Twenty minutes after his confession of love, and ten minutes after having the hell kissed out of her, Pam is standing in the warehouse, scanning the room for signs of anyone that looks like they are about to leave. She knows she just needs to get out of here and into her own space, so she can think logically and make sense of all this.
The first person she sees is Angela, but seconds later, she watches as Dwight follows Angela out the door. Subtle.
She's watching everyone from a distance, trying to will herself to go ahead and ask someone, anyone for a ride. She makes her way over to Phyllis and Bob Vance, trying to gauge when they're going to leave, but they're deeply involved in a game of Texas Hold'Em. Phyllis lays her cards down and reveals her 7th flush of the night.
Pam passes Meredith without stopping - she's obviously not the one to ask for a ride.
She's a little relieved when she spies Oscar who's looking bored to the core. She walks up to him and in the best impression of herself that she can muster, asks him if he's leaving soon.
"I have to stay and settle the tab with the Casino company. I can give you a ride after, if you'd like." He smiles, but she can tell he's annoyed at having to stay late.
"Mmm, maybe. I'll see if anyone else is leaving sooner, I really just want to get out of here, the lights are giving me a headache."
"Michael is giving me a headache." he sighs, and she nods to show she knows exactly what he means.
Finally giving up, she decides just to call a cab, even though that means more waiting. As she is digging in her purse for her cell phone, she hears a strange banging noise, and turns around to see Creed struggling to open the door to the parking lot. She starts walking in his direction, and then stops and winces when she realizes what she's about to ask.
"Hey, Creed? Need some help with that?"
"Just the door."
"How about," she winces again, "I open the door for you, and you give me... a ride home?"
"Sure thing." he answers, smiling big.
She exhales her relief, and then hurries over to open the door for him before she turns around and waves to Oscar, letting him off the hook.
She follows Creed over to an old, rusty, mint green truck. The bed is filled with bags of... garbage? Creed shifts them around to make room for his new refrigerator before walking to the passenger side and opening the door for her.
"Thanks."
"Mhmm."
She has to slide a bunch of stuff out of her way to make room to sit, and as she climbs in, she inhales a breath of - oh my god it's horrible, no way to describe that, and is she's not even sure how she's going to convey this to Jim. She wishes she had a camera that had a smell function so that he would belie... God. Things will never be the same. "No time for tears, now. Let's just get home, first." she whispers to herself.
Creed climbs in on the driver's side, and now all Pam can think is that she doesn't know how the medium-sized garden gnome sitting in the center of the seat isn't the first thing she noticed when he opened the door. It's sitting facing her, mocking her, really, with it's chipped lip, missing hand and cracked foot. She is thankful for the smartassed little gnome, because, even though it's silly, now she doesn't feel like she's alone with Creed.
As she leads him closer to her house, she's feeling relieved that she didn't have to wait for a cab, because that would just give her more time to panic about running into Jim. She's starting to wonder if 'running into Jim' will ever not equate with that kiss, but her brain activity is cut short when Creed reaches over to pull out the ashtray, releasing a smell that she's not at all comfortable with. He reaches in and pulls out a handful of.. something.. and pops them into his mouth, chewing loudly. She doesn't even bother to ask.
For the duration of the drive, Pam sits looking straight ahead and tries to ignore that the truck she is in is swerving unapologetically down the road because it's operator is staring blatantly at her chest. As they finally turn into her neighborhood, she points to a small grey-blue house and he pulls to a stop alongside the curb. She's just about to thank him when he reaches his hand out and sets it on her knee, "Are you going to invite me in?" He winks at her.
She pulls away quickly from under his hand and says, really loudly, "My fiancé is probably asleep, so... no, that would not be appropriate. Thanks for the ride."
"You're engaged?" He asks, surprised that she's not already under his spell.
"Yep. Roy in the warehouse, you know him?" She asks, coldly.
"The white guy?" He genuinely asks.
She sighs loudly, and seethes, "Yes. The big white guy."
"Shame. See ya." he says coolly, as he's needlessly motioning for her to exit the truck, which she's already doing. He pulls away before the door has a chance to catch.
Pam stands in the middle of the road, clutching her purse to her chest, and watches until she sees his truck turn a corner, and then starts walking the half a block to her actual house. As she walks down the middle of the road, shaded from the moonlight by large black cherry and red maple trees, all she can think is, “At least I made one good decision tonight."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Just my take on Pam's ride home after Casino Night. It's silly and, hopefully, different from other scenarios.
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.
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.
lano is the author of 5 other stories.
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