"You sure I can't convince you to stay home today?" Billy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him as he nuzzled in against her neck.
Phyllis smiled as she twisted the lid of her travel coffee mug. "As much as I'd love to crawl back into bed with you, I can't. I have a big meeting with Lauren and Jack today about some Fenmore marketing stuff. I've got to get to the office, so I can go over the presentation and make sure I've got all the numbers ready. Besides, don't you have a job to get now, Mr. Abbott?"
Billy leaned his head back in mock frustration. "Yes," he sighed. "I guess I should be getting to my own office even though I'm pretty sure we could be a lot more productive right here."
"I'm sure you're right, but I really can't today." She reached down to finish off the cup of coffee that sat beside her travel mug. It was her third cup of the morning and she finally felt as if she had enough steam to carry herself through her first meeting. She smiled as she felt Billy's warm lips trailing down her neck. "Which means, you have to stop that," she breathed.
"Alright," he whined. "Will you at least let me give you a ride to the office, that way I can keep you close for a little while longer?"
"I won't turn down a ride," she grinned, "Especially one from such a sexy driver."
Phyllis stared at the computer screen. She stood quickly and rushed across the room to grab the latest print outs form the printer. The clock on the wall told the whole story. The meeting was fast approaching, and she had virtually no time to prepare. Jack was sure to make this a contentious meeting and she wanted to be as prepared as possible, but time was one thing she couldn't create. She'd only been at the office for a little over an hour, but she felt as if she'd been working an entire day. Mental exhaustion was real, she thought to herself as she grabbed the final files from her desk.
She looked up just in time to see Jack's face quickly pass her door. The sound of his halted footsteps made her heart drop and she waited to see him appear in her doorway again. "Did you need something?" she asked, trying not to sound annoyed. It wasn't Jack's fault that that she was short on time and patience this morning, but she wasn't really in the mood to bolster his spirits or make him feel better about his never ending war with Ashley.
"No. I just thought we could head into the meeting together." Jack smiled gently at her as he studied her expression. "Figured there was strength in numbers around here right now." He waited on her typical smart ass response, but grew slightly more serious when she didn't say anything at all in return. "Everything okay?"
Phyllis looked up at him. "Why wouldn't it be?" she breathed. "Everything's fine. I just have a lot to prepare for with this meeting and I figured you'd already be down there preparing your attack strategy."
"What makes you think I'm going to be against you on this? I want you and Lauren to be happy about the marketing strategy. I'm not going to try to tie your hands with this."
"Really?" She stared at him incredulously. "That sounds suspiciously easy. You honestly expect me to believe that you're going to back Lauren and me on this? You're not going to make trouble?"
"You backed me in the board meeting…both of you did, so I'm returning the favor. So, unless you're planning on skipping the meeting, I'll ask you again, you want to head up together?"
Phyllis sighed. "Alright," she nodded. "I guess so." She walked beside him hesitantly as they stood by the elevator. She glanced down at the numbers on her cell phone. "We're gonna be late," she hissed.
"This elevator is always so slow," Jack grumbled. "If you weren't beside me, I'd think…" He stopped himself from saying the rest of his sentence, realizing that as much progress as they'd made, they weren't at that point in their relationship yet. "Why don't we just take the stairs?"
"Okay." Phyllis glanced at the three flights of steps which, under normal circumstances, wouldn't have even given her pause. Today it seemed like a steep mountain, the precipice of which was almost impossible to reach. She gripped the railing and took the first step, surprised by how quickly she became winded.
"I looked at the Powerpoint you sent over last night. You and Lauren actually have some excellent ideas. I'd actually be in favor of them even if I wasn't feeling obligated to repay a favor." Jack looked in her direction, expecting to hear more disbelief, but instead hearing silence. "Phyllis?"
"Yeah." Her breathing was labored and she tried to cover the sheer exhaustion the stairs had caused. "I uh…I wanted to try and cover the high points in the presentation, but…" She paused to try and collect her breath again, stopping for a moment at the landing and gripping the railing. "I'll go into the points more in depth when we're actually in the meeting. I figured…" She swallowed hard, trying to keep her chest from heaving. Her ribs burned from the deprivation of oxygen and she felt as if all the moisture was draining from her body. "I thought Ashley might …" She stopped, finally giving in to the need for silence.
"Hey." Jack's hand rested on her shoulder. "What's the matter? You okay?"
The question was one she didn't even have time to consider. "Of course I am," she sighed. "I've just been so busy that I haven't had time to go to the gym and I've just got so out of shape lately. I didn't realize it had gotten this bad though." She forced a smile as she looked up at him. "It's pretty bad when three flights of stairs does you in, huh?" She could see his eyes were still filled with concern. "Seriously, Jack. I'm fine. I just need to get back in my routine and we need to get to this meeting before Ashley stages another coup."
Jack studied her for another moment, finally letting his hand fall away from her shoulder. "If you're sure you're okay?"
She moved ahead of him, propelling her body forward. "I'm fine," she said succinctly. "Let's go." This was certainly not the time to rest. There were things to do and places to go. Rest would wait. Work would not.