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It was hot.
Dog days of summer kind of hot.
The temperature outside was 97 degrees, and it was only 8:15 in the morning on this August Thursday morning. Pam stepped outside of her apartment after having taken a shower to see what the temperature was like. She was surprised by how strongly the sun stung her arm at this early hour of the morning.
“Great. If it’s this hot at 8 in the morning, I can imagine what its going to be like later.” She muttered as she walked back in, closing the door behind her.
Rifling through her closet, Pam chose her outfit accordingly. A sleeveless sweater and her usual khaki skirt, however she decided to forgo the tights since she knew Dunder-Mifflin did not have the greatest air conditioning system, it would be more likely much too warm than too cold in there.
As Pam walked into the building, she noted that it must have gotten at least five degrees hotter outside she had gotten into her car at home about twenty minutes ago.
“It’s going to be a scorcher today, huh.” She heard a familiar male voice say from behind her. She smiled slightly as she turned to face him.
“Yeah” She laughed “Let’s hope Michael remembered to wear deodorant. Remember two years ago, that time he decided he had a naturally pleasant body odor and didn’t need to use it. He killed both plants that were in his office.”
Jim laughed along with her as they entered the elevator, “Yeah, how could I forget. Dwight also stopped using deodorant when I convinced him that the government put a tracking device in each tube of it and that by using it, he was giving into a government conspiracy. Biggest backfire ever when I had to smell his stench for two whole days that summer.”
“Why does it feel so warm in here?” Pam asked, as Jim courteously allowed Pam to walk off the elevator first, mumbling “ladies first” as his mother always taught him.
Jim, snapping back to reality after letting his gaze rest too long at the few droplets of sweat that were resting on Pam’s shoulders from the heat, did not realize the heat until Pam had mentioned it. “Huh… oh. Um. Wow. You’re right.” He said as he tossed his bag on his chair. Since Ryan had been moved in the back with Kelly in April, Jim had reclaimed his old seat that he was so fond of. He enjoyed not only its geographic location, but also he had convinced himself that the chair was much more comfortable.
Jim saw Pam walk into Michael’s office, presumably to ask why there was no air conditioning in the office. But Dwight had beaten her to the punch.
“Michael, I have skills. If you would just let me climb through the air vents, I am positive I could find the problem and fix it. Unless of course you intentionally shut off the air conditioner in order to allow us to live as nature intended, dealing with heat and cold based on our natural devices. I always admired the way animals live out their whole lives with on modern human conveniences, such as air conditioner….refrigerators… light sabers… “
“Dwight!” Michael chastised, clearly annoyed. “Of course I didn’t turn off the air conditioner. You think I enjoy melting? Geez.” Michael ran a hand through his hair, before noticing Pam had entered the room. “Pam, hi… wowza! Love the outfit, your arms are so… do you work out?”
Pam wrapped her arms around her, “Michael, I just wanted to know why it was so hot in here. Do you need me to call maintenance?” She kept her arms wrapped around her, despite the heat.
“No, I already called them when I first walked into the office, currently known as a sauna. They told me they’d work on it, but it might not be fixed until later. Apparently the heat causes them to work slower, or some stupid answer. Those guys have no respect for this work environment and the people who work in it. Idiots.”
Walking out of her office and back to her desk, she gave Jim a shrug and a small smile before sitting down to listen to voicemails. This might be a paper-shredding day she thought to herself. She looked over at Jim who was already on the phone with a client. She gazed as his face which already had a few droplets of sweat on his forehead and in the cleft above his chin, below his bottom lip. She had never been so jealous of sweat before in her whole life as she was right now.
She smirked to herself as she glanced at Karen’s desk. Or, the desk formerly known as Karen’s desk. Pam had begun to notice around May that things had gotten frosty between Karen and Jim, but didn’t dare to say anything to either of them about it, despite her gnawing curiosity. She guessed that Jim was the one to break it off with her, judging from the day Jim walked into the office to find a box of his stuff on his desk that Karen must have left. She never came back to the office, but heard from Toby she had quit Dunder-Mifflin altogether to find a job better suitable to her talents, whatever that meant.
Despite the fact that she was blissfully happy at the event, her happiness over Karen and Jim’s break-up was cut short when she saw how broken up Jim was about it. He genuinely looked like somebody had kicked his puppy.
So here they are, three months later on possibly one of the hottest days of the year, with a broken air conditioning system in the office. She and Jim never discussed his break-up, their current feelings, or their single statuses.
In the background, Pam can hear Kelly playing “Heatwave” by Martha and the Vandellas on her computer. Pam liked this song, and mentally applauded Kelly for her good taste in oldies.
She knew the myth that heat caused things to happen. She had seen the movie “Dog Days” one rainy Saturday night a few months back and knew how August heat could change a person. And somehow, as Pam glances at Jim trying to make a paper fan for himself, feeling the sensation of perspiration tickling her neck, she knew today the heat just might work it’s magic at Dunder-Mifflin.
