She hasn't slept well in months, but last night was particularly bad. She thinks she must be coming down with something as she glares back at her 6am reflection. "Oh yeah, that's attractive. I'm sure he'll take one look at this and fall right back in love with me." A few weeks ago she would've added "if he ever was..." Not that anything's changed, but ever since Oscar's welcome back fiesta she's known.

They'd pulled another prank together, she'd caught that familiar smile when he'd thought she wasn't looking. Since then, the only question on her mind was "now what?"

Orange juice and toast.

Same as always, but why bother changing when you already know what you like?

His hair was still damp with sweat from his morning run, and he knew he'd be late if he didn't get in the shower soon, but there had to be some orange juice in here somewhere.

As he drove to work it occurred to him that Pam was kind of like that orange juice.

But Toby liked his life, for the most part, aside from sometimes wishing he was still married, so why bother changing when you already know what you like? 

Eyeliner? Sigh, check.

Mascara? Sigh, check.

Lip balm, stick and gloss? Check, check, check.

Her hair wasn't right, but Ryan had said he'd be gone all morning on a sales call so, really, what was the point?

She glumly gathered her up her things to leave.

OMG!!! Brilliant idea!! If Ryan wasn't going to be at work, why didn't she go visit him before work?!! He'd love it! Maybe she could even bring him breakfast and they could eat it together and talk about EVERYTHING the way they always did. Ryan was the BEST conversationalist. That's why she loved him.

The alarm wouldn't stop ringing as he rolled himself off the couch and crawled toward it. The TV was still on, but he must've muted it at some point.

He looked around blearily.

Then he remembered what day it was and started giggling. Not only was it Friday, but today was March 9th, which meant there was only one more day until March 10th.

snort!

March 10th, 2007. The 69th day of 2007.

When he'd asked, Stacy hadn't said she wouldn't come to his 69th day party.

She really is awesome.

Time to find a clean shirt.

Sniff.

Close enough. 

"Ungh?"

"Good morning my dearest, darling, dumpling-cakes! How is the most beautiful woman-"

"Michael I told you not to call me before 7:00 unless it was an emergency."

"Well of course it's an emergency, Jan! I woke up and you weren't here! My heart cannot go on without you."

"Okay." Jan paused, "Michael, I'm going to hang up now, but why don't I call you on my way into the office?"

 "But-"

"I will call you later Michael." Click.

She rolled over and covered her head with the pillow, but try as she might she just couldn't stop smiling. 

Sometimes she'd wake up in the morning and smile. The radio would nudge her out of bed with one of her favorite songs. She'd sing in the shower. Her coffee'd be perfect, not too hot, not too cold.

But not today.

Scrutinizing herself in the bathroom mirror Karen couldn't stop thinking about Jim's hair, his ears, and that ridiculously repetitive song he'd been humming to himself as they'd walked into the office together just the day before yesterday.

"What a total jerk."

But when she said it out loud even her reflection looked like it felt sorry for her.  

Her cats were fed. She had prepared herself for the day and now she was all ready for her morning bible study.

Deuteronomy 7:14 "Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle."

Great.

If this was God's way of telling her that Sprinkles was... "in the family way" again- Wait! What if the verse was about a human not a cat. What if it was meant for her??? She shuddered at the thought.

Was she being punished for fornicating? Her anxiety worsened.

Time to pray. 

He felt slightly guilty, but he was relieved when Melissa left the car. She'd been extra talkative and it'd been driving him crazy.

Now if only he could solve 37-down. See, with crossword puzzles there was usually just one or two words, that if you got them, would unlock the entire puzzle. He drove in to work still thinking about 37-down, and about how sometimes it's the same with life. You figure out one key thing and eventually it reveals everything else.

He smiled at the idea.  

Stanley Hudson, cracking the code of life one crossword puzzle at a time.

"Could you pass the milk, dear?"

 Bob looked up from the sports page to hand her the jug. As she took it, their fingers brushed and she realized how long she'd been dreaming of this. So many years of living the same days over and over, hardly noticing the passing time. She hadn't been lonely, well, not in the crippling way some people were. But still, it hadn't been...this.

When he looked up again and smiled, she met his gaze with a shy smile.

He didn't speak, just reached for her hand.

Yes. This was exactly what she'd wanted.

His eyes scanned the perimeter of the farm as he walked toward the front gate. Years of paint balling had honed his peripheral vision. He was alert, ready to attack at a second's notice.

At breakfast Mose had stupidly suggested that his morning patrol was no longer necessary, but Dwight wasn't about to be fooled. If he didn't do something, he'd basically be sealing his own fate. In the months since he'd first seen it he'd memorized that fateful fax:

Noticed something suspicious at the edge of the field. Will investigate further and report on status tomorrow.

   Cordially,

      Future Dwight 

He can't move. Standing stock-still, staring at the same spot on his bathroom wall that he's been looking at since he stumbled in here ten minutes ago, He feels like he's just run a marathon instead of just woken up.

After Karen had left he'd dozed off for awhile, hoping to escape the fact that his life is so monumentally screwed.

But he knows it's hopeless. He's still in love with Pam, he can't hide it and Karen knows too but she's ignoring it.

He finally turns to the mirror. The expression on his face plaintively asking "Now what?" 

She wouldn't stop looking at him, and even though it was just a photo, it was creeping him out. He drifted into the kitchen to escape her saccharine smile, but she was there too. There in the bright pink mugs and coordinating dish towels.

"What am I doing?"

This wasn't what he'd planned for at all, but like it or not, standing in his kitchen in bare feet and pajamas Ryan couldn't deny that he loved her. Actually, not just her. He loved his job too.

Sigh.

This was just so far from where he had imagined his life going...

"Tell me boy now, wouldn't that be sweet?"

He climbed the stairs singing along to the TV in his living room. He'd started watching VH1 every morning years ago to improve his cultural awareness.

Michael loved this song. It reminded him of his week with Jan in Sandals, Jamaica.

Not that he needed to escape, he smirked. Unlike Gwen, his whole life was like being on vacation. He had the perfect job, his condo was fabtabulous, and best of all, he had the world's greatest girlfriend. Now, if he could only get rid of Toby, life would really be sweet.

Jim knows it isn't a dream. But sometimes it's still hard to believe.

He'd just imagined it so many times.

But reality is better. Full of the messy little details he never would've thought to include. Like how sometimes Pam wakes up just before their alarm buzzes and sneaks downstairs to watch the sunrise from their kitchen window. He knows now not to disturb her when this happens. It's her time to herself. When she wanders back upstairs, usually right as he's climbing into the shower, she'll look at him and just smile.

He hadn't imagined that particular smile either...