"Phyllis?"

Phyllis looked up from the computer screen, surprised to see Ravi standing in the doorway. "Ravi, Hi," she glanced over at the calendar on her second screen, "Did we have a meeting scheduled?"

"No..we didn't, but there's that big marketing meeting upstairs. I just stopped by to see if you wanted to go over the numbers quickly before we go."

"Oh, right. Yes, absolutely." She reached for the stack of papers on her desk and gestured to the chair in front of the desk. "Please, sit."

Ravi stepped in hesitantly. "Is everything alright, Phyllis?"

"Of course everything's okay. Why do you ask?" She looked up, her eyes immediately searching his face. "Did Jack say something to you?"

"Jack? No. I haven't talked to Jack."

"I'm serious Ravi. You can tell me. If he said something to you, it's fine. I just want you to tell me what he said." She stopped, taking a breath, forcing herself to calm down.

"Phyllis." He took a step back. "Jack hasn't said anything to me. No one has. I just meant you seem—a little frazzled, that's all."

"Oh." Her eyes closed for a moment, her mind reeling with the rush of her own over exaggeration and embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Ravi," she whispered. "I didn't mean to go off on you like that."

He shook his head. "It's okay, really, but I was asking out of genuine concern. If there's something I can do to help. If you need me to help you get caught up here or something."

"I can handle my job without your help," she snapped. The look in his eyes was worse than any condemning response he could have given her.

"Of course. Of course you can," he said softly. "I'm gonna go ahead and head up to the meeting. I'll see you there." He rushed from the office before she could stop him.

"Ravi," she called, quickly grabbing her files and rushing after him. "Ravi wait." The elevator doors were already closing as she approached them. "Damn it!" She darted towards the stairs, pulling the door open quickly and rushing towards the landing. Her hand trembled as she gripped the banister. She swallowed hard. Under Billy's watchful eye, she hadn't been able to take any pills this morning, but she was clearly still feeling the effects of the three she'd taken last night. Her head seemed to swim as she quickly scaled the steps.

She could see the door to the fourth floor as she clutched the banister harder and she lifted her leg, willing her body to respond. Everything seemed to spin, the entire room shifting, wavy black lines passed in front of her face and she could feel her muscles begin to collapse beneath her. The cement was hard and unforgiving as she felt her body fall against it and then everything grew still.


The conference room was full of chatter as everyone filled the coffee cups and found their seats. Jack leaned over towards Ravi, his face clearly expressing his displeasure. "Where the hell is Phyllis," he growled.

Ravi shrugged slightly. "I don't know," he whispered. "I stopped by her office on her way up and she was walking towards the elevator. I can't imagine where she could be. She looked like she was right behind me."

Jack sighed. "Well, where the hell did she go? She's the one driving this entire campaign and she's the only one of us that knows how the hell this entire internet marketing thing is structured. If she's a no show again we're all going to look like a bunch of idiots."

"You want me to go look for her?"

"No," Jack huffed, standing up and straightening his suit. "I'll go. You stay here and talk about the technology aspects of the application. Just stall. I'll be back as soon as I can—with Phyllis…or with her head on a platter."


Jack bounded out of the room, glancing towards he elevator before heading towards the stairs. He threw the stairwell door open and moved quickly down the steps. His breath caught in his throat and he quickly knelt down beside her.

"Phyllis," he breathed. "Phyllis, can you hear me?"

"Unhgh.." she groaned. She gripped the banister and struggled to sit up.

"No," Jack ordered gently, pushing her back down. "Don't move. You don't need to move until we get somebody up here to check you out."

"Jack, I'm fine," she snapped. "If you can just give me a hand here…" She moved to put weight on her foot and hissed, immediately crashing back onto the step.

"Yeah, that looks like fine to me. Would you stop and let me call someone, please?"

"Billy," she sighed. "Will you please just call Billy? He can take me to the hospital to get this checked out. I don't need an ambulance or anything like that."

Jack paused looking at her with concern. "Phyllis," he said seriously, "What happened in here?"

She blinked. "What do you mean what happened? Isn't it pretty obvious? These damn heels nearly cost me to go hurtling down an entire flight of stairs-that's what happened."

"This isn't anything to joke about." He touched her face, moving her chin towards him. "You could have really been hurt."

"I know," she breathed. "These are going straight into the donation bin when I get home. They may be cute but they're a health hazard."

"Phyllis," Jack countered, "I'm not kidding around with you." He took a deep breath. "I know you were drinking in your office yesterday and I know you said it wasn't a big deal. Now I find you sprawled out on the stairs….you're gonna tell me that's just a coincidence."

Her eyes widened. "You think this happened because I'm drunk?"

"Are you?"

"No, Jack. I haven't been drinking today. I told you what happened…exactly what happened. Now, if you don't believe me, that's your problem….and if you're not going to call Billy for me, at least have the decency to hand me my purse so I can."

Jack shook his head. "Fine," he sighed. "I'll call him and for the record, Phyllis, I hope to God you're telling me the truth."