Mr. Abbott?"

Billy looked up from the computer, pinching his temples hard. He took another drink from the cup of all too cold coffee that sat on the corner of his desk and glanced at the time. Two hours-he had two hours to deadline and he was no closer to a decent idea than he had been before he pulled this all nighter.

"What is it, Tina?"

The young woman walked in, her hesitation made him feel guilty. Was he that difficult to deal with?

"Tina-I'm sorry if I've been an ass," he said earnestly, "I was just really hoping to get this magazine launched this month and..." He sighed, dejected, "looks like that's not gonna happen."

She nodded. "Should I call and let the publishers know?"

Billy nodded. "Might as well." He stared down at the plans on his desk. The piles of work seemed to multiply with each passing day and without Phyllis here to help him, it took everything in him to even keep his head above water.

His eyes fell on the picture of her that sat on the corner of his desk.

Tina smiled. "We all miss her," she said softly. "I'm sure when she gets back, everything will fall right into place."

Billy smiled back at her as she disappeared from the room. He reached into his desk drawer, grabbing the bottle of aspirin and pouring two out into his hand. His back was killing him-no doubt thanks to spending all night sitting behind a computer screen. And for what? Wha had he accomplished exactly? A whole lot of nothing-the same hint he accomplished day after day after day.

It didn't make any sense, he knew how to do this. He'd done I before-Restless Style had been successful for a while and he enjoyed it, but it was almost as if he couldn't focus-as if his brain was stuck in quicksand. Maybe it was true-maybe you really could burn out, but if that was true, how did you start the fire again?

Phyllis stared out the window as she watched the snow softly fall to the ground. She loved this time of year. It was so peaceful and quiet, though lately it had been too quiet...far too quiet.

She stared at the cell phone on the table in front of her. She could call him-see if he was still at the office. His voice was what she longed to hear, the low, comforting tone-the way he could say her name in a whisper and almost make her melt. She missed that. She missed him.

The phone felt heavy in her hand as she considered the call. This should not be this complicated, she grumbled inside her own mind. She stopped short as she heard noise outside. She walked to the door, surprised to hear keys and see the doorknob turning.

"Hey," she said quietly. "I didn't expect you home so soon. I figured you'd be working down to the wire for the launch."

Billy shook his head. He was exhausted, but buoyed simply by seeing her face. "It's not gonna happen this month-we'll get it next month."

He dropped his briefcase and threw his coat over the back of the sofa as he stepped closer to her.

"I'm so sorry, Billy. I know how important this was to you."

"The only thing that matters to me right now is that you know how important this is to me." He took her hands in his, kissing them both before looking into her eyes once more. "I'm so glad to be here with you."

She smiled. "I'm glad you're here too. I've missed this-just being this close. It's been so crazy lately-lets promise to make this-us-a priority, ok?"

He kissed her lips lightly, "you got it." Billy glanced towards the stairs. "There is one more girl I want to kiss. She upstairs?"

Phyllis nodded. "Yeah, I've got to get her up soon or else it's gonna be a long night. Tell you what," she smiled, "why don't you go get her and I'll go check on dinner?"

Billy froze. "Check on dinner? By check on you mean check on the reheating process or transfer from microwave safe dish to serving platter?"

"Nope-you should be proud of me. I cooked a full meal. Pork tenderloin, rice, and asparagus."

"That's uh...wow..that's...ambitious."

"Well you know me," she grinned, "I don't do anything half way."

"This is very true." Billy smiled as he watched her practically bounce back into the kitchen. He exhaled slowly and shook his head. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, he looked up at them. To him, they were as daunting and exhausting as Everest, but head to try. He gripped the bannister and propelled himself up the stairs. He'd go to bed early tonight. Apparently he really was getting old.