DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything remotely related to The Office. Nope. None of it. I'm just a humble (and poor) fangirl. Please, please don't sue me.

2: "SAVE ME"

It was a month later and Jim was doing the mandatory grocery shopping for the week. Mark had been on his case all week about it, but he finally got around to it today.

Absently he thought about Katy as he browsed the cereal aisle. She was a nice girl, not hard on the eyes at all and he liked her laugh. He honestly didn't know what had gotten into him, thinking to ask her out at the office of all places, but she had given him a thousand watt smile, and he felt lucky. She laughed at his jokes, and was happy to just hang out on his couch rather than going out. Sure, her conversation was slightly one sided sometimes, and her taste in movies left something to be desired, but no one was perfect.

He must have been standing there stupidly staring at Count Chocula for a while because he didn't even notice her standing next to him until she spoke up.

"You know they say that vampires will often hypnotize their victims before attacking," she said in a completely serious tone. "I always knew that the Count wasn't as harmless as he seemed to be."

Jim made an exaggerated gesture of snapping out of his trance and gave her a look of utter relief. "Pam! Thank God, you saved me! It was like I could see myself being drawn in, but couldn't do anything to stop it. Seriously, you're my hero."

She giggled at this, her demeanor completely different from what it had been that last time he saw her. "I can't believe you remembered my name! You probably refer to me as 'the crazy girl crying in the stairwell'."

"Nope, there's too many of those. Not specific enough. I refer to you as 'Pam, The Notebook girl'," he told her matter-of-factly.

She kept smiling and he couldn't help but wonder at how at ease he was with this complete stranger.

"And you're 'Jim Halpert, stairwell guy'," she responded.

"Wow. Brownie points to you for first and last name, Ms. Beesley," he said, actually quite impressed that she had remembered.

Pam looked equally impressed. "Well, it looks like we're even so far."

He smiled back at her and the conversation dropped a little. He remembered her very well, surprising even himself. Since the last time they'd met, he'd only really thought about her a handful of times, and it was really only when he'd seen Roy down in the warehouse.

"So, how are things going for you?" he found himself asking.

Her face faltered a little then, and her eyes grew a bit sad. He instantly regretted the question.

"I'm...okay. I'm at my own place. It's small, but the rent's good, so...," she fiddle with her necklace a little and Jim noticed her ring was gone.

"So...Roy?" Jim could have kicked himself for asking when he saw the look on her face.

She took a deep breath and looked at the ground, shuffling her feet a bit. "Yeah, umm...we...I think we both agreed that it's better this way," she said. He expected her to maybe start tearing up a bit again, but she didn't. She simply nodded her head a few times as if trying to convince herself as she said, "We're working on trying to be friends."

She finally lifted her eyes to his as she affirmed again, more clearly this time, "I'm okay."

Jim touched her arm lightly. "Good. That you're okay, I mean."

She smiled at him again in thanks.

"So...which breakfast cereal have you decided is the breakfast of champions?" she asked then, turning both of their attention back to the shelves and shelves of brightly colored boxes.

"I don't know. I think the Count really did put a spell on me," Jim said, nodding sagely as if they were talking about the inner workings of the universe.

Pam frowned, considering it for a while. "I don't know, Jim. I think you have to be strong. Gotta show him that you don't need him to enjoy your Saturday morning cartoons."

He sighed heavily and reached for the box of cereal, dropping it into his basket. "I'm sorry Pam. I'm not as strong as you. You'll have to forgive me. And promise never to make fun of me."

Pam laughed again and picked up a box of Fruit Loops. "Fine, but only if you don't make fun of Tucan Sam or my Saturday morning cartoons."

"Deal," Jim agreed.

Pam seemed satisfied with that and they both walked towards the end of the aisle.

"Well, I'm done, so..."

"Yeah, I've still got things that my roommate wanted me to pick up."

"Okay, well then...I guess I'll see you around, Jim."

"Oh, yeah, definitely. You take care, Pam. And hey, thanks for rescuing me," he joked.

"Only returning the favor," she replied as she walked towards check out.

Jim finished up his shopping a while later and as he drove home he wondered what Katy would think about him eating Count Chocula every morning.


TBC...

A/N: Thanks to all the wonderful people that read and reviewed my first chapter!! I'm very excited about this fic, even though being here at MTT is a little intimidating because there are so many awesome writers, I can't even hope to compare.
Please tell me what you think!

Praise is appreciated. Con-crit is encouraged. Flames will be dealt with Dwight's spud-gun.

cheers.

--Lex