Pam smoothed her chocolate brown skirt and checked her reflection in the mirror. Today was her first day at her new job as receptionist for Dunder- Mifflin in Scranton. She had gone in for an interview with a strange man who kept talking about how the office was like a family a little over two weeks ago. She was offered the job three days later as she was moving into her new apartment. She accepted knowing that jobs were hard to come by lately, especially with a degree in art. If the boss turned out to be a true nightmare, she could continue to search for jobs while sucking it up for a paycheck at Dunder- Mifflin.

She had taken the time this morning to straighten her hair and then add soft curls. She then pulled it half up in a new barrette. She wore a small amount of makeup. “First impressions are important,” her mother Helene had always said. She knew the novelty and excitement of her new job would soon wear off and she would be back to her standard scrunched curls and no makeup.

Pam grabbed her purse, the lunch she packed last night, and the bag of jelly beans she had bought yesterday. When she accepted the job, she was told by Michael, her new boss, that it was her responsibility to keep the candy jar on her desk full. He had told her a few other things that she was still trying to forget.

Her workday began at 8 and ended at 5, with an hour for lunch. She arrived a few minutes early, keeping with her attempt to make a good first impression. She was immediately greeted by Michael, waiting for her at the reception desk.

“Pam-lama-rama,” Michael screamed excitedly, “Welcome to Dunder Mifflin Scranton, your new family! Put down your things, let me introduce you to your new brothers and sisters.”

“Wow, he was not joking about that whole family thing,” Pam thought to herself as she dropped her purse, lunch, and jelly beans on her new desk. When she came back to the front of reception, Michael took her by the hand and led her around the office. He led her around to each section of the office introducing her to all of her new coworkers. She was making an effort to remember all of their names, but knew inevitably she would forget some of them.

Their final stop on the tour of the office was the desk clump immediately in front of hers. There were two desks, but only one of them was currently occupied.

“Dwight K. Schrute,” the sole occupant stated as he very formally held out his hand for her to shake.

“Pam Beesly,” she replied, shaking his hand.

“As Assistant Regional Manager, I will be your supervisor,” Dwight stated, matter-o-factly, “You will report directly to me.”

“To the,” Michael interrupted, “Assistant TO THE Regional Manager, Dwight. And she doesn’t report to you, she reports to me because I’m the attractive single dad of this family and you’re just the weird uncle.”

“But, Michael,” Dwight protested, but was interrupted by Michael’s hand in his face.

“Shhh-Shut it, Dwight,” Michael said, waving his hand in Dwight’s face, “And it’s 8:15, where’s Jim?”

“Probably off being the slacker loser he is,” Dwight replied giddily, “You should fire him for his tardiness. Do it, Michael, do it. Fire him!”

“I’m not going to fire him, Jim brings in money,” Michael stated, “Besides, he’s my best friend.”

Pam watched the whole exchange wide eyed. “This place is a freak show,” she thought to herself, “I definitely will be continuing my job search.”

Michael got Pam set up at reception with basic phone instructions and a list of everyone’s extensions. She was studying the list of extensions trying to memorize them. Her eyes passed over the name of the one person she hadn’t met yet, Jim. She couldn’t wait to meet him. As Michael’s best friend, he had to be the biggest freak yet.

*************************************************

Jim’s eyes slowly opened and he rolled over. Glancing over at his alarm clock he realized why the sun was shining so brightly.

“Son of a,” he groaned.

He had either forgotten to set his alarm or slept right through it. His clock read 8:00 and he was due at work at that very moment. This happened to him at least once every couple of weeks. He’d oversleep, sluggishly get himself to work, and be reprimanded by Dwight for his tardiness with a threat of termination if it happened again.

“Maybe he’ll actually fire me today,” Jim thought to himself as he quickly showered, “And if he doesn’t, maybe I’ll just quit.”

Quitting had been something Jim had seriously been considering for a while now. He hates his job. Besides his occasional prank on Dwight, the paper industry was dull. He had always considered it a temporary stop on his way to his real dream, sports writing in Philadelphia. But, he had been at Dunder Mifflin for three years now and had made no progress in finding a writing job. Most weekday mornings, he felt like had no reason to get out of bed.

Jim pulled into the parking lot at 8:45 with his mind made up. If Dwight didn’t fire him today, he would put in his two weeks notice. He had a little bit of savings, he could stay afloat for a few months. Worst case scenario, he would move back in with his parents. He would be willing to do anything to get out of the hell that was Dunder Mifflin.

The sight he saw as he entered the office is likely one he will never forget. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and she was filling the candy jar with his favorite, jelly beans.

“You must be the new receptionist,” he said, shaking her hand, “I’m Jim. Jim Halpert.”

“Pam Beesly,” she replied. He’s pretty sure she is blushing and a smile has crept across her face.

“Welcome,” he said, popping a couple of jelly beans into his mouth and then winking, “Let me know if you need anything.”

With that, she began to giggle. The sound of her laugh was the most adorable thing he had ever heard.

“I’m sorry, but what is so funny?” he questioned as he rested his elbows on her desk and leaned in closer to her.

“It’s just,” she stammered, trying to stop her giggles, “Michael said that you were his best friend so I was expecting you to be a huge weirdo.”

“I am definitely not Michael’s best friend,” he whispered so that no one else would hear him, “And I’m not a weirdo, at least I don’t think I am. Especially not compared to the nuts in this office. I‘m sorry to disappoint you, Beesly.”

She blushed again and he felt like had had embarrassed her. “Oh, I’m sorry. Should I have not, uhh,” he was barely able to talk. He felt like his tongue was too big for his mouth. Here he was on her first day making a fool of himself and clearly crossing some invisible barrier by calling her by her last name.

“No, it’s fine. Please don’t feel bad,” she replied, her color returning to normal, “It’s just no one’s ever called me by my last name, that’s all.”

“Well in that case, Beesly,” he said emphasizing her last name to see if he could make her blush again, “Welcome, again, and thanks for the jelly beans.”

“Anytime,” she smiled, “I have a huge bag, so feel free to grab some anytime.”

“Okay, maybe I won’t be quitting after all,” he thought, smiling to himself as he made his way to his desk.

It was Friday. As long a Pam made it through today, she will have survived her first week working at Dunder-Mifflin. There were no words to describe what it was like working in this office, so when friends and family asked her how her new job was, she would simply reply, “Interesting.”

The bright spot of her new job was her new friend, Jim. They seemed to instantly click and he spent a fair amount of his day hanging out at reception, stealing jelly beans. Yesterday, at his request, she brought in all the nickels she had in her change jar and Jim revealed his latest prank idea. Every morning, Jim would add a nickel or two to Dwight’s phone receiver allowing him to slowly get used to the increasing weight and then when the time was right, he was going to remove them. They were crossing their fingers that he’d knock himself in the head.

Starting on her first day, they ate lunch together, too. Sometimes sharing a bag of chips and telling funny stories. After their first lunch together, Pam had decided that having to deal with Michael was worth it to have a friend she had clicked so easily with. For that reason, she never did resume her job search.

Pam was staring off, lost in thought when Jim entered the office to begin another day of paper sales.

“Good morning, Beesly,” Jim said brightly, “You survived your first week at Dunder-Mifflin!”

Pam smiled, she loved the way he said her last name. “Not quite yet, I didn’t,” she replied, “I still have to get through today without jumping out a window.”

This elicited a small chuckle from Jim. “Well, I have complete confidence that you won’t do that. Besides, you can’t jump out of the windows in this office, they don’t open.”

All Pam could do was laugh. Jim had started to make his way to his desk when he turned suddenly and returned to reception.

“Hey, umm, how about I take you to lunch? You know, to celebrate you surviving a week here,” he asked, his nerves getting the better of him, “There’s this great little Italian place down the road, Cuginos. And, I happen to know that Michael and Dwight have a sales call scheduled for lunch so if we’re a little late coming back it’s no big deal.”

Pam smiled, “That sounds great, thanks.”

“Okay, then,” Jim said with a blush, “I better get to my desk and get to work. I need to sell a serious amount of paper to pay for this lunch. I’ve seen how much you eat, Beesly.”

“I hate you,” Pam retorted back with a sly smile.
*************************************************

Jim was flying high. They were going out to lunch outside the office, away from the prying eyes of their coworkers. Was it a date? It felt like one to him. He hadn’t planned this. If he had, their first date would not have been a lunch break during business hours. It would have included flowers and dancing and maybe a movie and a late night kiss on her doorstep.

The morning dragged on for Jim. Despite what he said to Pam, he could not concentrate on selling paper. He made more jelly bean trips than normal and when he was at his desk, he found himself daydreaming. His thoughts would often roam to her. What it would be like to hold her hand, kiss her, hold her in his arms, make love to her. They had only known each other for five days, but he was falling hard and fast. He was hoping lunch today would give him a chance to learn more about her.

It was then that it hit him. She had made no mention of her relationship status. Sure they’ve spent the better part of their past four workdays together, but their conversations were kept light, as they often were when you are just getting to know each other. Surely if she had a boyfriend, she would have mentioned something, right? It would have come up somehow, even if it was just in passing.

At exactly noon, Jim made his way to reception. “Ready to go?” he asked, surprising Pam, who was deep in concentration, working on a sketch.

“Oh, yup,” she replied gathering her purse from its drawer, “I’ll drive. You offered to take me out to lunch, the least I can do is provide the transportation.”

“I don’t think so. That would be very un-gentlemanly of me,” Jim stated, “Besides, I don’t think I would even fit in that matchbox you call a car.”

The fifteen minute drive to Cuginos was fun. They joked and Pam had a fun time perusing the selection on Jim’s iPod, which was extensive. When they arrived at the restaurant, Jim opened Pam’s car door for her and held the door to the restaurant when she entered.

After the waitress took their orders, Jim decided it was time to get to know Pam a little better.

“So, Beesly,” he asked, “I know you mentioned the other day that you aren’t from Scranton, but you never did say where you grew up.”

“Oh, well, I grew up in Williamsport,” she replied, “Born and raised there.”

“And then one day you just up and moved to Scranton?” he asked.

“Oh, no, umm,” Pam said, becoming flustered, “After I finished college, we moved to Hazelton. I lived there before coming to Scranton.”

“We?” he asked. He was beginning to think she was becoming uncomfortable with his questions. “You and your parents?”

“Uh, no. They are still in Williamsport,” she replied, becoming flustered, “When I said we I meant me and my fiancé, Roy. I mean ex-fiancé, Roy. We moved their shortly after our engagement when he got a job in the packing department for a company that sells novelties over the internet. I eventually got a job there, too, in customer service.”

Jim’s heart sank. Clearly, this wasn’t a date. She had a fiancé, or an ex-fiancé. Clearly, it was still fresh if she had forgotten to add the “ex,” at the first mention. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to know more about this ex, but didn’t want to push it any further.

After a few minutes of silence, the waitress brought their lunches. It was Pam who broke the tension first.

“Hey, are you okay, Halpert?” she asked, “You’re pretty quiet over there.”

“What?” Jim asked, looking up from his chicken parm, “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

“Listen, I’m sorry if me having an ex-fiancé came out of nowhere,” Pam said sincerely, “It just didn’t come up in any of our previous conversations.”

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to be sorry,” he replied, “But can I ask what happened?”

“Of course you can,” she smiled warmly, “It’s simple, really. We started dating in high school. We were sophomores. We were together a while and I guess getting engaged just seemed like the next step. After he proposed, we set a date and then Roy postponed it. He said he didn’t think we had enough money to have the wedding I deserved and we should keep saving. We would keep setting dates and then a few weeks later, he would postpone it. It was after he postponed it the last time that I realized I didn’t even care that it seemed like we were never going to get married. So, I ended things. I took my half of the wedding savings and moved somewhere far away enough that he wouldn’t be able to suck me back into that life. It was hard, I’m not going to lie, but I’m happy I did it.”

Jim thought for a minute, drumming his long fingers on the table and finally he asked the question he needed to know the answer to, “Do you think you two will get back together?”

“I guess I should say ‘never say never,’ but I doubt it,” she replied, “Believe me, he has tried. He still calls me every few days begging for me to come back. But, truth is, I’m enjoying being single right now. I don’t know how to be an adult without a relationship, so I am really enjoying being on my own. I think it will be a long time before I’m in a relationship, with Roy or anyone else.”

That was all the confirmation Jim needed. This was not a date. He felt like a fool for letting himself get so excited earlier. She clearly just saw him as a friend. Disappointed in this turn of events, he lost his appetite and was simply pushing the food around on his plate to distract himself.

They finished their lunches in mostly silence. Pam attempted to lighten the mood with a few jokes about Dwight or Michael. Jim did his part to engage her, hoping to not make it obvious where his train of thought was.

Leaving the restaurant, Jim was still a gentleman. He didn’t know how not to be. As they walked out, he opened the door for her and was about to open her car door when she stopped and turned sharply.

“I’m sorry for unloading all that on you back there,” she said, looking him directly in his eyes, “I’ve never been able to talk to anyone about it except for my mom and it felt really good to get it all out. Thanks for that. You’re a great friend.”

Those last four words were nails in his coffin. “You’re a great friend.” Not exactly the words you want to hear from the girl you’re falling for.

“No problem, Pam,” he said, shutting her door and making his way to the driver’s side.

There was more silence to fill their drive back to Dunder-Mifflin and the afternoon continued much in the same way. Jim only made two trips to reception for jelly beans and when he left for the evening, he offered only a “Goodnight, Pam, have a nice weekend.”

Jim pulled into the parking lot promptly at 8 on Monday morning. He had spent the weekend distracting himself from all thoughts “Pam.” By Sunday, he had come to the conclusion that he would rather have her as a friend than nothing at all. He had convinced himself to push his feelings aside and just be her friend for now. Maybe one day she’ll decide she’s ready for a relationship and he would be waiting. He had always heard that the best relationships start out as friendships.

Pam was already at her desk when Jim entered the office. “Good morning,” she said with a small smile.

“Good morning, Beesly,” he replied, smiling widely. Despite his decision to keep things in the friend zone, he was incredibly happy to see her. “Fun weekend?”

“Oh, yeah, you know me, partying it up Scranton style,” she giggled, “Actually, no. My weekend was painfully boring. Food shopping, laundry, and Lifetime movies. I really need to get out.”

Before he could offer to show her around and introduce her to his friends, the phone rang. The phone rang almost constantly for the next two hours and Jim patiently waited for an opportunity to invite her out.

When the phones finally did quiet down, Jim made his way to reception, stealing a few jelly beans. He was about to tell her about the tentative plans he and Mark had made for this upcoming Saturday night with a few of their friends and ask her to join them when a delivery guy walked in carrying a vase of long stem roses. Jim figured they were for Phyllis, as she had recently started dating Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration.

“Delivery for Pam Beesly,” the delivery guy announced placing the vase on reception.

“Oh, umm, that’s me,” Pam answered

After Pam signed for the flowers, she read the card. Jim knew the right thing to do would be to head back to his desk to give her some privacy, but he had to know who the flowers were from. She had just told him Friday that she wasn’t interested in being in a relationship, but red roses definitely had romantic connotations.

Jim looked at her expectantly. He did not want to ask her who the flowers were from, but he couldn’t just walk away. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, he finally worked up the nerve to ask her.

“So, uhh, who, uhh,” he tried to spit it out, but she interrupted him.

“They’re from my ex, Roy. I need a minute,” she said, grabbing her cell phone and putting the phones on automatic voicemail.

For the second time since Friday, Jim’s heart sank.

*************************************************

Pam made her way to the stairwell where she would have some privacy from her coworkers’ prying eyes. She dialed the number she had recently deleted from her contact list, but still had memorized.

“Hey, Pammy,” Roy’s said cheerily on the other end of the phone, “I’m guessing you got the flowers. I did good, right?”

“Hello, Roy,” Pam said with a hint of annoyance in her voice, “Yes, I got the flowers and I don’t think I need to tell you how inappropriate they were.”

Roy let out an audible sigh. “Come on, baby,” he replied, “What do you want from me? I’m trying here, I really am. I’m doing all the things you complained that I didn’t do when we were together. I just want you back. Tell me what to do to get you to come back.”

“I’ve told you a million times, I’m not coming back,” Pam spoke quietly, “It’s over, Roy. You have to leave me alone and move on. How did you find out where I was working, anyway?”

“I ran into Penny in the grocery store the other day,” he answered, “We were just chatting and she mentioned you were working at a paper company in Scranton. So, I did a little research and it turns out the place you’re working at is the only one in Scranton. See? It has to mean something that I put so much effort into finding you. That has to count for something.”

“Or it makes you a stalker,” she thought to herself before continuing, “Roy, please just stop this. No more phone calls, or flowers, or anything else. It’s over.”

Pam could tell that Roy had started to cry. “Okay, babe,” he said, trying to choke back the tears, “I’ll be here if you change your mind. Bye.”

Pam hung up the phone without saying goodbye. She felt horrible that she had made him cry. Despite her better judgment, Roy was always able to lay the guilt on thick. It was part of the reason she had stayed with him so long. And even though they were no longer together, he was still her first love and it still hurt her to know he was hurting because of something she did.

Pam took five more minutes in the stairwell to herself. She shed a couple of tears and then pulled herself back together for the sake of work. She didn’t want people she had barely known for a week to see her like this. She made her way back to her desk and pretended to do some work.

She had just opened up a game of Solitaire when Jim made his way up to her desk. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said flatly, never looking away from her monitor and hoping he would get the message that she did not want to talk about it.

It had been a little over two weeks since Pam had received flowers from her ex. Jim never pushed Pam to talk about it, but took it as a good sign that she threw them away. Actually, she was about to throw them way when Kelly saw what she was doing and insisted on taking them. The day after the flowers came was like nothing ever happened. Jim made frequent visits to reception for jelly beans and the two joked like they were old friends.

Today was a big day. The camera crew came back today. Jim couldn’t figure out what they saw when they were here for those 6 weeks in the spring, but apparently it was enough to bring them back. Jim was just hoping he was doing enough to contain his school boy crush on Pam that the camera crew wouldn’t notice. He did not want to be pulled into the conference room to talk about that. Also adding to the excitement, well Michael’s excitement, was that tonight was the annual Dundies awards. Michael tried to convince everyone, including Jan, that the Dundies were a motivational tool, but in truth they were just an excuse for Michael to tell bad jokes and be the center of attention. At least corporate picked up the tab for food and drinks.

“Slim Jim,” Michael interrupted Jim’s train of thought, “Can I see you in my office? It’s top secret.”

Jim let out a groan and made his way into Michael’s office. This surely was going to be some stupid errand for tonight’s festivities and he was hoping he’ll be able to convince Michael to pass it off on Dwight.

“So, Jim Bag,” Michael started, “I really want to make sure everyone gets a Dundie tonight. You know, reward everyone, really boost morale, but I’m having a hard time coming up with a few and was hoping you could help.”

“The Dundies are in a few hours,” Jim replied, sitting down, “Shouldn’t the trophies be done already?”

“Theoretically, yes, they should be,” Michael stated, “But, I pay the guy extra to engrave them last minute.”

“Well, okay, why don’t you show me what you have already,” Jim replied and Michael handing him a slip of paper.

Jim scanned the list silently for a few minutes. He noted that he was receiving the “Fat Halpert” award again this year. It’s the same award he received last year and he still had no idea what it meant. He also noticed that Ryan was receiving the “Hottest in the Office” award, which was wrong on so many levels. Jim was about to comment on how incredibly inappropriate that award would be when he noticed what Michael had chosen for Pam, the “Runaway Bride” Dundie.

“Michael,” Jim started, trying to figure the best way to convince him this was a bad idea, “The Runaway Bride, really? You don’t think that’s a tad too personal?”

“What?” Michael questioned, “No. Why would it be? How many times do I have to tell you that this office is a family. There are no boundaries in a family and we can laugh about whatever we want. Plus, she’s obviously over it if she moved away to join us.”

Jim thought for a minute. Obviously, he would have to think another way to convince Michael to change Pam’s award. “It just seems like this obvious joke, that’s all,” Jim said, “And, I’ve always thought of you as the type of guy who didn’t go for the obvious laugh.”

“Well, you’re right about that, Jimbo, I am comedically humorous,” Michael replied with a smirk, “But, I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”

With that, Jim returned to his desk, completely forgetting why he was called into Michael’s office in the first place. An instinct to protect Pam had kicked in and it was something he had never felt before. His mom always said he was a sensitive soul and a born protector, but he never felt this protective of anyone. He knew he had fallen for her, but it wasn’t until that moment in Michael’s office that he realized how deep it went.

The rest of the day went rather quickly. Jim was pretty sure that Michael’s excitement was rubbing off on the rest of the office. For him, it was the prospect of spending time outside of work hours with Pam. He had tried numerous times in the past two weeks, but was unable to work up the nerve to ask Pam to hang out, so as pathetic as it sounded, he was excited to spend time with her after 5 PM.

At 4:50, Jim shut down his computer and made his way to reception. He wanted to give her a heads up about her possible award for tonight.

“So, you excited about the Dundies tonight?” he asked, tapping her desk.

Pam just rolled her eyes in response. Jim had given her a rundown of what to expect at her first Dundies during lunch yesterday and he could tell she wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Oh, and I just wanted to give you a warning,” Jim said, struggling to get the words out, “Umm, Michael may or may not be giving you the ‘Runaway Bride’ Dundie tonight. I tried to talk him out of it, but I’m not sure if he’s going to change it.”

“Oh, umm, yeah,” she responded, “Don’t worry about it. He’s been making jokes about it since he found out a week ago, sooo.”

“Good to know,” he replied, “I just wasn’t sure if it would upset you so I thought you would want to know, that’s all.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean it that way,” Pam replied, blushing, “Thank you, really. That’s really sweet.”

They made their way out of the office together so that Pam could follow Jim over to Chili’s. She had confessed to him a few days earlier that she still didn’t know her way around Scranton yet. Originally, Jim had offered to drive her himself, but she declined stating that she didn’t want to put him out of his way.

When he slipped into his car and made his way down the road, he couldn’t help but replay their conversation in his head. “She called me ‘really sweet,’” he thought aloud, “That has to count for something.”

*************************************************

Pam was still trying to figure out how she was going to handle receiving the “Runaway Bride” Dundie tonight as she followed Jim. Despite what she said to Jim about Michael’s constant jokes, she really wasn’t ready for her failed engagement to fodder for office jokes. She briefly considered going home and making up an excuse later about suddenly not feeling well, but truth be told, she was looking forward to spending time with Jim. He was the only friend she had made since moving to Scranton and it was going to be nice to not spend another night alone, eating in front of her TV.

She had been driving for a few minutes when her phone rang. Thinking it was her mom calling for their weekly chat, Pam answered without looking at the caller ID.

“Hey, Mom,” she said quickly, “Can’t really talk right now. I’m on my way to some silly office thing.”

“It’s not your mom, Pammy,” Roy’s voice interrupted her, “It’s me, baby.”

“Roy,” Pam replied deflated, “What do you want?”

“Listen,” he said, “I’m not calling to beg you to come back to me. I actually found a few of your sketch books in the back of the closet the other day and thought I’d drive there to return them to you. Then maybe we could get some dinner and talk. I really want to see you.”

“Roy,” Pam sighed, “You can just ship them to me. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come here. Besides, I have plans tonight.”

“Oh, yeah, a silly work thing,” he said mocking her, “Those aren’t real plans, you could easily get out of it. Come on, please, just dinner. Please, I really want to see you.”

“I said no, Roy,” she said raising her voice as she pulled into the Chili’s parking lot, “I know I’ve said this before, but I really wish you would stop calling me. I’m not going to get back together with you. Please just leave me alone.”

“No, I won’t leave you alone,” Roy replied with anger in his voice, “We’re going to get back together. I know you, Pam, you hate being alone. You’ve done this before, and I know soon that you will realize you aren’t going to find anyone better and you’ll come crawling back to me. I just have to wait it out.”

Pam didn’t know what to say in response to that. Given their history, he was right. They had broken up twice in the past, but each time she had gone back to him. “Not this time, Roy,” she said, tearing up. She didn’t give him a chance to reply before hanging up.

She looked out her windshield to see Jim waiting for her with his hands in his pockets. She was hoping that he couldn’t tell that she had just had an upsetting conversation. She was looking forward to having fun hanging out with Jim tonight and didn’t want to ruin it with him worrying about her upset state.

She got out of her car and made her way inside with Jim. She told him to find them seats while she went to the bathroom to freshen up. She was thankful that the bathroom was empty so that she could cry by herself in a stall. What Roy said had hurt her so much and she was crying at the thought that he could be right. She had acted so brave by leaving him and moving far away, but the truth was that she was scared. She had been in Scranton for a few weeks now and had made one friend. She was fearful of going back to what was familiar.

She was still crying when she heard two unfamiliar voices enter the bathroom. She realized she had to get herself together and get out of there. She wasn’t going to make friends sitting in a bathroom stall crying. She forced herself to stop the tears, exited the stall, and then splashed some water on her face before making her way out to the group.

She took her seat at a table with Jim. His face lit up when he saw her and Pam blushed in response.

“I was beginning to think you ditched me, Beesly,” Jim said smiling, “I ordered a beer, but I wasn’t sure what you wanted to drink.”

Without saying anything, she reached across the table and grabbed his beer. She took a big gulp, noticing the surprise on Jim’s face as she did so.

After finishing off Jim’s beer, she had ordered a margarita for herself. Jim watched her as she slurped up the last remaining sips out of two nearly empty glasses.

“I think those are empty,” Jim said with a grin.

“No, no. 'Cause the ice melts and then it's like second drink!” Pam said with a laugh, obviously tipsy.

The night continued on in much of the same way. When the waitress refused to serve Pam anymore, she started stealing drinks off other people’s tables. To her coworkers, she was just having a good time, but she knew she was drinking to remove the sting of Roy’s words.

When a couple of bar patrons began to tease Michael, Jim and Pam acted as his cheerleaders, encouraging him to keep handing out Dundies. After Michael gave Kevin the “Don’t Go in After Me” award and Stanley the “Fine Work” award, he announced the final award would go to Pam. She began to panic and her drunken elation began to fade. She glanced over at Jim, who had a look of pure panic on his face.

“I think we all know what award Pam is going to be getting this year,” Michael continued, “It is the "Whitest Sneakers" award! Because she always has the whitest tennis shoes on! Get on down here! Pam Beesly, ladies and gentlemen!”

Pam jumped out of her seat and happily accepted her award, grateful that Jim was able to convince Michael to change it. After she was done thanking her Keds and God, she made her way back their table where Jim was standing, waiting for her to sit back down.

She wasn’t sure if it was because she was grateful for him looking out for her, the large amount of alcohol she consumed, or a combination of both, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. He was the first guy she had kissed since breaking up with Roy and a rush of excitement ran up her spine. After sitting down, she glanced over at Jim, who was trying his hardest not to smile. “Did he enjoy it?” Pam wondered in a drunken haze.

After she fell off her barstool and got an unpleasant view of Dwight‘s naked torso, she was informed that she is never to return to this or any other Chili’s again. She clung to Jim’s arm for balance as he helped her out of the restaurant.

“So, you’re not in any shape to drive,” Jim said as they exited the restaurant, “Why don’t I give you a ride home?”

“Oh, actually, Angela lives right down the street from me,” she replied hiccupping, “I asked her for a ride while you were in the bathroom. Thanks, though. Do you want to wait with me while she gets her car?”

He nodded and they made their way to a bench near the entrance making small talk. He had her giggling when Angela pulled up. He helped her out of her spot on the bench and guided her to the passenger side of the car.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Pam glanced up at Jim.

“Shoot,” he replied.

She was trying to work up the nerve to ask him to hang out sometime. Not a date, really, just two friends hanging out, she was rationalizing in her head, but lost her nerve when she realized the camera was focused on her.

“I just wanted to say thanks,” she says, chickening out.

“Not really a question,” Jim responds, “Let’s get you home, you’re drunk.”

He helps her into Angela’s car and says goodnight. As they drive away, Pam turns and sees him just standing where they left him watching the car pull away. When he fades out of view, she leans her head against the window and falls asleep until they reach her apartment.

Just as Pam slammed her desk phone down in frustration, Jim walked into the office.

“Whoa, Beesly, it’s only Monday. Don’t take it out on the phones,” he joked, “Good morning, by the way. What did Michael do now?”

“Good morning,” she sighed, “No, it’s not Michael this time. It’s stupid, really. I went to Ikea over the weekend to get a new television stand. I know I paid extra to have it delivered already assembled, but when it was delivered this morning it was still in the box. The delivery guy said there was nothing about assembly on the delivery sheet and to take it up with the store. So, that was the store I was hanging up on because they said they have no record of me paying for assembly.”

Jim just stood there staring at her. “Do I have something on my face,” she thought to herself before speaking up, “Hello? Jim, you with me?”

“Oh, sorry, yeah,” he chuckled, “I just couldn’t believe how fast you were talking. Did you even breathe? Have you been hanging out with Kelly.”

“I hate you,” she said, with a coy smile, “Seriously, this isn’t funny. I am terrible at that kind of stuff and I’m just really frustrated.”

“You’re bad at reading instructions and using a screwdriver?” he asked.

“I think it’s slightly more complicated than that,” she replied, “Besides, I’ve never seen you do anything handy.”

“I’ll have you know, I’m very handy,” he responded quickly, “In fact, I put my desk chair together all by myself. I‘m very good with my tools.”

Pam giggled while she figured out what to say next. This was how their days were spent, bantering back and forth, joking in a subtly, flirty way without really acknowledging what was going on between the two of them.

“Alright, then, Jim ‘The Tool man’ Halpert, why don’t you come over and show me how handy you are?” she said in a flirty tone that she did not intend.

“Oh my God,’ she said to herself, “What is wrong with me? Why would I say that?’ “I, umm, I just meant,” she started to respond before she was cut off by Jim.

“Did you just reference Home Improvement?” Jim quipped, effectively cutting the tension, “I’ll help you, though, sure, of course, with your TV stand, but you’ll have to pay me.”

Pam was pretty sure that despite Jim’s brush off of her double meaning, he was blushing. “Oh, really?” she questioned, “And what is the going rate for an amateur handyman like yourself?”

“Oh, you know,” he replied, “Unlimited pizza and beer. And of course, you have to let me watch TV after the stand is assembled, you know, to make sure it’s put together correctly.”

“I think you have a deal,” she said with a huge grin, “But, I reserve the right to withhold the beer until after the job is done. I don’t need you getting drunk and messing everything up.”

“Last I checked, you’re the one who can’t handle her alcohol,” he replied quickly.

Pam wasn’t sure how to respond. Jim was clearly referring to the Dundies a few weeks ago. They hadn’t talked about it at all, including the kiss she had drunkenly planted on his lips.

“What I meant was, I’d have to check with my union rep about you withholding payment,” he spoke, interrupting her train of thought, “But, I think it should be fine. Just tell me where and when, Beesly.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Pam replied, “Let’s say 6:30. I’ll write down my address for you before you leave.”

“Not a problem. Sounds good,” he stated as he grabbed a few jelly beans and head to his desk.

Pam watched Jim sit down and begin his work day with a huge smile on her face. She had known since she met him that he was a nice guy, but there was something about the way he so easily offered to help her that was beyond being a good friend. Pam also couldn’t ignore the butterflies in her stomach at the though of spending the evening with Jim.

*************************************************

The day flew by for Jim. The excitement he felt was enough to make the day pass in a quick blur. He knew she had said during their non-date at Cuginos that she was enjoying being single, but there were so many signs that she felt the same way he did. There was their near constant flirty banter, the way he would catch her looking at him occasionally, and of course, the kiss. He knew there was nothing special about the way she kissed him, it was the equivalent of the kiss Dana Andrews planted on him during a game of freeze tag in the fifth grade. It was the way he felt after she kissed him and he knew that deep down she felt it, too. He hadn’t had the nerve to bring it up with her in the days following the Dundies, fearful that she wouldn’t remember or brush it off as a drunken mistake.

At 6:28, Jim knocked on the door to Pam’s apartment wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans, a gray long sleeve t-shirt and his lucky black baseball hat. He had never felt like more of a girl in his life getting ready and must have tried on 10 different outfits before settling on his current ensemble.

“Hey,” Pam greeted him as she opened the door wearing a pair of well worn jeans and a long sleeve pink shirt, her hair out of its usual barrette, “Come on in.”

“Hi,” he responded, struggling to keep it together. He always thought she looked beautiful in her work attire, but there was something about seeing this other side of her that was driving him wild. He ached to run his fingers through her hair.

“So, there’s the box,” she said gesturing to an unopened box in the corner of the room, “I wasn’t sure what type of beer you liked, so I just got Yuengling because that’s what I like, hope that’s okay.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s fine,” he responded. He didn’t know how he was going to get through this night, she was just too damn adorable,

Jim started right away on assembling the TV stand, while Pam ordered their pizza. They agreed on a pepper and pepperoni pizza after Pam had convinced him her favorite toppings were pineapples and sardines, together. They kept their conversation light as Jim worked, mostly talking about how insane Michael is or coming up with ideas for pranks against Dwight.

Jim had just finished the television stand when the pizza arrived. While Pam paid, he moved her TV and cable box to their new home and began flipping through the channels.

“Just have to watch a little TV to make sure I did my job correctly,” Jim joked as Pam set the pizza down on the coffee table with paper plates and a beer for each of them.

“I think you could only get an accurate check with extended viewing,” she replied, “How about a movie? It’s only 7:15.”

“The customer is always right, Beesly,” he grinned, “What movie did you have in mind?”

They ultimately decided on Dazed and Confused, both declaring it was in their top five all time favorite movies. They sat next to each other on the floor, with their backs against the couch, never moving after finishing their pizza. Jim was only half paying attention to the movie, the rest of his energy focusing on Pam. He fell a little more in love with her every time she laughed. There were a few occasions where their hands brushed and he felt a jolt of electricity run through him. He wanted so badly to just entwine his fingers with hers, but not even the four beers he had finished gave him the courage to take that step.

Their conversation was revived after the movie was over, eventually leading to a discussion on Dwight’s almost maniacal need for power.

“I swear,” Jim said as he took another sip of his beer, “He’s just waiting for the day he can fire me for being late all the time.”

“Come on,” Pam replied confused, “You’re never late. At least, you’ve never been late since I’ve started working there, well except, my first day when I was convinced you were going to be a freak.”

“Huh,” Jim realized she was right. Since Pam had started, he was always on time, eager to get to work and see her. She had become his reason to get out of bed.

“Well, I guess before,” he continued, “I was late a lot before.”

Jim couldn’t help but think that this was his chance to tell her how he felt. He knew he would look crazy if he told her she was the reason he got out of bed in the morning so he struggled to get it just right. He was looking her dead in the eyes and she right back, with eager anticipation. He was pretty sure she had an idea of what was about to come.

“Pam, I, umm,” he started, but before he could finish, there was knock on the door.

“Hold that thought, Halpert,” Pam said, standing up and heading to the door, “It’s probably just my neighbor. She’s this little old lady who is constantly complaining that my TV is too loud.”

Jim watched as she slowly opened the door, trying to get himself together. He did not want to sound like a bumbling idiot when he finally told Pam how he felt. He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when Pam answered the door.

“Roy?” he heard Pam ask, “What are you doing here?”

“Roy?” he heard Pam ask, “What are you doing here?”

“Roy? Who’s Roy?” Jim asked himself. “Roy is definitely not the little old lady next door. Roy, Roy, who’s Roy? Oh, Roy is, oh, yeah. Roy. Damn it.”

Jim froze in his spot on the floor, watching Pam. From where he was sitting he could see her and the door, but not the interruption on the other side.

“Pammy?” Jim heard a burly voice question, “Can I come in? I really need to talk.”

The voices in Jim’s head were begging her to say no. With every passing second, he was losing his nerve to tell Pam how he felt about her. If he didn’t do it soon, he wasn’t going to do it and it would be incredibly awkward to do it in front of her ex-fiancé, not that he would ever have the nerve to do that.

“Roy, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he heard Pam respond, “How did you know where I lived anyway?”

“Why won’t you just let me in? Do you got a guy in there or something?” Roy asked with a laugh like it was such a huge improbability that Pam would have a guy over.

“Well, actually,” Pam began to respond, but was halted when Roy barged past her and into the apartment.

Jim just sat and stared as the large man came barreling through the front door. Roy was not at all what he had expected. He wasn’t exactly sure what he had expected, but it was not this. Roy was a big guy, in a way where you could tell that he was once muscular, but years of eating fast food and drinking too much had left him with a sizeable gut. He also smelled like he was soaked in cheap beer and his eyes were bloodshot, leading Jim to conclude that he was drunk. “Fantastic,” he muttered to himself.

“What the hell is this?” Roy’s voice boomed through the tiny apartment.

“Roy! Stop it,” Pam raised her tiny voice, “Nothing is going on. He’s a friend from work. His name is Jim. Besides, I think you’re the one who needs to explain what you’re doing here.”

“I need to talk to you,” Roy said, calming down, “But you won’t return my calls so I asked around back home and found out where you lived. You have to understand, I had to see you, baby.”

Jim just watched waiting for Pam to respond to Roy, unsure of what to do. Should he politely excuse himself, telling Pam he would see her tomorrow at work? Should he just stay perfectly still and hope they forgot he was there so he could continue to watch the scene unfold? Jim was mentally debating with himself when Roy moved closer to Pam.

“Listen, Pammy,” Roy said trying to whisper but the alcohol was making that impossible, “I need to talk to you about some things that have happened lately, but I don’t want an audience.” Roy nodded towards Jim.

“Oh, umm,” Jim started to stand, but Pam cut him off.

“No, Jim, you stay,” she said and turned her attention to Roy, “He’s not leaving. You can’t just show up here unannounced and drunk and expect me to drop my plans. Now, you’re obviously too drunk to drive, so why don’t you go sleep it off in my bed and you can drive back to Hazelton in the morning.”

“No, Pam, that’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Roy sat down as he began to spoke, standing proving to be too difficult, “I have nowhere to go back to. I haven’t been right since you left me, babe. I lost my job last month and I lost the apartment. I was crashing with Kenny for a while, but we got into a fight last night because he said I, well, he said some things I didn’t agree with. I have nowhere to go and no one. I thought I’d come here and if you could just see me, you’d remember how great we where together and I could start over here with you.”

Jim couldn’t believe it, but he actually felt bad for the guy. “Listen, I should go,” Jim piped in, breaking the silence, “It’s getting late and you two obviously have a lot to talk about.”

Jim watched Pam’s face visibly deflate. “I guess,” she answered, “Let me walk you out.”

Jim walked out of the apartment without saying goodbye to Roy with Pam following behind him. She followed behind him, shutting the door.

“Listen, Jim,” she whispered, “I had a really nice time tonight. Sorry it got interrupted.”

“Not your fault,” Jim responded, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice.

“Regardless,” Pam continued, “I feel bad and I was having a great time. We should do it again sometime.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Jim responded not sure where the words were coming from, “Not at least until you get things sorted out with Roy.”

“It’s not like that, Jim. Before tonight, I had worried that if I saw Roy again, I would be sucked back into the life I had with him. But, tonight, when I saw him, I knew that being with him was the last thing I wanted. I’ll let him sober up here tonight and let him know that it is absolutely 100% over with us in the morning.”

“Okay,” was all the response Jim could muster, “Bye, Pam. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He began to turn to walk away when Pam caught his hand. “Jim, wait, I…” Pam started as Jim turned back to face her. They stood there staring at each other for what seemed like hours, but was actually a few seconds.

“Yes, Pam?” Jim was the first to break the silence.

“I just,” Pam started to speak, but when she couldn’t find the words, she closed the gap between them and placed a gentle kiss on his full lips.

Jim responded immediately to her kiss, wrapping his arms around her. After a few gentle pecks, he got caught up in the moment, gently sliding his tongue between her lips, seeking entrance. She parted her lips just slightly and when their tongues met, Jim was sure he saw fireworks. Pam’s hands were alternating between resting gently on Jim’s chest to playing with the hair that curled at the nape of his neck.

Jim had just pulled Pam closer to him when a loud crash came from her apartment and she pulled back slightly.

“Crap,” Pam breathed, “I forgot about Roy.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Jim said, leaning in for another kiss, but Pam pulled back.

“We should stop,” Pam said, pulling herself out of Jim’s embrace.

“Yeah, no, you’re right.”

“I just need a day or two to deal with Roy,” Pam said smiling, “Then we can get back to this.”

Jim couldn’t believe the bold words coming out of the usually shy Pam’s mouth. The kiss and her forwardness had rendered him speechless.

“I mean, I guess, that’s if you want to,” Pam spoke up, an unsure quality to her voice.

“Wow,” Jim replied, still shocked, “No, I definitely want to get back to this. I’m just a little taken aback by the ‘Fancy New Beesly’ that emerged.” Pam blushed. “I’m not saying I don’t like it,” Jim continued, “I’m just wondering where she came from.”

There was another crash from inside the apartment followed by Roy’s booming voice, “Paaaaaammmmmm!”

“I should get back in there,” Pam said, “But we’ll talk more about ‘Fancy New Beesly’ soon. Just give me a couple of days.”

“Okay,” Jim said, kissing her softly on the cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” Pam said as she turned and went back into the apartment.

Jim took his car keys out of his pocket as he strode to his car with the biggest smile on his face.

Pam locked the door to her apartment, grinning from ear to ear. Before she turned to deal with Roy, she took a moment to collect herself. She was trying to figure out where her sudden boldness came from. “I kissed Jim,” she thought to herself, “I KISSED JIM!” Her brain was in hyper drive recalling the way his kisses felt and how it felt to be wrapped up in his arms.

If she was being honest with herself, she’s had a crush on Jim for some time now. Tonight was going so great and then Roy’s sudden, unannounced appearance had ruined everything. Pam couldn’t be 100% sure, but it seemed like Jim was about to tell her something important when they were interrupted by Roy’s knock on the door.

It was the look of pure disappointment on Jim’s face that lead to her making the first move. She knew he felt the same way, she could just tell. She could also tell that he was having just as good of a time as she was. When Jim announced he was going to leave, Pam knew it was the last thing he wanted to do. As he said goodbye to her on the porch, he had a look of utter devastation on his face. She didn’t know how to tell him with words that she wasn’t going back to Roy no matter how hard he pleaded and that Jim was the one she wanted, so she did it with her lips… and her tongue. That last thought made her blush.

“Pammy!” Roy’s voice snapped Pam out of her train of thought.

“Listen, Roy,” Pam began as the blush subsided from her cheeks, “I’m not going to get back together with you. Why don’t you just sleep it off on my couch. You can call Kenny in the morning and work things out.”

“Babe, you don’t understand. There is no working things out with Kenny,” Roy answered, sounding like he was starting to sober up, “We had a big fight and I don’t think I will ever forgive him. And, I don’t think he will ever forgive him for breaking his nose.”

“You broke his nose?” Pam was shocked. Roy was known to get a little rowdy when he drank, but he never physically harmed anyone. She was beginning to see how hard he had taken their breakup. “What did he say to you?”

“He, um,” Roy hesitated, “He told me I deserved to lose you. He said I never appreciated you and I took you for granted. He also said that I was a fool and it was obvious to everyone that you had moved on and I needed to do the same.”

“So you punched him?” Pam asked.

“Not before I told him to shut the hell up and mind his own business,” Roy said with a chuckle, “Truth is, he was right about that first part. I didn’t deserve you and I took you for granted. That’s why you gotta take me back, Pammy. I’ve changed. I know what I was doing wrong before and I won’t do it again. Please, babe, I love you.”

Pam’s eyes started to water. He knew how to get to her. Unfortunately for Roy, these were all things that she had heard before. They would fight, he would apologize, saying he’s going to be a better man now and things would change for about a week. Before she knew it, things would be back to the way they were. She knew she had to stop this, but it hurt her to see him hurting like this.

“Roy, please, just stop,” Pam said, holding back the tears, “You were my first love, and I will I always love you, but I’m not in love with you anymore. Your brother was right, you need to move on, I have.”

“With that guy?” Roy questioned, a hint of anger in his voice.

“What guy?” Pam asked.

“That guy, John, Jake, JIM,” Roy said, “Yeah, Jim. The one who was here when I got here. It’s him, isn’t it?”

“Roy, this isn’t about him,” Pam replied, “This is about us. I’m not going to get back with you so please stop doing this to yourself. If you don’t want to patch things up with Kenny, fine. Maybe you can call and get your job back and find a place of your own.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Roy said looking down at his feet, “I kind of burned that bridge when I came into drunk and crashed the forklift.”

“You what?” Pam said shocked.

“You just don’t know how hard it was after you left,” Roy continued, “I couldn’t function without you. I just drank and drank to numb the pain. You were the best thing I had going for me and then just one day, you were gone, without any warning.”

“Without any warning?” Pam asked, now she was getting annoyed, “You really are clueless, Roy. It was obvious to everyone but you how miserable I was. You went out all the time without me, stumbling in drunk at all hours of the night. You kept pushing our wedding date back, you mocked my love of art, and you never helped out around the house. You want me to keep going?”

“No, Pam,” Roy said, his eyes watering, “I get it. I was a horrible fiancé.”

“So you get it then?” she asked, “You get why I’m not going to get back with you. It’s over, Roy.”

Roy was silent as tears began rolling down his cheeks. Despite all he had put her through, there was a great deal of history there, and it hurt her to see him hurting.

“Why don’t you go stay with your parents?” Pam suggested.

“Can’t,” Roy replied, “I had it out with them after I broke Kenny’s nose.”

A soft “Oh,” escaped Pam’s mouth. She didn’t know what to say. Roy’s life had become a mess, he lost his job, his home, and his family, and it was all her fault. She knew she wouldn’t get back together with him, but she felt like she had to do something. She couldn’t just toss him out on the street and say, “Good luck!”

“Okay, here’s the deal,” Pam took a deep breath, “You can stay here for two weeks. I am not getting back together with you. I am giving you this time to find a new job and get your life back. After that, you have to move out and I think it would be best for you leave me alone after that. It’s the only way you’ll move on.”

Roy looked up at Pam, a grateful look in his eyes, “Okay, you’ve got a deal.”

“I’m serious Roy,” Pam said again, “Two weeks and then you’re out of here. I mean it.”

“No, yeah, I understand,” Roy said, standing and hugging her, “Thank you so much, Pammy. I promise, you won’t regret it.”

Pam untangled herself from Roy’s embrace. “I’m going to bed. I’ll get you a pillow and blanket and you can crash on the couch. Rest up, you have a full day of job searching tomorrow.”

Pam got Roy settled on her couch and then retreated to her room. As she settled in under the covers, she had a flash to earlier in the evening, kissing Jim on her front porch. She couldn’t wait to see him the next day, she was just hoping he would understand her decision to let Roy stay here.

Jim didn’t sleep well all night. He was like a kid on Christmas Eve. Pam kissed him. PAM. KISSED. HIM. His excitement level was off the charts and he could not wait to see her again. As a result, he was up on and off all night just waiting for his alarm to go off so he could go to work and see her again. He knows she said to give her a couple of days to deal with Roy, but he couldn’t wait to talk to her again and figure out where to go from here. Maybe he could even steal a few more kisses from her. There’s that spot in the stairwell where the cameras can’t catch you unless they get really close. “Calm down, lover boy,” he thought to himself, “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

Jim popped out of bed well before his alarm went off, giving up any hope of getting solid sleep. He didn’t think he was going to need it anyway, his body was running on pure adrenaline. He found it ironic that a few months ago, he literally had to drag himself out of bed each morning, usually running late, and now he couldn’t wait to get to work.

Jim got ready for work in record time. He had time to actually iron his shirt and make himself a real breakfast, instead of his usual cereal. He did various things to kill time before leaving, folded some laundry, made his bed and even vacuumed, much to Mark’s annoyance as he was sleeping in. He didn’t want to arrive too early as he liked to get there after Pam. There was something about her being the first one he saw when he walked in that got his day off to the perfect start.

When he became restless and had to leave his apartment, he decided to stop at Starbucks to pick himself up a coffee and Pam a tea. The line at Starbucks had helped him kill some time and by the time he pulled into the parking lot, he noticed Pam’s little blue car in its usual spot. He couldn’t help but let a huge smile spread across his face. If seeing her car could elicit such a response, he worried what he would give away to the cameras and his coworkers when he actually saw her.

Pam’s smiling face was the first thing he saw when he opened the door to the office nearly an hour before everyone else was due to arrive. “Good morning, Pam,” he said smiling, “I got you a tea.” He played it cool because even though none of their coworkers where there, the documentary production team had already started their day.

Pam beamed up at him, “Thanks so much.”

He hung up his coat and strode to his desk. He knew he was grinning like an idiot right now and the best way to keep himself from declaring his love for Pam a la Tom Cruise on Oprah would be to act like nothing had changed and get started with his work.

“Pssst, Jim,” he heard Pam whisper for his attention, “You have a message.”

Pam handed him a message from her asking him to meet her in the spot in the stairwell in 5 minutes. He let out a little smirk recalling his thoughts of that same spot from earlier.

He busied himself for those five minutes, absently checking his e-mailing, but not really reading it and checking his voicemails, but not really hearing them. His sole focus was on Pam.

He found her in the stairwell exactly five minutes after she had asked him to meet her.

“Hi,” she said, noticing him.

“Hey,” he replied.

“How was the,” Pam started, but before she could finish, Jim had put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her. He couldn’t help himself. She kissed him back and this time she was the one to take it further, sliding her tongue into his mouth. He moved his hand down to her waist and around her back, pulling her closer to him. Her hands went to his hair as she pulled his lower lip into her mouth and sucked hard, eliciting a small moan from him. His hands found their way under her sweater and shirt, tracing small circles on the soft skin of her back causing her to shiver.

“Cold?” he whispered into her ear.

Pam let out a throaty giggle. “God, she’s so sexy,” Jim thought to himself as he started placing small kisses on Pam’s neck, paying extra attention to the spot behind her ear.

Pam let out another moan and then pulled back. “Jim,” she said, panting slightly.

Jim groaned, “Oh God, Pam. I’m sorry. I don’t know what gets into me when I’m around you.”

“No, it’s okay,” she said, Jim noticing her face was flush, “I liked it. It’s just we’re at work and I did actually ask you to meet me down her to talk to you.”

“Sure you did,” he said, smirking, “That’s why you jumped me as soon as you saw me.”

“I jumped you?” Pam responded with mock anger, “I think it was the other way around, Halpert.”

“Hmm, you may be right this time, but I do recall you jumping me at some point in the last 12 hours,” he said as he drew her close to him again, pulling her sleeve away from her shoulder, and began placing feather light kisses there and on her collar bone.

“Jim,” Pam breathed, “I don’t want to, but we really need to stop.”

“Okay,” Jim said, reluctantly pulling himself away from her.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” Jim asked, throwing up air quotes when he said the word ‘talk.’

“Well, how was the rest of your night?” she asked.

“Uhh, fine,” Jim responded, “I went home, played some video games with Mark, had a couple of beers. What about you?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” she said, her face turning serious.

“You’re scaring me, Beesly,” he replied, “What happened? Did you get back with Roy?”

Jim’s insides were churning. How could he go from so high to so low in such a short amount of time?

“No, NO! It’s nothing like that,” Pam responded, “Do you really think I’d be down here making out with you if I was getting back with him? What kind of hussy do you think I am?”

“Well, according to Angela,” he retorted.

“Haha, very funny,” she joked with a playful swat on his arm, “No, but seriously, I do have something to tell you. Roy is going to stay with me for a couple of weeks.”

Jim’s heart dropped into his stomach. This is not what he wanted to hear. Sure, she didn’t say they were getting back together, but this was not the ideal situation for the start of a relationship. That is what this is, right, the start of a relationship? Pam didn’t really strike him as the type of girl who just wants to casually hook up.

“Jim” Pam said, bringing Jim back to the conversation, “Say something.”

“Why?” was all he could manage.

“Well, we got to talking,” she said quietly, “And I’ve ruined his life. He lost his apartment, his house, and now his family’s not talking to him. It’s all my fault, so I’ve given him two weeks on my couch to start getting his life in order.”

Jim noticed Pam’s eyes were starting to water. He did not want to be that guy, the guy who made her cry.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he said, pulling her into a hug, “Don’t cry. His problems are not your fault, Pam. You couldn’t have known what would happen when you left him and even if you did know, what were you supposed to do? Stay with him even if you weren’t happy?”

He held her in a hug for several seconds, inhaling her scent as he ran his hands up and down her back.

“I know,” Pam finally responded sniffling, “I know it’s not my fault, but I’m all he has left. It’s the least I can do to help him out. When you’re with someone that long, they become family and I’ve always been the type of person who would do anything for family.”

Jim hugged her tighter and let out a small sigh. How could he not fall in love with her? As much as it pained him to know that her ex was going to be staying with her for two weeks, undoubtedly making attempts to win her back, her loyalty to the people she loved was adorable.

“Are you mad?” Pam asked quietly into Jim’s chest.

He pulled back from their hug and looked down at her. “Mad? No, I’m not mad. I’m just trying to figure out where this leaves us.”

“Well,” she started, “What do you want?”

“I want to be with you,” he answered honestly, “I’m not going to lie. You’re all I’ve thought about since the day you started here.”

Pam blushed and let herself smile a small smile, “I want to be with you, too.”

“But,” Jim continued, “I just feel weird starting a new relationship with you while your ex is living with you.”

“I understand,” Pam responded, “But he’s not really living with me. He’s just crashing on my couch and it’s only going to be two weeks. I’m not going to change my mind on that. Plus, I made him agree that after the two weeks, he can’t contact me anymore.”

A moment passed without either of them saying anything. Jim was inside his head, thinking about Pam coming home after work to Roy. Would he make attempts to win her back? Would he try to kiss her? Would he really leave her alone after the two weeks?

Pam was the first to break the silence, “All it really means is that we can’t really hang out at my place for the next two weeks. Which is probably a good thing considering you can’t keep your hands off of me.”

“Right,” Jim chuckled, “Let’s not forgot who kissed whom first.”

“Are you complaining?” she quipped.

“Absolutely not,” he replied, “I have an idea. How about I take you on an actual, proper date. A real dinner, in a restaurant, not pizza on your coffee table that you paid for. I have my weekly pick-up basketball tonight, how about tomorrow?”

“Sounds good,” Pam replied smiling.

“Alright, then it’s a date.”

“That it is,” Pam said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, “Now, let’s get back upstairs. Everyone else will be in soon and I don’t feel like getting a lecture from Dwight.”

Pam practically skipped to her apartment. She was giddy with anticipation over her date with Jim tonight. She had managed to sneak out of work early this afternoon, stopping at the Steamtown Mall to pick up a new dress and shoes. Jim told her this morning he had made reservations at a small bistro downtown and she wanted to look her best. She was so excited, she felt like she was in high school, which made sense considering she hadn’t been on a first date since high school. She paused for a minute, outside her apartment door, recalling her last first date. The thought of Roy leaving her at a hockey game deflated her mood for just a minute when she realized tonight was going to be nothing like that. Jim is not Roy, and she is pretty sure he wouldn’t be bringing either of his brothers along.

Pam unlocked her apartment door, hoping Roy wouldn’t be there. Yesterday when she arrived home work, he wasn’t there. He stumbled in sometime around 10, a little tipsy, telling Pam he went out for drinks with some guys he met at a job interview earlier in the day. He passed out on her couch 15 minutes later and was still asleep when she left this morning.

Pam glanced down at her watch and realized Jim would be there in an hour. He had said it was against his “Gentleman Code” to allow her to drive herself to the restaurant, but he agreed to wait in his car instead of coming to the door to avoid any issues with Roy. She had to hurry. She wanted to be ready before Jim got there and she still had to shower, straighten her hair, and do her makeup.

It wasn’t until Pam started heading down the hallway to her bedroom, that she heard it; Roy fumbling around in her kitchen. She peeked her head and could not believe her eyes. Roy had his back to her, cooking, that’s right cooking in her kitchen. There were candles lit on her table and classical music coming from a portable stereo on the counter. “Oh, crap,” she thought to herself.

“Roy,” Pam spoke up, recovering from her shock, “What are you doing?”

“Pammy!” Roy turned toward her, a huge smile on his face. “You’re home early. Sit down, I made us dinner.”

“What?” she was confused, “Why are you doing this?”

“I told you the other night, babe, I know I took you for granted,” he said softly, “I’m just trying to show you how much you mean to me so you‘ll take me back.”

“Roy,” Pam leaned against the wall, “I told you, I’ve moved on. You should, too. Besides, I really can’t, I have plans tonight.”

His face fell and Pam felt a twinge of guilt for making him upset. “With who?” he asked.

Pam thought for a second before answering. She knew the right thing to do would be to tell him the truth, that she was going on a date with Jim, but she felt like that would be pouring salt on his open wound.

“I’m just going out with some friends with work,” she lied.

“Oh, okay,” Roy said as he started covering the food he prepared with foil, “We can save this for tomorrow. Why don’t I go with you?”

Pam was dumbfounded. Never once, in all the years they were together, did Roy ever show any interest in spending time with her friends.

“I don’t think that would be such a good idea,” she said, turning to head to her bedroom.

“Pam, wait,” Roy shouted after her, “What’s with you? I mean, you said I could stay here, but you are constantly blowing me off. I thought maybe you wanted to give this another chance.”

She couldn’t believe it. He was delusional. All the years of drinking had finally rotted his brain and he was delusional. That was the only explanation for what he was thinking.

“No, Roy, I don’t,” she said, turning to face him again, “I don’t want to give this another chance. In the two days you’ve been here, I haven’t given you any reason to think that. I’m letting you stay here because you are like family to me and I want you to get your life together. But, and this is a big but, I do not want to get back together with you. Now, I’m going to be late, I have to get ready.”

Pam turned and entered her bedroom, but not before she noticed Roy’s eyes filling with tears.

“How dare he!” Pam said aloud to herself as she showered. She was livid. What gives him the right to start trying to be a good guy now? If she didn’t know any better, she would fall for it all over again only to have him revert back to his usual, thoughtless behavior in a short period of time.

She let the hot water hit her face. She had to calm down, she had a date to go on. She didn’t want Roy’s action to affect her mood and therefore affect her date with Jim. She had been waiting for this date since yesterday morning when he had asked her out after an intense make out session in the stairwell.

Pam stepped out of the shower and after drying off, headed to her bedroom. As she made her way wrapped in a towel, she heard the distinct sound of Roy opening her refrigerator, grabbing a bottle, and popping the cap off.

“Great, he’s drinking,” She thought, “That should make this easier.”

She contemplated heading into the kitchen and knocking the beer out his hand, telling him if he was going to stay with her, this wasn’t going to fly. There was no way he was going to get his life back and track if he got drunk every night. She resisted, though, because Jim was going to be there in 20 minutes and because she knew that’s what Roy wanted, to take her attention away from getting ready and onto him.

“Screw it,” she thought as she focused all of her attention on making herself look her best for Jim.

*************************************************

It went against everything Jim stood for to wait in his car for a date. His parents had raised him as a respectful guy, and a respectful guy always picks a girl up at her front door. “Never, ever wait for the girl in your car,” his dad had told him the day he got his driver’s license, “And so help me God, if I ever find out you honked your horn instead of picking her up at the door, you will not leave this house until you’re thirty.”

Jim chuckled at the memory. He was sitting in his car, playing with his iPod, waiting in the parking lot of Pam’s apartment complex. When he told her he would pick her up at 6:30, she had said she would be waiting in the lot for him. It was 6:27 and he knew he was early, but he had expected she would be as excited as he was and be ready early.

Jim had left his apartment five minutes earlier than he intended. The combination of his own excitement and Mark’s incessant teasing made him restless and he just had to get out of there. He had stopped at a florist, picking up a small bouquet of lilies, asking the florist to put the ends of the stems in one of those little vials of water. He figured if he wasn’t able to pick her up at her door that the flowers would spend the night in the car and he didn’t want them to die. That’s not a good way to end a first date, he had thought to himself.

At 6:33, Jim had sent Pam a text message: I’m waiting in the parking lot. Hope your not standing me up… :-p He had thrown in the smiley face with a tongue out so she would know he was only kidding about her standing him up, mostly.

By 6:36, Jim was getting worried. Pam was always on time. Most mornings, she was early to work so the fact that she was now 6 minutes late in meeting him was worrying him. Four minutes later, he had made the decision that he was just going to go up to her apartment, Roy be damned.

He paced outside her door for a few seconds, working up the nerve to knock, silently praying Roy wouldn’t answer, flowers clutched in his right hand. He finally got the nerve to knock and silently cursed when it was indeed Roy who had opened the door.

“Hey, man,” Jim said, extending his had to Pam’s ex to shake, “I’m Jim, we met the other night. I’m here to pick up Pam.”

Roy just stared at Jim for what seemed like hours, a look of confusion on his face. Unsure of what to do, he just stood there until Pam emerged, breaking off his undeclared staring contest.

“I’m so sorry, Jim,” Pam said, coming from behind Roy, “I was getting ready and I lost track of time.”

Jim caught a glimpse of her then and his breath caught. She looked gorgeous. He thought she looked beautiful everyday, but this was nothing short of incredible. She had straightened her hair and added big, round curls at the ends. She wore makeup, her lip gloss making her mouth look even more kissable than usual and she was wearing a black dress that hugged her curvy body in all the right places as well as the sexiest pair of black heels.

“Oh, yeah, it’s fine,” Jim replied, handing her the flowers, “These are for you.”

Pam accepted the flowers from him with a quiet thank you, but Jim could tell she felt uncomfortable. He supposed it would be uncomfortable to be picked up for a date with your ex-fiancé staying with you.

“Pam,” Roy spoke up, “You said you were going out with friends from work.”

Jim shifted on his feet, looking down. If things were uncomfortable before, they were downright awkward now.

“Oh, well,” Pam stammered, “I am. Jim is my friend and we work together, so…”

“Is anyone else going?” Roy questioned.

“Umm, no,” Pam answered, “But that’s not really any of your business, so just don’t start.” With that, she turned and went into the kitchen, setting the flowers in some water.

“Let’s go,” she said to Jim grabbing her purse. Neither of them said anything to Roy as they left.

They walked to his car in silence. Jim was upset. He was so excited about this and she didn’t even have the courage to tell Roy she was going on a date.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he finally spoke as they reached his car.

“What? Huh? No, I want to,” Pam was confused.

“It’s just,” Jim began to speak, but the words were stuck in his throat. He looked her in the eyes and she nodded, urging him to continue. “I mean, do you even want to go on this date? You told Roy you were going out with friends.”

“Oh, no, Jim,” Pam took his hand, lacing her fingers with his, “I want to do this. Roy made a big romantic gesture tonight and I wanted to let him down easy. If I told him the truth, it would have been messy. I am so sorry.” She placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

The kiss sent a shiver down Jim’s spine. “Okay,” he said, opening the car door for her.

Once they were out of the vicinity of her apartment complex, Jim was able to relax. He really liked Pam, but having her ex around was making things difficult. He thought for sure that if Pam didn’t diffuse the situation tonight, Roy would have decked him. And what had she meant when she said Roy had made a “big romantic gesture?” He had to stop doing this. He was on a date with Pam, something he had wanted since the day she started working with him. “Stop thinking about Roy,” He thought to himself, “Get your head in the game. Oh, god. Am I giving myself a pep talk?”

Despite their delay, they had made their reservation on time. The hostess showed them to a small table for two in the corner. They sat across from each other and Jim couldn’t notice how even more beautiful Pam looked in the dim candlelight of the restaurant. He took a few seconds to admire the view across the table.

“What?” Pam questioned with a smile, “I can’t have anything in my teeth already, can I?”

Jim let out a little laugh at how incredibly adorable she was. “No, nothing in your teeth,” he answered, “You look beautiful and I can’t stop staring.”

He was sure he saw a blush spread across Pam’s cheeks. “Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself, Halpert.”

It was Jim’s turn to blush, but he quickly recovered when the waiter arrived to take their drink orders.

Their flirty back and forth continued throughout appetizers and their main course. There was an exchange of embarrassing childhood stories, including the time when he was 13 and Tom and Pete locked him in the closet with the cute girl down the street and told him they wouldn’t let him out until he kissed her. Jim was so nervous, he threw up.

“No way,” Pam exclaimed, a look of disbelief on her face, “I don’t believe it! You’re making it up!”

“Why would I make that up?” Jim face was flushed red, a combination of the wine they were sharing and embarrassment.

“I don’t know why you would make that up,” she replied, “But I don’t believe it. There is no way you were ever bad with the ladies, Mr. Sweep Me off My Feet.”

“Well believe it, Beesly. I was a mess with girls,” he was blushing even more now, “I was tall and all limbs, tripping over my own feet.”

This elicited a small giggle from Pam before Jim continued. “And are you saying I’ve swept you off your feet?”

“Oh, no,” Pam said with a laugh, “I’m just saying you seem like the type to sweep a girl off her feet.”

“Right,” Jim said rolling his eyes, “What about you, any childhood romantic misadventures?”

“Okay, I was six,” she started.

“Wow, six, huh? You started young.”

“Shut up. Do you want me to tell this or not?”

“I’m sorry, please, continue.”

“So anyway, as I was saying,” Pam continued, already blushing, “I was six and the girl down the comes to my house and told me her older brother built a fort in their shed and wanted me to come see it. I walk with her to their house and head to the shed and out jumps their cousin, I think his name was Robert, and he kissed me on the mouth! I was so mortified, I ran home crying to my mom.”

Jim was full on laughing now. “Don’t laugh at me,” she exclaimed, “It was traumatizing.”

“I’m sure it was. I can’t blame the guy for wanting to kiss you, though.” And with that, Jim leaned across the table and kissed her softly on the lips.

Jim looked around the restaurant to make sure no one noticed his impromptu public display of affection. “So, uhh, let’s get dessert,” he said, clearing his throat.

They decided to share a chocolate mousse for dessert and continued to talk long after it had been finished. It wasn’t until the restaurant staff began to clean up the tables around, stacking chairs, that they realized they should probably head out.

Jim paid the check and took Pam’s hand as they left the restaurant. When they were just outside the door, he looked around to make sure they were alone. Confirming they were, he pulled her close and lowered his lips to hers, kissing her softly at first and then with increased intensity. They kissed for several minutes and it quickly could have turned into a full on make out session if Jim didn’t pull back.

“Wow,” he sighed breathlessly.

“Yeah,” was all the reply Pam could muster.

Jim couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about that kiss was different from the others they had shared. Maybe it was the wine or the romantic atmosphere. Maybe it was because it was nearing the end of their first date and they both knew they were on the cusp of something great.

“I don’t want to go home,” Pam spoke first, “Take me back to your place.”

“Woah, Beesly,” Jim replied with a chuckle, “Moving a little fast, don’t you think?”

She swatted his arm as she spoke. “Not like that, you dork. I just don’t want this night to end. Plus, I really don’t want to go back to my place and deal with you know who. You’re the one who told me that nothing in Scranton is open past 8 so let’s hang out at your place until I’m sure Roy has passed out, then you can take me home.”

“So, you’re not expecting me to put out?”

“Nope,” she replied with a smile.

“Well, that’s a good thing because my roommate Mark is home, so…”

Pam silenced him with a quick kiss. “Let’s go.”

They arrived at Jim’s condo to find Mark gone. A note indicating he had gone to Poor Richard’s with some friends from work. Jim was mortified when Pam read what Mark had written at the bottom of the note. “P.S.- Please get some tonight. It’s been a while and you’re starting to get cranky.”

“Yeah, he’s not the most subtle guy,” Jim spoke, quickly crumpling the note and throwing it in the trash, “But, he’s a good roommate.”

When they discovered there wasn’t anything good on television, Pam suggested Jim plug in his iPod and they could just talk. Talking quickly led to kissing, which escalated until Pam was under Jim on his couch as he alternated between deep kisses and lightly sucking on her neck.

He knew that if he didn’t pull back now, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. “Hey,” he said, pulling himself away from Pam, “We should probably slow down.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Pam said, breathing heavily. Her lips were red and swollen from his kisses.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying it,” he said as he sat up and put his arm around her, “But, I really like you and I want to make this work.”

“I know, me too,” she sighed, “Let’s just talk. Tell me a story about Dwight.”

“Mentioning Dwight is one way to take the wind out of my sails,” Jim laughed. He proceeded to tell her about the time he paid everyone in the office to call Dwight Dwayne all day. He was about done with the story when he felt Pam’s head drop softly onto his shoulder. He looked down to see that she had fallen asleep. He couldn’t help but let a small smile creep across his face. There was no more perfect moment than this one. He had briefly considered resting his head against the back of the couch and falling asleep himself, but rejected it at the thought of how sore they would both be in the morning if they slept like this all night. He glanced at the clock, it was 11 already and they had work in morning. Surely, Roy should be passed out by now.

“Hey,” Jim whispered softly in Pam’s ear.

“Oh,” she woke up slowly.

“I should get you home.”

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.

“That’s fine,” Jim said, still smiling.

Jim insisted on walking Pam to her door despite her concerns about Roy. She pointed out his truck in the parking lot so they knew he was home, but when they were outside her door, it was dead quiet.

“Sounds like he’s asleep,” Pam said embracing Jim in a full hug.

“Good, then I can do this.” Jim bent his head and kissed her.

“I had fun tonight,” he said pulling back.

“Me, too,” Pam said smiling, “I’ll see you tomorrow and maybe we can make plans for this weekend.”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh, and you’ll get to meet my mom,” Pam added, “She’s coming to visit tomorrow and wanted to meet me at work for some strange reason.”

“Cool, I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Goodnight, Jim.”

“Night, Pam.”

Jim waited while Pam let herself into her apartment and then headed to his car. “Not a bad night,” he said aloud to himself.

Pam woke up early the following morning. Despite her late night, she was still raring to go bright and early in the morning. She was excited to see Jim again after he kissed her goodnight at her door last night and she was even more excited to see her mom today. Her mom was driving in from Williamsport and meeting her at her office. Pam concluded that her mom’s motivation was to get a moment or two to meet Jim, whom Pam had been unknowingly talking about non-stop since she started her new job. Helene had made her aware of this when Pam had called to share the news of their first date.

“So, I have a date,” Pam had nervously blurted out in the middle of her mom blabbing on about something that had happened at work.

“With Jim?” Helene replied with a laugh.

“What? How did you know?”

“Oh, honey,” her mother continued, “I figured it was inevitable. You talk about him all the time. Talk of Jim seems to dominate our twice weekly phone calls.”

Apparently she had made her feelings obvious and now her mother was using the excuse of wanting to see Pam’s new office as a way to sneak a peak at Jim. Helene had initially suggested that they invite him along to their dinner, but Pam had quickly squashed the idea, deeming it too soon to meet the parents on that level. A quick hello and a handshake was fine, but a dinner out was out of the question.

Pam arrived at the office before everyone else, as per usual and was disappointed that the cameras arrived shortly after she did, but before Jim. She was hoping they would have a few minutes to chat, maybe make plans before the prying eyes of the camera arrived. They had decided to keep their budding relationship a secret from both their coworkers and the cameras for the time being.

She was still alone with the producer and cameramen when they asked her to do a talking head. She didn’t know what they had wanted to talk to her about so early in the morning and quickly became nervous, thinking they had somehow gotten wind of her date with Jim last night.

“So, you seem in a good mood today,” the producer Jen had started, “What’s up?”

“Oh, god, they know,” Pam thought to herself, “How did they know? Did they follow us?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You just seem happy,” Jen answered, “Something exciting going on today?”

“My Mom is coming in to visit. And she lives like two hours away. And she doesn't have a cell phone, which is cool cause it's kind of adding some suspense to my day. And I keep looking over at the door hoping she'll walk in,” Pam answered and Jen seemed to accept her answer so she told Pam she could go.

When Pam exited the conference room, Jim was settling at his desk.

“Good morning, Jim,” she greeted him, trying to contain her excitement.

“Morning, Beesly.”

“I was just about to have some tea in the kitchen. Want to join me?” Pam asked after making sure there were no cameras on them.

Jim nodded and followed her to the kitchen and it wasn’t long before a camera was right behind them, watching their every moves. She had planned on asking him what his plans for the weekend were, but that would have to wait.

“I’m excited to meet your mom,” Jim spoke first, picking a safe topic for the cameras.

“You are?” Pam looked surprised, she was nervous that the cameramen or Jen would wonder why one of her coworkers was excited to meet her mom. “I’m excited to show her around. She really wants to meet everybody.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Pam nodded, making a “hmmm” sound as she chewed a piece of chocolate.

“Good, because I have a lot of questions.”

“Oh, really?” Pam’s interests were piqued.

“Yeah. As a child did Pam show any traits that would hint towards her future career as a receptionist?”

Pam erupted into a fit of giggles. As funny as she thought Jim was, the cameraman did not share her sentiment and had decided to move on. When Pam finally regained her composure, she tilted her head towards the kitchen door to signal Jim that the camera was gone. Jim nodded, knowing what she had meant.

“So…” both Jim and Pam whispered at the same time.

“Go ahead,” Pam deferred to Jim.

“So, I was wondering if you had any plans tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Well, actually,” Pam cleared her throat, “I have my art class tomorrow night, “But I’m free all weekend."

“Okay, great, we’ll play it by ear then.”

They were interrupted by Dwight informing them that their presence was required at Toby’s sexual harassment seminar. It was your standard corporate America sexual harassment speech that Pam had sat through dozens of times before at previous jobs. When Toby began speaking of office romances and disclosing them to HR, she glanced up at Jim, who blushed before the cameras were on him and he lowered his gaze back to his desk. Fortunately, it was then that Phyllis indirectly admitted to a one night stand with someone in the office so the focus shifted to her. Pam spent a few minutes trying to figure out who Phyllis’s one night stand was, but decided that she did not want to think of any of the possibilities.

Things took a turn for the weird when Michael returned. He had both suggested that she make out with a blow up doll (Where did that come from?) and she date him. “I would drown myself,” she announced to the office when that idea sprang from his mouth.

The rest of the day continued in true Dunder Mifflin fashion. She had lunch with Jim in the break room, careful to not give too much away. She was quietly working at her desk when she heard her mom’s voice.

“Well, hello.”

“Oh my god!” Pam exclaimed.

“I finally made it.”

“Hello!”

Pam was showing her mom around her workspace when she saw Jim approaching out of the corner of her eye. She was about to introduce them when the door opened again.

“Oh, no,” Pam let out, prompting both her mom and Jim to looks towards the door.

“Roy?” The single syllable was uttered by Pam, Jim, and Helene, all three shocked to see him enter the office.

“Helene, hi,” Roy said as he went to embrace her.

“Roy, what are you doing here?” Pam questioned.

“I was just downstairs interviewing for a job in the warehouse.”

Pam rolled her eyes. It was then that she noticed Jim patiently waiting at her desk, munching on a few jelly beans.

“Mom, this is Jim,” she said, “Jim, my mom, Helene. Would you mind getting her a cup of coffee while I talk to Roy in the hallway?”

Pam grabbed Roy by the forearm and dragged him into the hallway.

“What are you doing?” she questioned angrily.

“I told you, I was interviewing for a job.”

“You can’t work here.”

“Why not?” Roy pleaded.

“Why not? WHY NOT?” Pam was livid now, “Because I work here. Just stop, please. I knew letting you stay on my couch was a bad idea.”

“I’m not following you, Pammy.”

“You need to move on, Roy,” she pleaded, “And that won’t happen if you see me everyday at work.”

“I just thought you’d be happy I’m looking for a job,” Roy said, “And this looks pretty promising. I think the guy down there liked me. What’s his name, Darnell?”

“Darryl,” Pam sighed.

“Yeah, Darryl,” he continued, “So, I think this could be really good for us. I get this job and we can start working on fixing things.”

“Roy, how many times do I have to say it? I’m not getting back together with you. I’ve moved on.”

“But, baby,” Roy started.

“No, no buts, it’s over. I don’t know how to make it any clearer for you. I went on date last night!”

“Yeah, but it was just a date. I can get past that.”

“No, Roy, it wasn’t just a date. We’re together.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me and Jim,” she sighed.

“Jim?”

“Yes, Roy, Jim. Jim Halpert. We’re together, we’re dating. It’s over between us. You can’t take this job and I think it would be best if you left my apartment today and found somewhere else to stay.”

Pam left Roy in the hallway and returned quietly to the office.

*************************************************

Jim watched as Pam exited with Roy. He had been excited to meet Pam’s mom, but wasn’t expecting to be alone with her.

“So, Mrs. Beesly, can I get you that cup of coffee?” he asked nervously.

“Please, Jim, call me Helene,” she responded, “And, yes, I would love some coffee.”

Helene quietly followed him to the kitchen where he prepared two cups of coffee.

“So, Pam tells me this is quite an interesting place to work,” Helene attempted to break the ice.

“I don’t think interesting is the right word.”

“Just answer me this: Is Dwight as crazy as Pam makes him out to be?”

“Absolutely,” Jim replied with a chuckle.

The documentary producer, Jen, entered the break room then, asking Jim to answer some questions in the conference room. Jim excused himself, telling Helene he would be right back and that hopefully Pam wouldn’t be much longer.

“So, Jim,” Jen started, “We noticed during the sexual harassment seminar something between you and Pam when Toby began speaking of office romances. Are you in an office romance?”

“Crap,” Jim thought. He looked around the room, stalling, trying to come up with a plausible explanation.

It was then that he noticed Michael’s blow up doll from earlier. “I'm in an office relationship. It's special. Um... she's nice. She's shy. She's actually here. You want to meet her? Hold on one second.” He pulled the doll into the shot with him, hamming it up for the cameras for a few seconds. When Jen realized she wasn’t going to get a serious answer from him, she sent him on his way.

He emerged from the conference room to see Pam and her mom talking quietly in front of her desk. He started to make his way over to them to apologize for abandoning Helene in the break room when the door to the office opened and Roy entered. There was something different about him then there was ten minutes ago. He seemed angry and his eyes were dark.

“Hey, Halpert,” he shouted.

“Hey.”

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Roy came at him, his fist cocked and ready to swing. Instinctively, he pushed Pam and Helene out of the way and braced himself for the punch. But the punch never came. Instead, he heard a distinct hissing sound and felt the spray of something hot and stinging in his eyes. He looked briefly at Roy, who was incapacitated on the floor, and then looked behind him to see Dwight, coughing with a now empty can of pepper spray in his hand.

A couple of months had passed since Roy had attempted to knock him out in front of all of his coworkers. The police were called and locked Roy up, but in the end, Jim declined to press charges against him as long as he agreed to leave Pam alone. Roy had honored the request and the last Pam had heard, he went to stay with a cousin in Pittsburgh and was looking for work out there.

With her ex out of the way, Jim and Pam continued to date quietly, spending most of their evenings together and after they had taken things slow for long enough, their overnights too. Sometimes a stretch of several days would go by without Jim returning to his apartment. The first time it had happened, Mark joked that he was about to call the police and file a missing person’s report.

They had agreed to continue to keep their relationship a secret from their coworkers and the cameras until they were both ready for it to be revealed. Jim had a feeling that his more perceptive coworkers suspected something was going on after Roy attempted to attack him, but no one said something directly. There were some knowing glances from Phyllis, Oscar, and Toby, but no one ever called them on it. They didn’t want the documentary crew to know because they did not want to become the focus of a documentary. They were totally happy playing the sane staff members amongst the crazy and unhinged.

It took all the strength they both had to control themselves at work. There were many a time when all Jim wanted to do was lean over and kiss her in the break room during lunch or hold her hand on their way out at the end of the day. They took separate cars to work the mornings after they had spent the night together and arrived at different times to avoid suspicion.

It was ironic that it was in his own home that the cameras had finally caught them. A week prior during a double date, Jim and Pam were entertaining Mark and his girlfriend with stories of Dwight and Mark was convinced they were making the stories up. Intent on proving him wrong, they began planning a barbecue to show Mark that Dwight is indeed very much real.

He hadn’t invited the camera crew to his house, but when they showed up before everyone else, he couldn’t argue. He had signed a contract giving them full access to his life, both in the office and outside.

He was about to give a tour of his place when Pam had shown up. To keep up the guise that they were just friends, she had come home with him earlier to help him set up, left to get changed, and returned fashionably late. She had joined their coworkers on the tour to make it seem like she hadn’t been there before, that she hadn’t spent late nights up in Jim’s bed making love and talking until the wee hours or mornings there making breakfast and getting ready for work.

Jim could blame Pam for accidentally outing them to the cameras. She must have gotten bored of the tour she’s been on more than a handful of times and hung back in Jim’s room.

“See, I knew we lost somebody on the tour,” Jim joked as he entered the room. Pam was sitting on his bed, flipping through his yearbook like she had done many times before. He looked behind him to check for cameras before shutting the door behind him.

He thought he had shut the door completely, but here he was sitting in the conference room the following Monday next to Pam, watching themselves on a TV monitor. It had been a tame kiss, a little more than a peck, but it was enough for the lone camera man to catch through the sliver of the door that remained open. The documentary producer, Jen, paused the video, freezing an image of Pam on her knees on Jim’s bed mid-embrace with a standing Jim. They were joined at the lips with his hands resting gently on her waist. Jen just looked at them, not having to say the words to the question they knew she wanted an answer to.

“No, that’s not. I mean that was,” Jim stuttered.

“Yeah, that was umm,” Pam attempted to help.

“I mean I can see how it would seem a bit like we umm. It looks like, umm, but I mean now a days you can edit anything, right? You can edit anything umm to look like anything.”

“Yeah, I gave him a kiss because…” Pam says as she glances towards Jim, “because we’re dating.”

“Wow,” Jim blushed, “There it is.”

“Uhh, yeah,” it was Pam’s turn to blush, “We haven’t told anybody, but it’s going really great. Right?”
br> “It is going really great.”

Jim had thought that once the documentary crew knew of their relationship, the rest of the office would soon follow. He had noticed that the camera crew had become increasingly interested in their interactions, but they didn’t breath a word to the rest of the staff.

It was a week later that Toby outed them to the rest of the office. It was his memo on PDA in the office and Michael’s relentless demands to know who it was about that led to an announcement in front of everyone. Jim could tell Pam was embarrassed and he was too, but a small part of him was happy they didn’t have to hide it anymore. He could kiss her at lunch, Toby’s memo be dammed, and he could hold her hand as they left the office.

They wouldn’t have to take separate cars anymore and stagger their arrivals, which meant they could spend more time in bed together in the morning. When she had first started there, Pam had become Jim’s reason to get out of bed, but now, she was his reason to stay in bed.