Disclaimer:  I don't own these characters or the Office and I do not intend to profit from this posting.  no copyright infringement intended. 

Chapter 6

I Just Had the Most Amazing Non-Date

If the earth was still under Jim Halpert’s feet, he certainly couldn’t feel it as he walked into his apartment Friday night.  Tonight, he went on quite possibly the best date in his life, and once again it was with Pam Beesly.  And once again, it wasn’t actually a date. He still felt butterflies in his stomach and he had this nervous energy that he hadn’t felt in months.  Actually, he knew exactly the last time he felt this way - Oscar’s Party, and then it was only for a moment.

He threw his keys on the little table by the door and headed into the living room grabbing a beer on the way there.  He sat on the couch and let his head rest on the back cushions as he replayed the night in his head. 

He and Pam had discussed it and decided to drive to the movie theater together.  On the ride over, she stole his ipod and scrolled through the songs. He silently thanked God that he had deleted the Pam playlist when he started seeing Karen.  He was certain that Pam would be embarrassed to know that he collected angsty love songs just because of her.  He couldn't help but smile at the way her face lit up when she got to an older playlist and recognized a few familiar songs.

They had seen Blades of Glory because it looked funny and Pam said she liked Will Ferrell. He honestly couldn’t remember anything about the plot or if it was even good.  He only remembered the sound of her laughter and the feel of her fingers on his when they both reached into the popcorn at the same time.  He felt like he was in high school, secretly hoping throughout the movie that she would put her head on his shoulder.  Of course she didn’t, this night was about being friends, but he still had the foolish hope that she would.  His mind wandered several times during the movie, wondering what she would do if he just leaned over and kissed her.  Even more simple, if he held her hand would she pull away? 

He was startled out of his thoughts by his cell phone; the screen broke the news that it was Karen. He instantly felt a little guilty about his non-date with Pam and sat straight up on the couch as if at full attention.

“Hi.”  He tried to sound casual. 

“Hi there, what’s going on?”

“Oh nothing, I just got in, I went to see a movie….” He hesitated trying to decide whether he should tell her it was with Pam.  If he said it, he’d probably have to endure more relationship talks with Karen, but if he didn’t then he was clearly deceiving her, and he sincerely hoped he wasn’t turning into that kind of guy. “…I went with Pam; she was really having a bad night.  We just hung out for a while.”

He literally flinched a little, waiting for the sigh, or the coldness in Karen’s voice telling him she was hurt or angry.  But oddly it didn’t come.  He sat still for a moment, brow furrowed, thinking his cell phone must have dropped the call like on those commercials.  “Oh that’s cool.  Was the movie good?”

“Yeah, it …..was.”  He was confused, had she even heard him?  It didn’t sound like she was really listening to him.  Karen was never this understanding when it came to Pam.

“Great, look I’ll be back on Sunday, let’s have brunch okay?”

“Sure, ….that will be great.”

“I have a lot to tell you about my trip up here.”  She seemed to be hiding something from him, but he had no idea what it could be.  He could hear talking in the background, like she was in a loud place, and she seemed to be cutting in and out like she was putting her hand over the phone.

“Well, ok, so call me when you get back and we’ll hang out.”  He instinctively said it louder as if demanding her attention.

She laughed, but he didn’t quite know why.  He really couldn’t even tell if she was laughing at him or someone else, “Ok, sounds good.  Good night.”

“Night, Karen.”

Jim let his hand fall down next to his body, again losing himself in his thoughts.  Something was definitely not right with Karen, he knew her better than to think that she’d let this whole non date with Pam thing go so easily.  

He had to decide what his intentions were with Karen, and with Pam.  He never really intended for his relationship with Karen to be a long term thing.  But, it was so much easier going with the flow, staying with her; and she did have a lot of good qualities.   Karen had been there for him over the last year, and she seemed to want to be with him, seemed to want a future with him.  She was smart, and beautiful, and the last few months he had really started to be happy with her. But did any of that really matter if he knew for a fact that he was still in love with Pam. 

He stretched out on his couch again, head propped on his arm.  Tonight had been so amazing, but he knew he couldn’t just hang out with Pam without desperately wanting more.  And if she didn’t want more, wasn’t he just setting himself up for more disappointment?  Did he even care if it meant being near her again?  And what if Pam really did love him?  What if Jane was right?  What if he hadn’t misinterpreted anything?

He moved to turn on the tv when his cell phone rang again.  He smiled at the display screen this time, “Hi Jane.”

“Hey, sorry I missed the baseball game last night, Mark said you had fun. Good game?”

“Yeah the Phillies might not be so bad this year after all.”

“And thanks for returning my boyfriend without alcohol poisoning for a change.”

“Not a problem.  So what can I do for you?”  He knew exactly what she wanted since Mark had mentioned she was continually prodding for information about whether Jim had started talking to Pam again.

“Well, obviously, Mark is useless at getting any good information out of you.  I asked him about how things were with you and he gave me the ERA of last night’s pitcher and informed me that Stella was the import special last night.”

“Yep that’s about it, it was a good night.”

“Jim, so help me, I’m dying over here, what’s happening with Pam?”

He shifted back to an upright position and started to peel the label off his beer.  He loved stringing Jane along like this, it was all too easy to rile her up.  She reminded him a little of Pam and he couldn’t help but think that the two of them would be fast friends if they ever met.  “Oh you know, the usual.”

“Seriously, if you don’t tell me something of value here in the next 5 seconds, I’m calling her and asking.”

“Whatever, you couldn’t possibly.”

“Dunder Mifflin this is Pam…..Pam, Hi my name is Jane and I just wanted let you to know that Jim still loves you.  And when he drinks he talks about it, so take him to a bar and ask why don’t you?  And by the way he has this freaky fantasy about the reception desk and jelly beans….”

Jim cut her off, “Alright, alright.  I’ll tell you.”

“Knew you would.”  Her snugness at winning as usual came right through the phone.

“I took her out for coffee and we talked.  Then we went to the movies since we didn’t have anywhere else to be.  I’m trying to be friends with her like you said.  And truthfully I had a nice time with her.”

“That is so half the story.” 

“It’s the whole story. It was great to talk to her again.”  He paused on the word great a little too long to be nonchalant.

“Like on a scale of 1 to 10?”

“It was really great.”

“Jim?!?”

He mumbled as if he didn’t want anyone to hear, “Like a 100, ok?  On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 100.”

“Awesome.  So, where to from here?”

“Well, I’m still with Karen, and Pam and I are apparently just friends, so……..”

“So what if Pam wants more?”  Her voice trailed up to a high pitch.

He sighed, “She doesn’t.  She’s broken up about Roy not me.  She cried on ME about HIM.”

“We’ll see.  Give her a chance.”

Jim shook his head, Jane the eternal optimist.  “What are you getting me into?  Do you want me to pine away for her forever?”

“No, I want you live happily ever after.  And I’m not pushing you anywhere that you don’t want to be Jim Halpert.  Just giving you permission to want her again.”

“Mission accomplished.  So, how are you about advice on other women?”

“Meaning?”

“What should I do about Karen?”

“Jim, you don’t need any advice on that, you know what to do.”

“You’re such a help.”

“I am in fact.  Ask my boyfriend.”

“Goodnight Jane.”

“You better keep me posted.  I will call Pam……”

“Goodnight.”  He said more forcefully.

“Night Jim.”