Ready, Aim, Fired Up: Young & Restless’ Phyllis Is Poised to Take Another Shot at Love — a *Real* One This Time!

The last few months, The Young and the Restless has not exactly served up a hotbed of storyline for Phyllis. She’s meddled in her kids affairs like a better-dressed Mary Williams once might have. She’s wrung her hands from the sidelines as nearly everyone else in Genoa City hatched one cockamamie scheme after another to save sorta grandson Harrison. And the last time she did have actual story, it was such a befuddling mess that…

Honestly, we still can’t figure out what the hell was up with her going all-in on chasing ex-husband Danny. What would she have done if she’d actually gotten him away from Christine out of spite? Change her ringtone to “Rock On” and become a groupie?

Luckily, those days are behind us. In the wake of Michelle Stafford’s third Daytime Emmy win, the powers that be can’t possibly leave her cooling her heels on the backburner any longer. They’ve been handed an incontrovertible reminder of what a dynamo she is. To not take advantage of that would be akin to saying, “Nah, we prefer to horde our assets and hide them, thanks.”

Our pick for a new storyline for Phyllis: Have the hurricane in high heels fall in love anew — for real. Have her and Tucker commiserate about the dismal state of their social lives and become drinking buddies. She doesn’t trust him as far as she can throw him, but so long as he isn’t blackmailing her, he’s pretty amusing company. And she fails safe hanging out with him. She knows he’s a rat, so there’s no risk of her catching feelings.

At the end of every non-date, Phyllis sticks around for a nightcap and becomes better acquainted with the handsome bartender. Let’s call him Ray. He flirts with her. She misses it completely. He points this out and chalks it up to the fact that, as far as he can see, she’s into Tucker. She laughs in Ray’s face. He challenges her to prove it — with a kiss.

“Just because I’m not into him doesn’t mean I’m into you,” she scoffs.

“True,” Ray admits. “But one kiss later, and you might be into me.”

Unable to resist the dare, Phyllis kisses Ray. And then the two of them do a lot more than kiss, beginning a secret affair. She writes off her desire for discretion as disinterest in everyone knowing her business. Also, she may have a history of making questionable decisions. “Is that what I am?” Ray asks.

“To be determined,” she replies.

But as Ray continues to pour drinks for Phyllis and Tucker, never disclosing the affair, he begins to suspect that she’s just using him to avoid her feelings for the guy she insists she detests yet spends every free minute with. “I’m ending this,” Ray tells her finally. “And you should really find somewhere else to drink with your ‘friend.’”

“Are you not having fun anymore?” she asks.

“No, I’m really not,” he replies. “I love you, Phyllis. I’m not having fun, I’m setting myself up to get hurt. Hell, I’m already hurting, because you’re in love, too — just not with me.”

Phyllis pretends to be shocked, pretends she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But c’mon, she knows. The question is, will she admit to herself that she sees Tucker as more than an amusement and risk her heart, or will she deny Ray’s accusation and disprove his theory by going public with their romance?