Phyllis got to work a little earlier than usual that morning, probably because she had prodded Bob Vance to get ready quicker. She was just too excited about the dress she found for Pam the night before. Well, and the shoes. She walked by the cutest pair of strappy red sandals at Payless and thought they would match the dress perfectly. The shoes were on sale for $10 so how could she resist?
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Pam sitting at her desk already, but the office was mostly empty other than that. Pam looked up at her and she smiled back.
"Pam!" she said, tossing the shopping bags on the couch as she took off her coat. "I have the best news."
"Really?" Pam said.
Phyllis knew she would never normally announce this, but figured it was the excuse that would elicit the fewest questions. "I had to buy Bob Vance some new underwear yesterday and saw the cutest shoes at the mall that I thought would match Susan's dress so I bought them! I hope they fit."
"What size are they?" Pam asked in a giddy voice.
"Size 8. Is that OK?"
"Close enough!" Pam said as Phyllis handed her the bags over her receptionist counter.
"So listen," Phyllis explained. "I want to make sure this fits and the shoes look right and everything, so maybe another fashion show at lunch?"
"Um..."
Phyllis was going to have to push a little harder. "You wouldn't have to wear it the whole day. You know, just enough to make sure all the guys in the office know you're cute," she said, winking at Pam.
"I'm doing this only because you asked me to," Pam said, smiling.
Phyllis smiled back and picked up her purse from the couch, hearing the voices of Jim and Karen behind the door leading in to the office. It was going to be alright, though. Today was going to be a good day.
*** *** ***
"Hey," Jim said, leaning over Karen's desk. "Ready for lunch?"
"Yeah," she replied.
Things were so much easier with Phyllis's desk right next to Karen. "Oh," Phyllis said. "Are you guys eating in the kitchen?"
"Maybe. Why?" Jim answered.
He has no idea what he's getting himself into. "Well, I brought that dress for Pam and she's trying it on at lunch so..." Phyllis leaned toward them and lowered her voice "...I think she's feeling a little down now that this whole Roy thing is officially over again so maybe you can give her a nice compliment on the dress. You know...give her a confidence boost."
Jim gave her a strained smile. "I can do that."
"Yeah, me too," Karen said, but not very convincing.
*** *** ***
By the time Pam was done with her morning work, a few people were already in the kitchen eating lunch. Phyllis watched her walk into the bathroom with shopping bags in tow...along with Kelly and her make-up bag.
Pam came out looking absolutely stunning. The dress Phyllis had found was fire-engine red with a flared skirt that hung just above Pam's knees. The halter top on the dress tied at the back of her neck, exposing a huge amount of skin on her back and plenty in the front, which made her cleavage noticeable without being slutty. Phyllis smiled. She really had done a great job picking out the dress if she did say so herself, and the shoes were so sexy.
Phyllis looked over to see Jim's reaction to the dress. He was sitting next to his girlfriend, which made Phyllis think he was holding back his emotions, but the ones he was letting out were enough to know that he thought she looked stunning.
"Wow," Kevin said, in a way only Kevin could say. "You look hot, Pam. Like, really hot. Like, you should wear that to work everyday."
"I don't think so, Kevin, but thanks," Pam replied.
"You do look amazing, Pam," Jim told her with a warm, genuine tone in his voice.
Kelly squealed from behind her. "I know! You could totally get any guy you wanted here by just walking through the office with that dress on. Well...you know...except for Ryan."
Pam gave her an awkward smile. "Yeah...Well, OK. I guess the fashion show is over."
Oh, no. She has to stay in that dress longer. "I don't know, Pam," Phyllis said quickly. "It's just such a great dress and Kelly did your make-up and everything. Maybe we can find some use for it in the office today." Too bad Phyllis couldn't think of a good excuse at the moment she needed one.
"I know!" Jim said. "Dwight keeps talking about this girlfriend of his. If you hit on him in that dress, I can finally hear him admit she's imaginary."
Phyllis looked over at Jim, who was excited about his idea, and Karen, who was not.
Pam looked at him nervously. "I don't know."
"C'mon, Pam. Please do it," he said pleadingly. "For me."
"What do I get out of it?"
"Dark chocolate Hershey's kisses instead of jelly beans for a week," he said, taking a bite of his ham and cheese sandwich and then smiling at her.
Pam couldn't help but give in to him. "OK, you're on. I'll be at Dwight's desk at 1:30. If you miss it, it's your own fault."
Kelly started to get even more excited. "That only gives us a half hour to really get your make-up right, Pam." She pushed Pam back through the bathroom door and out of sight.
Phyllis would have to thank Jim later for the wonderful idea.
*** *** ***
Right at 1:30, Phyllis watched Pam walk out of the kitchen towards Dwight's desk. She leaned against it hesitantly and Phyllis noticed Jim sitting behind her, staring at her exposed back with almost a glint of lust in his eyes. Phyllis quickly turned back to her desk, pretending to work while she eavesdropped on the conversation behind her.
"Dwight, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Phyllis could hear Dwight take a deep breath. "Um...Pam. I don't think that's an appropriate outfit for this office."
"Well, I wasn't going to ask you about the outfit," Pam replied. "I actually...well...I just was wondering if maybe you would like to go out on a date with me?"
"While I am flattered, Pam, dating is useless to the Schrutes. We don't do casual dating. We take women to dinner and such as part of an interview process for mating purposes only."
"Oh," Pam replied.
"Plus," Dwight said matter-of-factly. "I have a girlfriend."
"Really? What's her name?"
"It doesn't matter what her name is Pam. All that matters is that I love her."
"Uh huh."
"But you are a beautiful woman and while that dress is not appropriate for work, you look very nice in it."
"Thanks, Dwight," she said brightly.
"And my girlfriend dresses conservative and I like her for that." Dwight's voice then became quiet and sincere. "You don't need to wear a dress like that to make people notice you. I've learned that if someone doesn't love you for who you are, they don't deserve you."
Phyllis turned around to see Pam's reaction. She was staring at her feet and looked like she was on the verge of crying. "Thanks, Dwight," she said, giving him a weak smile.
Pam stood up, grabbed her coat off the rack, and walked out the door. Jim watched her go, then quickly turned back to his desk. Phyllis could tell by the look on his face that Dwight had struck a nerve. She knew why, too -- Jim was the only man Phyllis knew that ever loved Pam simply for who she was.
Pam never came back that day. Jim told Michael she wasn't feeling well after lunch so he gave her the rest of the day off. He seemed pretty quiet the rest of the day and told Karen something had come up and he had to cancel their dinner plans for the night. Phyllis thought his excuse sounded transparent.
*** *** ***
"Wait!" Phyllis heard someone yell. She quickly pressed the "Door Open" button on the elevator just in time to see Eric from the camera crew slipping through the doors.
"Thanks," he said, giving her a smile that quickly faded. "You OK?"
"Yeah," Phyllis said quickly. "I just have something on my mind."
"About what?"
Phyllis looked at him and tried to think of how to explain this to him covertly. "Well...I tried to help some friends today and I think I may have hurt them instead. What do you think?"
"I think you're doing a great job so far with what you've been given," he said, smiling at her.
"Are you sure?" she asked apprehensively.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. "I'm sure you're doing much better than you think," Eric said, holding the door open for her.
They walked out to the parking lot and started to part ways as Phyllis headed to Bob Vance's car.
"Phyllis!" Eric called out.
She turned around to see him standing with his keys in his hands. "You're getting really close to your goal so don't give up yet."
"I won't," she said.
Maybe Eric saw more than Phyllis. Maybe he was just more positive about the whole situation. Maybe he was lying to her just to boost her confidence. Whatever the excuse, it was what Phyllis needed to keep her going. She didn't have a plan for what to do next, but she knew she could come up with something. She had to.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Since I took a little break, here's your Cliff's Notes recap: Eric the Camera Guy has recruited Phyllis to be The Mole and she needs to get some juicy Jam action going so the crew can get better Jim and Pam footage. If they can do that, the documentary gets a distributor and Phyllis gets to be the matchmaker who brought Jim and Pam together. So far, she asked them to prank Dwight and she went shopping for a red dress for Pam under the guise that it belonged to Bob Vance's niece.
And then we're here! Hugs to xoxoxo for reading this over and soothing my paranoia.
