Right, so I was prompted to do a Baxley Modern AU. This is going to included quite a few of the other downstairs characters too. Let's pretend this doesn't include significant chunks of near autobiographical scenarios.

By the time everyone realised they weren't going to fit in the two taxis they had ordered, they were the last two left on the pavement.

"It's alright, don't worry about us," Phyllis told Charles, leaning forwards to talk to her boss through the open window of the taxi he had just been pulled into by Elsie, "It's not far into town, we'll get the bus in."

"No, you will not," through the window Charles pressed a twenty pound note into her hand, "Go onto Woodstock Road and find yourselves a taxi."

"I'll be alright," she insisted, "I've got Joseph with me, after all."

"No, I insist," Charles, it seemed, would hear no disagreement, "If we have to go through this confounded night, I'm not having any of my staff traipse into town and spend the night shivering."

"Alright," Phyllis conceded, taking the money from him and tucking it in her purse, "Thank you very much, Charles. We'll see you there."

Charles nodded and rolled the window back up and the taxis pulled away. Joseph, who had been helping to make sure Beryl from HR got into the other taxi without getting her coat caught in the door, moved to stand by her side.

"Charles gave us the money to get ourselves another taxi," she informed him.

"That was nice of him," Joseph replied, "I didn't really fancy the bus."

"He said we'd probably be able to get one on Woodstock Road," she said, putting her phone back into her back and slipping the strap over her shoulder, indicating that they should make their way down the drive of Charles' house and onto the, as yet silent, main road, "I have a feeling he wanted to make sure we didn't just give up and decide to go home now that we've shown our faces."

"We couldn't very well do that," Joseph replied, "After Thomas was so adamant that we all go out for his birthday."

"Oh, I know that," Phyllis replied, "I think Charles just wanted to make sure."

"He's not exactly Thomas's biggest fan, though."

"You can say that again," Phyllis told him, smiling a little, "Personally, I think he's only coming out with us at all tonight because of Elsie."

"What do you mean by that?"

Phyllis' smile broadened just a touch.

"Nothing," she replied softly, "Just that he doesn't like Thomas very much."

"You and he went to the same university, didn't you?" Joseph asked a moment later.

Her expression stiffened a little, but she replied in quite a normal voice; "Yes, we were both here, at Oxford. I was a year ahead of him, though."

Joseph smiled.

"Just like now," he remarked softly, "You're always a step ahead of the rest of us."

Her smiled widened into a little laugh, and she looked a little abashed.

"Even if that were true, Thomas is still junior director, while I'm only a junior editor."

"Yes, but you've only been here a few months and I'll bet you're the one Elsie will promote next. What?" he caught a glimpse of her expression, "Sorry, am I boring you talking about work?"

She smiled at him gently.

"No, you're not, Joseph. Believe me, people don't say such nice things to me often enough for me to get bored of them."

"Well, they should," he replied.

She looked at him for a moment and then smiled, breaking out into a little bit of a laugh. He looked at her curiously.

"Poor Charles," she explained herself, "He doesn't even like Thomas, and yet he ends up offering his own house as place for us to meet before his birthday party."

Joseph smiled too.

"That's typical Thomas really," he told her, "He knows Charles has a nice house; he was probably angling for him to host the whole party, but decided it was best to settle for just the pre-drinks."

Her eyes widened.

"The what, now?" she asked him.

"The pre-drinks," he repeated, and when she still looked blank, "That's what Daisy called them anyway."

"The young always have a clever set of words for things," she remarked, "I just hope she didn't use it in front of Charles. I can't imagine he'd be too happy at the thought of hosting something known as "pre-drinks"."

He smiled too.

"You're probably right about that," he told her.

"Daisy's a nice girl," she remarked.

"Yes, she is," he agreed, "Rather a shame though. She gave up her sixth form place to be an intern with us, you know, and all we've been able to give her since is a job in HR."

"I suppose it's because people like me keep showing up and taking the editorial jobs," she conceded.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean that," he told her, "That's not what I meant at all. You're wonderful at your job, you're the best we've got-…"

"Alright," she smiled at him wryly, "One compliment was just about alright. But now I'm beginning to think you overdid your pre-drinks, Mr. Molesley."

"No, I meant it, I-…" he was getting flustered now, but she was laughing.

"Oh, Joseph," she touched the front of his jacket gently, "I'm teasing you! I was with you the whole time, of course I know you didn't overdo it!"

For a moment he didn't say anything. Just gradually took in the fact that she was still holding on to the front of his jacket.

She was looking at him closely, and he was sure she was about to reply when her expression suddenly changed.

"Look, there's a taxi there!" she reached out to him, gently touching his arm and pointing over his shoulder with her other hand, waving to the cab to stop.

…

They entered the dark red light of the cocktail bar together.

"They're over there," she told him, pointing towards the table where she could see Daisy waving at them from beside Beryl.

"You two got here then?" Thomas asked.

"We had to wait for a cab," Joseph replied quickly.

Thomas' expression was sceptical, but he didn't say anything more on the subject.

"Well, you're here now, anyway," he told them, "We were talking about going out afterwards."

"I thought we were already out?" Joseph asked.

Thomas did not disguise the roll of his eyes very well.

"To a club," he explained impatiently, "They do a good 80s night round the corner, would you two be up for it?"

"Please come with us," Daisy chirped in from beside him, "John and Anna have already said no and I didn't think there was very much point in asking Charles or Elsie."

"The cheek of you girl!" came the exclamation from Elsie, who had just arrived from the bar bringing back more drinks, "I daresay I remember more of the 1980s than you do!"

Phyllis smiled at the look on Daisy's face as Elsie passed two of the drinks across the table for her and Joseph.

"I'm sure Daisy didn't mean it like that," Joseph explained on her behalf.

"That's as may be," Elsie replied, sitting down and taking a sip of her own drink, "Still, it would be nice to be asked."

"So," Phyllis surmised, "That's me, you- Daisy-, Thomas, Elsie, Joseph and-…"

"Me?" Joseph asked.

"Well-… yes?" she replied, turning to him, faltering a little, "That is, if you want to. I didn't know if y-…"

"No, I want to," Joseph told her hurriedly, "Only I don't normally get asked along to this sort of thing."

"Well, I'm asking you now," she told him quietly.

"And I'm saying yes," he replied softly, "I'd like to go with you."

It occurred to her suddenly that everyone else had fallen silent and was watching them over their drinks. Briefly, her eyes met Elsie's, who gave her an amused look and then averted her gaze quickly in the direction of her cosmo.

"Good," Phyllis said quickly, "So that's Joseph too. What about Charles?"

Elsie let out a snort.

"Not likely," she told her, "You were lucky to get him as far as here."

"Where is Charles?" Joseph asked.

"He was with me at the bar," Elsie replied, "The bartender got him interested in some deals. You know what Charles is like, always one for a good bargain."

As he was their managing director, they actually did.

"What on earth have you got there?" Elsie asked him as the man in question returned to the table a moment later, bearing a tray.

"Shots."

Please review if you have the time, I'd love to know what you think.