~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Oscar was trying to stop a fight between Kevin and Andy."Guys, c'mon, stop it!"

"At least I graduated college!" Andy spouted.

"Yeah, stupid Cornell! Where did that get you? Oh, right, the same place where I am, even though I only went to community college. Hmmm..."

Of course, that only riled Andy up more. "Don't you dare diss my alma mater!" He lunged at Kevin. Oscar tried holding Andy back, but Kevin also reacted and now Oscar was squished between the two. Expletives and fists were thrown, but luckily, none of the punches connected.

Meanwhile, Phyllis was giving a mouthful to Toby about the tell-all book he was going to write. "Toby, you're supposed to keep all of those discussions between you and us! I shared that information in confidence," she glared at him.

"Do you really think everyone doesn't know your business already?" Toby mumbled. "We've had cameras following us around for three years."

"Yes, but I chose what I told them! What I told you was supposed to be private. I can't believe you'd do something like this. "

In the other side of the room, Karen and Meredith were arguing. "No wonder your son hates you. He has to deal with a drunk every single day!"

"Well, you're not too perfect yourself there, Miss I-wear-my-shirt-two-sizes-too-small-to-make-it-seem-like-I-have-boobs!"

"At least I have a fashion sense!"

"Fashion sense?" Meredith scoffed. "Yeah, right -- of a guy!"

"Stop this!" Everyone turned to look at Michael. Ryan suddenly noticed that Pam was holding the book. He went and grabbed it, despite a few protests.

"Ryan, stop!" Kelly cried out. She knew what the secret was going to be, and that once he read it, he'd break up with her on the spot. She wrung her hands as she watched him read.

So, I caught the Indian girl talking to the boom guy again. I think she really likes him. The hot mama has been pulling off some really nice outfits lately. Every once in a while she visits the new guy who sits behind me. I wonder if he knows that she's just flirting with him to make the boom guy jealous.

"I can't believe you, Kelly!" Ryan shouted at her. "You used me, just to get Ben jealous?" He turned to go back to the annex.

"Ryan, it's not like that!" Kelly grabbed his arm. She was already in tears.

"Enough!" Jim yelled. "Ryan, give me the journal." Begrudgingly, Ryan handed it over.

Jim looked down at the journal. He shook his head and then looked up at everyone. "This--" he held it up, "--has destroyed everything in this office. It has destroyed relationships, friendships, and even, lives. I don't think that Creed ever meant for others to find it. This journal was his own secret -- that he was able to capture ours. Some of us, like Andy and Stanley, knew that he knew and that he didn't tell anyone. He took those secrets to his grave. Others, like Phyllis and me, had no clue that Creed knew what he did. Yeah, maybe Creed was mysterious and secretive in his own right, but in turn, some of his own mysteries and secrets were our own. And, yes, it's going to take a while for everyone here to trust each other again, but-"

"Fire Andy!"

"Kevin." Oscar looked at his friend. "I really think you should give him the benefit of a doubt, here. I mean, he honestly didn't know. There was no way to."

Kevin looked at Andy. "You swear that you didn't know that she was my fiancée?"

"I swear. And as soon as I did, I backed down and told her that it was wrong and that she needed to talk to you. Honest."

Kevin knew that Andy was being sincere; however, there was a ping of uncertainty, so Kevin just nodded his head.

Jim sighed. He looked at Kelly and Ryan. "Do you two think you can talk civilly about your situation?"

Kelly looked at Ryan with her tear-stained, mascara-ran face. Ryan knew that he should at least get her side of the story. He bit his bottom lip and said, quietly, "Yeah. We can talk." The twinkle in his eye gave Kelly a small glimmer of hope for their relationship.

Jim looked at Toby. "Toby?"

"I'll call the publisher and tell them the deal is off."

"I think that that would be best."

Jim turned to Phyllis. "I'm terribly sorry about your daughter. I hope everyone will agree never to speak of the whole subject again."

"I hope so, too." She crossed her arms and glared at Karen. She sighed and added, "But at least now I can tell Bobby about her."

Jim looked at Karen. He really didn't know what to do with her. He glanced at Michael who was standing next to Pam. Michael looked at Karen and asked, "Did you tell Toby that you resigned, Karen?" She nodded. "So, would you have a job at Staples then with Josh?"

She looked at Jim and then at Michael. "I don't know. The circumstances were if Jim came along, too. But I can-"

Karen nodded and caught Phyllis' eye. "Phyllis, I am really sorry. I never meant-"

Phyllis cut her off with a slight wave of her hand. Karen decided not to bring it up again.

Michael announced, "OK, everyone -- continue on and work out everything amongst yourselves." He turned to Jim, and in a low voice said, "I think I'm going to take a nap in my office." Then, Michael noticed Stanley still lingering. He cleared his throat. "Stanley, why don't you show me some of your Matchbox cars? Jeff ... never really wanted to play with me when I was a kid, and..."

Surprisingly, a genuine smile spread across Stanley's face. "I'll be right in."

"Jim." Karen grabbed his hand. For a moment, he wanted to pull away, but the tone of her voice wanted him to listen. He turned to look at her. "Listen, I'm really sorry about everything."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, too, Filippelli." He gave her a small smile and let go of her hand. He walked away and plopped himself down on the couch. He closed his eyes. He felt like someone had literally put him through a wringer. He turned onto his side, his legs dangling off the edge of the couch.

Pam stood in front of her desk, gazing at him. He seemed so exhausted. She titled her head slightly and smiled as she watched him put his arm on top of his eyes.

 "You should kiss him."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~