June 5, 2010

“Pam!” Jim called up the stairs, while bouncing a crying Amelia in his arms. “Phyllis is here!”

“I heard the bell.” Pam called back. “I’ll be down in just a second.”

She scattered a small box of earrings out across the top of the dresser. She needed to find a pair that matched to wear for the evening. Something that looked nice with the dress and something that would hopefully distract from the sleepy look on her face she was convinced would be stuck and haunting her for the next ten years.

She suddenly heard a flurry of feet coming up the stairs, and Amelia’s crying sounded a bit more distant.

“Where…?” Pam stared at Jim as he rushed into the bedroom the grab Coco from the bed.

“I gave her to Phyllis.” Jim said, breathing hard. “I figure if she’s going to be stuck with the baby for the rest of the evening, she might as well try and figure out the secret to getting her quiet.”

“So you’re just leaving her alone with a screaming Amelia?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“Leaving her alone while I grabbed Coco here,” he replied. “And we both know that Coco should calm her down a bit.”

“Still, that doesn’t sound very nice…leaving Phyllis all alone.” Pam said quietly. She watched as Jim started to make his way back towards the door, but she quickly grabbed him by the elbow and he whirled around to face her. “Jim.”

“Pam.” he imitated.

“Take a deep breath,” she said, “and slow down.” He inhaled and exhaled loudly, staring at Pam expectantly. “Okay, now tell me what you think of this dress?”

“It’s a little late to be changing your mind, isn’t it?” he said, his gaze quickly flickering up and down.

“Tell me the truth.” she said, turning. “My ass is huge.”

“Your ass is perfect.” he said quickly as he leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “But I need to get downstairs. I want to try and calm Amelia down before we leave. I’d hate for her to scare Phyllis away.”

“I think that it will take a lot more than a crying baby to scare away Phyllis.” she said with a smile. “Keep in mind this is the same woman who has worked in the same room – daily – with Andy Bernard for the past six years.”

“I thought you were going to cut him a break?” Jim asked with a smirk.

“Old habits.” Pam replied with a shrug and she giggled as she watched him quickly bolt back down the stairs.

It was their first night out together in several months. Pam was nervous about leaving Amelia with a babysitter when she was still so young, but the night out was crucial – in more than one way.

They needed the night out for some time away from the baby. Pam often found herself slipping further and further into the realm of a stay-at-home mother. She often found herself doing work – for her job – while Amelia was sleeping, just so when she actually returned to the office after her maternity leave it wouldn’t come as such a shock.

The night out was important for Jim though, too. His reasons, however, were vastly different from Pam’s. That evening, they were attending the advertising company’s annual dinner gala and Jim had been coerced into going. Michael had chided him into attending, first telling Jim that he owed it to the company. When Jim argued that he didn’t really want their first night out to be at a business affair, Michael raised the stakes – a lot – telling Jim that if he did not attend, that Jim would be risking his job. On the one hand, Jim had figured that what Michael told him was extremely gutsy and he started to wonder if he could actually get Michael in trouble for what he had said. On the other hand, Michael wouldn’t have said what he had said unless it was really important for Jim to attend. So in the end, Jim had happily – or as happily as he could – told Pam that he would buy her a new dress and that they would go out for their first evening together since the baby had been born.

Pam had been thrilled and…well…a little less than thrilled when Jim told her. She had hoped that their first night out together would have been a nice, quiet dinner, the two of them alone and the idea of breastfeeding and crying babies thrown aside for a few hours. She had not expected an evening of celebrities, wealthy businesspeople and all of Jim’s co-workers. What made it even worse was knowing Jim had been coerced into going. Pam hadn’t been happy about the circumstances that were causing them to attend the gala, but they definitely made her more willing. Regardless of the situation, Jim promised her that they would make the best out of it, and she was prepared to have him stick to his word.

She returned her attention to her reflection in the mirror and started to hum the tune of “You Give Me Fever” as she hooked a pair of sparkling earrings through her ears. She was almost certain that at this point she was trying to tune out the sound of Amelia. She wondered what the night was going to be like. Would she still hear Amelia’s cries in the back of her mind as she ate her dinner? Was she going to feel relieved to be out of the house or was she going to feel the need to retreat back to safety?

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of a flurry of feet on the stairs again and Jim quickly rounded the door to the bedroom, visibly out of breath and an exasperated look on his face.

“Coco didn’t work,” he said, breathing heavily.

“Coco doesn’t always work,” she said quietly, already trying to distance herself from home and picturing a room full of adults.

“Do you have any suggestions for what might do the trick?” he asked desperately.

“Why are you so wound up about it?” she asked in reply. “Phyllis can handle a baby, I’m sure of it.”

“Even if that baby is…” he began.

“Screaming all night?” she finished for him. “Yes.”

“I just don’t want to lose our one chance of freedom.” he said.

“I wouldn’t call a room full of business people ‘freedom’.” she said.

“No.” he said, shaking his head, “I mean Phyllis. I don’t want to lose her as our babysitter.”

“We won’t.” Pam said with a smile as she turned towards Jim.

“How on earth are you so calm right now?” he asked, staring at her wide-eyed.

“I’m distancing myself from reality.” she replied with a smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Oh yeah?” he asked. “How does one do that exactly?”

“Lots of practice.” she replied.

“Well, I’m impressed,” he said, “because right now all I can hear is a screaming…”

His train of thought completely stopped mid-sentence and even Pam cocked her head to the side. Silence.

“What’s happened?” he asked nervously.

“She stopped crying.” Pam replied with an open-mouthed smile.

“Oh that is it.” Jim said with a smile that matched Pam’s, “Phyllis is babysitting all the time from now on.”

***

Pam blindly followed Jim as they made their way through the enormous dinner hall to their table.

“I don’t look…” she began.

“You look gorgeous.” he finished for her, kissing her on the temple of her forehead.

“I’m still carrying the baby weight.” she said in a hushed voice as the two of them walked past a woman who was far too thin to be considered healthy.

“Don’t be silly.” he said, wrapping his arm around her waist. His head popped up and he raised his hand, waving to someone she couldn’t quite see.

When he didn’t follow up the statement with anything else, Pam spoke up, “Is that all you’re going to say?”

“What?” he asked. “You look amazing, Pam. I can guarantee you that if any woman had a choice of what they could look like five months after having a baby…” he waved towards someone else that she couldn’t see, “Well, let’s just say you would be the poster child.”

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or not.” she muttered flatly.

“Pam.” he said seriously, staring at her purposefully. “You look amazing tonight. You look amazing every night.”

She stammered at his comment. Her mouth dropped open as if she was about to say something, but nothing come out. Jim could swear that he could see a twinge of pink in her cheeks and he smiled.

“And just as fair warning,” he continued, a little less seriously, “if Michael says anything lewd about your chest or really any other part of your body…”

“Excuse me?” she asked, a smile starting to tug at the corners of her lips.

“Well, just know he means it.” he finished.

She nodded and laughed softly, her gaze starting to fall towards the floor just as Jim stopped in front of a round table and pulled out a chair for Pam.

“We’re not very close to the stage.” she remarked.

“So?” he asked.

“Well, it’s just usually,” she replied, “at least the last few times we’ve come to this event, we’ve always sat closer to the front.”

“I guess that they’re working on a celebrity versus commoner dichotomy this year.” he joked, as he glanced at the rows of tables in front of them filled with vaguely familiar faces of celebrity sponsors and various endorsers.

“Seems odd that the company that is sponsoring such a lavish event wouldn’t place their employees at the front, is all.” Pam said as she started to take her seat, but stopped mid-descent when she heard Michael’s voice.

“James Halpert! Does your wife know that you have brought another woman to this event?” Michael asked indignantly.

“Excuse me?” Pam asked in a loud voice, her eyes were wide with surprise.

“Whoa! Pam!” Michael exclaimed, throwing his hands up towards his shoulders as if to say ‘I surrender!’. “Sorry, I didn’t realize it was…wow!”

“Michael…” Jim said, a twinge of warning in his voice.

“Where did that ass of yours come from?” Michael asked loudly, a little too loudly. “I mean, you looked good before but damn!”

“Oh my god.” Pam said as she quickly turned to the side and buried her face in her hands and tried to wipe the red of embarrassment from her cheeks.

Jim watched with horrified amusement as Michael’s date practically mimicked Pam’s reaction to Michael’s statement. Quite frankly, Jim was surprised that the mystery woman hadn’t slapped Michael across the face. Actually, he was also a little surprised that Pam hadn’t slapped Michael either.

After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence between the four people, Michael stepped forward with a little more bravado than before and introduced the woman he was with.

“Jim, Pam.” he said, pressing his hand against his date’s back and gently pushing her forward. “This is the lovely Jan Levinson.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jim said, extending his hand towards hers.

“You too.” Jan said, smiling and shaking his hand amiably.

“And this…” Jim began.

“I’m Pam.” she said, shaking Jan’s hand earnestly. “And though Michael may have you believe otherwise, I am Jim’s wife.”

“Very nice to meet you.” Jan said with a smile and her gaze lowered to Pam’s dress. “And your dress is…” Pam braced herself for the worst from the gorgeous blonde woman wearing an equally gorgeous satiny blue dress. Pam was surprised when Jan said, “Well, that dress is absolutely beautiful.”

Pam didn’t say anything immediately, simply by reason of sheer surprise. She soon felt her face flush pink again and she bowed her head down a little before beaming proudly and saying, “Thank you.” as generously as she could.

Finally, Pam took her seat in the chair that Jim had withdrawn for her. Jim sat next to her and Michael quickly took the seat next to Jim before anyone else could claim it. Immediately, Michael scooted his chair close to Jim and leaned in towards his shoulder.

“What are you…” Jim asked, startled by Michael’s close proximity.

“I’m so glad you made it.” Michael whispered in reply.

“Yeah.” Jim said, but not without a bit of hesitation. “Do you mind…”

“How do you keep your hands off of her?” Michael asked, his line of sight in direct alignment with Pam’s chest; though she was oblivious to the stare as she was in the middle of a drink order with a member of the wait staff.

“What?” Jim asked, glancing in Pam’s direction. “Are you staring at her…”

“She is magnificent.” Michael replied.

“You are so creepy sometimes, Michael.” Jim said, pushing him away by the shoulder. “Why don’t you tell me a little about Jan here?”

“She’s got nothing on Pam.” Michael muttered quietly, just out of earshot from Jan.

“Wow.” Jim said as he shook his head. “This conversation is over.”

“She’s got nice boobs.” Michael whispered in Jim’s ear before completely turning his attention away towards Jan.

Sadly, it would not be the only time that evening that Jim wished he could be anywhere but at that table and at that gala.

***

Pam stood near the restrooms, waiting for the ladies room to become available. She had only had one glass of wine with her dinner that evening – it was all she was willing to risk drinking considering she was still breastfeeding – and she figured that the liquid must have rushed right through her. She couldn’t remember having had to pee this badly since her pregnancy.

Impatiently, she knocked on the door of the ladies room once more.

“Fuck! Give me one more second!” an oddly familiar voice from behind the door shouted.

Pam’s forehead furrowed in curiosity. Certainly it couldn’t be…

The door swung open and her eyes immediately widened as Karen stopped in the middle of the doorway and gasped, “Pam!”

“Hi.” Pam said in stunned surprise. She knew that Karen had been around that evening – she had seen her in passing, and her husband Kevin had been sitting at their table the entire night. This was the first Pam had actually come face-to-face with her though.

“I heard you had a baby.” Karen said lamely.

“Yes.” Pam said, “And I see…” her gaze lowered to the slight protuberance in Karen’s stomach. “I see that you…are?”

“Yeah.” Karen said, nodding and pulling the fabric of her dress away from her stomach. “I hoped that it wasn’t obvious with this dress.”

“So where have you been all evening?” Pam asked.

“Here and there.” Karen replied with a shrug.

“Well, Kevin has been talking about you all night.” Pam said. “I’m just sort of surprised that we haven’t seen anything of you.”

“Oh god.” Karen said, shaking her head. “He isn’t talking about the baby, is he?”

“No, I don’t think that he’s mentioned it at all.” Pam said. “But I’m not positive, he’s on the other side of where I’m sitting so…”

“Good.” Karen said nodding. “He keeps bragging about it to all of his friends and it’s just so damn irritating because…”

“Karen! There you are!” a male voice exclaimed from behind Pam. Pam turned around quickly, expecting to see Kevin – even though the voice really didn’t sound anything like him.

“David!” Karen exclaimed in a high-pitch voice that sounded nothing like what Pam had been used to hearing from her.

Pam was stunned as she watched the man walk around her and wrap his arm possessively around Karen’s waist. Her jaw dropped as she watched the man lean forward to try and kiss Karen, but she quickly turned her head and his lips fell against her cheek instead of her mouth.

“Pam.” Karen said quietly, “This is David Wallace. David, this is Pam Halpert.”

Pam was too stunned at what she saw to correct her with ‘Beesly-Halpert’.

“Oh, are you Jim Halpert’s wife?” David asked, holding out his hand towards Pam.

“Yeah.” Pam replied dumbly, taking David’s hand in hers.

“I worked with him probably about a year ago on a project.” David said. “Nice guy. How has he been?”

“Good, good.” Pam said, her gaze quickly darting back and forth between David and Karen.

David nodded and smiled, “So Pam, you didn’t see Karen here with anything suggestible in her hands, did you?”

Pam resisted the urge to ask, ‘Other than you?’ and instead asked, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, she keeps insisting on drinking at these events because of the open bar.” he replied. “And I keep telling her that it’s not good for the baby.”

She didn’t think that she could be any more shocked but there it was. She lamely shook her head ‘no’ and David smiled.

“Come on, David.” Karen said coldly, pulling him along with her, walking past Pam. “I’ll see you later, Pam.”

“Pam, it was nice to meet you.” David said quickly, before he was pulled around the corner.

Pam stood dumbstruck in front of the now-vacant restroom. The need to use the bathroom was completely forgotten, but she quickly walked into the small room and locked the door behind her. She couldn’t have seen what she just saw – could she? She had never felt any sort of friendliness towards Karen, but most of it was from her history with Jim. Now? Well now, Pam was convinced that Karen was a whole new kind of evil.

Was it really possible that she was having an affair – again? She couldn’t really figure out any other reason why she would be wrapping her arm around and dodging kisses from a man named David Wallace. And her demeanor had immediately changed the moment that he showed up.

And she was pregnant again…

Pam quickly used the toilet and walked out into the small back hallway where Jim was standing, leaning casually against the wall. She smiled weakly at him, but the thoughts racing in her mind were more than enough to keep her preoccupied from a scene that would normally drive her crazy with lust.

“I thought you ran away.” Jim said casually, pushing himself away from the wall and closing the space between the two of them.

“Didn’t run away.” she said quietly.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and pulled her close against his body. He felt hot and she could feel that he was breathing heavily and his heart rate was a little faster than usual. Still, it was Karen that occupied her mind.

“I have been thinking about you all night.” he said in a low voice as he pushed her against the wall they were standing in front of. His hands started to roam over her hips and her waist. He ducked his head against her neck and his lips nibbled against the skin just below her jaw.

“No, we can’t.” she said, quickly pushing him away. Why was she saying this? The two of them had been deprived of any passionate, sexual lust for months. If she didn’t let it happen here, it had an even lesser chance of happening at home where there was a baby. They had been trying for the past couple of months with no luck because every time they would find themselves in the right situation under the right circumstances, Amelia would start crying for attention.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, immediately backing away. He wasn’t expecting that response at all. He knew that she was just as sexually charged as he was. Even through some of her recent issues regarding the way that she looked after the baby, they both knew that tonight was a night for them.

“I’m sorry, I know what tonight is about,” she said shaking her head, “but I just…Karen.”

“Karen?” he asked, a little taken aback that of all people, Karen was the one to keep them from doing naughty things in a public place.

“I think she’s having an affair.” she replied.

“That’s…” he said, searching his mind for what to say, “not really all that surprising.”

“Do you remember David Wallace?” Pam asked.

“David Wallace.” he replied. “Yeah, nice guy. I worked with him and his wife back in October.”

Pam’s jaw dropped and again, her mind started to reel.

“Wife?” she asked.

“Yeah.” he replied. “But what does he have to do with anything? How do you…how do you know him?”

“He’s the one that Karen’s having an affair with.” she said in reply. “And I think…I think that they might be having a baby.”

“What?” Jim asked, his face dropping. He knew better than to care about the torrid escapades of his ex-wife and co-worker, but hearing what Pam was saying…well, it was kind of as if he was re-living his past with her all over again. It was almost the exact same situation that he had been in years earlier.

“I’m sorry.” Pam said, shaking her head. “It’s just…how do people do that? Why do I have to be the one who finds out about it?”

“Do you think that Kevin knows?” he asked.

“Doubt it.” she replied. She shook her head sadly, “And if the baby isn’t his, he probably thinks that it is…”

Her heart broke just thinking about it. She figured the sadness and remorse must have been written across her face because Jim quickly pulled her into a tight hug and held her close to his body for a good minute before either of them spoke.

All the while, Pam thought of the people that they were surrounded by. Sure, everyone had their flaws, but Michael and Ryan – Jim’s two closest co-workers were notorious womanizers and quite frankly, Pam had been surprised that Michael had only shown up with one date that evening instead of two. She realized that she barely knew anyone at the event and she knew that everyone had their flaws, but suddenly, she really didn’t want to be around these people.

“How much longer do you have to stay here?” she asked quietly, the words partially muffled against his chest.

“We could say there’s a baby emergency.” he replied.

“Okay.” she said, nodding. She took a couple of steps back, away from his embrace and looked down at his watch.

“It’s ten o’clock.” he said, without looking.

“Phyllis isn’t expecting us back until midnight at the earliest.” she said.

“We could go out for dessert.” he suggested and she smiled weakly.

“We already ate dessert.” she said.

“So?” he asked. “Anyway, you call the measly little bit of chocolate mousse that we received dessert? I believe that you said that you wanted a romantic night out. What is a romantic night out without a ridiculously expensive dessert?”

“Expensive?” she teased. “Because I was thinking Baskin Robbins.”

He nodded thoughtfully, “Or Baskin Robbins, of course.”

“I’m not really sure what we’re going to do with the rest of our two hours away from home though.” she said with a smile.

He raised his eyebrows speculatively, “I can think of one thing.”

She giggled loudly and shook her head, “Yeah, I don’t think so. Where is that going to happen? Bathroom at Baskin Robbins? Alleyway next to Baskin Robbins?”

“Hey, I was all ready to lure you into the bathroom here until you dropped a Karen bomb on me.” he argued. She laughed and shook her head again.

“I’m not doing it in a bathroom.” she said. He opened his mouth to say something in reply and she quickly cut him off before he had the chance, “Or an alleyway.”

He chuckled, “I guess that I should be relieved.”

Pam noticed a familiar gaze of longing in his eyes and she leaned in close to Jim and wrapped her arms around him tight.

“I promise.” she said quietly, pausing momentarily to kiss him. “Once we get home and Phyllis leaves, I will make sure that I get you alone in our bedroom.”

“And Amelia?” he asked nervously.

“We’ll put Amelia in her bedroom tonight.” she replied.

“And if she cries?” he asked.

“If she cries, then she cries.” she replied.

“So you’re saying there will be…” he began.

“No interruptions.” she finished.

“Promise?” he asked.

“Absolutely.” she replied.

He grinned and kissed her once more before saying, “Come on, let’s go lie to Michael and go home.”