Rachel Partson

Rachel Partson is the villainess of the 2008 Lifetime Movie The Perfect Assistant.

She is portrayed by Josie Davis, famous for playing unhinged villains in Lifetime movies.

History
Rachel was young when her parents both died from unspecified causes. This event clearly traumatized Rachel, leaving her with a feeling of loneliness and desperation to find love. This was only enhanced by the fact that she went to live with her cousin Nora's family, where she didn't feel welcomed (the validity to this is debatable, though). She also grew to truly hate Nora, which only grew when the two began sharing an apartment.

Rachel had been working for David Wescott for three years prior to the events of the movie and, in that time, mistook his friendly manner as a boss for romantic interest. Rachel saying, "You're the only nice one!" during a breakdown also implies David wasn't the first object of Rachel's obsession.

Events Of The Perfect Assistant
The movie opens with Rachel and her cousin/roommate Nora preparing to leave for a movie, with Rachel growing impatient as Nora is taking so long to get ready. Just when they're about to leave, however, Rachel gets a call from her boss David Wescott, informing her that his wife is in the hospital after collapsing. Alarmed, Rachel assures David she will take care of things at the office. She tells Nora she won't be able to go to the movie, much to her disappointment. Rachel then hurries upstairs to her third floor bedroom and, as she gets a coat, we see the wall of her closet is covered in pictures and articles of David.

After making a call to co-worker Judith Manon (whom she clearly has disdain for), she arrives at the hospital with a juice box for David's daughter Isabelle. David thanks Rachel and she insists she take Isabelle home and get her ready for school the next morning, to which David agrees. As Rachel is tucking Isabelle to bed, she asks Rachel if her mother is going to die. Rachel assures her that the doctors will take good care of her before leaving her to sleep. Afterwards, Rachel explores the house and watches some home movies of David, Isabelle, and his wife Carol.

The next morning, Rachel takes Isabelle to school and is pleased when a woman passing by mistakes her for Isabelle's mother. At work, Rachel rebukes a date invitation from co-worker Wally, angered about having to keep her feelings for David a secret. She also gets angry when Judith asks her to pass an expected call from David to her.

That afternoon, Rachel encourages David to return home for a few hours so she can make dinner for him and Isabelle. During this meal, a friend of Carol's named Mary Beth arrives, having come to take care of Isabelle while Carol is hospitalized. She immediately earns the ire of Rachel when she calls her David's "secretary" (she prefers "executive assistant") and scolds Isabelle for eating her dinner in front of the TV (despite having gotten permission from David). Later that night, she researches the illness Carol has (encephalitis) and bemoans the prospect of David having to watch her suffer and die. Meanwhile, tensions between Nora and Rachel increase, especially after Nora finds a home movie she stole from David's house and realizes how obsessed she is with him.

Later on, at the office, Rachel learns from David that the doctors are hopeful that Carol will recover. Enraged that Carol might recover and destroy her chances with David, Rachel sneaks into the hospital and kills Carol with an injection of air, assuring her it's for the best.

Now needing permanent care for Isabelle, David looks into finding a nanny due to Sara Beth having to leave soon. Thanks to Rachel's manipulations, David decides on Eleana, a foreign woman trying to get her ailing mother into the United States to get better medical care. During this, tensions arise at the office when news is learned that if the company doesn't get a major account, they might have to start layoffs. After finding out from Wally that a former employee now working at the rival company for the account, Grady Bransen, had an affair with Judith, Rachel sends an anonymous email to Grady, threatening to expose his infidelity to his wife if he doesn't drop out. This works, but Grady barges in to argue with Judith when the employees go out to celebrate, assuming she had sent the email.

Having learned about an upcoming New York work trip David is planning to take with Eleana, Judith, and Isabelle, Rachel schemes to get a spot on the trip. She poisons Judith's cappuccino, making her sick, and fakes a call to Eleana from Immigration, saying her appointment regarding her mother has been rescheduled, forcing her to stay.

On the trip, Rachel bonds with Isabelle in the park, revealing her parents had died when she was young. Later that night, while up late together, Rachel kisses David, who quickly rejects her. Shocked, David tells Rachel he's sorry if he misled her, but Rachel insists it was her fault and excuses herself to the bathroom. There, Rachel berates herself for making the first move, having intended to let David do it. She decides he just needs space and relaxes.

When she returns home from the trip, she's enraged to find Nora in her room using her laptop (her own having crashed in the middle of an online date). Nora tries to calm Rachel down, but Rachel angrily berates Nora, calling her a "stupid bitch" and that she hates her. Upset, Nora finally tells Rachel off for always being mean to her after having treated her like family. Rachel accuses Nora of treating her "like an outsider" during her childhood, which Nora vehemently denies. As Nora starts telling Rachel that her fantasies about marrying David won't happen, Rachel pushes Nora down the stairs in a blind rage, killing her. She fakes a tearful call to 911, saying Nora fell by accident.

At work, Wally and Judith have caught onto Rachel's schemes to be with David, resulting in David firing her. Rachel delusionally believes he fired her so he could date her without feeling guilty about dating an employee, prompting her to visit him at home with a teddy bear to give Isabelle. There, David pointedly tells Rachel that he's not interested in her and never will, finally pushing Rachel over the edge. At a dinner party to celebrate the successful account, Rachel arrives uninvited, locks everyone in the dining room, and pulls a gun on David when he tries to calm her down. She brags about how she had saved the company by blackmailing Grady Bransen and about how "unappreciative" David has been to her. David tries to assuage her by offering her job back, but Rachel claims it's too late due to Wally and Judith outing her schemes. Rachel then shoots Judith in the shoulder after proclaiming that she and David would be together in death while she would burn in Hell. With Rachel distracted, David pushes her against the wall and disarms her. As Wally calls 911, Rachel breaks into tears and begs David not to leave her.

The last shot of the movie shows Rachel in prison, writing a letter to David about how she misses him and Isabelle, and how she can't wait for them to finally be together again.