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This is unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.

Word Prompt: Handle

The hot spray of the shower felt good. Four fifteen was way too early to be up. I only had myself to blame, though, for calling a five a.m. meeting and for getting back to the hotel so late. I had no doubt I'd be treating the gang to lunch for that.

I toweled off and quickly got ready to head into the office. I knew I could host the call from my hotel room, but I didn't want the others to head into the office without me. It wouldn't be right, and as the team leader, I needed to lead by example.

"Hey, boss," Steve said brightly as I walked into the conference room. He had a cup of coffee and a bagel in front of him, as did Tim, Maria, and Jason.

"Hey, guys. Sorry about the early call," I said, nodding my head in thanks when Tim tipped the box of bagels my way.

I grabbed a Cinnamon Crunch and took a huge bite, moaning slightly at the amazingness of it. "Thanks for this. Lunch is on me."

"Darn right it is," Jason said with a grin. "You ready for me to dial in?"

I nodded and took a sip of the coffee I'd just made for myself. Thank goodness they had a Keurig in the office. I was sure Bella wouldn't approve, but timeliness was everything that early in the morning.

I took my seat and smiled as I thought about Bella and her special coffee brewer. Who would have thought learning about specialty coffee brewing methods could be so fascinating? Oh, whom was I fooling? It was all her. She was fascinating. And amazing. And beautiful.

"This is Seattle," Tim said as the call connected.

"Hey, guys," I heard Johnson say on the other end of the line. "It's pretty early there."

We all laughed. "It is. How is everyone?" I asked. No matter what we're doing, we always started our meetings with a few pleasantries. I'd learned early on that even though we were all scientists and people often thought we were only about the details, it was important to actually care about your team members and engage with them on a personal level. In doing that, I'd had a lot of success connecting with each of them and having challenging conversations when times got tough.

People shared a little about their respective weekends, and when it came to me, I was sort of at a loss for words. All I knew was how warm I felt inside, and I knew it wasn't the coffee.

"Well, I spent part of the weekend with an old friend from college, catching up and rehashing some old memories." That was certainly putting it mildly, but when I attempted to put things in perspective I knew how lucky I was that things hadn't ended differently the night before. The fact that Bella was willing to try for more was still mind blowing. I knew I didn't deserve it, that things were still confusing and uncertain, but I was grateful all the same.

There was a bit more small talk and then I switched gears. "So, tell me what's been going on since I've been away, guys?"

They proceeded to explain some of the challenges they'd run across in the trial and the mixed results they'd gotten. We talked about a couple of reasons why some of that might have happened and some potential solutions.

"Jeb, you've been pretty quiet," I said. "What's your assessment of the situation?" Jeb was the most reserved member of the team. He was also one of the smartest and most astute people I'd ever had the pleasure to work with, much less know. When I wanted a no-bullshit assessment, I always went to him.

There was a beat of silence and then he said what I'd sort of already been thinking. "I've looked at the data just the same as everyone else, but I can't figure out, even with the solutions mentioned, how we'll be able to trust any of the results if we don't start over."

The grumbling on the phone matched my flip-flopping gut. I had a feeling he was going to say that. Trial results were critical to the release of a new drug, and before we could even move into human trials, we needed some clean, solid results. What we had up to that point wouldn't cut it with Ben, Graham and Eric, much less the Board.

"I'll tell you what, let's try to divide and conquer. Jeb, why don't you take three people and work on a new plan, starting at ground zero and using any new and valid results we have already gathered. Johnson, you and the rest of the team implement the solutions you have already proposed. Let's see what you come up with, and we'll compare the data from both teams.

"In the meantime, Maria," I said, looking across the table, "why don't you partner with someone from Mike's team here and see what you can dig up that will support both teams. How does that sound?"

"Works for me," Jeb said.

"Same," Johnson agreed.

"I'm in," Maria offered with a nod of her head.

"Good. Now, on a slightly different subject." I proceeded to explain the details behind my phone call with Ben on Friday and told the team new work was coming their way.

"Steve, Tim, Jason, and I will continue partnering with Mike's team on their research and pick up the new project until we can figure out how the team should really look. As I know more details, I'll pass them along."

It didn't take long for us to wrap up the call, but as we were coming to a close, I decided to mention, politely, my expectation when trouble arises. "Oh, and guys, next time you come across a situation like this, please let me know. I'm not going to swoop in and try to fix it myself, but a little heads up would be good. I don't want to be blindsided by stuff like this in a report. Just pick up the phone or come into my office. Cool?"

They all murmured their agreement, and we quickly ended our call.

I looked at the team in the room with me. "Good?"

"Good," they all agreed before standing up and heading to their respective work stations. "You guys good to meet at noon for lunch?"

They all agreed.

"Excellent. Maria, you pick the place, okay?" She grinned and nodded.

After everyone was gone I sat back in my chair and looked out the window. It was still dark outside, and I wondered if Bella was up yet. I knew she didn't have class or any more finals to administer, so it stood to reason she would sleep in. Of course, I didn't really know if she was an early riser. She didn't use to be. In fact, she hated mornings and was a total night owl; part of me wondered what she was like in the morning. I used to love seeing her face in the mornings, still slightly pink and puffy from sleep. I always thought she looked so beautiful, so natural like that.

That twinge in my gut twisted, and I wondered if I'd ever see her like that again. I wanted to, but I definitely didn't see that happening in the next couple of days or the foreseeable future.

I grabbed my mug of coffee and stood up, tired and already a little frustrated at my line of thinking, and made my way over to the sidebar to refill my cup. I couldn't believe I had three nights left until I had to head home. I had no idea when I was going to be back or how we were going to make this thing between us work. I thought about the options – Skype, phone calls, texts, emails, the occasional visit – and felt myself growing disheartened. I didn't want to be away from her. I wasn't even sure how I'd handle not seeing her every day. I was already spoiled, and it had been less than a week.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. All I knew was that it was going to take a lot to make our relationship work, and I saw now why she wanted to take things slow.

It's worth it. She's worth it.

With my steaming brew in hand, I made my way back to my chair and sat. It would be worth it, and there was no doubt she was most definitely worth it. I didn't need any convincing on the matter.

In the meantime, I needed to figure out a way to spend as much time with her as possible before I left without pushing too hard, too fast. We needed something solid to stand on, to help bridge the distance, especially with the holidays coming up.

I glanced at my watch. It wasn't even seven a.m., and I was already itching to get out of the office. This was going to be a long day.