Disclaimer:  I sadly don't own these characters and no copyright infringement is intended.  Just a little JAM therapy.

Chapter 4

Jim walked in with Karen dreading the upcoming week.  He absolutely hated Mondays nowadays.  The office had not been the most pleasant place for him the last few weeks, now that Pam and Roy were back together.  Ever since he came back from Stamford, he felt like he just didn’t belong any more.  On the bright side, Karen had been fun this weekend and Jim didn’t feel like he was under her constant scrutiny any longer.  She had reminded him at the party that she could be clever and playful, although, it still felt sort of mechanical to him.  Technically, all the pieces were there, she was pretty and smart, not to mention she actually wanted him.  He loved the fact that she pursued him, instead of him following her around like a puppy.  Maybe he just needed a little more time.  He was embarrassed to admit that this was the most work he had ever put into a relationship, at least the most work for a girl who was actually his girlfriend.

Out of habit, he looked back at the reception desk to see if Pam was in yet.   He wondered if she was late because she’d had such a great weekend with Roy.  Maybe she couldn’t pull herself away from him to come in.  He had to admit that Pam being so disgustingly happy with Roy drove him crazy.  He felt the familiar pangs of jealousy and sighed heavily out of frustration.  He looked over at Karen sitting at her desk and forced all thoughts of Pam to the back of his mind.  He was with Karen now, and he was finally starting to feel happy again.  He had to be strong to avoid falling back into that familiar place with Pam; he wouldn’t allow himself to pine for her just to be rejected again. 

He settled into his chair and looked around the office taking a mental roll call.  Dwight wasn’t in yet which seemed strange; he was compulsively on time everyday.  He made a mental note to draft a tardy slip from Michael and leave it on Dwight’s desk.  Kelly was hovering over Ryan and they seemed to be having an intense conversation.  Toby walked by him to Pam’s desk and left something on her keyboard.  Everyone in the office seemed on edge somehow; there was definitely tension in the air.  He thought perhaps Michael had announced a team building exercise before he got there, that would explain the atmosphere. 

“Morning Toby.”  Jim said politely as he walked by.  “Help you with something?”   

He couldn’t help it, despite all his willpower, he did wonder what kind of note Toby would leave for Pam. 

“No, just wanted to see if Pam’s weekend turned out alright.”   

He turned from Jim to walk back to his desk.  Jim shrugged his shoulders accepting the fact that while Toby’s concern for Pam’s weekend didn’t make a lot of sense, nothing around here made sense.  He waited for Toby to get back to his desk and Jim casually walked up to reception and peered over at the note.  In Toby’s overly cautious print, he had written,

 Pam,

 Is everything ok?  Let me know if you need anything.

 Toby

 Jim scrunched up his face and tried to figure out what Toby was talking about.  Hadn’t they all gone to happy hour?  Did something happen there?  He walked absentmindedly to the kitchen for coffee.  Halfway there he noticed that Dwight was in the break room talking to someone, but he couldn’t see who it was.  As he walked in the door Pam stepped away from Dwight and walked quickly into the ladies room with her head down.

“Dwight, what’s going on?”