Jim leaned back in his chair as he saw her come in. “You're late, Beesly.”

Pam made an effort to ignore Jim as she walked behind her desk. Of course she was late. He of all people knew she would be late, and she couldn't believe he had just pointed it out to everyone in the office.

Dwight stood up. “Yes, you are late, Pam. Where have you been?”

“It's none of your business why I'm late, Dwight.”

“Yes it is, as second in command here -”

“You aren't second in command here,” she sighed, turning her monitor on. “Jim is.”

“Well, then you need to explain to Jim why you are late.” Dwight looked over to Jim, who nodded his approval. As Dwight sat back down, Jim stood up and walked over to Pam's desk.

“So, care to explain your tardiness?” He asked quietly, leaning over the counter.

“It was a personal matter,” she said primly. “Nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, really,” Jim grinned. “Nothing to do with me at all?”

“Nope.”

“Ah. Late night last night, perhaps?”

“Something like that.” Pam looked up at him and tried very hard not to smile. “More like late night carried into early morning.”

“Wow. Sounds like that must have been a good time.”

She shrugged. “It was okay.”

“Okay?” Jim leaned further over the counter. “Just okay?”

Pam grinned. “Why, what did you hear?”

“I heard an outstanding time was had by all.”

Pam laughed. “We can't possibly be talking about the same thing then.”

Jim pulled himself upright. “That's not what you were saying earlier.”

“Shut up,” she whispered. “Go sit down before you get us in trouble.”

He grabbed a few jelly beans and leaned in again. “Not until you admit it.”

“Admit what?” she asked innocently.

“That last night was the best night ever.”

“The best night ever? Hmm....” she couldn't remember the last time she saw Jim so animated, and she couldn't help but keep teasing him. “Does that mean the best in terms of all that ever came before, or the best it's ever going to get?”

“The former, naturally,” he grinned.

“I think I could safely put it in the top five,” she replied.

“Top five? That's it? You wound me, Pam. You really do.”

“Go back to your desk. People are going to start talking.”

“Too late - they already are,” Jim replied, but he walked back to his desk anyway. Within the next minute Pam had an instant message.

jhalpert: Top Five? You are totally lying.

pbeesly: What? It's a compliment. You wouldn't put it in your top five?

jhalpert: I guess I just don't have your experience, Pam. I put it at #1.

pbeesly: You do need to get out more. ;-)

jhalpert: cruel. just cruel.

pbeesly: I know. ;-) I'm just teasing you for drawing attention to my lateness. That was so unfair, given it was your fault I was late!!

jhalpert: you were the one who insisted people would notice if you wore the same clothes two days in a row. If you listen to me next time you will get into work on time.

pbeesly: so there's going to be a next time?

jhalpert: absolutely.

jhalpert: How about tonight?

pbeesly: Let me check my social calendar.

pbeesly: yep. I'm free. :-)

jhalpert: glad to hear it. :-)

pbeesly: I thought you might be. So what's the plan then?

jhalpert: The plan?

pbeesly: You know - a movie or dinner or something?

jhalpert: Oh, I get it. You want the date part as well.

pbeesly: Um, yeah. :-P

jhalpert: Man, I thought we were past all that by now.

pbeesly: !! Jim, it's only been a week.

jhalpert: A week today, actually. Happy Anniversary. :-)

pbeesly: You're such a dork. :-)

jhalpert: Wow. No wonder no one thought we'd last this long.

pbeesly: Yeah, we sure proved them wrong.

jhalpert: So where should we go tonight?

pbeesly: I don't care.

jhalpert: You don't care? Then why are you the one making a big fuss about how we should do something other than just go right home to bed?

pbeesly: Just because I don't have a set idea about what we should do doesn't mean we shouldn't. Ordering chinese and watching a movie is fine.

jhalpert: Do you really want to do that, or do you just want people to think we are doing that? Because I'd be happy to just let it slip to Kelly that those are our plans....

pbeesly: Yes, I'd like to do that - wouldn't you?

jhalpert: I just think there will be plenty of other times to eat and watch movies.

pbeesly: And there won't be plenty of other times to have sex? (There, I said it!)

jhalpert: Maybe there will be, but why not do the most important stuff first? (Wow. How very liberated of you. Though technically you typed it - not said it. Different things entirely.)

pbeesly: I'm pretty sure eating is more important than having sex. At least in terms of staying alive. (Hey, at least I typed it. You're still just alluding to it. I never took you for a prude, Jim.)

jhalpert: You might be able to keep alive longer if you chose food over sex, but who wants that kind of life? Definitely not me. Definitely not after last night. (Do not raise that challenge unless you are serious, Beesly.)

pbeesly: What challenge, Senor Chicken?

Jim looked up from his monitor to see Pam's clearly defiant face smirking back at him. He shook his head at her, and didn't even try to hide his smile.

jhalpert: If you want to sit here and talk dirty all day, be my guest. Just don't be be embarrassed when I throw it right back at you.

pbeesly: You mean type dirty all day. ;-)

jhalpert: Whatever. You're the one who's going to be sitting up front blushing all day.

pbeesly: I doubt it. Besides, you'll be the one stuck at your desk all day.

jhalpert: What does that mean?

pbeesly: It's means I know what an excitable boy you are. ;-)

jhalpert: Nice. Is your mind always in the gutter?

pbeesly: Not a trait easily hidden, if you know what I mean.

jhalpert: And yet you've never caught me. So maybe I'm better at it than you think.

pbeesly: Wow. Is that a normal problem for you then?

jhalpert: There have been moments.

pbeesly: I always thought you were joking when you said you wanted to do Kevin.

jhalpert: Well, now you know.

pbeesly: Shut up. :-)

pbeesly: So are you now?

jhalpert: No!

pbeesly: Are you sure? You seem awfully defensive.

jhalpert: I'm not being defensive. It's a ridiculous question.

pbeesly: Really?

jhalpert: Really.

pbeesly: So chatting to me about erections doesn't turn you on?

jhalpert: Not when Kevin's name is mentioned at the same time, no. Sorry. You'll have to get your kicks elsewhere on that one.

pbeesly: So what would I have to say?

jhalpert: You're really trying to get me in trouble, aren't you?

pbeesly: What kind of trouble could you possibly get into? You are the master of discretion it would appear.

jhalpert: All we need is for Michael to read this chat and our lives at Dunder Mifflin would be over. He'd make us not only want to quit, but kill ourselves as well.

pbeesly: So when was the last time prior to this week you suffered that condition because of me?

jhalpert: Prior to this week? Are you assuming it happened to me this week?

pbeesly: Given last night, I'm going to go with a yes on that. ;-)

jhalpert: Okay, fair enough. ;-)

pbeesly: So when before that?

jhalpert: I don't know - I didn't write it in my date book!

pbeesly: But there were times?

jhalpert: Do I really need to dignify that with an answer? I've been watching you for years.

pbeesly: Okay - did it ever happen after you came back from Scranton?

jhalpert: Yes. And before you even ask, yes.

pbeesly: What was the second yes for?

jhalpert: You weren't going to follow up that question by asking if it happened more than once?

pbeesly: No, but now I'm wondering how many times more than once it was. ;-)

jhalpert: Enough that I should have come to my senses a lot sooner than I did.

pbeesly: Yeah, but I should have too.

jhalpert: This conversation is becoming definitely not sexy.

pbeesly: I know. What can I say? I'm seriously out of practice. :-(

jhalpert: You didn't do this with Roy?

pbeesly: Please. You know the answer to that. :-P

jhalpert: I know. Sorry, that was cheap shot. :-(

jhalpert: If it helps, Karen wasn't exactly a fun IM correspondent either.

pbeesly: No? I'm surprised.

jhalpert: No you aren't. :-)

pbeesly: Maybe. :-)

jhalpert: Yeah, I hardly used IM at all until this last week or so.

pbeesly: Wow. I wonder what changed.

jhalpert: I ran into an old friend. She's quite the talker.

pbeesly: Oh, that's good. Is she cute, too?

jhalpert: Nah, she's more hot than cute. Kevin would probably describe her as Seriously Hot.

pbeesly: How does Kevin keep sneaking into this conversation?

jhalpert: LOL - I have no idea.

pbeesly: Damn. Michael's about to come out of his office.

jhalpert: Okay - brace yourself. And erase this conversation. ;-)

The look on Michael's face told everyone that nothing good was going to happen.

“Okay, listen up, folks.” Michael said, clapping his hands together. “We've got a little program for you, so everybody into the conference room.” Jim and Pam exchanged eye rolls.

“What kind of little program?” Stanley asked.

“Just a little something that corporate sent us a few weeks ago.” Michael waved his hand dismissively. “We've got to get through it before the testing agent arrives.”

“Testing agent?” Jim asked.

“Yeah, they're sending down someone to give a stupid test so we can proved we watched the video. So let's get moving, folks.”

The true horror of the experience was made clear once everyone was corraled into the conference room. There was not just one video, but six. They were each thirty minutes long, and they each had to be watched in order to stand any chance of passing the test that was going to be administered that afternoon.

“Michael, how long have you had these videos?” Angela demanded.

“I don't remember,” he hedged. “Not that long.”

“They arrived last month, Michael,” Pam spoke up. “So now we have to sit here for three hours?”

“What if we fail this test?” Andy asked.

“Nobody's going to fail the test,” Michael replied. “Now let's just settle down and start watching. If you have to go to the bathroom, you better do it now.”

Jim reached into the cardboard box next to the television and read the accompanying letter. “Michael, this is an ethics course. It says here that if an employee doesn't pass, they can be put on unpaid leave until they do.”

“Shush,” Michael replied, clearly irritated. “Everyone's going to pass. Just sit down and we'll start this thing.”

Jim let the letter slip from his fingers and back into the box, and walked to the back of the room, slipping in the vacant seat next to Pam.

“Three hours of ethics videos?” He said scathingly. “I think Michael has really outdone himself this time.”

“And don't forget the test we'll get to take afterwards.”

“Hey Michael,” Jim spoke up, “I think we should at least get lunch for having to sit through all of this in one day.”

“We'll be breaking for lunch,” he nodded.

“No, I mean the company should pay for lunch.” A murmur of approval swept the conference room.

“Well sure, that's what I meant,” Michael smiled. “I look out for my family.”

The videos were worse than feared. Seriously dressed men and women explaining in painful detail each line of Dunder Mifflin's new ethics guidelines, and badly acted out examples of what was and was not acceptable behavior. The only thing that made the whole thing bearable to Pam was that she was sitting in a darkened room next to Jim, and for once she knew she could hold his hand if she wanted to.

They leaned against each other, whispering comments and pulling faces as they suffered together. When the second video was started Jim casually put his arm around the back of her chair. The only people who might have even cared, Angela and Dwight, were both sitting front and center, paying rapt attention to the ethics rules.

Pam enjoyed being so close to Jim, but after a while the monotony of the videos combined with the comforting warmth of his body made her want to fall asleep. She decided the only way to stay awake was to play a game. Given the new shift in their relationship, Pam decided to play a game they'd never played before. She started by resting her hand lightly against his thigh, which won a look of approval from Jim. But as they continued to sit there, Pam slowly inched her hand up his thigh. Then she moved inward. She was about to rest her hand firmly on his crotch when his hand grabbed her wrist and pushed it away. She looked up with a grin and found Jim giving her a warning look.

“What do you think you're doing?' He whispered in her ear.

“Just checking to make sure things were okay,” she replied, her eyes focused on the video.

“Right. Well, things are dead here. Trust me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I could check.”

“Don't.”

She could tell that he was trying very hard to stay serious. “Fine,” she sighed.

“Thank you.”

But shortly afterwards she tried again, and he caught her hand much sooner. The third time she tried she almost burst out laughing because he stuck her hand under his leg to keep her still.

There was a fifteen minute break after the third video, mostly due to the fact that people just got up en masse and walked out. Jim grabbed Pam's hand and led her to the break room. They took their time buying cokes and candy, but as soon as they were alone Jim turned his attention to her.

“So what exactly were you trying to accomplish in there?”

“Just trying to stay awake,” she grinned up at him.

“Trying to cause trouble is more like it.”

She laughed. “Jim, we're sitting in the back row of a darkened conference room watching instructional videos that are killing off brain cells by the second. I thought you'd be all for some distraction like that.”

“A distraction is one thing. You were just being a tease.”

Pam stood closer to him. “And you don't like me being a tease?”

“Not when I can't react appropriately, no.”

“And what would be an appropriate reaction?”

His hand came up and rested on her waist. “I will be more than happy to show you tonight,” he replied. “But how about we figure out a less provocative game for now, hmm?”

“If we must,” Pam sighed.

“Come on, we better get back.” He grabbed her hand as they walked to the door.

Pam stopped for a moment, and Jim turned to see that she was staring up at him.

“What?”

“I'd forgotten how much fun it could be to work here,” she said slowly.

“Did we start having fun yet?” Jim asked. “Because I'm pretty sure I missed it if we did.”

“I mean having you here to get me through the day, dork,” she said, bumping against him. “ I can even tolerate this damn ethics course because you are here. How did I manage without you?”

He smiled at her, and seeing no one around, leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. “The same pathetic way I didn't manage without you. But I'm back now.”

“Yeah, you are,” she grinned, “You're really, really back.”