It was about eleven in the morning when Pam walked into the conference room to sit down with the camera crew. The cameraman asked her to comment on the possibility of someone leaving for corporate. Pam watched the red "record" light turn on, and took a deep breath.

"If Michael gets the open position at corporate, things would definitely be different around here. Yesterday Dwight gave us a preview of what it would be like if he's the regional manager. He told half the staff he's firing them when Michael leaves, and asked me to be his personal consultant on 'female matters.'" Pam stopped and sighed. "Fortunately there are several want ads for receptionists in today's Times-Tribune," she finished with a half-smile. She realized the cameraman wanted her to talk about all the people who interviewed, and glanced down to her hands.

"If Karen gets the job," she took a second to think about her words carefully, "I'll be a little sad just because she's really nice and smart, and I wish we could have been better friends.

"And if Jim goes," Pam's voice cracked a little on the last word, and she cleared her throat. "I'll . . . Jim's had a rough year, I think, and he deserves to be happy, if that means moving to New York then that's –"

Pam bit her lip and looked down, her eyes stinging. She blinked back the tears and looked up at the camera. "I want Jim to be happy," she said with a nod. The red light turned off, and Pam wiped her eyes and left the conference room.

Jim lifted his head when he heard a sniff, and saw Pam walking out of the conference room and into Michael's office. He craned his neck to try to pick up their conversation before realizing how obviously he was watching Pam, then his eyes shifted to Karen. Surprisingly, she seemed engrossed in her work. Karen had been like that all week; working diligently, coming over to Jim's desk only when she had a question or needed something signed. Jim didn't know if he was concerned or relieved that she was no longer hanging out at his desk all day.

Thoughts of Karen disappeared from Jim's mind when he saw Pam come out of Michael's office and walk over to accounting.

"Hey guys, I'm going home early," Jim heard her say. "Does anyone want to sit at my desk for the rest of the day?"

Oscar quickly volunteered and Pam returned to her desk. Jim glanced at Karen, whose eyes were still glued on her computer screen, then stood and walked to reception.

"Any messages?" he asked.

Pam shook her head no without looking up. She started gathering her things.

"You heading out?" Jim asked quietly.

"Yeah, I don't feel very good. I think it's something I ate last night," Pam said with a grimace.

"Did you cook your dinner in your breakfast kitchen again?"

Pam looked up, puzzled, then Jim raised his eyebrows, and Pam laughed.

"No, I've been very good about cooking all my meals in their designated kitchens," Pam said, smiling.

Jim chuckled; Pam smiling at him still made his heart jump a little, which both excited and scared him. "Pam..." he started.

"How did your interview go?" Pam said in a cheerful tone that didn't match her expression at all.

Jim gazed down at the surface of Pam's desk. "Good," he said with a nod. "They said they might call as early as today."

Pam nodded and forced a smiled, then leaned down to get her purse from under her desk.

"Pam," Jim said again, quietly.

Pam paused and took a deep breath before meeting Jim's eyes.

"If they offer me this job…" Jim looked down, and shifted his weight. "Whatever the result, I want to talk to you."

"Okay, whenever you're ready." She smiled softly, and Jim smiled back and returned to his desk.

Jim found himself holding his breath every time the front desk phone rang, anticipating the interview results from corporate, but there was no word from corporate or anyone all afternoon. Jim started gathering his things to leave just before five o'clock, glancing at Karen's desk as he stood up. She had left about ten minutes prior without even a glance at Jim.

Dwight uttered something about how Jim shouldn't bother to come in on Monday, but Jim was hardly in the mood to engage with his desk mate. Jim turned, gave Oscar a nod good-bye and started for the Dunder Mifflin entrance.

When Jim reached his car, he got in and sat silently with the engine off, his mind swirling with thoughts of corporate, of Karen, of Pam. A ringing came from his bag and his dug out his cell phone, sitting up a little straighter when he saw the New York area code.

"Jim Halpert."

"Hey, Jim, it's David Wallace."

"Hello, how are you today, sir?"

"I'm fine, I apologize for calling at the end of the day here, but the board just came a decision about the position, and I wanted to call you personally."

Jim took a deep breath. He had thought about what he was going to say all day, but it didn't make him any less nervous. "David, I wanted to tell you thank you for considering me for this position, but –"

"Jim, I regret to inform you –"

Jim wasn't listening, "I am no longer interested –"

"– We are not offering you this position."

Jim stopped. "Oh," he said after a pause.

"The board decided to go with the Assistant Regional Manager from Albany. It was a very close decision, and I personally felt you had the superior interview, but it came down to experience."

Jim exhaled, surprised at how relieved he felt.

"I want you to know you will be the first person I will consider if another job opens up at corporate."

"Thank you, sir," Jim said. He closed his phone, and smiled. "Thanks but no thanks," he said quietly to himself. He started the car and reached down to shift into gear when his phone rang again. Karen.

Jim chewed his lip, considering letting the call go to voicemail, before he grabbed the phone. "Hey."

"I was just stopping by, where are you?" Karen said in a flat tone.

"I'm just leaving work, I'll be there in five," Jim said.

"Okay," Karen hung up without saying good-bye.

Jim tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and put the car in reverse. He knew what was about to happen, and was in no rush to get to his apartment.

Jim reached his apartment building and was barely out of his car when he heard a "Hey," and saw Karen walking over.

"Hi," Jim replied, grabbing his messenger bag. "You want to go up?" he asked half-heartedly.

Karen motioned back to her car, "I actually can't stay very long."

"Okay," Jim put his hand in his pocket and shuffled his feet. "Wallace just called me. I didn't get –"

"I know," Karen interjected, "His secretary called me a few minutes ago. Some guy from Albany."

"Yeah," Jim said.

"I wanted to tell you that . . . I got another call today."

Jim looked up.

"I've been offered a job in Manhattan, at a bank," Karen said quickly.

Jim knitted his brows, "When did you interview for that?"

Karen bit her lip and looked to the side, "When I told you I was having dinner with old friends." She looked back to Jim, "I know I should have told you."

Jim shook his head. Lord knows he had omitted plenty of things in the last six months, he wasn't about to get angry at Karen for that.

"I'm taking it. I've already told Michael." She let out a laugh, "He said he understands that I want to quit the family and I can leave immediately if I want. And you know what? I'm not going to fight him on that."

A chuckle escaped Jim's lips, and then he looked at Karen. She was smart, funny, beautiful, everything Jim knew he should want in a girlfriend. He also knew she deserved way more than he ever managed to give her.

"Karen, about New York…"

Karen crossed her arms, eyes squarely on Jim.

"…I don't know if it's for me," he finished.

Karen pursed her lips, "That's fine, because I wasn't going to ask you to come anyway."

Jim's eyebrows raised at the frankness of her comment. He looked at Karen, and she coolly returned his gaze until her chin trembled and she turned her head.

"I'm so sorry," Jim said quietly.

Karen sniffed and looked back at Jim; the tears beading in the corners of her eyes reflected the setting sun. "Me too."

Jim slipped his hands out of his pockets and stepped forward, but Karen took a step back.

"Good-bye, Jim," she said softly. Her heels clicked as she walked to her car.

"Bye," he whispered as she turned out of the parking lot.