Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

The gentle clinking of knives against champagne glasses was almost deafening as Michael stood to face the crowded hall.

“For those of you who don’t know, I am Michael Scott, Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.  I’ve known these kids for quite some time.  I watched them meet in our building, watched them fall in love, watched them do the deed under the stairwell during lunch hour…don’t try and deny it you two rascals! No, but seriously, it has been a joy watching these two come together, and even more so when I think that I may have had a little something do with it.  To the bride and groom!  Mazeltov!”

Bob and Phyllis shared a small kiss at the head table at the conclusion of Michael’s toast as the other guests cheered for the newly married couple.  Jim sat back, bemused at his boss’s predictable antics and smiling warmly at the adoration with which the newlyweds looked at each other.  And as he surveyed the whole room, he saw that weddings could indeed bring out sides of even the most hard-shelled and emotionally frigid co-workers.  Stanley had left his trusty crossword puzzle at home for the occasion, looking genuinely happy for his desk mate.  Angela even sent warm and supportive looks toward Phyllis while tenderly holding Dwight’s hand.  And perhaps the most surprising was Ryan’s attendance and sincere emotion during the ceremony, a weeping Kelly clinging to his arm.  The staff had unexpectedly bonded under the consensus that it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving couple.  

Well, Jim thought as he stared into his champagne, not necessarily.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to start getting sappy on me,” Karen said with a smirk, as she sat down beside him, handing him a plate of wedding cake.

“You’re one to talk, I saw you dabbing your eyes during the ceremony.”

“I’m a girl, I’m allowed to cry,” Karen stated, taking a triumphant bite of cake.  She had curled her hair for the occasion. Jim pushed down the uneasy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach to see her normally straight hair bouncing in loose curls, half of it pulled back in a barrette.

“Are we going for a Shirley Temple look today?” he teased as he gently pulled at a curl, letting it go and watching it spring back into place.

“Yeah, but I left my bloomers at home and the tap shoes are in the repair shop so the look isn’t complete,” she quipped back.  They certainly worked well together; like an Abbott and Costello who just happened to sleep in the same bed and try to get ready in the same cramped bathroom the next morning.

Jim felt an all too familiar tug at his heart as he watched Bob and Phyllis make their way to dance floor to have their first dance as man and wife.  He admired their love for each other: simple, quiet, and completely boundless.  He felt Karen’s hand intertwine with his, giving it a small squeeze.  He looked to see her gazing at the couple, lightly biting her bottom lip and her eyes plagued with a question.  A question he already knew and wasn’t sure he was ready to answer.  For as much as he wanted to assure her that it would someday be them dancing with noses touching and a mile-wide grin, he was tired of making half-hearted promises.  Because when you’ve had a fantasy for four years of a petite, pale brunette dancing with you in a cream colored dress and a look of utter joy in her eyes , it’s not easy to suddenly replace her with a Mediterranean beauty who could easily wound you with the right glare.  So he resigned to squeezing her hand back, keeping his eyes focused on Bob and Phyllis so that she wouldn’t see the uncertainty in them.

The DJ signaled for other couples to join the new “King and Queen of Refrigeration” on the floor, and with a pang of guilt for his previous thoughts, Jim led Karen onto the dance floor.  She nestled her body against his as he began to move their bodies to the slow rhythm.  He breathed in the smell of citrus from her hair; it’s how his bathroom smelled after she had taken a shower.  It was strong and vibrant, just like her.  And on those rare occasions when she didn’t sleep over, he could still smell it on his pillow, and it gave him enough comfort to lull him into sleep.  

He lost his train of thought as a pair of timid green eyes locked with his across the room.  With no daughters and only one sister, Phyllis had asked Pam to be a bridesmaid.  And he thought he could hear God laughing at his fun joke when she brushed her now straight hair back from her face.  The simple green dress fit in all the right places, cascading down to her bubblegum pink toenails.  She was dancing with a groomsmen, keeping a safe distance between their bodies and moving rather stiffly.  When they made eye contact, his breath hitched and he was quite glad Karen had her cheek against his, unable to see what he was now blatantly staring at.  

Pam gave him a small smile while she danced with the groomsmen who, by the way he kept stumbling and looking down at the floor, had two left feet.  He returned it, still not taking his eyes off of her.  How could he?  She looked like art, like a portrait he’d seen in countless museums but would still take his breath away every time he saw it.  

Then the whole room started to slip away into haze, and soon it was just the two of them, with locked gaze, being able to move with each other even in the arms of another.  And it was almost too much for Jim to take.  The song ended, quickly turning into “Celebration” and Jim was grateful for the excuse to get away.  He started to leave when a small hand grabbed his.

“Hey, where you off to in such a hurry?” Karen asked with concern.

“Just, uhh, going to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a bit,” he said moving quickly towards the back of the reception hall, not bothering to look back at her undoubtedly worried face.  The route to the bathroom led right past Pam, and he tried desperately not to look at her as he sprinted into the men’s room.  Sink to the left, toilet to the right.  He could either dunk his head in cold water or throw up.  In the end he settled on splashing his face vigorously, rubbing his face to get the vision of Pam with straight hair and a dress the color of her eyes out of his head.  He wondered how it could be that even after six months of being with an intelligent and beautiful woman, one look from Pam could reduce him to the weak and frail boy he saw in the mirror.  Jim wiped his hands across his tie and jacket where water had been stained before finally dismissing it.  People were handling Michael’s powder blue tux, they could handle a few water spots.

He was greeted with the sight of Pam and Karen chatting over champagne as he made his way back to the reception hall.  Karen had said something to make Pam throw her head back with laughter, her nose slightly scrunching and eyes shut tight with happiness.  Ever since they had planned the alternate Christmas party together, he had felt uneasy seeing their comradery.   The two women represented such two different points of time in his life, and coming together created an ambiguous entity where Jim couldn’t tell where love began and lust ended.  He mustered up some bravery and forced a smile as he walked toward them.

“Nothing good or innocent can be coming out of the conversation you two are having,” he said as light-heartedly as possible.

Pam and Karen shared a look and for a moment Jim thought he could see something the tiniest bit of guilt in Pam.

“She wants to steal you away from me,” Karen said nodding her head in Pam’s direction.

Jim’s mouth went dry and he barely managed to squeak out “What?”

“To dance.  I was telling her to try at her own risk because let’s face it Halpert, who wants size twelve dress shoes crushing your feet?”

Pam looked at him expectantly, biting her lip, as he knew she always did when she was worried but trying to keep calm.

“Yeah, sure…uh, why not?” he mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and shuffling his feet onto the dance floor.  They stood there in the middle of the room, laughing a little as they figured out which hands go where, how close is too close, and silently wondering if it’s a good idea to be in such close and intimate proximity.  Jim lightly placed his right hand on her hip as she let her hand rest on his shoulder.  Their free hands linked and eyes locked while the soft music crooned from the speakers.  It was a love ballad, that much Jim could tell, but he wasn’t focusing on the lyrics.  He was focusing on how to will his heartbeat to slow down in fear that she could feel it thumping from his chest.

“Thanks,” she whispered, and he realized this is the first thing he’s heard her say all night.  “You saved me from yet another dance with Joe Vance, Vance Plumbing,” she said with a laugh.

Jim smirked.  “You’re telling me you didn’t want to be dazzled with the details of clogged pipes?  I’m shocked.”  He looked down and smiled seeing that he had gotten another laugh out of her. She was absolutely stunning, her hair shining with honey highlights that stood out with the lack of curls in her hair.  He breathed in and caught the smell of lavender and jasmine.  Soft and comforting, just like her.  

“You look…” he paused, trying to find a neutral adjective, one that didn’t scream, “I can’t take my eyes off of you.”  She looked up at him, patiently waiting.  “Beautiful,” he finished.  Pink rushed to Pam’s cheeks as she averted her gaze to the floor, a smile playing at her lips.  So not as neutral as he had hoped, but it was the truth and even that word didn’t do her appearance justice.

“Thanks.  It’s weird seeing everyone outside of work isn’t it?  Especially at something like this, if I didn’t know better, I’d say everyone was pretty…”

“Normal,” he finished her thought and they both laughed because they both knew the Dunder Mifflin co-workers were anything but.  Maybe they would have had a shot at being average employees at any other company, but when Michael Scott hired them, none of them stood a chance.  And though he wasn’t ever sure he’d admit it, Jim wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bob and Phyllis were dancing to their left, completely giddy and unable to stop smiling.  Phyllis glanced at Pam and Jim and gave them a shy wave before turning back to her husband.  

“I’m happy for them,” Pam said sweetly. “You know, when Roy and I were engaged, I never really thought about the wedding day.”

Jim knit his brows together.  “What do you mean?”

“I thought about the day after.  When there would be no more wedding plans to be made, no arrangements, no more waiting.  We would just be married, and ready to start the rest of our lives together.”

Jim nodded his head, unsure of what to say.  He was afraid that if he spoke, what would come out is how he had imagined that day too many times than he’d care to reveal.  Waking up with her head on his chest, a ring glimmering on her left hand, knowing that from now on, she was his.  

The song ended and it killed him to stop the fluidity of their movement together and pull back.  Pam held onto his forearms, looking up at him with her mouth slightly open as if about to say something.  But he had to beat her to it.

“That’s going to happen someday.  The day after, I mean.”  With me is how he silently finished the thought, and he wondered if she had filled in the blank the same way.

“I hope so,” she said quietly, her eyes still fixed on him.

“All right, if I could have everyone’s attention please?” the DJ boomed through his mic.  “The new Mrs. Vance will now be throwing the bouquet so if we could have all the eligible ladies make their way to the floor…”

A herd of manic women pushed their way to center of the room in an attempt to find the most ideal spot.  Jim and Pam had still maintained eye contact even as they had been edged out from the dance floor when Kelly suddenly sprang up beside Pam.

“Pam! Come on, this’ll be so much fun!  Oh my god I hope I catch it, wouldn’t that be amazing?”  Pam shot a desperate look at Jim as if to say, “Help me” and he merely grinned at gave her a big thumbs up as she was dragged into the crowd.  He even saw Karen make her way over to stand next to Pam.  When he looked at her questioningly (he thought she hated these silly wedding traditions), she merely rolled her eyes and shrugged, trying to convey apathy.  But Jim knew better as he could see a bit of anxiousness in her demeanor.  

Phyllis made her way to the elevated stage, looming over the throng of women.  She turned her back and heaved the bouquet of lilies behind her. Jim heard it land in someone’s hands, but couldn’t see amongst the grappling of shrieking women.  When the floor cleared, he felt his heart drop.  Pam held one end of the now crumpled flowers while Karen held the other.  

And as if on cue, they both turned toward Jim.