"Hey, honey?" Karen asked quietly.
"Yeah?" Bill's voice asked over the phone.
"I miss you," she smiled, brushing one leg against the other. She was lying in bed, wearing the dark red lingerie he bought her for her birthday.
"I miss you too, Karen," his voice replied warmly.
"Guess what I'm wearing." She sat up against the pillows, getting more comfortable.
"I don't need to." He already knew. And she knew just as well how it made him feel when she wore it.
"Bill—" she started.
He gasped as the ringing of his other phone cut him off.
"Mr. Buchanan?" Chloe's voice came over the intercom.
"Yes, Chloe, what is it?" he asked, frustrated. Out of all times for her to call. Wasn't she supposed to leave at 9?
"I was just wondering how you wanted the YAN list organized in the packet for tomorrow's briefing. Everything else is tabbed but the formatting might make it harder to access from our systems."
"Uh…whatever you think is best, Chloe," he said quickly. "Is that all?"
"Actually," she interjected, "I was wondering if you could have a talk with Milo; he's been giving everyone a lot of attitude lately because of this whole management thing—"
"—Not right now, Chloe," Bill interrupted, annoyed. "Later."
"Fine." She sighed as loudly as possible to make sure he heard.
He hung up the phone.
"Sorry, Karen," he said, "Chloe needed to know how to format something for our next briefing."
She took this as a cue to resume the conversation.
"You're such a sexy boss, Bill," she said softly.
"Uh, guys?" Chloe's voice came into the conversation, "I don't mean to kill the vibe, but do you still need me on the line?" Shit. He had accidentally linked her into the call.
"Damn it, Chloe!" Bill picked up the phone on the desk and slammed it back down, disconnecting her from the line.
He sighed.
"That was awkward," he said submissively.
Karen laughed a little on the other side of the line.
"At least she didn't come upstairs to ask you," she suggested.
"Well, knowing Chloe, she probably would have just paused and went back downstairs," he added.
Karen nodded in agreement.
"That's true."
Bill sighed.
"She kind of…ruined it, didn't she?" he asked. Karen giggled on the other side of the line when she heard this.
"A little." She paused for a second. "You want to call me when you get home instead?"
"Yeah. I should be out in less than an hour. Are you sure you'll be up?"
"For you? Of course," she assured him.
He grinned.
"I love you."
"I love you too," she echoed softly.
She snapped her phone shut and held it close to her, smiling in anticipation for his call.