Pam went back to the breakroom to get a drink from the vending machine, only to find Kelly a weepy mess, sitting alone at one of the tables.

"I can't believe he dumped me!" she sobbed.

Pam sighed and sat beside her, patting her shoulder in a half-hearted attempt to comfort her. It had been like this all week, with Kelly alternating between crying and fighting with Ryan as he prepared to leave to start his new job at corporate.

"It's okay," Pam said, "you are so much better off without him."

"That's easy for you to say! You are perfectly happy to just be alone the rest of your life and die an old maid!"

Normally Pam would have been moderately insulted, but this time she just laughed. She couldn't help it. She was busting with happiness lately and Kelly's comment made her giggle. Kelly looked up at her, her cheeks streaming with mascara. "What are you so happy about?" she demanded.

Pam's smile disappeared. "Oh, nothing."

"Wait a minute, do you have a boyfriend now?"

Pam looked away, mumbled, "Um, I should get back to work," and attempted to stand up, but Kelly grabbed her arm and made her sit back down.

"Oh my God, Pam, you have to tell me!"

Pam hesitated. "There's nothing to tell."

"You are totally lying! I thought we were friends." Kelly started sobbing again.

"Hey, look, I don't..."

"Wait a minute. You and Jim have been really chummy lately. It's Jim, isn't it? Is that why he broke up with Karen? Come on, Pam, tell me!"

Pam again avoided eye contact and felt her cheeks burning. She wasn't supposed to tell anyone. They had decided to keep things quiet out of respect for Karen, just until Karen's transfer went through in a week or so.

Just then Ryan walked in the breakroom, saw Kelly, and walked out. She glared after him. "Bastard," she muttered. Pam was grateful for the distraction and tried again to make her exit.

"Wait a minute, you are not going anywhere!"

"Look, Kelly, I really can't talk about it right now..." Pam began.

"Oh my God! You slept with him already, didn't you?"

Pam's mouth dropped open and she stared at Kelly, initially unable to formulate a response. Then she said, "Um, no... I mean no, of course not. We haven't even been dating a week... I..."

"So you ARE dating him?" Kelly squealed, jumping out of her seat and giving Pam a hug. "I am like, so happy for you guys. That is totally awesome!"

"Kelly, please," Pam said, dropping her voice to whisper, "we kind of don't want anyone to know just yet."

"I won't tell a soul! You can trust me, Pam." She leaned closer and whispered, "So how was it... you know, your first time? Did he cry? He totally seems like the type that would cry. Sometimes Ryan would cry..."

"Oh my God, Kelly, I am not talking about this with you!" Pam was mortified. "Just, please don't tell anyone. Promise me?"

"So he did cry then?" Kelly asked, ignoring Pam's request.

"I... no... no, he didn't cry..."

"So you did do it with him then? Oh my God, this totally makes up for Ryan dumping me! Okay, not really, but it's such great news! What does Karen think?" Kelly was holding Pam's hands at this point, still jumping up and down.

Pam looked around quickly. "Kelly, please! Shhhh!"

"Oh, don't worry, I won't tell. I am just so happy for you guys! It's just like My Best Friend's Wedding, only if Julia Roberts hadn't lost to Cameron Diaz." She then made a high-pitched squeeling noise and hugged Pam again.

A few minutes later, Pam was back at her desk, nervously praying that Kelly would keep her mouth shut. Jim was not at his desk, and she wanted to warn him that Kelly was onto them. Jim, however, was intercepted by Kelly as he came out of the men's room.

"Oh my God, Jim! I am totally happy for you!" She swung her arms around him.

"Um... for what, exactly?" he asked, bracing himself for her answer.

"For you and Pam, silly! Don't worry, I won't tell. Your secret is safe with me. I think it's totally romantic that you two ended up together." She paused, and whispered in his ear, "It's totally okay to cry afterward, you know. It's really adorable, actually."

With that she pranced out of the kitchen, leaving Jim standing there speechless. He slowly walked back to the main office and to Pam's desk.

"Um, Kelly just - "

"I know, I know... I am so sorry," she whispered as low as she could while she pretended to give him a message.

"Did you tell her that I... cried?" he asked, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"Oh my God, no!" Pam said, a little louder than she had intended, then quickly added "I mean, shoot, I must have thrown out your message by accident."

They were both quiet for a second as they noticed everyone looking over at them, and then he said very softly, "That's okay. I guess they'll call back." As he walked back to his desk he mouthed, "Later." She nodded, and put her head in her hands, unsure of whether to die of embarrassment or laugh hysterically.

Jim sat at his desk trying, pretending to work but actually he was IM'ing back and forth with Pam, who had explained in further detail what had happened with Kelly.  Now they were both joking about it and Jim was fighting hard to suppress a giggle.

He didn't even notice Kevin standing behind him, until he heard him say his name.  Jim quickly closed the IM window and turned in his chair to look up at Kevin.  "What's up, Kev?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Um, I have that list you requested," Kevin answered in a hushed tone.

"List?"  Jim had no idea what he was talking about.

"You know, Karen versus - "

"Okay!"  Jim jumped up suddenly as he felt both Karen's and Pam's eyes on them.  "Let's talk about this... not... here."  He led Kevin into the kitchen.

"So here's the list," Kevin said, handing him a piece of notebook paper.

"Um, thanks, but I don't think I need it anymore.  You do know that Karen and I broke up, right?"  Jim looked through the window where he saw Karen staring daggers at him.

"Yeah," Kevin replied, "but I thought you might still want it.  You know, just in case." 

"In case of what?"

"In case, you know, you might go back to Pam."

Jim stared at him for a moment, and then said, "And how exactly would that help me?"

"Well, you might need reminding of her good qualities," Kevin answered, "and they're all right here."  He pointed to the list.

Jim chuckled.  "Thanks, Kev."  He looked down at the list and skimmed over it.  Most of it was superficial, like Pam's bigger breasts and Karen's pantsuits.  But item number twelve under Pam's name made Jim smile - "Walked over hot coals.  (Karen wouldn't do that - ice queen?)"

Jim put the list in his pocket as he walked back to his desk.  Pam was looking at him with interest.  As soon as he sat down he heard the faint ping of an IM coming from his computer.

beeswax0421:  so what was that about?

3holepunchjim:  whatever do you mean?

beeswax0421:  what did Kevin want?

3holepunchjim:  i'll show you after work.  you're just going to have to wait and see.  ;)

With that he looked up and gave her a small smile.  She raised her eyebrows and glared at him, then quickly looked down at her desk before anyone noticed her looking at him.  She hated the secrecy but reminded herself it was just for another week.

Later on in the afternoon Jim went to get a soda out of the vending machine.  Kevin was there slowly looking over the snack machine, trying to decide what to get.  He looked over and noticed Jim, who was now opening his soda and taking a sip.

"So Jim," he said, "Karen and Pam.  Which one do you think is better... in bed?"  He giggled.  Jim snorted soda out his nose.

"Oh, Jim totally knows the answer to that one!" came a voice from the doorway.  Kelly quickly put her hands over her mouth.  "Oops," she said as she backed away and left the room.

Jim stood there, soda in hand, grimacing.

"Dude," Kevin said.

Jim opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"Dude!"

"Shhh!  Kevin, please, just... I don't want to..."  Jim looked around, making sure no one else was about to enter the room.

"Dude!"

"Okay, okay, enough with the 'dude.'  Pam and I are just... dating, but we don't want anyone to know yet."

"How long?"

"Excuse me?"

"How long have you been 'just dating'?" Kevin repeated, with air quotes, then he giggled again.

"A week, maybe?"  Jim did not want to have this conversation with, well, anyone.

Kevin nodded, and then said, "Hey, didn't you just break up with Karen a week ago?"  Then his eyes got wide.  "Dude, did you do them both in one day?"

Jim stared at him.  "Um, no, of course not..."

"You totally did!  That's every guy's fantasy!  Dude!"

"Okay.  I am, uh, kind of done talking about this.  Just please, keep this to yourself, okay?  Please?"

"Dude!"

Jim looked at him blankly, and walked to the door.

"Hey Jim," Kevin called after him.

He turned around but didn't say anything.

"You were right."

"About what?" Jim asked.

Kevin was smirking.  "You didn't need the list after all." 

By five thirty that evening most of the staff had cleared out for the day, including Karen, so Jim finally felt comfortable enough to lean over Pam's desk as she was getting ready to leave. "What a day," he said, smiling at her.

"You never told me what was up with Kevin," Pam said as she shut down her computer.

"Okay, please don't be mad," he began. She raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "Last week Kevin asked me who I thought was hotter, you or Karen." Pam winced. Jim hesitated, but then continued. "It was totally inappropriate but it was, you know, Kevin. I kind of humored him a little, and then I forgot about it. Until today when he gave me a list."

"A list?"

"Yes, a list," he said, cautiously, trying to gauge her reaction.

She looked pensive for a moment and then said, "Can I see it?"

"Are you sure you want to?"

Pam chuckled playfully. "It's just Kevin. Come on, I want to see."

He handed her the wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket. For a minute she looked really serious as she read it, and he thought it may have been a mistake to show it to her, but then she suddenly burst out laughing.

"Seriously?" she giggled.

"Yep. Seriously," he said, relieved that she found the humor in it while simultaneously admonishing himself for ever doubting her.

She handed it back to him. "You should keep that."

She walked around to the other side of the desk and took his hand, grinning at him. He got lost in her smile and leaned down to kiss her. But before his lips could reach hers, she quickly pulled away, as she whispered "Toby!" and flashed a look toward the kitchen door.

Jim immediately turned toward the candy dispenser and helped himself to some M&Ms, pretending that had been his intention all along. "Oh, hey Toby. What are you still doing here?" he said, as casually as he could muster.

Toby, as usual, looked glum. "Oh, just a lot of paperwork, you know, Ryan and Karen transferring and all." There was a brief moment of suspicion in his eyes as he looked at them and processed what he had almost seen, but it quickly passed.

"Here, we'll walk out with you," Pam said, a little too enthusiastically.

The next morning Toby was in the kitchen getting some coffee when Kevin walked in and started looking through the fridge. "Hey Kev," Toby said as he stirred in his non-dairy creamer.

"Hey, Toby," Kevin replied, distracted by whatever it was he was looking for. Then he looked up and searched the room to make sure they were alone. He whispered, "I guess you heard about Jim and Pam, eh, since you're the HR guy and all." He let out a half-chuckle.

"Jim and Pam?" Toby questioned.

"You know," Kevin dropped his voice even lower, "how they're... doing it." He smiled broadly and chuckled again.

Toby just looked at him. "Oh, yeah," he said, and then muttered under his breath, "It figures." He threw his spoon in the sink and walked back to his desk in the annex, head down.

Later that morning, he saw Pam go into the breakroom, and casually followed her.

"Hey Pam," he said as she looked over her options in the vending machine.

"Oh, hi Toby," she smiled briefly and went back to her search.

"Hey, listen, I was wondering... are you and Jim...?"

Pam's face got flushed as she turned around to face him. "What?"

"It's just that, you know, I'm the HR guy and they're really cracking down on the inter-office relationships lately because of Michael and Jan - "

"Really?" she responded without letting him finish. "Oh. Well, I don't... I mean... we weren't... It's kind of... complicated? You know, because of... "

"Karen?" Toby finished her sentence fragment for her.

"Yes," she said, and then whispered, "we really didn't want anyone to know just yet."

"Well, I understand that but just so you know, you are required to disclose a consensual - " He paused, swallowing his words. " - sexual relationship to HR."

"Oh, yeah, right, I know, it's just that..."

"You're not in a relationship yet?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh, no, we are," she answered quickly. He tried not to let his face fall too much, but she didn't notice anyway. "We just were not ready to make a big deal out of it."

He sighed, then said, "That's okay, but I suggest you fill out the form anyway. It's for your own protection, and no one else needs to know... " He quietly added, "Sort of," under his breath.

Pam nodded and then followed him to his desk to get the form. "Thanks Toby," she said as she hurried back to her own desk.

beeswax0421: i guess you're not as smooth as you think you are.

3holepunchjim: why's that

beeswax0421: Toby's totally onto us. he's making us sign The Love Contract.

3holepunchjim: WHAT????? how did he find out? are we that obvious?

beeswax0421: apparently we are. maybe our simmering sexual chemistry is just too much to keep under wraps.

Jim laughed out loud, but shushed himself when he felt Karen's eyes bearing into the side of his head. He went back to typing.

3holepunchjim: oh well, it's just Toby, right? At least it's not Michael.

On Monday morning, Toby knocked on Michael's office door.

"What is it, Toby? Can't you see I am busy?"

Toby looked at Michael's bare desk, sighed, and presented him with a stack of papers. "You need to sign these," he said. "The final transfer papers for Karen and Ryan - " Michael snorted. He had not taken news of Ryan's promotion well. " - and this relationship disclosure form for..."

"What?" Michael jolted his head up. "Relationship disclosure? For who? Let me see!" He snatched the form from Toby and looked it over. "Jim and Pam? No. Way." He laughed. "Those crazy kids. I always knew they would get together eventually."

"Yeah, didn't we all," mumbled Toby as he reached for the door and prepared to leave. "Just bring me the papers when you're done with them." He paused for a moment before he opened the door and turned back to Michael. "By the way, Michael, Pam and Jim don't want anyone to know about this so they would appreciate your discretion."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get out of here," Michael said, dismissing Toby with a wave. Toby obliged. He hated Mondays.

Jim and Pam hated Mondays too. They had spent the rest of Thursday and all of Friday carefully avoiding each other at work, so as not to be found out by any more of their co-workers. Sure, they IM'd each other all day but they never spoke and made very little eye contact, and it nearly killed them. They made up for it over the weekend, which was spent almost entirely in bed, but now it was Monday, and since their magical weekend had ended too soon, they were both feeling a little down.

3holepunchjim: hey, what are you doing?

beeswax0421: sudoku, why do you ask?

3holepunchjim: I miss you

beeswax0421: what do you mean, i am like five feet away? ;)

3holepunchjim: you know what I mean, dork. Maybe we should go to lunch?

beeswax0421: no, it would be too obvious.

3holepunchjim: well then maybe we should plan an accidental encounter in the supply closet.

Pam giggled out loud, and tried with all her might not to look directly at Jim. He held back a grin and got up with the intention of going to the men's room, but he heard Michael call his name.

"Yes?" he said, poking his head in Michael's office.

"Come in," Michael said, and added with an air of secrecy, "but close the door."

Jim did as directed and sat down. Michael was smiling, and whispered, "Why didn't you tell me about, you know, you and Pam?"

"Oh, God, not again," Jim groaned, and started to get up.

"No, no! Don't leave. I need all the juicy details."

"Michael, I'm not going to discuss it..."

"Oh come on!" Michael protested. "You were just with Karen like a week ago - "

"Ten days," Jim corrected.

"And now you're with Pam and I'm the first to know?"

Ah, Michael, Jim thought, always wanting to be the first to know. "Actually, you're not the first to know, and I am still not talking about it."

"Toby doesn't count," Michael insisted.

Jim looked at him, and replied, "Seriously, Michael, Pam and I aren't telling people for a reason. I just broke up with Karen and I don't want to hurt her more than I already have..."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Michael asked, perplexed. "That's kind of a jerky thing to do isn't it? Dump your girlfriend and immediately go after someone else like the next day."

Same day, Jim thought, but there was no way he would ever say that out loud to Michael. "Um, yeah, which is exactly why I don't want to - "

"Weird, I never pegged you for an asshole," Michael shrugged.

Jim had no response so he just stood up and headed toward the door.

"Don't worry, your secret is totally safe with me," Michael called after him, with no regard for the fact that everyone could now hear him.

3holepunchjim: Michael knows.

beeswax0421: no! you're joking right. please tell me you're joking!

3holepunchjim: alas, I am not.

beeswax0421: nooooooo

3holepunchjim: I guess Toby must've told him, he probably had to sign the paper.

beeswax0421: everyone will know, jim. EVERYONE.

3holepunchjim: I know. maybe we should just accept it.

beeswax0421: what? I thought you didn't want her to find out.

3holepunchjim: I know, but I am already an asshole, so what difference does it make?

He got up from his desk and headed to the bathroom. Pam watched him go, frowning, no longer caring if anyone noticed her looking at him.

He did feel like an asshole, and for some reason's Michael's words stung more than they usually would have. He thought maybe he should just tell Karen the truth. Who knows, maybe she already knew anyway. It seemed like everyone else did. He stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes, dousing his face with water and staring at his reflection in the mirror. Stupid haircut, he mused. Stupid asshole haircut.

When he went back to his desk he noticed Pam was not at hers. He looked at his computer monitor and found she had sent him a one-line email: Supply closet. 10:30. Be there.

"Question: where is Jim Halpert?"

Dwight was standing in Michael's office, holding a file folder in his hand. A client of Jim's had called with a problem with an order, and needed it resolved immediately. Jim, however, was nowhere to be found, and it was only 10:45 so he couldn't have gone to lunch already. He had already been missing for approximately 15 minutes and was not in the men's room, the men's room stall, the breakroom, the kitchen or in his car. Dwight had made sure to check them all. He hadn't checked the ladies' room yet but that was only because he was pretty sure Meredith was in there.

"How the hell should I know, Dwight? Why don't you ask Pam?" He snickered a tiny bit.

"Pam is not at her desk either," Dwight replied.

Michael looked out toward the reception desk and nodded. "Ah, so she's not. Maybe you should check the supply closet!" At that he erupted into a full-blown giggle fit at the thought.

Dwight stared at him blankly, said, "Okay," and walked out the door, heading to the hallway behind the conference room where the supply closet was located.

Michael shook his head and muttered to himself, "Idiot." Dwight never got any of his jokes.

Dwight swung open the door to the supply closet and found that Michael had been right. Both Jim and Pam were present. However, they were quite surprised to see Dwight and immediately looked guilty... of something. He was sure they were plotting another prank against him.

"Dwight! Hey, how's it going?" Jim said, nervously, running a hand through his hair. "I was just... getting some Wite-Out." He randomly picked up some Scotch Tape and showed it to Dwight.

Dwight just glared. "I'm not an idiot, Jim," he snarled. "You two are obviously up to something." That is when he noticed that Jim's shirt was untucked, his hair disheveled, and his tie askew. Pam was in a similar state - her hair was a mess, her barrette half hanging off the back of her head, and her shoes were off. In fact, they both looked as if they had been in a plane crash. What kind of prank would account for them pretending to be in a plane crash? Dwight wasn't sure.

Jim and Pam just looked at each other, and then they both slightly smiled into each other's eyes. And that's when he knew. It wasn't a prank after all.

"Hey... were you two... engaging in inappropriate workplace activities in there?" he asked with disgust.

They looked at each other again, and Jim turned back to Dwight. "Nothing that you haven't already done with Angela, probably in this same place," he returned, a small smirk appearing on his face.

Dwight was taken aback. How could Jim know? Nobody knew! He was so surprised that he didn't notice that Pam was also taken aback. She grabbed Jim's arm. "You know?"

He looked down at her. "You know?"

She nodded rapidly. "How long have you known?"

"A couple of months. You?"

"Oh, like a year and a half. I was dying to tell you but - "

"Stop!" Dwight yelled. "This is not about me and Angela," he said, lowering his voice as he looked around.

"Oh, it's not?" Jim replied. "'Cause I kind of thought..."

"Yeah, me too," said Pam, nodding and choking back a giggle.

"Okay, okay! I will let it go. This time. But if it happens again I will go to Michael and report this unprofessional behavior," Dwight said sternly.

"Oh, okay," Jim said. "Um, just of curiosity, who told you we were here?"

"Michael."

"Alright then," he smiled, and turned back to Pam as he tucked in his shirt. "I think it's time to get back to work, wouldn't you agree, Pam?"

"Most definitely," she said, leaning on his arm as she slipped on her shoes. "See you later, Dwight."

Dwight just stood there as they walked past him. How had they found out his secret? And worse, who else knew? Paranoia gripped him as he walked back to send a succinct email to Angela letting her know that there was a "Code Orange" that had to be dealt with.

Meanwhile, Jim and Pam had returned to their desks at different times so as not to arouse suspicion, and then set to work on their own damage control.

beeswax0421: OMG!

3holepunchjim: I know! caught by Dwight of all people!

beeswax0421: not only that, but we just HAD SEX IN THE SUPPLY CLOSET.

Jim laughed out loud, and then tried to cover it with a cough.

3holepunchjim: I guess I can scratch that off my list as a fantasy fulfilled.

beeswax0421: really?

3holepunchjim: oh yeah. that's been on the list for years. and years.

Pam snorted, and tried to disguise it with a fake sneeze.

beeswax0421: so now what are we going to do? kelly, kevin, dwight, michael, toby... who else can possibly find out?

3holepunchjim: maybe I should just tell her.

beeswax0421: oh, come on, we only have a few more days. we don't want to make things more uncomfortable for her than they already are.

3holepunchjim: I know. I just... want to be able to be open about this.

beeswax0421: just a few more days, then we can do it right on your desk instead of sneaking off to the supply closet. ;)

He looked up and smiled at her. She was right. They just had to make it until Friday. But it was going to be a long week.