“Kevin, will you stop?” Angela’s face mirrored the stern looks his grade school teachers had always reserved just for him.
“Kevin, will you stop!” he mimicked back in a high pitched voice. “What am I doing?”
“You’re drumming again. I’m trying to concentrate on this spreadsheet and all I hear is tap-tap-tap. Its driving me crazy!”
The corners of Kevin’s mouth curved up as he beat the highlighter pens against his desk with gusto. Angela’s face grew dark as she stormed off, probably to report him to Toby.
He couldn’t help it, he had to practice. Eddie, the lead guitarist of Scrantonicity, recently decided to branch out from The Police and Steve Miller to cover The Who. Eddie wanted to become the next Pete Townsend. Of course, that made Kevin the next Keith Moon. The band had spent hours practicing “Baba O’Riley.” He couldn’t help but drum while he was at work.
He leaned back in his chair and imagined his life as a rock star - the sex, the drugs, the rock and roll. His fantasy of a threesome with barely legal groupies was interrupted when he noticed Jim walking into the break room. He suddenly remembered what Stacy had asked him to do when she called earlier that morning.
He opened the door to the break room. Jim was sitting at the table, sipping a mug of coffee while reading the newspaper. Pam stood at the counter, making a cup of tea. Of course, they weren’t talking to each other. It had been like this for months.
Kevin had no idea what was going on but he definitely knew they weren’t doing it. He had a talent - he referred to it as “sex-dar.” He could tell by just looking at someone whether or not he or she had gotten any the night before. For example, Angela had been dating someone for over a year now. He knew this because in the span of day, she had gone from being an uber-bitch to just plain bitchy.
“Hey, Jim.” He sat down next to Jim and munched on celery sticks. Stacy had put him on a diet before their wedding in a couple of months. At least, she let him eat peanut butter. She didn’t know that he smothered the celery in peanut butter, completely nullifying the purpose of the vegetable.
“Hey, Kev,” Jim replied, not looking up from the world events section.
“I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with us again. You don’t have anything planned tonight, do you?”
Kevin followed Jim’s eyes as he looked straight at Pam. She stirred honey into her tea and didn’t acknowledge them at all. “Nope.”
“Right,” Kevin breathed out slowly. “Well, Abby has been begging us for weeks to invite you back. Plus, Stacy really liked you. Actually, she wants to set you up with a friend of hers tonight. Is that cool?”
Pam walked out of the room. Jim nodded at Kevin.
“Great! And then, maybe you could jam with my band after dinner. You play the guitar, right?”
----------
Kevin waited for Oscar to finish packing his briefcase. He had dropped his car off for an oil change so Oscar was giving him a ride to the mechanics. They were the only ones still in the office, besides Jim and Pam. Everyone left a half-hour early because of Michael's massage appointment. Of course, it was a business expenditure because of the stress of being Regional Manager.
Oscar stopped to ask Pam if she wanted them to walk her to her car. She thanked them but said she had a couple more faxes to send out. Stepping into the elevator, Kevin trash-talked Oscar’s winning goal in that afternoon’s game of Hate Ball.
The elevator had stopped on the ground level when Oscar realized that he had forgotten his wallet in the office. Sighing deeply, Kevin pressed the up button and the elevator doors shut again.
Oscar looked straight ahead as he spoke. “Thanks, I really need my wallet. Gil and I are celebrating our anniversary tonight. We’re going to check out the new Thai restaurant that Kelly recommended.”
“Cool.” Kevin had known about Oscar’s partner for years. He liked Gil, especially after he had booked Scrantonicity for his niece’s sweet sixteen party.
As they turned to walk back in the office, they froze in their tracks. Next to them, sat a large potted plant. An oblivious Jim and Pam sat in front of them. Jim was leaning back in the chair behind the reception desk. Pam was curled up on his lap, her arms draped around his neck.
Jim rubbed his palms up and down the back of her grey cardigan. “Hey, do you want me to drop by your place after my dinner at Kevin’s?”
She sat up straighter and shook her head. “No, there’s an illustration that I want to work on tonight. I’ve had an idea in my head for weeks but I’ve been too distracted lately to work on it.”
Jim leaned in and nibbled her neck. “Are you calling me a distraction, Ms. Beesly?”
She playfully pushed him away. "You better not fall in love with Stacy's friend at dinner."
Jim looked into Pam's eyes and smiled tenderly, "I promise."
Pam responded by running her hands through his hair before tilting her face toward his. Kevin peered further around the corner to watch, whispering, “Oh man, that’s hot!” Oscar grabbed the collar of Kevin’s jacket and dragged him backwards.
Kevin frowned in disappointment, wanting to see some action. Instead he nudged Oscar and took several steps back. He awkwardly stomped his feet on the ground and said, in a very loud voice, “Wow Oscar, I can’t believe that you left your wallet in your desk.”
Oscar replied back, just a loudly. “I know! I guess we’ll just have to go back into the office to retrieve it. I am so irresponsible.”
Kevin practically shouted, “Yeah, you are. Losing your money like that. Are you sure you should be working as accountant? OWW! That hurt!” He winced as Oscar punched him on the arm.
Jim and Pam stood in front of reception with their coats on when Kevin and Oscar came back through the office door.
Kevin embarrassingly blurted out, “Hey you guys! We didn’t know you were still here. Oscar forgot his wallet.”
Without meeting anyone’s eye, Pam waved goodbye and walked out. Jim hesitated a moment. “So Kevin, I’ll see you at seven.” He stood uncomfortably for a few more moments. “OK, bye.”
Kevin waited until Jim was out of earshot before grinning widely. “Nice!”
Author's Chapter Notes:
As much as I enjoy writing Jim and Pam's secret lovey-doveyness in the office, I promise they will experience some conflicts in the next chapter. I'm packing/moving across the country, so it'll be a few days before I can update.
