"Sorry about that." She stood as she waited for Michael to step back into the room. It was strange to feel so ill at ease with him, but then again, it had been far too long since she'd actually felt herself truly relax. "He's just worried about me after this morning and the way things went with Lauren, I think he just expected that you were probably here to chew me out and …" She stopped, noting the strange expression on her friend's face. "That's not why you're here, is it?"

"Of course not." His eyes softened as he looked at her. The look in her eyes was something he wasn't sure he'd ever seen before. There was a trepidation there that was so unlike Phyllis. The Phyllis he knew was full of life. She was fierce and combative at times. She was far from the person that stood in front of him, the woman that almost seemed to flinch when he made quick movements. "I just came here to try and get a better handle on what's actually going on. Lauren is so upset and I promised her that I'd come here and talk to you and that I'd get some answers."

She took a seat on the ottoman again. "I told Lauren the truth." Her voice shook slightly as she looked up at him again. "I didn't want to, but I told her the truth. I don't have any different answers for you if that's what you came here hoping to get."

"It's not that I don't believe you, Phyllis. I just need to understand this. Scott is her son. He lives in our home and if what you say …"

"If?" She felt the lump that had been threatening to cut off her air growing larger in her throat. "If?" She drew in another shaky breath. "I thought you said you believed me. I thought you said if I told you what happened that you would believe me."

"I do believe you, Phyllis. I just need to hear it from you. Lauren isn't rational right now and everything she's saying is colored by that anger and I don't know if I'm hearing the truth you gave her or the truth that's tainted by her shock and rage."

His words made some semblance of sense and she couldn't begrudge him for wanting to come to the source. Michael had always been a thorough attorney and as her friend, he'd always been fair to her. He'd always been there to stand up for her when she'd needed him. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know," she said quietly.

"Just start from the beginning. You came to the apartment."

Phyllis nodded. "I came there and Scott was alone. I knew Lauren was worried about him and she'd already asked me if I'd come by and spend some time with him. She'd mentioned wanting to set us up or something, so I really didn't think that much of it. I came in and he offered me something to drink." She thought back, the smell and taste of the scotch still fresh in her mind. "Scotch," she said succinctly. "It was scotch." She shook her head, trying to rid herself of that all too graphic memory. "He started off innocently enough. It was just a simple kiss and I was almost flattered. I mean I'm almost twice his age and …" She could feel the burn in her eyes and she forced herself to continue. She wasn't going to fall apart this time. She'd already done this before. "It was a kiss and then it was moving too fast and I told him to stop but he didn't."

She saw Michael look away, his eyes unable to stay fixed on hers as she continued the story.

"I said no, Michael. I told him no and he didn't. He ripped my dress and he held me down and if … if Kevin hadn't walked in when he did …" It was too difficult to say. She didn't even want to think about what could have happened.

"And you're sure." He hated even saying the words, afraid she'd take them as a condemnation of her accusations or as a sign of his disbelief and in reality, they were neither. He could see in it her eyes and hear it in the slight tremble in her voice. This was as real and true for Phyllis now as it had been the night it happened. There was no way she was exaggerating this. "You're sure he knew exactly what he was doing. This wasn't about him being too drunk or …"

"He was sober enough to know to stop when Kevin walked in. He was sober enough to know to pretend that everything had been fine up until that point. He was sober enough to pretend that I was crazy when I tried to get out of there as fast as humanly possibly." She shook her head, still remembering the way he'd looked at her as she'd stood by the elevator. It would have given anyone a complex. "And what's more, that's not where it stopped. He's been following me, watching me, stalking me and I can't feel like my life is mine anymore. I can't even feel safe in my own apartment. Billy feels like he has to go everywhere with me, like leaving me alone is somehow betraying my safety. He shouldn't have to do that," she managed, the catch in her voice now becoming more prominent. "He shouldn't have to watch after me like I'm some kind of toddler. He deserves to be able to live his own life."

"That's enough of that."

Her eyes moved towards the door quickly and she jumped to her feet at the sight of Billy entering the room. "If I get to spend lots of time with you …" He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, "I'd call that living." He stood back up to his full height and looked back over at Michael. "Did the two of you get a chance to talk?"

Michel could sense the warning in his tone. His time was up. "Yeah. Yeah, we did. I get it." He reached out and gently touched her arm. "You know I believe you, right?"

The tears now welled up in her eyes as she heard his simple confession. She nodded as he stood up and moved to walk to walk towards the door. It came as no surprise to her that Billy followed him.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Billy asked. "Outside?" He pulled the door closed behind them as he waited for Michel to step into the hallway. "I need you to do something for me? I need you to talk to Lauren and tell her everything that Phyllis told you and I need you to convince her that Scott is on a dangerous path here. As it stands right now, she hasn't pressed charges, but if he so much as looks in her direction again, I'll make it my personal mission to take him down without any consideration for who his family is."