"Is she on schedule?"
"Yes, Henry," He says as he watches Jay snap his fingers in his direction. "Though there's not much of one today," he mumbles as he fingers through the desk drawer that serves as his own personal filing cabinet.
"I tried to convince her not to go in at all."
He hands off a file to Jay before he moves his cell phone, so it's pinched between his cheek and shoulder.
"Well—" he grabs the first stack of papers from his inbox tray and straightens them by tapping them against the top of his desk. "—she has assured me that after this meeting with Mrs. Banks she's out the door."
There's a sigh on the other side of the line and then— "Is she in there now?"
"Yes."
"She wants you to check in on the kids," Henry says.
"She's told me." He wheels his chair closer to his desk and begins separating the stack of documents into smaller piles. "About ten times actually."
"You don't have to," he tells him. "They're more than capable of looking after themselves."
"She's just worried." He reaches for the stapler. "Really I don't mind." He laughs, and— "Plus she's threatened to fire me if I don't."
"She'd never make good on it."
He switches the phone over to his other ear.
"Yeah, well you never know." His eyes follow Matt as he wanders into the conference room after Daisy. "She's still upset about Stevie," he blurts out. He's not sure what compels him to say it; he knows the topic is a highly sensitive one.
"She said she was fine this morning."
His voice is more grim, but still more concern than anger.
"Forty minutes ago, she was telling a different story," he admits. "Though she did seem a bit agitated, and maybe like she didn't want to talk about it anymore."
"Is that your way of telling me not to bring it up?"
"Maybe," he says. "Really, it's up to you, but if you want this trip to end happily for you, I advise you not to bring it up."
"Duly noted," Henry says just as Caroline appears, leading Mrs. Banks and her son down the hall.
He stands, and— "There's Mrs. Banks now. I'll have her home in twenty."
"Thanks, Blake."
The line cuts out, and as he passes through into her office, he slips his cell into his jacket pocket.
He makes a beeline to the coat closet, and— "Time to go," he says as he pulls on the knob.