It was early for lunch. Pam hoped that she’d have a solid half-hour to herself before the others started filtering into the break room, chatting about sandwich places and last night’s football game and the unexpectedly strong performance of a new paper color that Dunder Mifflin had just released, interrupting her peace and quiet.

 

A few weeks ago, she would have been happy to give up lunch time peace and quiet for good. She had assumed, when Jim came back from Stamford, that her solitary lunches were over, that she would return to spending lunch time with him, joking and laughing and basking in the warmth of their reunion. Then Jim came back, with his more serious drink (bottled water) and his more serious hair cut (shorter and without the stray curls behind his ears) and his more serious attitude toward work (no pranks since the merger beyond the unconscious habit of mildly annoying Dwight). And, most difficult of all, his serious declaration on that very first day that he had “sort of started seeing” someone. It didn’t take long for Pam to realize that “someone” was Karen and that she was beautiful and intelligent and had obviously helped Jim move past whatever he’d once felt for Pam.

 

It had been hard, adjusting to having him back in the office, but not really back to her. Jim and Karen ate together now when he was in the office, sharing jokes and stories and laughing together. Pam had shifted her schedule so she could at least avoid being in the break room with them, but her solitary lunch hours seemed lonelier than before. She’d tried eating with Kelly for a while, but that was worse, since Kelly was completely taken with Karen and talked endlessly about her clothes and her complexion and her hair and which celebrity she looked the most like. It didn’t take long for Pam to go back to solo dining, usually at her desk. It wasn’t exactly fun, but better than the alternatives.

 

Today, she was glad that she had a habit of eating alone. When she’d gotten up to go into the break room, no one followed her. She would have stayed at her desk, but she needed space for her sketchbook and some time away from the ringing of the phone to concentrate. Her yogurt and chips sat neglected on the table as she focused on the series of drawings in front of her. She didn’t look up when she heard the door open, hoping to discourage socializing.

 

“Hey. Mind if I sit with you?”

 

She looked up to find Karen hovering beside the table. Great. Just the person Pam wanted to see. She wanted to say that she minded Karen sitting anywhere in the Scranton office. In fact, she wanted to suggest that Karen would have to take a nice long walk to find a seat that Pam didn’t mind her taking. In the middle of Lake Wallenpaupack would be good. Or all the way back in Connecticut, if possible. But that would have been rude and, even in her “fancy” new incarnation; Pam couldn’t bring herself to be rude to perfectly nice people. Dwight, maybe. Karen, no.

 

“Um, no. I’ve got an assignment to finish before my art class tonight, though, and lunch is the only time I really have to work on it, so I may not be great company.“ Pam turned her attention back to her sketch pad to emphasize the point.

 

“That’s okay. I just needed a break. Michael’s been testing his sales pitch jokes on us for the last half hour. He exhausted the clean jokes ten minutes ago and he apparently wasn’t ready to quit yet, so . . . dirty ones. Jim’s meeting with a client outside the office, so he can’t control Michael and Toby tried – but you can guess how that went.” Karen set her bag down on the table and walked over to the vending machine to get a bottle of water. “I thought he’d get discouraged if I just didn’t laugh, but Dwight and Andy are more than making up for me. If the two of them don’t stop this sucking-up competition, the whole office could get pull into their black hole of . . . brown nose?” Karen pulled out a chair and dropped into it.

 

“Black hole of brown nose?” Pam smiled in spite of herself. “That’s an, uh . . . interesting image.”

 

“Yeah, I sort of started that metaphor with nowhere to go. I’ll have to think of a better one.” Karen returned the smile and pulled a sandwich and some chips out of her bag. “So, what’s the class you’re taking? If you don’t mind being distracted for a minute?”

 

“It’s an art class. On illustrating, actually.”

 

“I didn’t know you were an artist. Is that why you’re working as a receptionist – you’re a struggling artist?”

 

Pam looked up quickly to gauge whether Karen’s last comment was sarcastic, but all she saw was sincere interest. So Jim hadn’t mentioned that she liked to draw. He probably hadn’t mentioned her to Karen at all, since he hadn’t actually mentioned Karen to her even when he told her that had “sort of started seeing” someone. She’d known, of course, and she was sure that it was obvious to the rest of the office now, too. She had noticed Phyllis giving her a sympathetic look when Jim first passed up an empty seat next to her in an office meeting in favor of a seat behind Karen and even Kelly had recognized that Pam and Jim weren’t particularly friendly anymore. When Kelly asked if she and Jim were mad at each other, Pam told her it was nothing – that with his new job responsibilities, Jim was just too busy for all the silliness. Pam shook her head gently to clear it of Jim thoughts and focused on Karen, who was patiently waiting for an answer to her question.

 

“Well, not really. I’ve always liked art, but I wasn’t doing much when I started working here. I’ve been doing a lot more recently, though. Since . . . since this summer.” Pam ducked her head back to her sketchpad. She really didn’t want to talk to Karen about Roy or the wedding.

 

“Oh, right. Kelly told me what happened. I didn’t ask or anything; she just volunteered,” Karen added quickly when she saw the surprised and guarded look on Pam’s face. “That must have been hard for you. It’s good that you had an outlet. You know something to focus on.”

 

Kelly told her, Pam thought. Another thing that Jim didn’t mention. “Yeah, it was good. And I’ve been taking some evening classes since then, too. So, anyway, I’ve got this assignment. . . .” Pam looked back down at her sketchpad, hoping that Karen would get the hint.

 

“Right. So, what’s the assignment?” Pam could feel herself beginning to get annoyed. Couldn’t this woman take a hint? She gritted her teeth and looked up, ready to give as curt an answer as possible, but when she saw Karen looking back at her with an open, friendly expression on her face, the anger faded. It made sense, she supposed. She and Karen were about the same age; they were definitely among the most normal people in an office of pretty unusual folks; and Karen was new. She was just trying to strike up a friendship. And even though Pam would have much preferred hating Karen – or at least disliking her intensely, she felt a little sorry for her. She had certainly needed a friend when she started working here. Karen probably did, too.

 

“We have to create a graphic novel by the end of the course. They’re really big now – like a comic book but with a better story line. A lot of kids’ books are being done as graphic novels.”

 

“Oh, I think my nephew likes those. The ones from Japan with all the magical fighting and stuff.”

 

“Yeah, I’ve seen those. They’re pretty glossy – like bound comic books -- but that’s the idea. We have to come up with a graphic novel for kids by the end of class and, tonight, we have to have sketches of our main characters.”

 

“Wow, that sounds like it would be fun to do. What’s your story about?”

“Well, the professor told us to use a place that we know, so. . . the office. But I didn’t want to draw people. They’re so complicated and I didn’t think kids would really be interested in a book about working in an office. Plus no adults would believe our office was real. So I’m making the office into a farmyard. Like Animal Farm, you know? That way, I can draw animals which I’m way better at doing and our office stories might seem more believable and less . . . sad.”

 

“Seriously? You’re going to draw everyone here as a farmyard animal?” Karen laughed. “Let me guess, Michael is a jackass.”

 

Pam was surprised to feel herself genuinely smiling at Karen for the first time since the day of the merger. “Actually, I thought of that. He’s not so good at staying out of people’s things, though. I was afraid that he would see my sketchbook and ask about the drawings. I don’t want to explain to him why I think he’s a donkey.”

 

“Right. Might be a bad conversation to have with your boss. Have you drawn anyone else?”

 

“Yeah. The canary in the little shed by the farm gate is supposed to be me. You know, greeting people as they come on the farm – like the receptionist.” Pam didn’t mention that the canary was also a caged bird that she planned to set free in the first chapter. She didn’t think Karen needed that level of detail.

 

“This is Phyllis.” Pam pointed to a broody hen, being trailed by several small chicks. “She doesn’t really have children, but she reminds me of a mother hen. Trying to look after the rest of us in the office. Plus, that means I get to make Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration into a rooster. And this, of course, is Angela.” She pointed to a drawing of a barnyard cat, but one with pristine mostly white fur and neat, symmetric black patches. It was walking on the top of the fence post and looking with great disdain at the muddy ground below and the animals that were walking or lying in it. “And this is Creed.” A sly rat sniffed at the contents of a feed bin, its long tail curled around it and its eyes darting to one side, carefully watching its surroundings

 

“Of course.” Karen studied the drawings. “Wow. I could definitely pick out Angela as the cat. It looks like her. That pinched expression on her face. And Creed the Rat looks about as mysterious as Creed the person seems. So who else have you captured?”

 

“That’s it, so far. I thought about doing Kevin as a pig, but that just seemed mean.”

 

“Definitely. Too obvious. You need something more subtle.” Karen leaned forward and started at the sketchpad. “I know. How about a goat?” Pam looked a little confused and Karen gave her a knowing half smile. “You know. Goats are a little . . . randy. And they’ll eat anything.”

 

Pam laughed out loud for the first time in weeks. “That’s a great idea. How about this?” A few swift flicks of her pencil and a chubby goat with a slightly bewildered expression on his face appeared on the ground just below the fussy cat on the fence railing.

 

“That’s perfect.” Karen said. “You’re really good, you know. If you aren’t working as a receptionist because you’re a struggling artist, you should be.” Although she didn’t really want to, Pam felt warmed at the compliment. Someone besides Jim had noticed her art, someone with no possible ulterior motive. Maybe she really was good.

 

Karen pulled her chair closer. “So,” she said conspiratorially, “who should we draw next?” Pam moved the sketch pad to a spot where they could both see it easily, forgetting that she was supposed to be annoyed and that she was supposed to be suggesting ways for Karen to disappear.

 

            When Jim walked into the office, he could feel his headache getting worse.  He’d just spent two hours meeting with a potential new customer, the owner of a start-up party planning company, who had expected him to be able to match paper colors to party themes with the same ease as those machines that paint stores use to mix wall colors to match the background flowers in someone’s drapes.  He was pretty sure that he’d closed the deal, but the conversation had strained his sanity.

 

            He took a quick stock of his co-workers.  Michael was trying to bond with his employees again, sitting in Jim’s chair and rolling back and forth between Andy and Dwight’s desks, telling jokes or stories as he went, while the two of them competed for the number three spot by laughing uproariously.  Ryan had shrunk down in his seat, as if he were trying to disappear behind his computer.  Angela, on the other hand, was sitting as rigidly as possible in her chair, obviously hoping to intimidate Michael into good behavior by virtue of her work ethic.  Phyllis and Stanley weren’t at their desks; lunch outside the office, he supposed.  And Pam and Karen were also missing.  They’d probably found excuses to get outside the range of Michael’s jokes, too.  A nice solo lunch in the break room would be good.

 

            Jim dropped his messenger bag and jacket at his desk, waved and gave a weak smile and thumbs up in response to Michael’s booming “Hey, Number Two, how’d ya do?”, grabbed his lunch and ducked quickly into the break room.  He stopped abruptly when he saw Karen and Pam, laughing together, heads bent over a sketchbook. 

 

            “Hey,” he said awkwardly.  The two of them looked up quickly.  Karen’s smile got wider, while Pam’s faded.  It held steady at polite, however, so Jim felt brave enough to go on.  “What’s up?  You look like you’re planning something that the Number Two guy in the office should know about.”

 

            “Pulling rank, Halpert?”  Karen teased.  “Relax.  No girl power pranks being planned here.  Pam’s just showing me her drawings for her class tonight.”

 

            “Oh, yeah?”  Jim looked from Karen’s warm smile to Pam’s strained one.  “Sounds interesting.  I was just going to grab a soda for lunch.  So. . .”

 

            “Oh, no.  We need your opinion on this last drawing.”  Karen looked at Pam, inviting her to join the teasing.

 

            “Uh, sure.  That would be good.  The more the merrier, right?”  Pam said awkwardly.

 

            Jim caught the disinvitation in Pam’s voice, but he figured the easiest way to extricate himself would be to look at the drawing quickly and move on.  He walked over and set his lunch bag on the table.  “Okay, what am I looking at?”

 

            “The fox.  What do you think?” 

 

            “I think it looks like a fox.  Nice job, Pam.”

 

            “Yes, but does it look familiar?”  Karen said, grinning widely.  Jim couldn’t imagine the payoff.

 

            “Can’t say that I know a lot of foxes.  So, no on the familiar.  Is it a famous fox?  Am I going to be embarrassed that I didn’t recognize it?”

 

            “It’s you.  Can’t you tell?”  Jim looked from the grinning Karen to Pam, who was beginning to look amused as well.

 

            “Ummm . . .  no.  Don’t really see the resemblance.  But, uh, thanks for thinking of me when you think of fox.  I haven’t heard that word since junior high, but I seem to remember that it was a compliment.”

 

            “Not that kind of fox,” Karen corrected.  “A sly fox.  You know.  A trickster, like in Bre'r Rabbit.  We started with a weasel, but that had some bad connotations, so . . . .”

 

            Jim looked at Pam, who first stared steadily on the sketchpad and then, as she felt his eyes on her, raised a slightly guilty face to him and gave a small shrug of apology.  Karen continued, not noticing the exchange.  “Pam has been filling me in on your history as the office prankster.  Gaydar?  Putting Dwight’s things in the vending machine?  Nickels in the phone handset?  You must have been the person who put Andy’s stapler in Jell-O, right?”

 

            “Okay, you caught me.”  Jim smiled, raising his hands in mock surrender.  “Just don’t tell him, okay?  I think he’s still mad.  I’m afraid he may take out a hit on me or something.   So someone want to explain why my sly fox self part of Pam’s artwork?”

 

            Karen looked at Pam, who hesitated and then explained the assignment.  Within minutes, Jim had pulled up a chair and the three of them were debating the finer points of the various farm animals that were being considered for Michael.

 

            “No, a bull would just make him overconfident,” Jim said.  “I don’t think he’d catch the reference to the bull. . . puckey.  There’s got to be a better animal for him.  What about a jackass?”

 

            “Yeah, been there.  We thought it was too obvious.”  Karen rolled her eyes at Pam, making her laugh again. 

 

            Unreal, Jim thought.  I’m sitting at a table with Karen and Pam, making jokes.  He saw Pam cast a quick glance at him and realized that she must be thinking the same thing.  She caught his eye then and gave him a small, but genuine smile.  He could feel his stomach lurch and his heart begin to beat a little faster.  Even though he knew that he shouldn’t care, he wanted to make her smile even more, see if a real smile from Pam could still give him that familiar warm, happy feeling from his toes to the top of his head.  He closed his eyes for a moment and leaned back in his chair.

 

            “I’ve got it.  A horse.”

 

            “A stallion?”  Pam asked skeptically.  “Jim, that’s going to go to his head just as much as a bull.  Besides exactly what about Michael says ‘stallion’ to you?”

 

            “Ah, that’s the good part.  Not a stallion.  A gelding.”  Jim nodded knowingly, obviously impressed with his own ingenuity.  “See, the gelding doesn’t know it’s not a stallion, even though the rest of us do.  His whole goal is trying to be a stud and we all know it will never happen in a million years.”

 

            Karen and Pam exchanged a look and then both of them burst out laughing.   Jim exhaled.  Yup, it was still there.  Warm from the tip of his toes to the top of his head.  And a bonus, he reminded himself, for making Karen laugh, too.

 

            “Mean, Halpert.  Definitely mean.  But good.”  Pam turned her attention to her sketch book and quickly drew a rough outline of a stallion/gelding.  “And, if Michael is a gelding/stallion, that means that we can make Andy and Dwight mules.  You know, wannabe stallions.”

 

            “You can tell them that they’re the workhorses of the office.  That should make Dwight happy.”  Jim looked at the drawings that Pam had already done.  “These are really great, Pam.  Now you just need some good stories.”

 

            “Hey,” Karen interrupted.  “I think we’ve missed a few people.”  She looked pointedly at Jim and Pam.

 

            “Oh, yeah,” Pam said, sheepishly.  “We need you.  Let me think.”

 

            “How about a sweet little lamb?” Jim joked, reaching over to pat her head.  Karen made a face and jokingly batted his hand away.

 

            “No,” Pam said, trying hard to ignore the flirting and stay focused on the assignment.  It wouldn’t help anyone to get snitty now.  “You don’t actually remind me of a farm animal, Karen.”

 

            “Which is a good thing,” Karen interrupted. 

 

            Pam smiled, but otherwise ignored the comment and continued to think.  “What about . . . a mink?”

 

            “Huh. A little animal that gets made into fur coats?  I’m not sure I like where this is going.  What about me says mink?”  Karen asked.

 

            Pam blushed a little.  She didn’t want to tell Karen that her first thought had been “minx” and she’d moved on from there.  It wasn’t fair really.  Karen wasn’t doing anything wrong, just dating a great, otherwise unattached guy.  She tried another tack.  “It’s just . . . sleek and shiny and . . . a little exotic.  Even if its dad wasn’t a G.I.”  Karen and Jim both laughed at that and Pam realized that Karen had filled him in on that little Michael-ism.  “And you don’t really belong to this office yet.  So I was thinking something that’s not necessarily part of the farm, something wild.  Like Jim’s fox, really.  I promise there are no fur coats in your character’s future, but I can totally do something else, if you don’t want to be a mink.”

 

            “What, I don’t get a choice about being a fox?”  Jim asked, pretending to be insulted.

 

            “No.”  Pam and Karen said at the same time, then looked at each other and laughed again. 

 

            “A mink is good.  I can see me as a mink.  Thanks.”  Karen glanced at her watch.  “Wow.  We’ve been here a while.  I’d better get back to work.”

 

            “Oh, me, too.”  Pam started gathering her things.

 

            “Do you mind showing me some of the novel once you get it going?”  Karen asked.  “I’d really like to see what this office looks like as a farm.”

 

            “Sure,” Pam replied.  “We have to turn in one chapter a week between now and the end of class.  It would be great to get a second opinion on the story line before I turn it in.  I’ve done drawings for stories before, but I’ve never written one.  I’m not really sure where to start.”

 

            Jim watched Karen and Pam walk to the door together.  Karen turned and winked at him before leaving the break room with Pam.  He nodded in return, still feeling a little bewildered.  Karen and Pam talking and laughing together.  Even talking and laughing with him.  He never would have guessed that they would be friends, that they could all be friends.  But that was good, right?

 

 

Over the next few weeks, Pam and Karen got into the habit of having lunch together a few times each week. The first week, Pam hesitantly approached Karen the day before her assignment was due to ask if she wanted to take a look at the first chapter. Pam had fleshed out the first part of the story, in which the canary, recently purchased by the farmer’s son, arrives on the farm and meets the fox, who helps her to escape from her cage and introduces her to the rest of the animals on the farm, but was worried that the story was too flat. Karen had some ideas for the escape that made the chapter more exciting and even suggested a good reason for the farmer’s son not to simply recapture the canary and put her back in the cage – something Pam had wondered about herself while she was writing. They met for lunch again the next day, because Karen couldn’t wait to read the revised story.

 

By the third week, Karen was stopping by reception to see if Pam wanted to have lunch every day that Jim was out of the office and many when he wasn’t. Some days, Jim joined them; sometimes, he didn’t. On the days before her class, however, he always found time for a shared lunch. They called these lunches their “project meetings” and Pam started to look forward to them more than anything else in the office. She was sure that Jim enjoyed seeing their previous life in the office captured on the page as much she did. And on project meeting days, they were almost the old friends they’d been before everything changed.

 

“Oh, my god,” Karen exclaimed, practically doubled over with laughter. “You did not convince Dwight to seal himself into a box to spy on people.”

 

This week’s installment featured Pam the Canary and Jim the Fox convincing Dwight the Mule that the farmer was planning to sell off some of the farm animals. The last panels showed Dwight the Mule rolled inside a hay bale, trying to sneak closer to the farmer without being noticed and narrowly avoiding being eaten by Stanley, whom Pam had drawn as a slow-moving, slightly cantankerous bull. 

“That was the beauty of it. I didn’t have to convince him,” Jim grinned at the sweet memory. “He thought of it all by himself. Pam was inspirational, though. She had him convinced that she held all the secrets of the downsizing. That was why he was so sure he had to get in on that secret meeting in the warehouse.”

 

“Oh, but the meeting was all Jim’s idea. Such a sly fox.” Pam returned the compliment warmly.

 

“Well, if you could convince Dwight to hide in a box, I wonder if we could convince Andy to mail himself somewhere. Somewhere far. Like the Staples headquarters. Isn’t that in Massachusetts somewhere?”

 

“Nah. Andy went to Cornell. He probably learned that it isn’t a very good idea to mail yourself anywhere. Either that or his fraternity brothers already tried it.” Jim turned in his seat and tossed his lunch bag into the trash can. “Two points.”

 

“Hey, I wonder if I can put the basketball game with the warehouse guys in this story somewhere.” Pam chewed on her pencil thoughtfully.

 

“A basketball game in the warehouse, huh? I bet you ruled the court.” Karen dropped her hand onto Jim’s leg and gave a gentle squeeze.

 

“I did okay.” Jim said quickly, glancing at Pam and moving his leg gently from under Karen’s hand. “I don’t think you could convince anyone that a fox was a basketball star. Besides, you haven’t made up characters for any of the warehouse people. That would be a lot of new people to add.”

 

“I guess you’re right,” Pam said. “I’m going to have to start thinking about how to wrap this thing up anyway. There are only a couple more weeks in the class.”

 

The break room door opened and Kelly and Ryan entered. Kelly had discovered the graphic novel a few weeks ago. She had been a little confused at first at seeing herself drawn as a bird, but had been happy that she was included. Pam had been worried that she’d be insulted by her chattering magpie alter ego, but Karen had leaped in to fix things.

 

“A magpie?” Kelly had asked when Pam pointed out her character in the novel. “What’s that? Why am I a magpie?”

 

“It’s a song bird,” Karen answered quickly. “You know, bringing cheer and news to the other animals on the farm.”

 

“Oh, that’s cool. I like that. What’s Ryan? He has to be a bird, too. Because our characters wouldn’t work if he was a cat or something. We have to be compatible, because we are so compatible in real life. Don’t you think so? Maybe he can be a magpie, too? That would make sense, right? Because then we’d drawn together, just like we were in real life.”

 

Remembering how Ryan managed to keep Jim’s desk after the merger, Pam’s first instinct was to make Ryan a snake in the grass, but she dismissed that uncharitable impulse quickly. Besides, Pam suspected that making Ryan’s character “compatible” with Kelly the Magpie would be sufficient revenge all by itself.

 

After several bad suggestions from Kelly, a few good ones from Jim and Karen and a little internet research, she settled on a Scarlet Tanager. When Kelly saw the first drawing of the tiny Ryan Tanager, with his bright red body and black wings, she ran to Ryan’s desk and dragged him into the break room. Ryan looked down at the little bird with disbelief.

 

“That’s supposed to be me?”

 

“Sure,” Pam answered, trying to look serious. “You know. Hottest in the office. I had to find a really pretty bird.”

 

Ryan shook his head in disgust and left the break room, a chattering Kelly following behind. By the end of the day, though, Ryan had done some research of his own and told Pam with grim satisfaction that Scarlet Tanagers were migratory, so he’d take it.

 

Michael, of course, loved his character. When he saw the project for the first time, he started referring to himself as the “office stallion.” He lobbied for Ryan the Tanager to be one of those grooming birds that rides around on hippos or elephants – or horses, when in its northern range. The idea made Pam giggle. Ryan wasn’t so amused when he saw his alter ego riding around on Michael the Gelding’s rump and picking burrs out of his mane at Michael’s direction. Kelly exclaimed that Pam had captured Ryan’s facial expressions perfectly, although she didn’t seem to register that Ryan the Tanager generally looked as if he were weighing the options for escape. Jim pointed out that the bird was earning oats from Michael’s feeding trough, which was probably a good business decision, but Ryan just shook his head. He stopped reading the new chapters after that.

 

Once Kelly heard about the assignment, so did the rest of the office. Then everyone started approaching Pam to find out about their character and anyone that she hadn’t thought to include had to be added. Toby became a sad-eyed border collie, trying to herd everyone in the same direction but constantly thwarted by Michael the Gelding (or Stallion, if he was within earshot). Meredith was a goose with a special affection for the slightly fermented dregs at the bottom of the grain bin. Oscar was the most difficult, since he seemed so far removed from anything related to farm animals. Pam eventually decided, despite his personal aversion to them, to make him into a sleek, well-groomed house cat. At least, since he was still on his extended vacation, he couldn’t object.

 

When Dwight heard about the project, he immediately sought out Pam. He found her eating lunch with Karen and Jim.

 

“Question. In this project of yours, am I a mule or a hinny?”

 

“A what?” Pam asked, nearly choking on her yogurt.

 

“He said a ninny, Pam,” Jim informed her. “Dwight, man, don’t be so hard on yourself. You can make a mess of things sometimes, but we wouldn’t call you a ninny. Not in a public document, at least.”

 

“Not a ninny, Jim. A hinny. I want to know if my character is a mule or a hinny.”

 

“Okay, you’re going to have to fill us in. We’re not up to date on our beet farm terms. What exactly is a hinny?”

 

“It is not a beet farm term, Jim. Everyone knows that the mule is the offspring of a female horse and a male donkey, while the hinny is the offspring of a male horse and female donkey.” Dwight glared at Jim; Jim stared back, a puzzled expression glued to his face.

 

Pam interrupted the stare-down. “Ummm. . . I hadn’t really thought about it. I think you’re a mule.”

 

“Good. That’s good. The mule is the stronger and more productive of the two. And is sometimes fertile. So I will be a fertile, strong and productive mule.”

 

“Umm, yeah. Dwight, I don’t think Pam is going to talk about whether Dwight the Mule is fertile in this story. It’s for kids.” Jim quirked an eyebrow and nodded once for emphasis.

 

“All children have to learn the facts of life sometime, Jim. It’s best if they do so naturally – by observing farm animals, for example. That is how my father explained the process to me.”

 

Karen and Pam exchanged a look, while Jim continued to stare at Dwight in disbelief. None of them wanted to imagine exactly what that meant. Pam shuddered. “No. Dwight, there will be no facts of life in this story. Kids will just have to learn about that somewhere else.”

 

“Very well. At least I will know who I am. It is very important to have a complete back story for your characters. Any actor – or writer – knows that. And since there is only one of every other animal on the farm, I presume that Andy is the hinny. Correct?”

 

“Sure, Dwight. Andy can be a hinny. But let’s just keep it in the back story, okay? I don’t know how I’d get an explanation of breeding into the dialogue.”

 

“Again, Pam, reading materials for children should be educational. Or at least teach a good moral lesson. It wouldn’t hurt them to learn about how a farm really works in your book. And I would be happy to show you, if you care to visit our beet farm. Research, Pam. Research is key to writing a realistic and meaningful story. But if you want to write fluff, I can’t stop you.” Dwight turned and left the break room, leaving Pam, Karen and Jim to collapse into laughter behind him.

 

On a Thursday two weeks later, the project and Pam’s class were nearing completion. Karen and Pam were eating lunch together again, since Michael and Jim were in New York for the day for a series of emergency meetings with corporate.

 

“So, how many more chapters do you have?” Karen asked.

 

“Just one. I need to find a good ending, but I’m having a hard time figuring it out.”

 

“Maybe if you step back and look at the thing as a whole? We’ve been so focused on each chapter, it may be hard to see the overall picture. I mean, at least, that’s what I’ve been doing at least. I know you’ve spent a lot more time with it.”

 

“No, you’re right. I know what you mean. I tried to do that last night, but I’m still stuck. I’m just not sure how to draw it all together.”

 

“When do you have to hand in the final chapter?”

 

“Next Tuesday. So I’ve pretty much got to decide what I’m going to do over the weekend.” Pam swirled her spoon through her yogurt. “I’m open to suggestions, if you have any.”

 

“What if I take a copy of what you have so far home with me? I could read straight through it then and maybe that would give me a better sense of where it’s headed.”

 

“You’d do that? Really? That would be so great.” Pam looked relieved. “I mean, I don’t want you to write it for me, but it would good to get another perspective on where this should go.”

 

“Sure, no problem. It would be fun. And I have some time tonight since . . . well, since some other plans fell through.” Karen looked down at her feet. She and Jim had planned to see a movie together, but he’d canceled when the meetings were scheduled in New York. He promised to come by her place if he got home early enough, but he hadn’t been sure when he would be back. Karen looked up cautiously, worried that Pam had caught the veiled reference to Jim. The three of them had never acknowledged that she and Jim were together and Karen was still pretending that no one in the office knew.

 

“Oh. Yeah. Right. Well, if you want to take a copy home with you, that would be good.” Pam stood up abruptly to end the awkwardness. She knew exactly what Karen meant, of course. She’d known since the merger practically. She should be used to it by now. But no matter how much she liked Karen or how well she understood what Jim saw in her, it hurt to remember that they were together. She’d learned from experience that moving was the best cure for that. Her heart might be breaking, but she didn’t have to sit still to listen to it.

 

“Okay. So I’ll have good notes for you tomorrow. Or I could call you tonight, if you want to know sooner.”

 

“No, tomorrow is good. And thanks again for doing this. I know it’ll be a big help.”

 

“No problem. It’ll be fun. Way better than whatever’s on television.” Karen gathered her things as well and followed Pam out of the break room.

            By Thursday evening, Jim had another headache.  This promotion paid better, but he was beginning to worry that he’d spend his entire salary bump on Tylenol.  The meetings had run long; Michael and Jan had butted heads all day; and then he’d had to spend the drive home listening to Michael’s complaints.  All he wanted to do was get back to Scranton and relax with Karen.  When he got to her apartment, however, he quickly gathered that it wasn’t going to happen.

 

            Karen was sitting curled up on one corner of the couch, a glass of wine untouched by her side and a copy of Pam’s graphic novel on her lap.

 

            “Hey.  How are you?  I missed you.”  Jim said quickly, hoping to head off whatever difficult conversation was coming his way.  “Is that the final masterpiece?”

 

            “Not quite.  Pam was having a hard time finding an ending, so I offered to take a look at it.  I’ve never really read the whole thing, you know?  Not in one sitting.”

 

            “So, how is that one-sitting read going?  Not too well, it looks like.  Is it that bad?”  Jim pulled off his tie and tossed it on the end table.  “Want a beer?  Or a Coke or something?  Doesn’t look like you’re enjoying the wine so much.”

 

            “No, I’m fine.  The novel is fine, too.  In fact, it’s great.  The characters are really amazingly well-developed, particularly for a bunch of barnyard animals. And the stories are really funny.  I’m sure her professor will love it.”

 

            “So why the serious look?”  Jim sat down next to Karen and pulled her into his arms.  She didn’t resist, but she didn’t snuggle into his hug like she usually did.  Instead, she turned so that she could look him in the eyes.

 

            “I just never realized . . . You know, when I saw things chapter by chapter, it didn’t really hit me.  But now, looking at the whole thing.  I can see it.  It’s impossible to miss, actually.”  Karen looked at Jim, something sad in her eyes.

 

            “See what exactly?  How pathetic our lives at Dunder Mifflin are?  You needed a graphic novel to tell you this?” 

 

            “No.  Not the farm, Jim.  The canary.  The canary and the fox.  They spend an awful lot of time together.  Convincing Dwight the Mule to hide in the hay bale.  Putting together all that special garbage and food for Kevin the Goat when he thought he was headed to the ‘Big Farm in the Sky.’  Organizing the Animalympics without Michael the Gelding noticing anything.  You hadn’t noticed that?”

 

            “Ummm, yeah, I guess.  But, you know, you have to have main characters in a story.  And Karen the Mink is in there, too. She’s there for every one of those things.  Plus there’s the whole chapter when she arrives at the farm and no one but the fox knows what she is.  That’s mainly the fox and the mink.”

 

            “Yeah, there is that chapter.  But the rest of it.  And I wasn’t really there, Jim.  Not for most of those things.  You were, though.  You and Pam.”

 

            “Listen, Karen, it’s just a story.  Seriously.  It’s not real.  I mean, Roy isn’t even in there and he was a pretty key part of Pam’s life.”

 

            “I know.  I asked her about that once.”

 

            “You did?”  Jim was stunned.  He and Pam hadn’t once spoken about Roy in all the weeks that he’d been back in Scranton.  “What did she say?”

 

            “She said that she didn’t put him into the story, because the novel was about the part of her office life that was fun and happy and Roy was never part of that.  She also said it would be too complicated and too sad to try to explain in a children’s book how the canary could love someone without being in love with him.”

 

            “Yeah.  I suppose so.”  Jim was still processing Pam’s description of her relationship with Roy.  Was that how she felt about him, too?  Probably.  Sad and complicated was right.

 

            “But you were there, Jim.  In every chapter, practically every scene.  You were there.”

 

            “Yeah, I guess I would be.  We always had fun together.  We were friends.  You need a friend in an office like ours.”  Jim answered quietly, not really thinking about what he was saying.

 

            “Yes.  I can see that you do.”  Karen looked back down at the papers in her hand.  “So, if you were such good friends, why didn’t you ever mention her to me before we transferred back to Scranton?”

 

            “I don’t know.  I didn’t want to think about Scranton, I guess.  I wasn’t exactly serious about my job when I was here.  Once I left, I just wanted to be part of Stamford, to get my head in the game.”  Jim knew that was part of the reason.  He hoped it was enough to satisfy Karen.

 

            “You told me about Michael, though.  And you told me about Dwight.  But you didn’t tell me about your best friend at work.  I mean, the canary and the fox are practically inseparable.  She’s always there, riding around on his shoulder, helping him out with his tricks, laughing at his jokes.  He’s always there, telling her that she can sing if she wants, that she can fly if she wants.  Is that just the story or was that true?”

 

            “Hey.  Let’s be real here.  Pam never rode around on my shoulder.”  Jim tried to ward off the seriousness with a big smile.  “But you can, if you want.  I think you’re small enough, tiny one.”

 

            Karen sat up, moved out of Jim’s embrace.  “Jim.  Seriously.  If you and Pam were so close, why didn’t you ever mention her to me?”

 

            Jim rubbed his hand across the back of his neck and sighed.  No distracting her now, he thought.  I may as well fess up.  “Okay, we were close.  Best friends, actually.  I thought there might be more; she shut me down.  So I left.   I moved on.  I wanted to be done thinking about her.  I didn’t want to rehash it all with anyone.  I just had to realize that it was over.”

 

            “Except it’s not.  Over.  Is it?”

 

            “Karen, seriously.  I’m happy now.  I have you.  I have a better job.  Pam and I have even found a way to be friends.  Not like before, but civil, even downright friendly sometimes.  Why do we have to go back there?”

 

            “Because I can see how you look at each other when you think no one’s watching.  Heck, after looking at this story again, I can even see the look on the canary’s face.  It’s pretty hard to draw longing on a bird’s face, Jim, but it’s there.”  Karen looked down at the pages in her hands, shook her head and sighed.  “Pam really is a good artist, you know.   I don’t think she realizes exactly how good she is.  She’s drawn it all out for you.  It’s obvious, Jim.  The canary loves the fox.  Pam loves you.  And I think you probably still love her.  That’s why this thing with us has never really gone anywhere.  Right?”

 

            Jim hung his head.  “I don’t know what to say.  I never meant to have this happen.  I thought I was ready to move forward and that I might be lucky enough to do that with you.  You’re great, you know?  Beautiful, smart, funny.  I’d be crazy not to want you.”

 

            “But you don’t, do you?”  Karen asked softly.

 

            Jim looked up, deep sadness in his eyes.  He shook his head slowly.  “No.  Not like that.  Not really.  You think she loves me?”

 

            Karen gave him a half-smile.  “Read the story --  look at the canary and the fox.  If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

 

            Jim took Karen’s hands in his.  “Karen, I’m so sorry”

 

            “I know.  It’s okay.  I’ve known something wasn’t right with us for a while.  I just didn’t know what.”  Karen squeezed his hands once and then pulled her hands gently away.  “I called Jan this evening.  I knew she’d be in the office late, because of your meetings.  I’m going to New York tomorrow to talk about a transfer.”

            “Are you sure you want to do that?  I mean, you just moved here.  You signed a lease.  Can’t we just let this rest for a little while?  All stay friends and see what happens?”
 

            “I don’t think so.  You were right, you know.  New York is a better place for me than Scranton.  There’s a lot more for me there.  Plus I’m not so exotic.”  Karen smiled, squeezed Jim’s hand.  Then she stood up, prompting Jim to do the same.  “Here.  Take the book.  Read it.  Then do something, Jim.  For God’s sake, just do something.  This story needs a happy ending.”

            Pam was surprised to get a call from Karen that night.  She told Pam that she had been called into New York for a meeting, but that she’d given her ideas on the novel and the novel itself to Jim.  This was the first time that Karen had acknowledged seeing Jim outside of work and Pam was a little surprised.  She stumbled a bit over her response, but thought she’d been able to cover up the sadness that overwhelmed her.

 

            That’s it then, she thought when she hung up her cell phone.  Karen and Jim aren’t hiding anymore.  They must be getting serious if they were ready to be officially together.  It made sense, after all.  Karen was great and she obviously made Jim happy.  It even made sense in terms of the novel.  She would set the last chapter in her story in the fall and have all the animals preparing for winter.  Since there would be no warm places for them in the barns, the fox and the mink would leave together in search of the true wilderness.  The canary would stay behind, maybe even return to her cage, too frightened of the wild and the winter to leave the comfort of the farm.  Pam finished a rough draft of the final chapter and half a bottle of wine before she finally went to bed late that night.

 

            Despite the wine and the lack of sleep, she was in the office early the next morning.  She just wanted to get the conversation with Jim out of the way as soon as possible.  She was certain that Karen would suggest an ending similar to the one she’d already mapped out, that Jim and Karen might even go public that day.  She planned to ask for Karen’s notes as soon as possible, but when Jim arrived, looking solemn and downcast, she changed her mind.  She didn’t have the courage to just uproot that last tiny bit of hope.  Jim was worried about having this conversation, she thought, because he was afraid she’d be hurt or angry or vindictive.  Maybe, if she didn’t talk to him alone today, she could just get the news with the rest of the office.  Besides, she didn’t really need Karen’s notes.  She knew how it had to end. 

 

            Both Jim and Pam were unusually quiet all day.  Pam made up an errand to avoid being in the break room with Jim at lunch and tried to be sure that she was busy with phone calls whenever it looked like he might approach her desk.  From her vantage point behind him, Pam could see Jim staring at Karen’s desk periodically during the day, lost in thought.  He must miss her, Pam thought.  It was sweet, even if it did make Pam’s heart drop into her shoes.  By 4:30, she couldn’t take it anymore.   She needed to think about something else.  She put the phones on voicemail, picked up her sketchbook and headed into the break room.  She was surprised to hear Jim’s voice from the doorway a few moments later.

 

            “Hey.”  He leaned against the doorframe, hands in his pocket.  He looked hesitant, as if he was waiting for an invitation to come in.  “Got a minute?  Karen had some ideas about the novel that she wanted me to run by you.”

 

            “Oh, yeah.  Right.  It was really nice of her to do that, but I think I have the ending.”

 

            “Really.  Can I see?”  Pam nodded slowly, swallowed and slid the sketchbook across the table.

 

            Jim flipped quickly through the last few pages.  He looked up, his eyes full of questions.  “Is this the way you want it to end?”

 

            “I, uh, I just thought it made sense.  I thought it was realistic.”  Pam felt trapped in Jim’s gaze.  He wasn’t looking away and she was beginning to lose herself in the green of his eyes.  “Besides, Karen is great.  She makes you . . . I mean, Karen the Mink makes Jim the Fox happy.  That’s good, right?  I should be happy with that if I really cared about . . . my characters.”

 

            “Right.”  Jim hesitated, unwilling to make the first move again, but even more unwilling to let the conversation drop.  “The thing is . . . I don’t want to tell you how to write your story, but that’s not how I saw it ending.  Because Karen asked me to read the whole thing again last night and, when I did, I kind of thought it was going somewhere else.”

 

            “Really?”  Pam made herself look Jim in the eyes, hoping that she would find something different from what she expected there.  “Your opinion is really important to me, Jim.  I mean, you’ve been so helpful on this project  . . . and everything.  I’d like to know what you see happening.”

 

            “I . . . well, I thought the canary and the fox might have something.  I mean, I thought the canary wanted there to be something.  Did I, umm, misinterpret?”

 

            Pam flinched at Jim’s choice of words, but kept her eyes focused on his.  “No.  I don’t think you did.  I don’t think you ever did.”

 

            Jim held Pam’s eyes, covered her hands with his.  “Maybe we can work on another ending.  A happier one.”

 

            Pam’s heart was beating so hard she thought it would burst out of her chest.  She swallowed the hope that was quickly rising in her.  She had to be sure.  “What about Karen?”

 

            Jim squeezed her hands gently.  “These are her notes, too.  She knew how it should go before either of us did.  I guess she had the advantage of being able to see the canary and the fox at the same time.  Her meeting in New York is to talk about a transfer.” 

 

            “How is she?” Pam asked, concern in her eyes.  “I mean, is she going to be okay?”

 

            Jim’s heart felt even more full.  Pam was worried about Karen.  She had just learned that Karen was out of the picture and, instead of being overjoyed, was worried about how she was doing.  How could he have ever imagined that he could stop loving this woman? 

 

            “She’s not great, but she’s going to be okay, I think.  At least, she sounded okay when I left her place last night.  Karen is great and I really hate hurting her, but we weren’t going anywhere.  We could never get past the ‘sort of’ seeing each other stage.  Now she knows why.  She’ll find better.”

 

            Pam kept her eyes focused on Jim, unwilling to let hope overtake her until she was absolutely positive.  “What about you?  Are you going to be okay?”

 

            “I hope so.  I guess it depends on how this project of yours ends.”

 

            Pam felt as if she were floating.  As sad as she felt for Karen, she couldn’t stop the hope and joy that were bubbling up inside her or the huge smile that was spreading across her face.  She felt as giddy as she had when she’d thrown herself into Jim’s arms on his first day back in the office.  “You’ve worked almost as hard on this as I have – so our project, not just mine, okay?  And if I’m going to change the ending, I’d better get to work.  I only have the weekend to finish.”

 

            “Need some help?” Jim asked.  He stood up, his hands still wrapped around hers and pulled her to her feet.  “My weekend is suddenly freed up.  It looks like I have all the time in the world.”

 

            “Well, you  know what Dwight says – writing is all about research.  And, if we’re going to change the ending, we’ll need to do some research on how that would work.  So I may need all that spare time of yours, if that’s okay with you.”  Pam looked up at him, eyes glistening and smile trembling a little.

 

            “Definitely.”  Jim pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the glass window and all the people working or pretending to work in the office behind them.  Pam rested her head on his chest and sighed happily as Jim buried his face in her hair.  Then he reached up, cupping her face in his hand and raising her chin towards him.  He gently brushed his lips against hers once, twice before resting his head forehead to forehead, nose to nose against hers. 

 

            “That is more than okay with me, Beesley,” he whispered.  “I wouldn’t have it end any other way.”