Karen was a few miles into New Jersey when the radio station she was listening to gave out. If Karen liked anything about Scranton, it was that they had a decent jazz station. Sometimes she would turn down Jim's obligatory offer to ride together to work, telling him she had a quick errand to run, when the truth was she just wanted to hear a little jazz.

Music wasn't the reason she turned down Jim's offer to ride together to New York, though Karen knew she's be subjected The Shins or Death Cab for Cutie the whole way there. She told him that she was going to meet some old friends for dinner, and have a "Girls Night Out." She managed to lessen her guilt about lying to Jim by telling herself it was somewhat true; she was meeting a friend from college, it's just that friend happened to work at a bank and helped arrange an interview for Karen at four o'clock.

Her dinner with Jim on Monday was fine. He told her that he still wanted to go forward with the plans they dreamed up on Friday afternoon, and that despite what Pam said, he had realized his entire relationship with Pam was mostly sadness and heartbreak. After dinner, they spent the evening sitting on the couch, Jim's arm around her shoulders as they watched 24. He pulled her close to him at one point, kissed her on the forehead and said, "I am really happy I'm with you."

Karen found a new jazz station, sat back and continued to cruise down I-80. I am really happy I'm with you. Her heart would jump a little whenever Jim started a sentence with "I…" in his low, kind of husky voice. For half a second she would think that the moment she had been hoping for was here, that the three words which might make this whole ordeal worth it would slip past his lips. But those words never came, just some other sentiment that was sweet but somehow always shallow. In the past she told herself it was enough.

Karen dabbed her eyes with her sleeve as the phrase repeated in her head. I am really happy I'm with you.

It wasn't enough anymore.

Jim looked around the elevator that was taking him and a half-dozen of the most serious-looking people he had ever seen down to the lobby. He had just finished his interview with David Wallace; he felt prepared for every question, managed to make Wallace laugh a couple time, and walked out of the office feeling very good. But when he glanced at the people around him, he felt a little out of place with his scuffed messenger bag and a suit that probably didn't cost a third of what any of the other men were wearing.

The elevator doors opened, and Jim was the last to step out. To his left, he saw Michael sitting on a bench, and consciously decided if Michael didn't say anything, Jim would just walk by.

"There he is, the mutinist," Michael said dramatically.

Jim stopped and laughed a little to himself before walking towards Michael. "Hey Michael, how did the interview go?" He could already tell by Michael's frown and the way he crossed his arms the answer was "not good."

"Oh, you'd love me to tell you all my secrets, so you can use them for your own interview." Michael said, avoiding eye contact.

"I just had my interview, Michael, it was right after yours. You passed me and told me it was a 'tough crowd.'"

"Oh right." Michael looked at Jim, his expression immediately shifting from grim to curious. "How did it go?"

Jim took a seat next to Michael. "Fine, I suppose."

"Good, good, good," Michael said, fiddling with his jacket. "So, you still want the job?" he asked after several seconds.

Jim nodded, "Yeah." He looked over at Michael and knitted his brows, "Why?"

Michael shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I was a little surprised you'd still want it after Friday."

Jim scoffed, "Michael, you know this isn't personal, I wasn't trying to under-mind you–"

"No, no, not because of that," Michael said. He tilted his head at Jim, "Though you did kind of hurt my feelings."

Jim laughed a little and looked down at the tile floor.

"I just thought, after what Pam said –"

"Michael…" Jim said quietly, shaking his head.

"That you, I don't know, wouldn't be so interested in the job anymore."

Jim kept shaking his head. "That's…it's more complicated than that." He looked ahead and could see Michael watching him in his peripheral vision. Michael leaned back against the wall and started playing with his tie, sighing loudly over and over.

"Michael," Jim said, restraining his irritation, "do you want to say something?"

"No, no. It's none of my business."

No, it's not, Jim refrained from saying.

Michael started talking in a low tone, "It's just, the girl you love just told you she loves you back." He shrugged, "I don't see what's so complicated."

Jim snapped his head back to Michael, his mind struggling to process that comment. "She didn't say she lo…" He stopped himself and took a deep breath. "She didn't say that." He quickly reminded himself that he had read too much into Pam's words for years, that she simply said he helped her realized Roy was wrong for her, and that she missed his friendship. My friendship, Jim told himself, nothing more.

"Oh," Michael said, sounding a little surprised. "I guess you're right."

Michael resumed playing with his tie, and Jim leaned back against the wall, mostly confident Michael was dropping the subject.

"This last year has kind of sucked," Michael said after a minute.

Jim nodded, "Yeah, it has."

"I almost got fired, and I've broken up with two girlfriends. And I don't really want this job."

Jim looked over at Michael with an arched eyebrow.

"I mean, I thought I did, it's what I should want, right? It's a promotion, what idiot wouldn't want a promotion?"

Jim shrugged, "If you don't want it, you don't want it. What's the use in fooling yourself that you do?" Michael nodded, and Jim's eyes returned to the floor.

"Hey, I bet there's a Hooter's around here, want to grab some lunch?" Michael suggested.

Jim shook his head and started to stand up, "Nah, I think I'm going to start heading home." He turned to Michael and offered his hand for a handshake. "Good luck, Michael."

Michael looked at Jim's hand and scoffed. He stood, put his arms up, and motioned to Jim to give him a hug. Jim sighed and stepped forward, letting out a puff of air as he was engulfed by Michael's bear-hug.

"I hope you find what you want," Michael said quietly.

Jim patted Michael's back, and Michael squeezed Jim one more time before letting go. Jim said good-bye to Michael and started towards the rotating door.

As Jim walked to his car, his mind flashed to Pam, standing before him on the beach. He blinked multiple times, trying to focus on the sounds of the busy Midtown Manhattan street, but he kept seeing the pained look in her eyes and hearing the pleading in her voice when she said she missed him. He thoughts of Michael's words. "The girl you love just told you she loves you back, I don't see what's so complicated." Jim shook his head; it was so frustrating how clueless Michael could be about people and relationships. But what was even more frustrating was that once in a great while, Jim had to force himself to admit Michael Gary Scott may actually be right.