First Time Getting Caught
"Do I have to get back to work?" Pam moaned. "Can't I just hide in the corner or something for the rest of the day?"
"No," Jim said, giving her a sympathetic smile.
"I totally could! You can bring me lunch around 12:30 and we can sit in my hiding spot together."
Jim laughed at her. "C'mon," he said, pulling her up from her chair. "I know that Michael is being very challenging today, but we can face this challenge together."
She looked around to see if they were alone, then leaned into him and put her lips on his. Her favorite thing about the work day lately was sneaking a peck from her secret boyfriend in the office without anyone seeing.
The only problem they got caught this time. Pam and Jim pulled apart quickly as they heard someone clear their throat by the door. Pam snapped her head around to see Dwight standing stock still in the doorway.
"Jim. Pam," Dwight said in a professional tone.
"Dwight," Pam replied.
Dwight started putting coins in the candy machine and was about to make a choice when they heard him say, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about this indiscretion."
"I appreciate that, Dwight," Jim said, "and I will continue to not tell anyone about you and a certain someone in this office."
A certain what? Pam thought. That's impossible. Does Jim know?
She turned to see Dwight's face turning bright red. "Thank you," he said quietly as he pressed A12 and a Baby Ruth fell from the machine.
Pam grabbed Jim's hand and led him as far as the kitchen before she stopped and gave him a mischievous grin. "OK, spill it," she said.
"Spill what?"
"When did you find out about Dwight and Angela?"
She wanted to always remember how adorable he was as he peered down at her, a look of revelation spreading across his face. "How long have you known?" he asked.
"Since last year. What about you?"
"Since I saw them making out in the office at the end of the day a few months ago." Pam was too shocked to say anything more so he answered the question she was thinking. "It was actually kind of cute...in a weird way."
She hit him lightly on his arm. "I can't believe you didn't tell me," she said playfully as his face became more serious. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked quietly.
He shrugged and stared down at his feet. "I guess keeping his secret was just payback for helping me out..." His voice trailed off, but Pam knew exactly what he was referring to.
She stood up on her toes and planted a soft and sweet kiss on his cheek. She didn't care if anyone saw them.
First Flowers for No Reason
He was having a good day so far after completing two sales meetings to finalize deals with his local clients -- and all before lunch! Jim walked out of the Subway with a foot-long tuna sub in hand. He was back to his normal ham and cheese most days, but decided to mix it up just this once.
As he walked to his car, something seemed to be pulling him back. The Subway was next door to the best flower shop in town and Jim would sometimes think about picking up flowers for Pam for no other reason than she was Pam.
He ended leaving the shop a half-hour later with a huge bouquet of tiger lilies in a glass vase. He knew they weren't Pam's favorite, but a few weeks ago, the two of them had dinner on the roof of the office. The orange sunset that night was beautiful, and it was the first thing he thought of when he saw the flowers in the shop.
He knew Pam would be in the break room when he got back since she had been using her lunch breaks lately to do some extra sketches before her art show next week. He put the vase on the top of her desk and quickly grabbed a sheet of orangecicle paper from the shelves to make her a card. It was simple and a bit elementary, but it was the best he could do on such short notice. Besides, it was really the flowers that counted.
As soon as he finished, he put it next to the vase with Pam's name on the outside of the folded sheet of paper before sitting back down to finish the paperwork for his client calls.
"Hey, stranger," he heard her say as she walked over and leaned against his desk.
"Hello!"
"How were the sales calls?"
"Awesome."
She put her hand up in the air and he quickly gave her a high five. It was so lame and so juvenile and that's why he always loved it. As her hand came down, he saw her look over his shoulder and roll her eyes.
"While I would love to stay and chat, it looks like I have flowers to deliver to Mrs. Vance."
He tried to suppress his surprise. "Really? Are you sure they're for her?" he said, hoping he didn't sound too eager.
"Jim," she said in that mocking serious tone that he loved. "I've been working here for five years and the only flowers that've been sent to this office have always been for Phyllis. Always."
Jim gave her a skeptical look. "Always? Really?"
"OK, Oscar's boyfriend sent him a plant for Valentine's Day one year. Oh, and Michael sent himself flowers to make Jan jealous once. But that's it."
"That's it," Jim replied in the same matter-of-fact tone.
"Yep," she said. "A receptionist's job is never done."
"I guess not," he said, trying to suppress his smile as he watched her walk away.
She walked around to her side of the desk, dropped her sketch book down, and took a quick glance at the orangecicle card before putting her hands on the vase, ready to carry it away. Then Jim saw her freeze as the name he wrote on the paper registered in her brain. She slowly let go of the vase and delicately picked up the card. He could see the paper shaking a bit in her hands as she opened it and looked at the sunset he had drawn with a red Sharpie pen on the inside. He watched the corners of her mouth slowly turn up and her eyes grow warm as she read his little note explaining his flower choice.
Pam stared at the page for several seconds before finally snapping out of her daze as if she had just realized she was at work. She put the card down and grabbed the vase from the counter, gently placing it next to her monitor as she sat down at her computer.
A few seconds later, Jim noticed the flashing bar at the bottom of his screen letting him know he had an IM from Pam.
pbeesly> i need to add a name to the list of people who've received flowers in this office
jhalpertdm> oh really?
pbeesly> yeah i need to add the receptionist with the amazing boyfriend
jhalpertdm> amazing?
pbeesly> yeah, amazing
pbeesly> thanks for the lilies
jhalpertdm> i know they're not your favorite
jhalpertdm> but i saw them and couldn't help it
pbeesly> they're my favorite now
First Sleepover
She didn't plan on staying at Jim's place last night -- it just happened. And she didn't plan on sleeping with him last night either -- that just happened, too.
If someone had watched her get ready that night to go to his place just for to watch a movie, they wouldn't believe that second statement. After all, she did go home right after work to shave her legs, apply her expensive perfume for special occasions, and put on her red lace bra and matching panties, but a girl has to be prepared for a "just in case" moment. Last night was totally a "just in case" moment. OK, fine, there was more than one "just in case" moment last night...and one this morning, actually...but that's totally beside the point.
She left Jim's early that morning to get back to her place and change clothes since she hadn't brought anything with her. Despite that, she still got to work before he did and tried to busy herself around her desk. She was starting to get nervous about the whole thing. They weren't really hiding their relationship from their co-workers anymore, but they also hadn't talked about how they would handle "The Day After" at work.
Jim walked in the door and gave her a quick smile. "'Morning, Pam," he said, as he took off his coat and hung it on the rack.
"Hey, Jim." He was trying to play it cool so she just figured she would follow his lead.
"Any messages?" he asked as he put his hands down next to the clearly empty message box.
"Nope," she said casually.
He leaned further over her desk and whispered, "I think you left something at my place this morning."
"Really?" she said, hoping to sound surprised despite the fact that she knew exactly what he was talking about. Sure, she didn't feel quite "secure" that morning as she drove home, but it was so worth it to watch Jim stand there, his face turning as red as the bra she left behind.
"Um...yeah, I'm pretty sure you forgot something."
"And you're sure it's something that belongs to me?" she said, her smile becoming more mischievous.
He leaned over her desk more, his body nearly flat on the reception counter. "I'm pretty sure it belongs to you. It's red and lacy and ended up on my bedroom floor sometime last night."
"Hmm," she said, chewing on the pencil in her hand. "That sounds familiar. Can you describe it in more detail?"
He quickly turned to check if there was anyone nearby before looking at her again. "It's the red bra that looked stunning on you last night before I decided to take it off."
"You decided?"
"Yes, and it was a very good decision, if I do say so myself," he said, a mocking look of pride on his face. "So if you want it back, I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement tonight over dinner. Maybe...seven o'clock at Cooper's?"
"I think that's possible," she said, giving him a flirty smile.
"You're adorable," he said, lightly tapping her desk before walking over to his.
First Fight
Jim was already expecting the worst before he even opened the door. It didn't help that he hadn't planned to sleep in his bed last night by himself and yet that's what ended up happening.
He hung his coat on the rack, glancing quickly at Pam without saying a word. She didn't even look up at him. It was going to be one of those fights.
The funny thing was that it was their first fight now that they were a couple and it got ugly quickly. As he sat at his desk staring absent-mindedly at his monitor, Jim could barely even remember what the big deal was. He knew he said some unkind things about Pam's relationship with Roy, he knew it was in response to some snide remark about Karen, and he knew he slammed her apartment door on his way back to his own place.
But the morning didn't have much door slamming. In fact, it was filled with complete silence. No words spoken, no emails exchanged, and he never caught her looking at him whenever he looked up. It probably didn't help that he had only looked over at her twice that morning, way off his usual quota.
It wasn't until around 11:30 when Pam walked over to him on her way to the kitchen. "Hi," she said in a guarded tone as she stood next to him.
"Hi," was all he could answer in the same tone.
He could hear her take in a deep breath and shuffle her feet next to him. "I was going to get some coffee in the kitchen. Do you want to come with me?"
"No," Jim replied stiffly as he stared at his keyboard.
"OK," she said quietly before walking away. Jim knew he was being stubborn, he knew he probably should have taken her up on her offer, but he just couldn't follow her.
"What happened?"
Dwight's voice broke through Jim's thoughts and snapped him back to reality. "What? Oh...nothing. It's just nothing."
Dwight gave him a serious look and leaned over to get closer to Jim. "What are you and Pam fighting about?"
"None of your business," Jim mumbled, looking back at his sales spreadsheet.
"Jim, women are like beets. You have to give them some fertilizer to let the good in them grow."
"What?"
Dwight rolled his eyes as if he was explaining a simple concept to a first grader. "You have to nurture them or they rot in the soil, and you don't want Pam to rot, do you?"
"Dammit," he muttered, reluctantly grabbing his mug as he headed for the kitchen. Jim hated when Dwight's dumb beet analogies made sense.
Pam was sitting at the table with her coffee cup so he grabbed the pot and walked over to refill hers before he poured himself a cup. He brought an extra packet of sugar back for her and sat down at the table, taking a sip from his mug.
"Rough night?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"I didn't sleep very well," she said quietly.
"Me neither."
He took another sip and stared down at his hands as they curled around the warm mug. He hoped Pam would say something because he had no idea what to do next. As usual, Pam came through for him.
"What happened last night?" she asked, her voice a bit warmer.
"I know!" he quickly responded. "It was crazy, right? I just...I have no idea what brought all that on."
She gave him a sad smile. "I think we're just mad we wasted so much time convincing ourselves that we were happy when we weren't."
He gave her a warm little laugh. "You may be on to something, Beesly."
Silence filled the room again, but without as much anger and pride as before.
Pam's soft voice reached his ears from across the table. "I'm sorry for those things I said about Karen."
"And I really didn't mean to say all that stuff about your relationship with Roy."
"Yeah." She looked up at him and smiled. "So we have to make a deal."
"What deal?"
Pam took a deep breath and reached across the table to grab Jim's hand. "That was the past, and I'm not saying we should forget it, but I want to focus more on our future together."
"Our future? Together?"
"Yeah," she replied a bit sheepishly. "I would rather think about that than all the mistakes we've already made. Don't you?"
He gave her a smile that he knew always made her happy. "Absolutely."
First I Love You [As a Couple, Not as Single People Admitting Their Feelings in a Parking Lot]
"So are you ready for the plan?" he said, popping another jelly bean in his mouth.
"Yes, please. You have to save me," Pam whispered back.
"OK, so you tell him that Jan specifically told you that for every ten order forms he signs, he gets to make out with her for another minute tonight. So with 100 pages to sign..."
She scrunched her nose up. "Ew. Don't want to think about it."
"Good because that's not the point. The point is that he will do it and he will do it quickly and we can get out of here early tonight and have a nice dinner at my place."
"You promise?" she asked, her eyes wide and innocent like a puppy. She knew Jim couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes.
He rolled his eyes and gave her one of his loopy smiles. "Yes, Beesly. I promise."
She smiled back at him. "I love you."
"What?"
Oh crap. She had wanted to say it so many times before, but this was not one of those times. This was not how she pictured it at all. She wanted to tell him thank you for helping out with Michael and that was not what came out of her mouth at all.
"Pam."
She was frozen in her seat staring at the jelly bean container on her counter, but quickly snapped out of her haze, trying to busy herself with whatever random paper she could get her hands on. "Sorry...you know...figure of speech..." she stammered as her hands fluttered around her desk.
"Pam."
She stilled her hands and took a deep breath, hoping it would calm her down. She looked up to see him staring down at her. What was she thinking to let something that important slip out so easily?
"I love you, too."
He leaned over her desk and kissed her gently on the forehead. She could feel the warmth of his lips for just a split second before he pulled away, smiled, and walked back to his desk.
She was glad she said it.
Story Notes:
So I've seen the argument in on a few message boards that once Jim and Pam get together on the show, their relationship will be boring because the sexual tension is gone. I say that won't happen and I hope I prove my point with this fic. Be warned -- it's total fluff.
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.
Thanks to xoxoxo for the beta
sharky is the author of 26 other stories.
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