Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Office. NBC does, and I am not affiliated with them in any way.
CHAPTER TWO
Jim pressed the elevator’s “up” button, watched it light up, and sighed. He remembered a time when just calling for an elevator could have given him a thrill. Back when the button would have been at about eye level, not at his belt buckle. Back when visiting a building tall enough to require an elevator was a rare experience, one he associated with hotels, field trips, or doctor’s visits. Sure, a doctor’s visit created nervous excitement rather than happy excitement, but at this moment, Jim would have preferred anything to the dull monotony he was feeling every day. Standing in the lobby of 1725 Slough Avenue, Jim remembered a time when just the thought of being a grown-up with a job, a car, and his own place would have seemed like a dream come true. He wished he could find a way to warn his young self of the disappointment to come. Tragically, he could not.
Not that his life was miserable. Generally, he was happy, not only because things were going pretty well, but because it was just his natural disposition to focus on the upside of things. He just felt like each day was a little less fulfilling than the last. He had started at Dunder-Mifflin right out of college, figuring he could do a lot worse in Scranton with a Communications degree. He had never been all that career-oriented; school had always been more about friends and activities than classes for Jim. He managed to get decent grades with minimal effort, but he was always just more interested in finding ways to entertain his classmates and playing basketball. So when it came time to pick a career, he just looked for something that would allow him to stay near his friends and family in Scranton and work with people, since that was always his biggest strength.
The job had been a challenge at first. Not only did he have to memorize a lot of facts about paper (prices, different varieties…who knew there could be so many different types of paper?), but he had to find a way to utilize the best parts of his personality– his sense of humor, his friendliness, his sensitivity – while still appearing serious and professional beyond his 23 years. Now, three years later, he had hit his stride as a paper salesman. Aside from a few high-pressure sales a year, most of his clients were loyal and easy to manage. He wasn’t the company’s top salesman, but he felt very confident in his job, and even though office supplies bored him to death, he did get satisfaction out of helping his customers.
But now that his job didn’t exactly consume all of his attention, he found his days becoming emptier and emptier. He liked most of the people he worked with: Phyllis, the older saleswoman, was like a fun aunt to him; Toby, who used to use the desk next to Jim’s, was really cool once you got him talking; and Kevin from accounting could always be counted on for sports talk. But there was no one there his age with whom he really had a lot in common. As the job required less of his attention, he began to find his fellow salesman Dwight more and more annoying, so pranking him became a new distraction. He started small, but soon found that he could further challenge himself by seeing just how outrageous a prank he had to pull off to actually elicit a chuckle from Toby, who clearly enjoyed Jim’s antics, but who, as the human resources representative, had to act sympathetic to Dwight’s complaints.
But ever since Michael had banished Toby to the annex for “talking too much” with Jim, Jim’s audience was gone. He still entertained himself with the pranks, but he had to keep raising the stakes more and more to stay interested. He knew he could only go on so much longer before he might actually get in trouble.
Jim’s personal life wasn’t exactly alleviating his boredom at work, either. Many of his friends were starting to move away, deciding to finally grow up and start families. Jim would have very much liked doing that himself, and he didn’t usually have too much trouble getting dates, but he just hadn’t met the right girl yet. He would ask out a girl who he got along great with as friends, but as soon as he wanted more than that, the girl would start acting differently, like she had to play a new role of “girlfriend.” He didn’t want that. He just wanted someone with a good sense of humor who was easy to talk to, and he was increasingly surprised at how hard that was to find.
The “ding” of the elevator arrived snapped Jim out of his introspective mood. Suck it up, Halpert, he told himself. You’re not a complainer. You have your first date with Amanda tonight; maybe it will go well. And right now, you have to focus on the task at hand. The mission that brought you to work 15 minutes early today (and that kept you up researching computer codes on the Internet for 3 hours last night). The mission that will more than repay Dwight for throwing away your ham and cheese sandwich to make room for 12 pounds of deer meat in the fridge.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Jim arrives at work.
Chapter End Notes:
Next chapter: Pam and Jim have their initial meeting.
