptional teacher. Unlike Cairo, Winnie is portrayed as a carefree teenager who embraces life to the fullest and often flirts with her teachers.
Winnie wants to have a sexual encounter with middle-aged men, saying only they can take her to pleasure towns. Winnie also fills Cairo’s head with thoughts that Jonathan Miller might be interested in her. I’ve seen the way Miller looks at you, says Winnie to Cairo.
What happens between Cairo & Miller?
As we discussed earlier, Jonathan is a struggling published author, and Cairo happens to own the only copy of his book, “Apostrophes and Ampersands, six abysmally romantic short stories,” which catches Jonathan’s attention. Jonathan’s wife, Beatrice, is also a writer, but she is much more successful and acclaimed than Jonathan.
Beatrice doesn’t show much respect for Jonathan’s writing and often subtly mocks him, like when she mentions she didn’t know school libraries stored his books. This hurts Jonathan deeply, though he tries his best to hide it. We see that their marriage is also strained, and they have not been intimate as often lately.
Miller asks Cairo to see him after class, leading Cairo to consider the possibility that Miller may be interested in her. This intensifies Cairo’s desire to be special to someone. However, Miller simply wanted to commend the story she had written for her class. He believes Cairo is exceptionally talented and could become a great writer.
Miller asks her to write a short story in the style of her favorite author, suggesting it could be the highlight of her portfolio for whichever university she chooses to apply to. While Miller suggests Vanderbilt, Cairo has her sights set on Yale.
When do things sour?
Cairo also holds Miller in high regard as a writer, viewing him as exceptional and disregarding the negative reviews of his books by critics on the internet. She eagerly anticipates Miller’s next book and believes that his reluctance to write again stems from being uninspired and in need of a catalyst to reignite his creative spark.
On the other hand, Beatrice says that Miller stopped writing because the profession wasn’t suitable for him. During a friendly dinner, Beatrice publicly states that Miller isn’t a writer despite his thinking otherwise. The atmosphere turns cold, and it’s clear how uncomfortable Beatrice’s words have made Miller.
Cairo starts feeling attracted to Miller and decides to seduce him. She dresses up in short skirts, denim jackets, and expensive glasses to catch his eye. However, when Cairo finds out that Miller has a weekend getaway planned with his wife, she feels uncomfortable.
Luckily, Miller mistakenly takes Cairo’s phone, thinking it’s his, and keeps it in his bag. When Miller drives over to Cairo’s house to return it, she tries to seduce him, and they end up sharing a kiss. Later that night, Miller masturbates to the short erotic story Cairo emailed to him.
However, soon, Miller starts to realize that their relationship is inappropriate and begins to distance himself from Cairo. He also tells Cairo to choose a different author and topic for her short stories, or else he’ll fail her in the midterm.
Miller makes it clear to Cairo that their relationship must remain strictly professional. Cairo, however, doesn’t want to end things when they’re just starting to get exciting. She argues that it was Jonathan Miller who fueled her fantasies. Cairo also calls Miller mediocre, playing on his insecurities as a struggling writer.
In anger and pain, she emails the story to the principal, getting him reprimanded and in trouble. This is a huge issue because if Cairo can convince them that something happened between her and Jonathan, the latter could lose both his job and hard-earned reputation.
What happens in the end?
Both Miller and Cairo are separately called to the principal’s office to present their sides of the story. Miller tries to defend himself to save his job, while Cairo remains cryptic, offering elusive answers. Cairo decides to testify against Miller, and Winnie attempts to intervene, stating she won’t let Cairo ruin Jonathan’s career out of petty revenge.
However, Cairo threatens Winnie, claiming she’ll ruin her credibility by revealing the exchanged texts between Boris and Winnie. The situation also takes a toll on Miller’s marriage, leading Beatrice to lash out at him.
She hurls harsh comments, accusing Jonathan of being nothing more than a poster boy for mediocrity, incapable of succeeding as a writer. Boris, his friend, also distances himself, citing Jonathan’s inability to establish boundaries. In the end, Jonathan loses his job but finds inspiration to pen his second book.