"Michael, what is this?" Stanley's monotone voice carried though the conference room.
"Ah, glad you asked. Welcome to Rockin' into '07: Part Deux, we're turning the office into par-tay central, we got streamers, music, strobe lights, we have it all"
"Part Deux?" Stanley was exasperated.
"You did not contact your party planning committee, how can you trust the outcome?" Angela became slightly irritated.
"Because, Angela, I was his partner in crime, and it. Will. Rock. Hard." Andy emphasized the last three words, trying to make a point.
[Angela: Such behavior would never fly in the Martin family. This is exactly why our family Christmas party is planned 11 months in advanced. In promptu activities are just begging for disaster.]
As Andy began handing out construction paper hats that read How Hard Can YOU Rock? Pam was beginning to get irritated with the situation. She couldn't find the humor in things that much anymore, ever since Jim came back.
"OK, thank you Andy, these hats are what we've been missing. Now let's really bring in the holiday spirit." Michael said proudly displaying his new hat, as he lifts 2 bottles of vodka. Meredith mouths "awesome"
Jim had held his tongue long enough. It was a little odd that he was bringing out alcohol at 11 in the morning, "Hey, uh, Michael, exactly what New Year are we celebrating?"
"Uh, hello-o Jim, the world's New Year, it happens every year."
"That New Year was 27 days ago" Karen chimed in as Jim slightly elbowed her side in encouragement.
[Pam: You know I really thought Michael was done with his after-thought parties. You should have been here for Groundhog Day: Take 2]
"Uh, fine. It's Chinese New Year. We'll celebrate our diversity."
"But Michael, Chinese New Year is on the..." Toby began to say before Michael rudely interrupted him.
"Shut. Just shut it Toby, you're not Chinese how would you know."
"It's on the calendar, it's on every calendar"
"You know what, give Andy back the hat, and I want you to leave. You are making me sick." Toby leaves without a word, "Alright, Pamela, I have a major task for you, I want you to read out the party activities"
"But Michael, there is a lot of work to be done here, I don't think that planned activities are such a good id.." Pam was cut off.
"You know what Pam, we've all dealt with you being a party pooper since the merge, it's time you let loose. Here" and he hands her a shot.
Pam looked at him as if she would live her dream, slap him, quit and storm out. But something stopped her, she looked around the room seeing everyone's reaction. Everyone was staring at her with the sympathy, even Dwight, who had slowly begun to disagree with Michael's activities out of pure disgust towards Andy. But that wasn't the most shocking thing to her, it was when she glanced at Jim, who in the past would have been the most sympathetic of them all, and saw him laughing with Karen. That's all Pam needed. "Ok, fine give me the shot" and Pam downed a double shot of vodka at 11:15 am.
"That's my girl! Now, lets let everyone know about the activities."
Pam began to read Michael and Andy's list, "OK, Noon: Lunch/Dance, ladies choice. Music by Kevin?"
[Kevin: I found out about it last night, Michael asked if I'd Dee Jay. I didn't say no. I'm hoping to spread more buzz about Scrantonicity]
"2:00: karaoke: the duets" Pam couldn't believe she had to read this. When she looked up she noticed Karen and Jim. Karen and Jim had always seemed to find themselves sitting next to each other in the corner. Pam had begun noticing this the day after he got back. It was like Jim had replaced her with this new girl. Every time Pam glanced over at Jim he was with her. She didn't hate her she hated the idea of her. Pam knew it was crazy but she felt like he was cheating on her. And because of that she felt like a fourth grader giving a report on bees in front of her class. But she snapped out of it and continued, "3:30: Special Performance, 4:30: Count down to '07."
"See Pam, that wasn't so hard, now who is ready to rock hard?" Michael asks the crowd; Andy and Kevin seem to be the only ones to raise their hand.
Before they could "rock" Michael had told everyone to go back to work until it was time for the lunch dance. At exactly noon, the lights flickered off and the strob lights began. Out of nowhere Michael and Andy collectively began to jump up and down the music Kevin was blasting. For awhile they were the only ones getting into the party, but the alcohol table was very popular.
Pam had parked herself in front of the spiked punch bowl, she did have to hand it to Michael and Andy, they did seem to have everything planned out, as she poured her 3rd glass wondering how that all even got there. Just then she heard a deep voice and a brush against her arm, Jim.
"You know Beesly, you are missing out on so much fun over here being a wallflower, plus I hear this punch is spiked."
Startled, she jumps a bit, "I'm more like a chaperone than a wallflower," she bagan as she noticed Jim pouring two glasses, "And I do know it's spiked, but you, what are you double fisting?"
Awkwardly, Jim looked down, "Uh no, I was, just getting, this for, um, Karen, I figure save her a trip," saying it as if Pam was oblivious to his relationship with Karen. He knew she knew he was seeing someone, but hoped she didn't know it was Karen. But of course she knew, she was good at those things.
"Ahh, that was nice of you, but if you don't mind, I have some chaperoning to do." and just turned around.
As Jim walked away he felt guilty for getting Karen a drink. Are you seriously letting Pam get to you, it's just a drink, she doesn't know. Yea, right. Keep telling yourself that. His thoughts were interrupted by Karen's toothy grin as she leaned up to thank him.
"Hey, I was thinking you and I should meet back in the break room, you know it is New Years: Part Deux, and it's that rule that you have to kiss someone at 4:30." Karen let her lips linger close to Jim's ears, trying to entice him.
Jim looked over at a very visibly intoxicated Pam "chaperoning" this ridiculous party. For a minute he felt bad for Pam, as she dropped her head down, it was a real pathetic site. Halpert, knock it off man, Pam doesn't want to that way, I'm sure she's just upset about something else, and you can just ask her later what's wrong. Karen. Likes. You. Pam is just a friend. You moron stop looking at her. His thoughts ended and looked down at Karen and smiled, "Oh, I'll be there."
Pam was told to round the "troops" for the final activity. It was bumped up a bit because it turns out no one likes karaoke as much as Michael believed. So instead he turned it into bad impression comedy hour, or so she named it. Pam was dreading this part all day, she just wanted to leave. Her 6 glasses of spiked punch had really got to her. As soon as Michael started the count down, Pam felt like she was about to throw up.
10
Where was Jim?
9
Karen is gone too, that's no surprise
8
I need some water; getting drunk won’t solve my problems
7
“I’m just going to go to the vending machine”
6
“Your loss Pam, we could have kissed” Michael yelled toward her.
5
Pam sees people in the break room, but doesn't make the connection
4
She reaches toward the handle
3
Slowly turns
2
Pam yells, "Oh, my God, I'm so... Jim!?"
1
Jim and Karen's lips break and Pam feels a tear shed, she had known all along that they had been together, but it was never actually admitted, but he told her he was seeing someone, just not Karen. Up until this point Pam could only assume is was Karen and dislike her, but now, now she saw, she really saw. All Pam can do is shut the door and leave. She wants to block out the memory of that kiss, that kiss that should have been with her, not Karen. It sobered her for a minute before she realized she was slightly drunk and ran outside forgetting her coat.
Ten minutes later Pam hears a door shut and a tall figure walk toward her. It was Jim.
"Hey Jim, listen, I didn't mean to walk in on you guys, I was just trying to get a bottle of water, and I really..."
"Oh, no that's OK, here I saw you were coatless," Jim hands her her puffy white coat and she puts it on, " I guess I should have been more specific when I said I was kinda seeing someone."
"Yea, probably."
"The thing is, Karen and I want to keep it private, mostly because I know how Michael acts in these sort of situations, plus I don’t want to be the next Ryan and Kelly," he tries to make a little joke, but it goes unnoticed.
"Oh yea, no, I just wish you would have told me, you know, I hate that we don't tell each other things anymore, I feel like I lost you."
"Don't worry Pam, you'll never lose me, you said it yourself, we'll always be friends." Even as he said it a part of him felt sad, he knew he wanted more if she offered, but she didn't, and really believed she never would. "I know you've been a little friendly with the vodka today, how about I drive you home, we can catch up. I don’t want to see you out in the cold."
"Thanks, Jim, but shouldn't you be getting back to your girlfriend," that word rang in her head over and over, he has someone, how quickly roles were reversed.
"No, she's totally cool with it, I told her when I came out that I wanted to make sure you got home OK."
Pam reluctantly agreed, "I guess, I mean I obviously can't drive myself. But do you mind if we stop at the gas station, I probably should get some coffee in my system."
"Sure, no problem. Hey and on the way we can talk about why you decided to start drinking so early in the day, Meredith."
"Hey, I had my reasons, how else would I have dealt with this day?"
"You're right Beesly, you really did rock into '07."
"You know it."
Jim opened the passenger door to let Pam in, she couldn't believe how sweet he was being to her, and she began to think that they were hopeless. Somehow she would change his mind back. She had to. It's was Jim for crying out loud! She hated not being Jim and Pam, and she had to fight for it. At that moment it all clicked. She'd win him back. As she thought, Pam had a huge smiled on her face. Why she really didn't know, but she finally felt like she was ready for whatever came. Jim noticed her change in demeanor and asked what was going on.
"Oh nothing, I just have a feeling 2007 is going to be a good year."
“Attention in the Office!” Michael busts through his office door excited about what he has in store.
Pam had just sat at here desk ready to log onto her computer when she heard Michael. She can’t remember a time when yelling wasn’t involved in the morning greeting Michael had given every day of her employ. Some were actually normal ‘good morning’s’, but on some occasions he decided urgency was the best decision. Pam rolled her eyes to look over at Michael who had made his way over to her desk.
“On account of the holiday, there will be a special meeting in the conference room in about 5 minutes, so just hurry up.”
“Question: will this take long, I have a very important meeting,” as he said this, his eyes traveled over to Angela’s empty desk, “Can I perhaps skip this group meeting and catch up on the minutes later?”
“No, Dwight, this is a group activity. We must bring all together on this day of love, because when you love, you are together, and when you are together, you are happy.”
As everyone slowly piled their way into the conference room, they were greeted by the dry erase board boasting huge letters reading “Office of Love”, in red, naturally.
“Welcome to the Office of Love!” Michael seemed so proud of what he was about to say. “You may ask yourself, what is Office of Love? Well I will tell you. Office of Love is a competition.” Karen and Jim give each other a quizzical look from their little corner.
[Michael: Office of Love? Yea, totally my brainchild. I was sitting around the condo last night thinking of ways to improve togetherness for the folks of Dunder Mifflin, when it came to me. Competition. What can bring so many people together more than a friendly little office competition. It’s heartwarming, really.]
“You may ask yourself, why are their so many empty boxes and sheets of colorful paper?”
Pam couldn’t resist, this was too much, so she turned toward Jim who she had luckily grabbed a seat next to and whispered, “You may ask yourself, how did I get here?” quoting the Talking Heads. Jim smiled and let out a little chuckle.
“We are all going back to second grade today. Each of you will decorate your own personal valentine box, this is so everyone has a chance.”
“I am not wasting my time on that,” Stanley got up and left
“Fine, Stanley’s out, everyone else, decorate your box, next, and this is the important part, you will make five and only five valentines. You give them to the five people you find the most important to you. The person at the end of the day with the most valentines wins.”
“Michael, I thought everyone gave everyone a valentine.” Phyllis sweetly chimed in.
“I don’t know what school you went to but at my school, we lived in the real world, you had to fight for your milk, it was brutal.”
“But we went to the same school,” Phyllis added.
“Ugh, fine. You were a girl, it was different,” Michael responded emphasizing were for some reason, “Let’s get cracken!”
Pam actually liked this idea for once, aside from the fact people would be left out. She was just happy she got to use some creativity in the office for once. She went to decorating right away, making a lovely pink and red box. Then she went for the valentines, she knew exactly one person who she wanted to give to but had no idea what to draw. As she sat thinking, Pam was interrupted by the flower guy. This year didn’t bother her that she wasn’t going to get anything, until this particular delivery.
“Flowers for a Karen Filipelli?” the man called out as Pam stood dejected.
“Uh, yea. That’s me.” Karen replied, looking confused. She walked them over to her desk and sat down with a smile. She sheepishly looked over at Jim who gave her an approving smile and a wink. She started to blush. Pam saw this interaction.
[Pam: Does it bother me about Jim and Karen? No, that’s old news. Plus I’m starting to like her. She’s very sweet, and she makes him happy. She deserved the flowers; I mean Jim must be a good boyfriend. I just hope she doesn’t choke on them by accident.]
During lunch time Pam and Jim found themselves alone in the kitchen talking about how silly the valentine card game was.
“I really never had that great of an experience with Valentines Day,” Jim had begun to tell her. “It was always so pointless to me, I mean it’s just a day, why can’t you let people know you care about them. Plus I never liked getting valentines.”
“Oh, come on Jim, there has to be some good memory about Valentines Day.”
“Actually, you know what, there was one. My girlfriend in 4th grade got me this pretty cool valentine; it was Michelangelo and a slice of pizza with the phrase Kowabunga, Valentine on it.”
“Wow, how can you not resist that?”
“I know, right? So what about you? Any great valentines of the past?”
“I don’t know that I’ve had a good Valentines Day in a long while. I mean when I was little my mom had always gotten me little trinkets or candy or something like that. Just something little. I always loved that.”
Just then Karen walked in to grab her lunch and playfully smiled at Jim. Pam quietly excused herself as she heard Karen giggle, afraid to turn around and see what happened.
At this point she didn’t care; she was on a tiny mission. She ran directly to her desk and got out a pen and the paper for the valentines. She immediately googled images of Michelangelo for reference. She was going to recreate Jim’s best valentine. After about five attempts to make it perfect, she finally got it, adding the final touches.
It was unusually quiet that afternoon as people slowly milled around handing out cheesy little valentines all day when Pam noticed something. Dwight and Angela had gone missing. Playing investigator, she got up from her desk and walked to the break room, she had noticed Angela walk that way a few minutes ago. As she peered around the corner, unbeknownst to her that Michael had followed her, she saw Dwight and Angela sprawled out on the table making out.
“Oh, yuck! Dwight, this is just, Angela, really?” Michael yelled out making Pam jump back only to run with laugher.
“Woah, Pam, what’s the rush” Jim had stopped her as she ran into him on accident.
Breathless from the laughing, Pam just blurted out “Dwight! Angela! My eyes!”
“No way, I have to see this,” as he ran over seeing them walk back to their desks, clothes all disheveled.
Michael came back shaking his head, “I know I meant for togetherness today, but not this way, Dwight, just, really?” he was still in shock. “On a less disgusting note, you all have 5 minutes to make you final deliveries. Some of us only have one.”
Pam grabbed her valentine for Jim, she hadn’t even made another for anyone else. As she walked over she felt nervous for some reason, this is stupid, she thought, it’s not like I’m telling him I love him or anything. She finally got to his empty desk, and placed it in the center. She caught Jim in the corner of her eye and quickly walked back. As she sat down she saw Jim had noticed the delivery. He didn’t look at her, but she saw him smiling, just then Karen walk over. “Hey, Jim,” as she said that Jim slid the card in his back pocket. Pam knew he liked it.
“Hey you, what’s up?” Jim asked
“Oh, I know we planned on leaving together tonight, but I have to go back to my apartment and change, I left my bag there this morning, is that OK?”
“Not a problem, I can just pick you up at 7.”
“Perfect” she said as she touched his arm. Pam had saw the interaction and hoped her flowers died by the time she got back to her desk.
“OK everyone; it’s time to reveal the winner. Everyone empty their boxes!” Michael was as giddy as every. As Michael dumped his he was surprised with a lack of love. “What, one? ONE? Who is it... Andy, thank you. Wow. OK, you know what. Game over. There is no winner. Lets just go home. Happy Valentines Day, you people.” And he ran into his office and slammed the door.
Pam hadn’t paid any attention to his outburst as she was frantically searching for a valentine from Jim. Nothing. She had got a few, but none from Jim. Creed had even given her one, but it read Have a good day, Dawn. Pam started to feel like crap, and sat down. This was exactly why she hated this day. Some how Pam hadn’t realized how late it was, and noticed she was alone in the office, of so she thought.
“Hey Pam, how’d you make out?” it was Jim.
“Oh, alright I guess. I got seven. Well technically six, one was for Dawn.”
“Creed?”
“Who else would it have been?”
"Well I better get going, have a good night. Happy Valentines Day.” Jim tapped his hands on her desk as he started for the door.
“OK, Jim, you too.”
Before he got to the door, he stopped and turned pulling something shinny out of his pocket. “Oh Beesly, you forgot one…” as he tossed Pam a little silver heart magnet. “Kowabunga, Valentine”
Pam caught it with a smile as she looked down and notice the little something he gave her. It was the first Valentines Day in 11 years that wasn’t horrible.