Author's Chapter Notes:
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.
By five thirty that evening most of the staff had cleared out for the day, including Karen, so Jim finally felt comfortable enough to lean over Pam's desk as she was getting ready to leave. "What a day," he said, smiling at her.
"You never told me what was up with Kevin," Pam said as she shut down her computer.
"Okay, please don't be mad," he began. She raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "Last week Kevin asked me who I thought was hotter, you or Karen." Pam winced. Jim hesitated, but then continued. "It was totally inappropriate but it was, you know, Kevin. I kind of humored him a little, and then I forgot about it. Until today when he gave me a list."
"A list?"
"Yes, a list," he said, cautiously, trying to gauge her reaction.
She looked pensive for a moment and then said, "Can I see it?"
"Are you sure you want to?"
Pam chuckled playfully. "It's just Kevin. Come on, I want to see."
He handed her the wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket. For a minute she looked really serious as she read it, and he thought it may have been a mistake to show it to her, but then she suddenly burst out laughing.
"Seriously?" she giggled.
"Yep. Seriously," he said, relieved that she found the humor in it while simultaneously admonishing himself for ever doubting her.
She handed it back to him. "You should keep that."
She walked around to the other side of the desk and took his hand, grinning at him. He got lost in her smile and leaned down to kiss her. But before his lips could reach hers, she quickly pulled away, as she whispered "Toby!" and flashed a look toward the kitchen door.
Jim immediately turned toward the candy dispenser and helped himself to some M&Ms, pretending that had been his intention all along. "Oh, hey Toby. What are you still doing here?" he said, as casually as he could muster.
Toby, as usual, looked glum. "Oh, just a lot of paperwork, you know, Ryan and Karen transferring and all." There was a brief moment of suspicion in his eyes as he looked at them and processed what he had almost seen, but it quickly passed.
"Here, we'll walk out with you," Pam said, a little too enthusiastically.
The next morning Toby was in the kitchen getting some coffee when Kevin walked in and started looking through the fridge. "Hey Kev," Toby said as he stirred in his non-dairy creamer.
"Hey, Toby," Kevin replied, distracted by whatever it was he was looking for. Then he looked up and searched the room to make sure they were alone. He whispered, "I guess you heard about Jim and Pam, eh, since you're the HR guy and all." He let out a half-chuckle.
"Jim and Pam?" Toby questioned.
"You know," Kevin dropped his voice even lower, "how they're... doing it." He smiled broadly and chuckled again.
Toby just looked at him. "Oh, yeah," he said, and then muttered under his breath, "It figures." He threw his spoon in the sink and walked back to his desk in the annex, head down.
Later that morning, he saw Pam go into the breakroom, and casually followed her.
"Hey Pam," he said as she looked over her options in the vending machine.
"Oh, hi Toby," she smiled briefly and went back to her search.
"Hey, listen, I was wondering... are you and Jim...?"
Pam's face got flushed as she turned around to face him. "What?"
"It's just that, you know, I'm the HR guy and they're really cracking down on the inter-office relationships lately because of Michael and Jan - "
"Really?" she responded without letting him finish. "Oh. Well, I don't... I mean... we weren't... It's kind of... complicated? You know, because of... "
"Karen?" Toby finished her sentence fragment for her.
"Yes," she said, and then whispered, "we really didn't want anyone to know just yet."
"Well, I understand that but just so you know, you are required to disclose a consensual - " He paused, swallowing his words. " - sexual relationship to HR."
"Oh, yeah, right, I know, it's just that..."
"You're not in a relationship yet?" he asked hopefully.
"Oh, no, we are," she answered quickly. He tried not to let his face fall too much, but she didn't notice anyway. "We just were not ready to make a big deal out of it."
He sighed, then said, "That's okay, but I suggest you fill out the form anyway. It's for your own protection, and no one else needs to know... " He quietly added, "Sort of," under his breath.
Pam nodded and then followed him to his desk to get the form. "Thanks Toby," she said as she hurried back to her own desk.
beeswax0421: i guess you're not as smooth as you think you are.
3holepunchjim: why's that
beeswax0421: Toby's totally onto us. he's making us sign The Love Contract.
3holepunchjim: WHAT????? how did he find out? are we that obvious?
beeswax0421: apparently we are. maybe our simmering sexual chemistry is just too much to keep under wraps.
Jim laughed out loud, but shushed himself when he felt Karen's eyes bearing into the side of his head. He went back to typing.
3holepunchjim: oh well, it's just Toby, right? At least it's not Michael.
