“I. Have. Hit. The. Jackpot. I was at the Steamtown Mall yesterday, because I was jonesing for an Auntie Anne’s pretzel and some of those Gertrude Hawk chocolates… they’re so good. And that’s when I saw this in the poster store. [Holds up poster with baby kitten asleep in a hammock] So…yeah, I think Angela is going to like it.”

“Hey Angela.” Andy moonwalked back to her desk, and held the rolled up poster behind his back. He grinned eagerly at her.

Angela looked up from her paperwork. “Andy.”

“Um, so I know that, like me, you love kittens and cats.”

At his words, Angela’s face went from steady indifference to pained remembrance, and she covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a sob.

Andy stood and nervously glanced over at the camera, and then Oscar, who was looking back at him with extreme annoyance. He was undeterred, however.

“I’m really sorry about Sprinkles, Angela…” he hurriedly tried to change the subject, “but, I noticed that you collect posters….’cause I really like your rockin’ babies one.”

“It’s jazz babies.” She interrupted curtly, as she had quickly regained control of herself.

“Cool, I love jazz. Coltrane…he’s awesome. Do…you like it, uh, jazz, I mean?”

“No, I don’t. It’s….too fast paced, and loud. I prefer Christmas songs, or hymns.”

“Nice! I love caroling…actually Kevin and I are planning on going this year.”

“There’s going to be cookies and hot cocoa, right? Andy…you promised.” Kevin panicky interrupted from the other side of the partition.

Andy took his gaze off of Angela and looked over. “Totally man. Maybe some egg nog with a little...” he began to chuckle and then looked back at Angela and quickly stopped. “…nutmeg sprinkled on top.”

Kevin nodded happily.

“You are voluntarily spending time with him outside of work?” She crossed her arms, and cocked her head questioningly.

“Well it’s for the benefit….of Jesus.” He lowered his head solemnly, and continued softly, “cause he died for our sins.”

“Amen.” Angela replied, matching his tone.

There was a pause.

“So anyway! I came over, because I saw this…and thought of you.” With a dramatic flourish he pulled the poster from behind his back and unrolled it.

Angela cracked the faintest of smiles as she looked at the poster of the kitten asleep in a tiny hammock. Then, suddenly, it was gone, as though it never existed.

“That is….thoughtful, Andy. But it would be inappropriate for me to accept unsolicited gifts from you.” She paused for a second. “Or any man in this office, as a single woman, and the head of accounting.”

Andy’s smile ran from his face, and was replaced with apprehension and anxiety. He slowly and silently rolled up the poster as everyone in the office watched him. “Oh, okay, I understand, Angela. Well…it’s uh, the thought that counts, right?”

Angela quickly scanned the room and the eyes on her. “Sure” she half-heartedly replied.

“I’m going to go…to my desk.” He leaned back and jerked his thumb behind him. “Bye, Angela.” He tried to smile, and took a step away from her desk.

“Bye Andy.” Angela turned back to her work.

“Yes, Andy Bernard purchased a baby kitten poster for me. No I didn’t ask for it. Did I like the poster?….It was…on its own merits…very nice, yes. But, I have to protect my virtue as a single woman in this office. I don’t want people to think I’m….Pam. She’s practically a revolving door. So, no, Andy Bernard from Sales, is just a co-worker. That is all.”

“Ladies like to know that they’re not just secretly infatuated with a man but also a gentle-man. Not just someone who’s classy, funny, a sharp dresser, and Ivy League educated…but someone spiritual as well. And that is why I went to Angela’s church last Sunday. So that she could see, that I am not only dedicated to her…but to God as well. Also, the Patriots were on Monday Night Football this week.”

“Hello my lady.” Andy scooted into the pew with a smile and sat down next to Angela.

“Andy, what are you doing here?!” Angela grabbed at her dress and pulled it closer.

“Oh, well, my anger management sponsor suggested that I should go to Church more often. Fancy seeing you here.” Andy continued to smile, and folded his hands in his lap.

“I didn’t know you were Catholic.” She whispered.

“Yeah….I, uh, am. Big Catholic, in fact. I took a semester of Latin at Cornell actually. For my languages….’cause I needed them. Also took ‘Intro to the Jewish Bible’ because I believe in tolerance….don’t you?” He gazed steadily at her, and the neckline of her dress, which gave him a glimpse of her clavicle.

“Yes, of course. Jesus taught all of his followers tolerance.”

Andy nodded in approval. “He did, he did. So…do you think that you could ‘tolerate’ to get some coffee with me after Church today?” He wrinkled his forehead in apprehension of her answer.

“No, I teach Sunday School after the service. Somebody has to instill morals and values into children. They won’t get it at home these days.” Angela frowned sharply and stared at a woman in a blouse two pews ahead.

“Yeah, no, that’s fine, because I’m actually busy after Church today too. I, uh, on weekends, rake leaves for the elderly.”

“That is good work, Andy.”

Andy smiled at her faint compliment. “Thank you Angela. It fills me with a sense of accomplishment.”

They fell silent as the service began. Andy glanced over quickly and nervously at Angela several times, but she seemed focused on the front of the Church.

After what seemed like forever, somebody passed Andy a little cup of red liquid. He squinted at it, and swirled it around.

“What is this?” He scrunched down and whispered to Angela. He was so close to her that he could smell her bath powder.

“The blood of Christ, Andy.” Her eyes were wide, and she stressed every syllable.

Andy looked confusedly at the small cup again, and then back at Angela.

“Drink it, Andy. It’s the Eucharist!” She hissed.

Her tone stopped any hesitancy that he had. He drained the little cup in a single gulp.

“Oh, it’s wine!” He smiled broadly and looked over at her.

“No, it’s the blood of our savior, Andy.”

“Right, of course” he nodded, and then straightened up and tried to look over the heads of the other people in the Church. “…is there more? Like a Pinot Grigio stage? Or…”

Angela frowned and shook her head. She refused to talk to him for the rest of the service.

“Yes, it is true that Andy Bernard was at my Church on Sunday. He….was unenlightened about the customs of Catholicism, despite his claims to the contrary. But, it showed moral fiber for him to attend. Other men wouldn’t. They would drop you off at the entrance of the Church and be ten minutes late picking you up because they were off joyriding with their cousin. Wha—No, it’s just an example. No, Andy Bernard, from Sales, is just a co-worker, nothing more.”

“Things with Angela? They are going pretty well. The ol’ Bernard charm is working its magic. Just like at Cornell. What happened at Cornell? Huh! I haven’t mentioned that before? Oh, well there was this girl who sat next to me in American history. Total babe. Like a 38 out of 10. Anyway, she was Asian, so after class one day when we were all alone, I sang her “Mr. Roboto” Szechwan style. Suffice to say, she….you know, said that I was nice, but that she was just coming out of a breakup. I….totally understood, of course. So yeah, things with Angela are going good. I totally rescued her yesterday. Has she mentioned that?

As Andy walked out of the office building, singing “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” he noticed that it had begun to snow, and wrapped his jacket tighter around himself.

“Arrrrggggh!”

He looked over and saw Angela, next to her car, whose hood was propped open. She stood on her tiptoes, body pressed up against the grill, trying to reach something near the engine.

He briskly walked over, a grin on his face. “Whoa, Angela…the handy man is here, what seems to be the problem?”

She turned in surprise at his words, and looked at him with a face that was flushed with anger, and the sting of the cold wind that whipped through the parking lot.

“It’s…my car…” she stuttered angrily, “my car won’t work…and I don’t know how…” She looked to be on the verge of tears.

“Let me help m’lady. May I have the keys?”

She handed them to him wordlessly.

“Alrighty, let me have a look.” He opened her driver door and slid the seat back so he could fit in. When he put the key into the ignition and turned it, nothing happened. No sounds, no lights, it was absolutely dead.

“See what I mean?!” Angela exclaimed loudly from in front of the car. Her voice crackled with emotion, and the words brought a swirl of steam from her mouth, which framed her desperate features. Andy nodded back, and got out.

“I think your battery is dead, Angela. But! I’ve got jumper cables, so let me just bring the Xterra around, and I’ll fix you up, okay?”

She smiled a little. “Okay, thank you Andy,”

“My pleasure, madam.” He doffed an invisible cap and jogged to his car.

He parked the Xterra next to her car, and popped the hood. As he was coming around his car, with the jumper cables in hand, he noticed that she was hugging herself and shivering.

“Angela, I turned on the heat, why don’t you climb in the ‘terra and warm yourself up?”

She looked at him, and then at his car nervously. “Oh, I…I don’t that would be proper of me to get into your car.”

Andy smiled warmly, and dropped his eyes to the snowy pavement. “It’s just you’re petite and small. So…you’re probably cold, and I don’t want to see you freeze, or anything.”

Angela took one more look at the Xterra, rubbed her arms with her hands, and nodded. She walked the few paces over to the passenger side door, and climbed in. Andy smiled, and unspoiled the cables.

He wasn’t sure if you were supposed to attach the clamps to a car that was already running, but as he leaned to the left, so that he could see past the hood and to where Angela was warming her hands in the car, he figured it was worth the risk. He squinted and braced himself as he attached the clamps, but nothing happened. His shoulders slumped in relief.

Angela looked over as he climbed into the driver’s seat, and scooted closer to the door, but kept her hands over the heater. A silence hung between them for several seconds.

“I-I like your car.” She looked over quickly, but when he met her gaze, her eyes went to her hands.

“Oh, thanks, yeah…it’s Japanese.”

“I like that it’s not a two-seater.” She said quietly.

Andy looked behind him at the empty seats. “Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I bought it. Uh, especially this time of year, you know, um, toy drives for children.”

Angela nodded and let out a little sigh as her hands continued to warm over the heater. As Andy watched her, he suddenly thought of an idea.

“You know what might help you warm up, if I held your hand, you know? Um, ninety-eight point six.” He offered his hand gingerly over the center console.

Angela looked at it and swallowed a mouthful of air. Her hand slowly drifted away from the heater and towards him, but just as her fingertips began to graze the soft skin of his palm, she pulled back.

“Maybe you should check my car….please.” The words came out quickly, and she pushed open the passenger door, and got out of the Xterra even quicker.

Andy followed, and grinned happily when her car roared to life as he turned the key this time. With a squeak of a ‘thank you’ Angela got in.

As he watched her drive away through the ever-thickening flurry of snowflakes, colored orange by the streetlight, Andy smiled to himself, and began to hum “The Rose.”

“Christmas is a magical time of year. Ma-gi-cal. I don’t know if it’s the lights, or the television specials….maybe the homemade Nagasakes? Back in Stamford, around this time of year I’d go to the mall and prowl the escalators. You know, women with too many bags, I’d help them. Yup, work the charm on ‘um while we escalated…or, uh, descalated. Let’s just say I didn’t spend too many New Years alone. Kinda like this year.

As Chairwoman of the Party Planning Committee, Andy knew that Angela would have to stay late to pick up after the Christmas party. He watched as the couples of the office left, arms wrapped around each other, followed by the single people of the office, who sort of stumbled and zig-zagged out.

Soon enough they were alone, and he was ready to put his plan into action. It hadn’t worked before, but he hoped now that he had bought her a kitten poster, gone to her Church, and saved her life in the parking lot, that she might think differently about him.

Angela, trash bag in hand, stooped to pick up another discarded cup off the floor in the Conference Room, and didn’t notice Andy going around the office, turning on all the desk lamps.

He looked at her nervously through the doorframe as she squatted to reach under the table to pick up a napkin that had fallen on the floor. He took a breath, and walked quickly over to the entrance to Dunder-Mifflin. As he did, he glanced over at Pam’s desk where his iPod and speaker dock sat. With a slap of his hand he turned off all the switches, and the office lights flickered and went out. Now only the soft glow of the desk lamps illuminated the office. The mood was set.

“What happened to the lights?” Angela had emerged from the Conference Room, and now stood near his desk, hands on hips. He reached into his coat pocket and took out the remote to the dock and held it out in front of him.

“This is for you Angela.”

In the dimness of the office he saw her eyebrows rise, as he pressed down on the play button, and the song started.

He heard the strum of the guitar emanate from the dock, and he took a step forward towards Angela.

“Girl, you’ll be a woman soon….” He air-guitared in sync with his iPod.

She dropped her arms to her side and looked confusedly behind him at Pam’s desk before she returned her glance to him.

“Love you so much, can’t count all the ways…I’ve died for you girl and all they can say is, ‘he’s not your kind’.”

He walked slowly towards her, a small grin on his face, as he continued to sing.

“They never get tired of putting me down, and I never know when I come around…what I’m going to find…Don’t let them make up your mind.”

He was standing almost directly in front of her, singing softly and watching her face intently. She stared down at the carpet, watching the end of her shoe make quick circles in the carpet of the office.

“Girl…you’ll be a woman soon. Please, come take my hand…” He reached out his hand to her, like he had done in the car. She looked up at him, into his eyes, and softly placed her hand in his. He started to sing a little more softly now.

“Girl…you’ll be a woman soon. Soon, you’ll need a man…” He didn’t break eye contact with her as he said the last part, and led her over to his desk. She followed him the few steps it took, and he reached back into his pocket quickly for the remote and hit the pause button. The office was silent again.

They stood next to each other by his desk, and he knew this was it. This was his chance, and he couldn’t blow it.

“I got something for you for Christmas.”

She didn’t say anything at first, only continued to look at him. But after a few seconds she said softly, “oh?”

“Yeah, I saw it and thought of you.” He reached down into the top drawer of his desk, and took out a small white box with a white bow on the top of it.

“Merry Christmas, Angela.” He held the box out in front of him, and she reached out gingerly and took it from him.

“Thank you Andy, that was...thoughtful of you.” She took the top off and looked inside. A smile, the kind that Andy had never seen before, but had desperately hoped to see tonight, slowly grew across her face.

She reached in and pulled out his present, a sterling silver pin. It was a cat sitting, and looking behind herself at a yellow butterfly on her tail. Angela’s eyes carefully examined it, and then looked up at him,

“This….is very nice, Andy. Thank you. I, uh, did not get you anything.”

He shrugged. “That’s okay, Angela….though, actually, I was wondering, um, if you’re not busy….if you’d like to go caroling with me tonight? I know how much you love Christmas songs.”

Angela didn’t say anything for several seconds. But finally, under her breath, she managed, “with Kevin?”

Andy shook his head. “No, just the two of us, nobody else.”

Her eyes went back to the pin, and she stroked it slowly with her thumb. “Yes. I…would like that Andy.”

Andy smiled widely. He couldn’t help it.

“I would too, Angela.”

“What? I don’t discuss personal matters with you. No. Andy…invited me to go caroling with him. We had a very nice time, and he was a complete gentlemen. He is very good with ‘Carol of the Bells.’ Are we together? How dare you ask that! Andy and I….No, I do not discuss personal matters. They are nobody’s business.”